Comments by black wolf

Comment #101422 by black wolf on December 20, 2007 at 10:49 am

It is actually irrelevant if Islam prohibits suicide. When someone redefines his or others' suicide as defense of a supreme ideal that is not to be questioned, moderate theology is impotent. That's the crux with moderate religion: it is powerless to prevent violence and disaster while selling hope to those who survive by chance.

502. Three wise men just legend: archbishop

Comment #101373 by black wolf on December 20, 2007 at 9:28 am

dbunker, three possibilities:
1) He says exactly what he believes.
2) He's a closet atheist and privately admits it to himself.
3) The opposite. He's much more dogmatic in his true belief, and panders to agnostics and atheists to get them back into the fold of 'resonable faith'.

503. Three wise men just legend: archbishop

Comment #101360 by black wolf on December 20, 2007 at 9:19 am

The mainstream Churches have acknowledged that the three wise men story was probably a myth long time ago. A Catholic nun told me that something like a decade ago.

Which clearly shows that it's not principal honesty about lack of evidence and therefore retracting unjustified conclusions keeping them going. It's defensive behavior for protecting core beliefs, doctrines or dogmas, being such inspite of their equally unevidential sillyness because they were so defined by others for no better reason than provision of an intently divisive framework.

504. Three wise men just legend: archbishop

Comment #101260 by black wolf on December 20, 2007 at 6:48 am

Many Christians view biblical events as these Anglicans do. However, they appear unable to take the logical step of putting The Book in their myths & legends shelf, because they are afraid of discontinuing tradition and losing their sense of purpose. In their minds, the only possible path lies in apparent frantic metaphorism. They feel that they must desperately find deeper meanings in cherished scripture, unable to contemplate or entertain the reasonable and logical conclusion.
A toddler will delightedly play with his poo until someone takes it away. For theologians, it's the poo of centuries of predecessors. Unfortunately, our sense of freedom and human rights does not permit society to take the poo away.

505. This Is Not a Test

Comment #100067 by black wolf on December 18, 2007 at 7:38 am

It wouldn't even come as a surprise if Huckabee endorsed copy-paste 1933-45 German family policy, as that was firmly in line with his position on so-called values. He did say that he would protect even an atheist's rights, but can we really believe that he acually means these words as what he wants to make the meaning appear? I can picture no way in which a policy would promote (Christian religious) faith-based values without limiting free expression and speech. There is no coherent possibility to regard certain worldviews and scientific knowledge as a danger to social values without restricting education and public expression, as you would otherwise allow your core beliefs to be undermined. If you firmly believe that humanity's eternal souls and ultimate destiny are endangered by scientific theories or sexual orientation among other things, how can you permit these in education and socialization?

506. Do the laws of God trump those of man?

Comment #99693 by black wolf on December 17, 2007 at 10:27 am

I correct part of my previous statement: only about 27% of Malawians are Catholic. Of course that doesn't diminish the fact that any religious organization has the moral obligation to monitor the practice of its members.

507. Do the laws of God trump those of man?

Comment #99606 by black wolf on December 17, 2007 at 7:10 am

The link posted above about the Nigeria witch-hunts reminds me of a recent television report about Malawi. 95% of the populace regard themselves as Catholic. A closer look at their religious practice reveals that they have simply incorporated Christianity into their own traditional religion, complete with miracle and faith healers, spiritual and demonic possessions, witches and sorcery, and ritualistic dances. In Malawi, people can be officially arrested and incarcerated for sorcery.
My point is, European churches apparently count these people as of their kind whenever they want to make a point about whose religion grows fastest or similar inanity. As the pope, they choose to point their fingers at atheists and the all-but-mummified canards about Marxism and Stalinism. But I do not ever hear, see or read about how they condemn and take to decisive action against christianized shamanistic superstitions in Africa, Asia and South America.
I assume this is because they are not willing to alienate the probably actual majority of their followers (even if in affiliation label only). They are terribly afraid to become revealed as what they actually represent: a small circle of ivory tower academics wallowing in delusions of grandeur, desperately clinging to their yard of common ground with common sense, to which they have been reduced by secular enlightenment.
The dishonesty of claiming millions of uneducated, superstitious and far-away people as their own while condemning 'secular fundamentalists' or 'scientism' at home is appalling.
This is precisely why moderate religion is dangerous. It comforts and consolidates itself by spreading holy scriptures to the last backwaters of human society, while disregarding or at best very belatedly concerning itself with the actual educational needs of the people. It is a conspicuous observation that prosperous religious groups from the 'developed world' prefer to found decent schools and finance infrastructure where there is a challenge by a competing religion. This practice unveils their efforts not as altruism, but as a self-aggrandising show of farcical prowess.

