451. It was a bad year for God.

Comment #109396 by robotaholic on January 9, 2008 at 1:57 am

I don't care about any of the comments before this post.

Thank you Professor Richard Dawkins for this wonderful book.

Thank you so much.

452. Blind Faiths

Comment #109177 by robotaholic on January 8, 2008 at 2:01 pm

brian why would I help a theist?

453. It was a bad year for God.

Comment #109176 by robotaholic on January 8, 2008 at 1:56 pm

I absolutely LOVED that book and it's definitely in my top 10 books of all time

454. Another critic who hasn't read the book

Comment #109118 by robotaholic on January 8, 2008 at 11:34 am

one cannot hate what doesn't exist, and by the fact that Dawkins calls god a delusion pretty much means that

Far from the vitriolic diatribe of a God-hating misanthrope like Richard Dawkins, Hitchens's work is both appropriately respectful and right.

455. US 'doomed' if creationist president elected: scientists

Comment #109058 by robotaholic on January 8, 2008 at 8:31 am

A Sunday school teacher asked the children just before she dismissed them to go to church, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?"
Little Johnny jumped up and yelled, "Because people are sleeping!"

-sorry, couldn't resist lol

456. US 'doomed' if creationist president elected: scientists

Comment #109054 by robotaholic on January 8, 2008 at 8:27 am

One day the zoo-keeper noticed that the orangutan was reading two books - the Bible and Darwin's Origin of Species.

Surprised, he asked the ape, "Why are you reading both those books?"

"Well," said the orangutan, "I just wanted to know if I was my brother's keeper or my keeper's brother."

lol

- I like the fact that we all belong to the designation "great apes"- :->

457. US 'doomed' if creationist president elected: scientists

Comment #108891 by robotaholic on January 7, 2008 at 7:58 pm

scooternyc - I don't know for sure but aren't there even a few unexplained fossils or ones that seem to be out of place? - I don't mean from the creationist museum either lol

458. US 'doomed' if creationist president elected: scientists

Comment #108748 by robotaholic on January 7, 2008 at 2:11 pm

I am tired of presidents being elected based on popularity. We need to elect the smartest person available. I think you know who(she is).

459. Changing my Mind

Comment #108429 by robotaholic on January 6, 2008 at 9:06 pm

The REAL word one could use to describe us all regardless of our interests is "scientist"- because the opposite of believing in fiction is believing in fact. Science is all about the quest to accurately locate facts...
I don't mind if someone calls me atheist and I will self-identify as one. However in no other case do I allow someone to describe me in relation to something I'm not.-

I'm sure you will think of the scientists who claim also to be religious. In those cases I would just say they're mental dissonance is so great a fracture that they're literally two different people at different times- and besides- explaining nutters like that should be up to them.

460. Wisdom From The Founding Rationalists

Comment #108426 by robotaholic on January 6, 2008 at 8:47 pm

I swear that's propaganda - every country says they're the freeist...I mean they don't go around saying we're the least free--yay!

461. Six Reasons to be an Atheist

Comment #108424 by robotaholic on January 6, 2008 at 8:40 pm

My parents are christian and I am definitely an atheist. I was raised a christian and decided I didn't believe in invisible entities when I was about 20 or 21 and when I moved out on my own...since that time my parents and I have had a relationship that has definitely suffered but that is not why I am writing this. My parents and I have pretty much put our differences aside for the past 4 or 5 yrs and we would just talk about superficial things in order to put on the faccaid of a normal human relationships between parents and child. Today my dad decided to bring up religion and he asked me why I went from being so happy and religious in my younger years to learning about the strange things I'm interested in now such as particle physics, the origin of the english language and the history of mankind. I tried to ignore the question and just revert back to the superficiality but he persisted. I told him I'm interested in science generally as well as technology. He said "Why do you think that for thousands of years humans didn't progress but in the last couple hundred of years we finally went past the 'horse and buggy stage'?"- I instantly said "due to the accumulation of information"- he replied well don't you think ppl thousands of years ago could talk just like you or I and at that point I was forced to explain that I really believe that humans or humanoids have been on the earth for hundreds of thousands of years and we just recently developed language and then were able to write it down as well as agriculture etc...- he cut me off and said the progress was inspired by satan and I just smiled. I told him: "look, the bottom line is that you want me to believe in invisible people with superpowers..for example angels and demons and spirits and I just don't" he then proceded to tell me that the "lesson" that they went over today (in church) explained that atheism is a religion." I replied that actually it means the absence of belief in a god and that by his definition my being an a-astrologer could be a religion since I have absence of belief in astrology" The conversation escalated to the grand conclusion when he asked me again "Why did you stop being such a happy kid with all your christian friends?...What made you change and want to learn about all this stuff (incidentally he thinks that protons, electrons, neutrons, and anything on that subject is a religion somehow or spiritual" - I looked at him and said "The reason that I now can't get enough of science and history and biology and all the other things I'm interested in is because when I was a child and religious I was prevented the knowledge of anthropology, biology, and all the things humans have discovered for thousands of years before I was born through enforced ignorance (I instantly had a picture of Daniel Dennet in my mind)" and at that he said I would have to hit the road - or leave in other words. He got upset at the reference that he enforced ignorance upon me as a child. In fact he wouldn't talk to me anymore even to say goodbye. My mom looked at me and smiled and said it would be alright and for me to just leave.

