Comments by decius

Comment #258929 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 2:01 pm

Actually, this is the last place where one would expect to find support for sharia in any form; be it direct, indirect, diluted or even considered as a serious possibility.

I will only say one final, uncompromising word, and I won't bother to discuss this any further.

Enlightenment

502. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258920 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 1:56 pm

Comment #258909 by hawt4dawk

What a sad loser. Did he beat you up, or was he just abusing you psychologically?

503. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258864 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 12:39 pm

Al,

here you go.

http://www.trinicenter.com/WorldNews/ghandi4.htm

504. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258862 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 12:34 pm

Comment #258843 by hawt4dawk

I guess so.

505. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258859 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 12:32 pm

Al,

You can find the full articles if you google a bit.
There are also unbiased biographies around.

You may want to watch this episode of Bullshit!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuMmg9vLNw4

506. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258855 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 12:25 pm

Comment #258849 by Mitchell Gilks

Though you also have to consider the time in which he lived. It isn't an excuse, but almost everyone were racists, even the far left.

True. Yet Oscar Wilde, when he visited the US some four decades earlier, refused to sit in segregated train carriages and joined the black people.
Here you have a shining example of integrity who ended his days persecuted for his homosexuality, and to-date has been barely rehabilitated, while Gandhi is so revered (through falsehoods) mostly because he was a religious leader.

507. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258844 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 12:15 pm

May be I should add reference, since I dropped the bomb.

Nothing could be farther from the truth that Gandhi fought against Apartheid, which many propagandists in later years wanted people to believe. He was all in favor of continuation of White domination and the oppression of Blacks in South Africa.

In the Indian Opinion of March 25, 1905, Gandhi wrote on a Bill regulating fire-arms: "In the instance of fire-arms, the Asiatic has been most improperly bracketed with the natives. The British Indian does not need any such restrictions as are imposed by the Bill on the natives regarding the carrying of fire-arms. The prominent race can remain so by preventing the native from arming himself. Is there the slightest vestige of justification for so preventing the British Indians?"

Gandhi always advised Indians not to align with other political groups in either colored or African communities. He was strongly opposed to the commingling of races. In the Indian Opinion of September 4, 1904, Gandhi wrote: "Under my suggestion, the Town Council (of Johannesburg) must withdraw the Kaffirs from the Location. About this mixing of the Kaffirs with the Indians I must confess I feel most strongly. It think it is very unfair to the Indian population, and it is an undue tax on even the proverbial patience of my countrymen."

In the Indian Opinion of September 24, 1903, Gandhi said: "We believe as much in the purity of races as we think they (the Whites) do...by advocating the purity of all races."

Again on December 24, 1903, in the Indian Opinion Gandhi stated that: "so far as British Indians are concerned, such a thing is particularly unknown. If there is one thing which the Indian cherishes more than any other, it is purity of type."

When he was fighting on behalf of Indians, he was not fighting for all the Indians, but only for his rich merchant class upper caste Hindus!

In the Anglo-Boer War of 1899, Gandhi, in spite of his own belief that truth was on the side of the Boers, formed an ambulance unit in support of the British forces. He was very earnest about taking up arms and laying down his life for his beloved Queen. He led his men on to the battlefield and received a War Medal.

Gandhi joined in the orgy of Zulu slaughter when the Bambata Rebellion broke out.

508. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258839 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 12:10 pm

Comment #258834 by Mitchell Gilks

I made Ghandi look fascist.

Sorry if I misunderstand you, but these Gandhi myths get on my nerves, just like all mythology.
It's not very difficult to make Gandhi look like a fascist.

Gandhi was a Hindu supremacists and wrote racist articles for South African pro-apartheid papers.

509. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258831 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 12:01 pm

Comment #258821 by Steve Zara

I think the rights of others is my business. There should not be formally recognised courts in the UK that don't operate according to national standards even if people chose to use them.

I totally agree.

510. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258829 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 11:57 am

Hungarian

I didn't really make it up, but I have expressed myself poorly, forgive my ignorance of technical language.
However, you understood what I meant. I think it was the principle which, for instance, made it possible for women to be granted the right of citizenship, in the late 18th century.

511. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258822 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 11:39 am

Hawt

Thanks. Replied.

512. Why I left Young-earth Creationism

Comment #258757 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 10:37 am

I was on the very verge of becoming an atheist.

God forbid! What a repulsive idea.

513. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258744 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 10:20 am

Comment #258740 by Peacebeuponme

It's undeniable that a conspicuous number suffer from it, and that should suffice to take the problem seriously.

514. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258738 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 10:12 am

Comment #258733 by Peacebeuponme

because we have to think about the mental state of anyone wishing to be killed and eaten.

Precisely. And we are back to my original point. The psychological state of women subjected to life-long patriarchal oppression.

I agree on suicide, but that's another point altogether.

515. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258724 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 10:02 am

Comment #258715 by hungarianelephant

what rights of the citizenry are supposedly being abrogated?

- Juridical equality. Inherently denied throughout sharia. (Inherently denied by dual systems of justice, too).

- The right of being regarded as a citizen first, and not as a member of a religious or ethnic group.

Your point circles around a blurry willingness of people to submit to whatever they choose. By the same token, one day, someone like the German cannibal won't have to be sentenced for murder, because he found a victim willing to be butchered and eaten.

Edited for grammar

516. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258712 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 9:54 am

Comment #258708 by Old Sarum

The sort of unimaginitive cynic who tends to squeeze any potential joy out of life

Like the joy of women oppression, the joy of theocracy, the joy of ignorance and indoctrination.

517. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258707 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 9:50 am

Comment #258704 by hungarianelephant

I'm talking about a world where people are left alone to sort things out for themselves,

Which is not what the idea of state and community is all about. The weak, the sick and the oppressed cannot fend for themselves by definition.

518. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258696 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 9:42 am

Comment #258686 by hungarianelephant

Sorry but the Commonwealth has pre-existing, properly legislated, well-publicised laws about what constitutes law and rights of the citizenry.

If I am not mistaken, Canada's juridical and political system is broadly the same as UK's. Why is it that there the muslims had to apply for sharia courts, and had their request democratically rejected, while in the UK they simply established them without asking anyone?

519. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258668 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 9:15 am

Comment #258649 by hungarianelephant

Seriously, what are you objecting to

If I wanted to import exotic game meat products and set up shop in the market square, I would have to apply for permission, at least twice.
I couldn't simply sell it once in order to set a precedent and then declare that the onus to prove the meat unsafe for consumption is on the community.
Why should it be different for an even more delicate entity, bound to affect the lives of a conspicuous minority of citizens?

I have absolutely no idea whether this is true or not. What I can say is that you would also be forbidden from introducing many aspects of sharia,

The Codice Barbaricino is an oral juridical code that originated with the ancient Sardinian bandits, and is still in use in rural areas of the island. It's way fairer to women than sharia (i.e. anyone who hurts a woman must be harshly punished, often by death).
Even amending the most brutal tit-for-tat parts, some of its inherent hierarchical and feudal principles are at odds with the secular well-established principle of JURIDICAL EQUALITY.
The same with sharia, yet for the sake of religious sensitivities, some are willing to bend over backwards and forego one of the most important conquest of the Enlightenment.

Naturally, even amending the Barbaricino of all its 'bad' parts, no one would hear of rules created by bandits, although those bandits were capable of living more honourably than Mohammed the paedophile and wife-beater and his acolytes.

520. Those fanatical atheists

Comment #258646 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 8:47 am

Comment #258638 by al-rawandi

My curiosity keeps impinging here... what is the point of all this, to prove there is a gray area? Okay a gray area, so what... worldwide flood?

Okay a gray area, so [insert random bible verse here].

521. Those fanatical atheists

Comment #258634 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 8:34 am

I didn't notice it, at first.

A one in a million is very likely to occur after a million trials.