How do you domesticate more wild sheep than the other guy? Build more troughs and fill them with better food. And don't attempt to shear their wool until they're safely locked in your corral.

508. Ask The God Delusion author Richard Dawkins

Comment #94713 by black wolf on December 6, 2007 at 10:15 am

About replacing the 'atheist' label with 'promoter of reason and rationality': sadly, the Pope himself is at the forefront of those who paint theistic faith as the epitome of reason, and he is very successful at convincing the public. The media and prominent public figures regurgitate his words without ever questioning or analyzing if they really make sense, or if they simply appear as such because they rest on unfalsifiable claims, which can be phrased logically correct in principle and still be devoid of content or pertinence to reality.

509. Papal encyclical attacks atheism, lauds hope

Comment #93488 by black wolf on December 3, 2007 at 9:02 am

Being Pope would be great fun, I reckon. You could make up a whole load of new beliefs, getting ever more ridiculous to see how far you could push it before you got rumbled.

No, you can't just make stuff up. You have to study the Bible and theology, and then interpret all those writings to come up with... ummm... whatever the heck you want. See, that's the difference. Can't be done without the spirit of Jesus in your heart. Can't have hope without that either. Or love. So there! Atheism just got out-logicked! Cuz I say so!

510. Daniel Dennett Debates Dinesh D'Souza

Comment #93465 by black wolf on December 3, 2007 at 7:36 am

Dr. Benway, that Dumbo analogy is brilliant. I'm stealing it right now.

511. Papal encyclical attacks atheism, lauds hope

Comment #93464 by black wolf on December 3, 2007 at 7:33 am

Yup, seriously.
AllanW, the 'trick' is, they're only infallible when they proclaim a statement as such, which they're very careful about. Infallibility became dogma in 1870. Since then, there was one single ex cathedra (the catholic term for declaring infallible) statement, which was the bodily ascension of Mary to heaven (1950).
Additionally, the catholic church assumes substantial infallibility in statements related to beatification, the resurrection of Jesus and the foundation of monastic orders.
Ain't that a neat trick? It's absolutely true (True) unless you can absolutely prove it wrong.

512. Papal encyclical attacks atheism, lauds hope

Comment #93457 by black wolf on December 3, 2007 at 7:16 am

Quetzalcoatl, that is my opinion too. But once you believe that Jesus is Truth, it falls into place somehow *shrug*.

513. Atheism's Wrong Turn

Comment #93446 by black wolf on December 3, 2007 at 7:04 am

Good point Santi, but a totalitarian or repressive state based on the 'In-Lists' in Cosmopolitan is amusing science fiction, whereas most countries really and actually indulge and preserve restrictive marriage, sexuality and labor laws based on religious doctrines.
For example, the German constitution has an article stating that Sundays are protected as days of rest and edification of the soul. This passage is currently being cited by the churches to prohibit stores and warehouses to open on Sundays.

514. Papal encyclical attacks atheism, lauds hope

Comment #93441 by black wolf on December 3, 2007 at 6:48 am

Where in the Bible does it say that? Can't remember reading that before.

John 16:13
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
and
Matthew 16:18
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

These are the passages that the infallibility doctrine is officially based upon.

515. Atheism's Wrong Turn

Comment #93429 by black wolf on December 3, 2007 at 6:31 am

There is absolutely no reason to see Atheism as a special exception. This means that one possible hypothetical future is a totalitarian atheist state where people who don't publicly renounce faith are hounded, victimised, their books burned, etc. A state where children report their parents for praying in privacy, or for saying "Good God!"