The reason I wanted to share this story is because we sit here and type our responses to christian or religious things and it's true, we have the explanations. What we don't realize is that we are talking to Zombies - Zombies that we love who are our parents, and people we have to see at work and when we're out. Sometimes I think that they really are genuinely two different types of people genetically- the religious and the nonreligious. The sad part is that it has really ruined my relationship with my parents and even people who were my friends in the past when I was a christian. But when I think about it, those people never were my friends in the first place if they just dropped me like a brick because I started to learn about science and history and threw away superstitions. We really are battling with people who are beyond change in a lot of ways. I'm just happy I can come here and not be surrounded by zombies for just a few minutes a day!

462. Mother Nature is Not Our Friend

Comment #108353 by robotaholic on January 6, 2008 at 2:29 pm

this paper didn't seem very substiantive & I lost a little respect of Sam Harris for writing it - then I saw the debate between him and the rabbi and I completely changed my mind about him - he has a very very sharp mind and his manner of speaking is so relaxed and positive - I really have a lot of respect for him after seeing the debate -

463. Researchers use neuroimaging to study ESP

Comment #108350 by robotaholic on January 6, 2008 at 2:26 pm

guess what I'm going to type... you were wrong -esp doesn't work...next

464. Six Reasons to be an Atheist

Comment #108338 by robotaholic on January 6, 2008 at 2:13 pm

ADH the fact that you have to somehow figure out what the gospels were talking about or mean would seem to indicate to me that the inspirer (sic(lol))of the book didn't do a very good job... how can you not see this?

465. Six Reasons to be an Atheist

Comment #108281 by robotaholic on January 6, 2008 at 11:44 am

Paula Kirby - I think you should debate Denesh D'souza - you'd have him begging you to stop! lol-

466. Six Reasons to be an Atheist

Comment #108133 by robotaholic on January 6, 2008 at 4:57 am

wow Vinelectric, that was awesome.

467. The battle of the butterflies and the ants

Comment #108030 by robotaholic on January 5, 2008 at 9:03 pm

you know the well made banana debunks evolution everytime... =))

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9zwbhAXe5yk

"the atheist's nightmare" lmao- I think the word "nutter" was coined just because of these kinds of people...

468. Six Reasons to be an Atheist

Comment #108020 by robotaholic on January 5, 2008 at 8:36 pm

then Rtambree I would say it's your god, your rules, YOU go to hell :) (not to you of course)

469. Six Reasons to be an Atheist

Comment #108015 by robotaholic on January 5, 2008 at 8:26 pm

it really shouldn't be an "argument" like in #1 - if someone posits something it's their obligation to give some evidence - none to date has been given in my opine- and I don't like #4, what if god is evil? or like godlessheathen said - evil is just subjective- and there are many more than 6 - like :

#7: I posess a prefrontal cortex

#8: Religion is Self-Contradictory

#9: Gods and Believers Behave Immorally

#10: the absence of good reasons for being a theist

#11: The Concept of God is Incoherent

I can go on and on and on and on - in fact I'm gonna write a book for children :)

470. Sam Harris debate with Rabbi David Wolpe

Comment #108006 by robotaholic on January 5, 2008 at 8:10 pm

I agree 100 percent cryptographix

471. Stop House Resolution 888

Comment #107859 by robotaholic on January 5, 2008 at 2:06 pm

I've found that paying attention to politics simply disappoints. So I'll just turn up madonna...and sing :) - noone can make me believe in invisible stuff and I really think most people don't actually believe in it anyway...(they're just good liars)

472. Sam Harris debate with Rabbi David Wolpe

Comment #107855 by robotaholic on January 5, 2008 at 1:56 pm

krisking, do you believe the flood happened?