Such a state might look somewhat like Nazi Germany.

I assume you know how deeply religious Nazi Germany was, so I'm not going over it here. Since we have this terrible example of how a repressive ideology looks in practice, we know what to watch out for. It's always a very thin and very curvy line between repression and protection, but luckily nowadays we have ethics councils to advise on policy and legislature. The repressive anti-religionism in communist China was unsuccessful. Once they realized that religion is a great tool to appease the poor and unsatisfied people, they did a 180 and are now actively supporting popular religion, which needs much less effort than public education and lasting economic improvement.

516. Atheism's Wrong Turn

Comment #93423 by black wolf on December 3, 2007 at 6:12 am

The issue is more than just about religious brainwashing. I have seen a television program (the one where two families exchange mothers for two weeks or so) where a deeply religious mother abused her children simply by emotional neglect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbaGQxS9NKo (German)
The only occasions she actually sat down with her children were to pray and to talk about Jesus. She was utterly incapable of discussing the children's problems at school or with friends. All she cared about was waking up, immediately singing a hymn to Jesus, praying. She believed all her children needed were a minimum of clothing and no room decorations whatsoever. The childrens' rooms looked like jail cells. The other mother was trying to talk to her about the childrens' needs and how the Christian mother neglected them, and her reaction was denial. Then she started to sing hymns in high volume to drown out everything she was being told, and simply walked away. She was completely oblivious to the real world, and her children were emotionally suffering. They literally had no mother but a godbot.
This form of child abuse needs to be addressed much more specifically in legislation and practice, as most countries focus only on physical abuse currently.

517. Logical Path from Religious Beliefs to Evil Deeds

Comment #93239 by black wolf on December 2, 2007 at 1:31 pm

Louise, Russia is far from being an atheistic society. They are Russian Orthodox by a huge majority. And what Goldy said ;)

518. Papal encyclical attacks atheism, lauds hope

Comment #92695 by black wolf on December 1, 2007 at 8:44 am

If technical progress is not matched by corresponding progress in man's ethical formation, in man's inner growth, then it is not progress at all, but a threat for man and for the world

I actually agree with this, but what on earth make this incompetant old brown shirt think he has any grasp on ethics?

And what on earth is the reason to think going backwards is progress? Oh, oh! The answer is: when you think with your butt...

519. Sudan demo over jailed UK teacher

Comment #92669 by black wolf on December 1, 2007 at 6:04 am

The German chancellor Mrs. Merkel is a physicist, and a Protestant pastor's daughter. She is very reasonable when it comes to promoting science and technology. On the other hand, her party colleague of the Christian Democrats and 'governor' of Hessen has fallen for the 'teach the controversy' ruse the IDists are trying to pull. Fortunately he didn't convince the school board and education ministry (so far). This has nothing to do with Sudan, but I draw the conclusion that we must look at influential individuals, much more than parties or religious communities as a whole to advance secularism.

520. Boy dies of leukemia after refusing treatment for religious reasons

Comment #92317 by black wolf on November 30, 2007 at 9:21 am

I find the question of the social cost involved interesting. I don't want to denigrate a tragedy to a cost-effect ratio problem, but I can't help thinking about it nevertheless. I know the system is more focused on self-responsibility in the US, but in Germany for instance as in most European countries, the whole society mandatorily pays for every person's health care. Everybody pays for the personnel and materials required to treat a JW, only to observe the whole effort going to the garbage bin when religion tells them to throw it away. If it wouldn't violate the humanist principle of solidarity, I'd tell them to pay for their own doctors, hospitals and medical research as long as they're so keen on metaphorically spitting in society's face.

521. A New Flea in Town!

Comment #91889 by black wolf on November 29, 2007 at 2:08 pm

I am quite confident that few believers will afford buying the whole flea circus. With each new book being published to suck on Richard's profitable name, each one's share is getting smaller.
The cover image of this gem might even encourage people to read some Sagan, although they'd probably prefer Collins to match the personal limit of intellectual capability.

522. Banishing the Green-Eyed Monster

Comment #91868 by black wolf on November 29, 2007 at 1:27 pm

Richard is echoing my own thinking on this matter. I know that I have my jealous moments, as probably most of us evolved ones do. But my marriage is healthy because we can discuss any desires we have, even if it may be for someone closer at hand than a movie star or fashion model. We're open and honest about this, and we therefore have good reason to trust each other. Christians keep asking, where is your evidence for love? Well, there it is.

523. Pupil defends teacher in Muhammad teddy furore

Comment #91767 by black wolf on November 29, 2007 at 7:37 am

This whole thing is ridiculous of course, but I must be quite the idiot because I don't understand why the woman did this in the first place. What, has she been in a cave for the past 10 years? Didn't she have any sort of clue that what she did might bring about some sort of "outrage"?

"No, no, Muhammad, we can't name a TEDDY Muhammad, that just wouldn't be right [and I have some bit of interest in retaining my job and my life]."

What a dim bulb she must be.

Apparently she actually believed the apologists that she was going to a country where the Religion of Peace reigned. As a Christian, she probably thought along the party line, that Islam was just somewhat off-track the path to Truth(TM), and people of the Good Book, inspired by loving faith and all that BS. I anticipate her comment after all this is over, and I'm inclined to believe it will be an apology to Islam about respect and Romans in Rome and more such piffle. Bin Laden is ROFL on his cave floor at this moment, because he knows she will confirm what he's been saying for more than a decade.

524. Megachurches Add Local Economy to Their Mission

Comment #91757 by black wolf on November 29, 2007 at 7:00 am

I'm glad that any 'church' focusing their interest on economic growth and finacial revenues this heavily will not be reckognized as a church or religion in Germany, and like Scientology not be tax exempt.

525. Dutch lawmaker planning film criticizing the Quran

Comment #91756 by black wolf on November 29, 2007 at 6:52 am

Bonzai, the procedure is very similar to the one we have in Germany. We have an Islam council to advise the government about muslim communities. Oddly, all the organizations in this council put together don't even represent a majority of muslims in Germany. They each have their own little agenda, often in opposition to others. The silent majority of muslims who are unable or unwilling to join one of these organizations won't have their opinions heard, but many have German citizenship and are an important voter group. So the politicians in districts with a significant muslim population will want their votes - but then they turn to one the unrepresentative clubs to ask what the unrepresented majority seeks.
As Islam doesn't acknowledge a single leader or council as the Catholics and Protestants have it, both the muslim communities and German politicians are 'fair game' to fit the agenda of self-appointed leaders. This leaves parliamentary politicians quite helpless, as they'd sooner listen to one of those men than no one at all.

526. Dutch lawmaker planning film criticizing the Quran

Comment #91754 by black wolf on November 29, 2007 at 6:37 am

As I point out, I don't see too many complaints about Germany's anti-fascist laws, so why not just apply the same thing?

Hmmmm, difficult. The ant-fascism laws in Germany forbid the display of symbols associated with national socialism. That would obviously not apply to Islam (unless they would be stupid enough to carry or display a Holocaust denial pamphlet openly ).
They also provide a framework to prosecute Holocaust deniers, which is something that our secret service keeps an eye on. In general, Imams and others in the hate speech business will be prosecuted or extradited when they violate or deny the validity of the constitution (especially if they incite others to rally). But this often takes years to result in executive action. Politicians and law enforcement are very careful not to step on the toes of religious communities, although we are far from anything akin to the violence in France.
So unless Islamists specifically single out individuals or defined groups of people and directly advocate violence against them, they can go on under the guise of religious freedom. I don't think we'll find any respectable politicians willing to put holy scriptures under consequential scrutiny. Religions get a free pass because they are considered a part of tradition, history, culture or whatever.