473. Sam Harris debate with Rabbi David Wolpe

Comment #107617 by robotaholic on January 4, 2008 at 8:36 pm

look at what I found:

http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=1549

"Dismay fills the ranks of atheists at news that Richard Dawkins has been seen lighting votive candles and fingering a rosary at a small church near Cambridge." - predictions about Richard Dawkins- THAT day in MAY will never happen I just know it.

and yes, I also loved Harris's raised eyebrow! - it's so glaring...I really think Sam Harris destroyed that rabbi person's arguments- This I think is his absolute best debate to date- He just calmly sliced and diced the fluffy rhetoric... but I found several times in the debate where a few phrases by Richard Dawkins came to mind- especially regarding the cherry picking that the religious do and then claim they get their morals from the bible... And of course as annoying as ever...the whole Hitler, Polpot, Stalin thing came up and I really think Harris did a pretty good job of showing that those regimes were not markets of good scientific ideas...I would have to give Harris an A+ on this debate

474. Sam Harris debate with Rabbi David Wolpe

Comment #107570 by robotaholic on January 4, 2008 at 6:58 pm

wow, so far Sam Harris is kicking ass!

475. Huckabee: Guns, God and rock'n'roll

Comment #106870 by robotaholic on January 3, 2008 at 3:57 pm

in 2012 it's gonna be a snake handler

476. Huckabee: Guns, God and rock'n'roll

Comment #106867 by robotaholic on January 3, 2008 at 3:49 pm

I'm telling you people, we could have a preacher for a president- it's truely frightening to me :((

477. The OUT Campaign has its own Flea!

Comment #106783 by robotaholic on January 3, 2008 at 12:58 pm

I happen to live in the (buckle of) bible belt and christians need an out campaign like walmart does

478. Changing my Mind

Comment #106767 by robotaholic on January 3, 2008 at 12:35 pm

Paula Kirby You are so right on about not even (wasting your time)trying to reason with jehovah's witnesses and also about not being forced to abandon the word atheist because a stigma will just be attached to any word you might choose- I was raised by jehovah's witness parents and i saw through the brainwashing and got out-and it was extremely difficult- (I still find it terrible that all my parents friends would ditch them in a second if they ever stopped being a fellow cult member-meaning they're not true friends in the first place- finding ones parents have no friends is a terrible thing)

I wish people who think the probability of there being gods to be 0 or almost 0 wouldn't be ashamed of calling themselves atheists- we need to make the negative connotation go away, not just change names.

& happy New Year to you :)

479. Moderates Storm The Religious Battlefield

Comment #106201 by robotaholic on January 2, 2008 at 1:23 pm

I am irritated -Professor Richard Dawkins is not wacky.

480. Mother Nature is Not Our Friend

Comment #105821 by robotaholic on January 1, 2008 at 9:54 pm

I agree with you Janus- WAY too many posts for one threat - especially without saying much of anything

481. Mother Nature is Not Our Friend

Comment #105764 by robotaholic on January 1, 2008 at 7:28 pm

mabye lifes replication bomb will supernova before the next astroid like Richard Dawkins said in River out of Eden

482. Submission, 'Part 1'

Comment #105431 by robotaholic on December 31, 2007 at 2:28 pm

theyre up to like 21,000 signatures- what a bunch of stupid idiots-

483. Submission, 'Part 1'

Comment #105172 by robotaholic on December 30, 2007 at 7:59 pm

how could anyone respect a society that treats their women like that?- this movie is great so far-

484. Richard Dawkins on 'Have Your Say'

Comment #105168 by robotaholic on December 30, 2007 at 7:51 pm

I'm going to be:
1) not saying what I'm going to say
2) probably not saying it clearly
3) definitely not summarizing

Atheistjohn you could write talking points for Bill O'Reilly. (and how can you think Hitchens is a better speaker than Dawkins?- that's ludicrous) Steve Z why do you want posters to follow your outline, that's rediculous. Why would anyone think the priest was a homosexual-he just didn't set off my gay-dar but he did set off my stupid-dar. I totally agree with you matt_shute-07.

485. Monkey, Business

Comment #105087 by robotaholic on December 30, 2007 at 2:27 pm

I like Michael Shermer- he runs http://www.skeptic.com/ and he's into debunking stupid supernatural things like psychics and witchcraft

486. Could there be a Darwinian Account of Human Creativity?

Comment #104823 by robotaholic on December 29, 2007 at 2:28 pm

That was simply awesome Seamus Reason! I had to book mark it.

487. Pope's exorcist squads will wage war on Satan

Comment #104817 by robotaholic on December 29, 2007 at 2:15 pm

I would consider them in need of general mental care Steve.