527. Turkey probes atheist's 'God' book

Comment #91467 by black wolf on November 28, 2007 at 11:39 am

Bonzai, wouldn't it be funny if Christians and Muslims sued each other under EU law for hurting the other's feelings. 'Jesus is the son of God!'. 'No he ain't. Muhammad is his prophet! And only the Koran is the literal Word of God!'. 'Oh yeah? Well I'm suing you because you're insulting my faith!'. 'No you can't, because I'm suing you first! See you at court!'.
Judge: 'Hmmm. Interesting. Know what? You're both retarded, and you're paying a hefty fine for wasting my time. Oh, did I hurt your feewings? Try and sue me.'
On another note, the religionuts are running out of exclamation marks soon.

528. Golden Compass author hits back

Comment #91466 by black wolf on November 28, 2007 at 11:30 am

Mr. Craig, one of the lead actors of the film, has stated in a promotional interview that the film advocated 'Christian values'. Actually the values he mentioned are human values, but as we know, a few people can't distinguish between them.

529. Monotheism was a con from the beginning

Comment #91362 by black wolf on November 28, 2007 at 6:42 am

USA_Limey wrote:

For the skull fucking nutters I agree that's true. But alot of people of faith can and do loose their faith. Many of them post on this very website. They can be reached, and there is hope.

That is true, and I'm glad it is. But it seems that most 'apostates' have lost their faith or left their churches by a different motivation than arguments brought forth from nonbelievers. Many cite specific events involving clerical miscoduct, or they state that it was more a loss of faith on an emotional level (i.e. reason and observed reality overriding spiritual 'knowledge'). Nevertheless it is very important that humanists and other atheists relentlessly point out that there is an option to take a stance of compelling reasonableness relying on factual evidence and non-theistic moral philosophy. Apparently otherwise many people in very faithful communities would never realize the alternative, as their social background involves avoidance of non-theistic thinking. Getting attention on the media and reaching out to doubting believers is immensely important.

530. Discover plagiarism at the Discovery Institute

Comment #91123 by black wolf on November 27, 2007 at 9:46 am

DI: 'But we were only correcting the material to reflect God's Truth, which has been revealed and is therefore irrefutable, so it's actually Harvard which is distorting the Truth, and we would like to have all our lawyers sue them for it. Alas, the Worldly International Secularism Enterprise Conspiracy Refuting Asserted Clerical Knowledge (WISECRACK) will not allow us to do so'.

531. Monotheism was a con from the beginning

Comment #91116 by black wolf on November 27, 2007 at 9:35 am

No argument regardless of how well founded it may be will give a believer pause. If we had a time machine and sent 200 people, preachers and theologians among them, to the cruxifixion. Jesus would say 'oh well, as I'm going to die anyway I might as well tell you the truth - I'm not the son of God, he doesn't really speak to me, all I wanted was to become king and I fu**ed up', and then those same 200 people would witness how his followers carried away his corpse and claimed resurrection. Faithheads would still bullshittishly blabber about, 'I would like to say, is it not really our spiritual knowledge that makes the difference, and spiritually we perceive his sonness, and would we not, what is the factual difference in metaphorically saying, as I would like to put it, which makes it True(TM) in any case'.
If secular politicians only had the guts to uncompromisingly refute any justification for faith schools and subsidies for clerical endeavors. No proselytizing allowed, no clerical opinions respected on social and political matters, and let them pay for their personnel and immobilia from their own pockets. Churches and religion are a major and influential part of our history, but that is no reason whatsoever to preserve it. In Germany, the Romans built roads, bathhouses and schools - so why isn't the government putting aside money for the Temple of Jupiter? Christianity would be nowhere without the Roman heritage establishing it as state religion. Roman religion wouldn't have existed without the ancient Greek clergy and incorporation of Egyptian deities.
They lost the human sacrifices, animal sacrifices, heretic burnings. But they still assume the right to 'educate' children and to have their opinions respected, by redundantly pointing at their cultural importance. Which exists because they are allowed to do what they have always done.

532. That's not MY God or Religion you're criticising

Comment #90756 by black wolf on November 26, 2007 at 9:17 am

According to Buber, God exists as a manifestation of a relationship with God driven by the urge to build a relationship with God. Ye Olde Mindefuk, Horatio.

533. That's not MY God or Religion you're criticising

Comment #90753 by black wolf on November 26, 2007 at 9:12 am

that is a great question what does the word "exist" mean when it is said "God exists" or "God doesnt exist".

While you're at it, how do you define 'doesn't'? And what do the spaces in between your words actually mean?

534. Rock of Ages, Ages of Rock

Comment #90751 by black wolf on November 26, 2007 at 9:06 am

Ah, but the Ark was on the other side of the world to the Grand Canyon, miraculously shielded from all the mud.

The mud that carved the Grand Canyon was also, like, really really acidic or something. Or maybe it was something else. It was certainly miraculous.

Praise the Lord!

Thanks for clearing that up for all the unbelievers on this shrill site. Spred Teh Wurd of Trooth! Water is Good therefore mud is Clear!
Not. LOL Rly ;)

535. Rock of Ages, Ages of Rock

Comment #90742 by black wolf on November 26, 2007 at 8:39 am

Tyler: I wonder if they'll still get a free pass if they start torching public schools.
I mean, how blind can Justitia be? She's not carrying a sword for no reason. The scale has tipped.

536. The absurd world of Martin Amis

Comment #90738 by black wolf on November 26, 2007 at 8:31 am

You can wander straight through Washington with a sign denouncing Jesus, and be safe.

This reminds me of one Jackass episode where one of the guys dressed up in an obiously comic cheesy devil costume and carried a sign with the words 'Get Jesus out of Hollywood' and I think on the reverse side 'I'm really a nice guy'. Walking along a busy inner city street, it took about 2 minutes until a bloke walked up to him and started beating him up without even uttering a word.

537. Rock of Ages, Ages of Rock

Comment #90729 by black wolf on November 26, 2007 at 8:08 am

Philip1978, as another poster explained, they can comfortably confirm decent science and agree that Earth is 4.55 billion yrs old in their doctorate work, and then turn around and explain to their ignorant creatiomoronic audience that they lied just to get the degree from the 'scientistic world conspiracy'. If Jesus actually returned, they would sit down with him and explain to him how he was wrong and that lying is actually okay most of the time - lying to your audience, lying to the public on the media, lying to your children and to yourself. Because once you've told everybody the same lies, as they think revelation is knowledge and that makes it Truth(TM), it's not lying anymore. I think there should be laws prohibiting public lying, defining a lie as affirming disproven assertions.

538. Rock of Ages, Ages of Rock

Comment #90719 by black wolf on November 26, 2007 at 7:58 am

We still have so much to learn about psychology and how the human mind works.

Fascinating.

These people are not even morons, they're seriously indicative of a schizotypical psychosis in connection with relationship delusion. They should be institutionalized, as they are evidentially sociopathic characters. Why doesn't anyone have the guts to actually file for apprehension and institutionalization. My guess: they're afraid they'd have to take in 40% of the population. Methinks it would be easier to just wall off two or three states for them and then see if they can survive on prayer.

539. Stem cell breakthrough

Comment #90474 by black wolf on November 25, 2007 at 8:52 am

I look forward to the days in a few decades when any politician blabbing about how 'we' were created by some god, will meet responses from young adults who stand up and say, 'No, my friend. I know who created me, I know his name and address, and I can call him and actually hear his answers.'

540. Why Science Will Triumph Only When Theory Becomes Law

Comment #90095 by black wolf on November 22, 2007 at 9:33 pm

Ruht, how is cosmical evolution or biological evolution (as an outcome of the previous) finite? They are both infinite processes. A single life is finite, but its components are not. Every single atom of every living being and every nonliving thing is reused, often energetically changed and becomes part of something else again. Nothing that has evolved in this universe is truly finite in this universe. There is no contradiction.

541. Study: Babies can tell helpful, hurtful playmates

Comment #90070 by black wolf on November 22, 2007 at 4:44 pm

Psychologists have plenty of high-tech machines for peering into the mind yet all these researchers did was *ask the right question* and use wooden toys.

But they can never be sure until they've brought in the machine with the 'Ping!'.

542. Man-sized sea scorpion claw found

Comment #89822 by black wolf on November 21, 2007 at 8:07 pm

And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."