488. Richard Dawkins on 'Have Your Say'

Comment #104802 by robotaholic on December 29, 2007 at 1:21 pm

Professor Dawkins made a good point at the end of the program - he said "you called me an outspoken atheist but you didn't call the Pope an outspoken christian"- it made the moderator grin because it is true.

489. Richard Dawkins on 'Have Your Say'

Comment #104756 by robotaholic on December 29, 2007 at 11:11 am

Professor Dawkins, can I have your autograph?

490. Wisdom From The Founding Rationalists

Comment #104462 by robotaholic on December 28, 2007 at 2:30 pm

the best place to live by far is not usa, it's Milford Sound New Zealand:

http://www.pbase.com/mscottnscp/milford&page=all

491. Carl Sagan's COSMOS begins airing on Jan 8th

Comment #104459 by robotaholic on December 28, 2007 at 2:17 pm

yes!- I just downloaded Pale Blue Dot and so far it's very nice-

my favorite episode of Cosmos is the episode about Mars- #5 Blues for The Red Planet- and that's where I heard the song "Mars the Bringer of War" by Gustav Holst- a fabulous composition

492. What We Believe: Atheism

Comment #104458 by robotaholic on December 28, 2007 at 2:16 pm

He sounds very nice and real. I get tired of the inflated bs of religion.

493. Archbishop of Canterbury Praises Richard Dawkins

Comment #104456 by robotaholic on December 28, 2007 at 2:08 pm

I bet Richard Dawkins wishes he never opened his mouth about singing christmas carols- You know that the religious w/e in Britian just froth at the mouth waiting for Richard Dawkins to "slip up" - and even though he didn't and was honest, it's being spun in a religious way- which isn't fair. I seriously doubt they would be as kind about Richard Dawkins if he participated in a pagan winter ritual of some sort- then he would get a VERY different reaction from the Canterberry guy

494. 'Atheistic fundamentalism' fears

Comment #104050 by robotaholic on December 27, 2007 at 5:29 pm

I'm tired of excessively elevated British people. (except for Richard Dawkins of course) According to several polls there are more atheists in the USA than in Britain. A USA Today/Gallup Poll in 2002-JAN showed that about 10% regard themselves as neither spiritual nor religious in the United States- that's 30 million people. According to Zuckerman, 2005 there are between 18,684,010 - 26,519,240 atheists in Britain.
(sources: http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html & http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_prac2.htm)

Paula Kirby:

I grieve for you, agg, I really do ;-) Sleep well

Assuming you're sorry for him because he's in America which has so many Christians and so few Atheists, mabye he should feel sorry for you :)-
Of course I'm not trying to be rude to you. I appreciate your concise locutions, but the snideness is irking.

495. Wisdom From The Founding Rationalists

Comment #104041 by robotaholic on December 27, 2007 at 5:01 pm

I think zeitgeist has something to do with the racism of the times- and since I'm an American, I like to remember that my country was founded on religion and politics being seperate-freedom of religion and freedom FROM religion. Thomas Payne was staunchly anti-slavery, and he was one of the first to advocate a world peace organization and social security for the poor and elderly. But his views on religion (deism) destroyed his success. Benjamin Franklin was a leading author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat- I think his credentials speak for themselves.

496. Happy Newton Day!

Comment #103988 by robotaholic on December 27, 2007 at 12:58 pm

billycocoanut:

You have neither proven evolution occurs nor, if it does, that God is not involved in the process.

The only was to make rational sense of this odd sentence is to claim there is nothing out there, just blank space and emptiness.

497. The Four Horsemen: on Christmas

Comment #103982 by robotaholic on December 27, 2007 at 12:40 pm

al-rawandi

Gay people are fabulous, while straight people are not. Do you have a bit of a superiority issue working here?

That's not fair.

498. Survey finds most Americans believe Jesus born of virgin

Comment #103922 by robotaholic on December 27, 2007 at 10:23 am

epeeist:

would have thought this really needed a multi-variate analysis, surely it should take in things like demographics, education type and availability, parental educational achievement and income etc.

499. 2 fleas for the Christmas week

Comment #103919 by robotaholic on December 27, 2007 at 10:18 am

Mr DArcy:

It always amuses me how the "transcendent", by definition, is always higher and better than mere knowledge.

500. How to refute Creationist with only a bucket of feces

Comment #103912 by robotaholic on December 27, 2007 at 10:02 am

honestly out of all the writers of "the new atheists" I like Richard Dawkins the best :)