Apparently Jaekelopterus took this a bit too literally. 'Hey mom! Look at me! I'm filling the waters!'

543. For the glory of God

Comment #89820 by black wolf on November 21, 2007 at 7:59 pm

Of course islamic suicide bombing has more associated ideology than just the virgins. It's also about martyrdom. This not only provides instant entry to heaven, but also allows 70 chosen people to join in. Plus, a martyr's family receives donations and social security from the community. This last point is paralleled by the practice in Ceylon/Sri Lanka, where they even get a holiday dedicated to suicide fighters.

544. Interview with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #89116 by black wolf on November 19, 2007 at 6:22 pm

@ Harrison
thanks, so my eyes are still working correctly. :)

545. Georgia gets rain, but it may not help

Comment #89095 by black wolf on November 19, 2007 at 5:44 pm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-waldo-/pat-robertson-attributes-_b_72848.html

As you can read above in the article and the attached video, Pat Robertson Attributes Georgia Rain To Prayers and God, they're steadfast in their inanity. One may also comment on that site.

"The scientific community tends to think rain is a product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that is deposited on the earth's surface, forming when separate drops of water fall to the Earth's surface from clouds. But hey, what do they know? It's just as plausible that a mythical creature high in the skies shoots rain from his fingertips."

546. Interview with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #89092 by black wolf on November 19, 2007 at 5:27 pm

@ Barbara

Ah. Thanks. Guess he likes his hair color ;)

547. Judgement Day: Intelligent Design on Trial

Comment #89073 by black wolf on November 19, 2007 at 4:30 pm

By the way, I have a COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT of the video linked by scooternyc above. Mail me if you want one, or post a message here ;)

548. Judgement Day: Intelligent Design on Trial

Comment #89067 by black wolf on November 19, 2007 at 4:19 pm

evolvingalways, the catholic church is so moderate these days, they're not even advocating hell as true anymore. Today, you can ignore all those saints, miracles, burning bushes and all that and still be a loyal catholic, criticizing the pope and dumb African bishops all the while. They've evolved their rhetoric to make it appear they're deists who just think abortion isn't a good idea. There's just about nothing left but nebulous statements about morality, relativism and love, as Prof. Dawkins experienced on German television a few days ago.

549. Interview with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #89061 by black wolf on November 19, 2007 at 4:06 pm

... spirituality does not point to religion. Religion picks up spiritual ideas and channels them into a closed contemplative system. Our spirituality is a welcome product of the depth of our mind's capability. The cosmos and our little, beautiful planet's place in it are much more magnificent and awesome than the god religions would have us believe in could ever be. Our practical and spiritual duty is to find solutions to the widespread misery we allow a major part of our kind suffer, a misery which humanity has largely created itself. The more we can find out about the workings of our mind through contemplation and science, the closer we get to a solution without relating to supernatural claims about our existence.

This is the comment I left on their site, in response to another comment.

I don't know why the interviewer doesn't wear a yarmulke, perhaps it fell to the floor off-camera. Maybe that would be god's way of saying, 'Oh please, do you think that I would care about what people wear on their heads? I've got hundreds of planets to work on simultaneously, and the Alpha Centaurians are starting to wear false beards this minute.'

550. Ofcom backs Channel 4 over mosque probe

Comment #89055 by black wolf on November 19, 2007 at 3:42 pm

...police referred Undercover Mosque to Ofcom, complaining that intense editing had misrepresented those featured in the programme.

As they did this after they had 'investigated' the mosques, I suspect they fell for all the taqyia religion-of-peace and criminals-are-not-part-of-Islam BS. We have similar cases in Germany, and I hope the fact that our secret service is observing those communities will lead to prosecutions of any inciters of hate. On the other hand, our secret service has a history of hiring neo-nazis as informants for respective groups and actually promoting and protecting leading figures by covering up lighter infractions to catch the big fish. I'm concerned that a similar course of action (or rather inaction) may allow hate preachers to continue their despiccable work. It seems that police are trying not to alienate muslim communities until Osama shows up personally. Apparently religion is protected ('Respect our faith, infidel!') until they stone or behead someone on camera.