The gambler's fallacy! ROTFL

522. Those fanatical atheists

Comment #258632 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 8:31 am

Comment #258630 by mjr1007

A one in a million is very likely to occur after a million trials.

When I was in college my roommate flip a coin 100 times.

Vanishingly small, VANISHINGLY SMALL.
You are so clueless that it's painful to watch.

523. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258603 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 7:49 am

Comment #258570 by hungarianelephant

But unless you can show that it works better without Sharia courts, you don't have an argument for departing from the usual rule that people can settle their disputes how they want.

This is hard-core libertarianism. Forgive me, but the phrase begins a false premise and ends with a non sequitur. I won't address the ideological content, you are entitled to it.

The sharia courts have been introduced surreptitiously without due political and democratic process. Therefore the onus is not now on the community to demonstrate that the system works better without them.

Secondly, people can settle their dispute as they want - within limits. If I wanted to introduce the equally ancient juridical code called Barbaricino - which is fairer than sharia, by the way - I am absolutely certain that I would be forbidden to do so.
However, this rather weird, and uniquely British, piece of legislation does not trump the principle of juridical equality to which sharia intrinsically constitutes a menace, for the two major reasons already explained earlier in the thread.

524. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258560 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 7:03 am

Comment #258559 by Peacebeuponme

Then since rape exists, we better all stop having sex.

Non sequitur, pay more attention. :)

525. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #258554 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 6:59 am

Comment #258545 by Philip1978

Cheers, mate.

526. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258552 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 6:56 am

Comment #258546 by Peacebeuponme

allowing two consenting adults

Sorry, we are unable to monitor and establish with certitude that the adults in question are indeed consenting.

All available facts point to quite the opposite situation, when women are involved in the proceedings.

Protecting the rights of the weak is far more important than any other accessory consideration.

And PZ said the greatest words of wisdom on this matter: Ancient bigotries and ignorance should not be granted any kind of legal authority.

527. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258548 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 6:51 am

PZ just blogged on this act of censorship.

He concluded:

And, by the way, legislating shari'a into power is not tolerance, nor is opposing it intolerance. Ancient bigotries and ignorance should not be granted any kind of legal authority.

Ditto

528. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #258544 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 6:47 am

Actually, I was kind of hoping that the rethuglicans had developed a sense of humour.

529. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258531 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 6:28 am

Comment #258529 by hungarianelephant

Honestly, I didn't mean it as such, I just oversimplified. Sorry, anyway.

530. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258525 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 6:19 am

Titania

Excellent programme!

Enjoy yourself.

531. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258517 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 6:11 am

For the sake of consistency, I suppose that the group of posters in favour of sharia do also support sectarian schools.

Or do you, guys?

532. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258500 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 5:47 am

Comment #258490 by Peacebeuponme

In any society, civil disputes are bound the emerge and arbitrations will be necessary.
Civil law is integral part of western civilisation, was formalised by the Romans and refined ever since.

Only the state has the economical means to oversee civil justice and the authority to settle controversies and enforce judgements.

You simply cannot leave all that into the hands of the people, the bullies will prevail. Look back at feudal Europe and you will realise as much.

(The term hyper-liberal stood for something that wants to pass itself as promoting progressive ideas, while disregarding pre-existing fundamental principles such as human rights or basic tenets of civilisation, thus negating its own self-professed liberal nature.

Self-loathing is to me anyone or anything which, in the name of ideological multiculturalism, denies the moral superiority of the values of the Enlightenment over primitive systems).

533. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258489 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 5:31 am

A general reminder, since words are sometimes used inappropriately, in this discussion:

Equality before the law or equality under the law or legal egalitarianism is the principle under which each individual is subject to the same laws, with no individual or group having special legal privileges. Legal egalitarianism admits no class structures entail separate legal practices. Thus, canon law, star chambers, and aristocracy are alike forbidden, and the testimony of all persons is counted with the same weight. This political development arose in the 18th century in both the United States and France after their revolutionary periods. It was a radical development, as it negated the former feudal and aristocratic foundations.

534. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258484 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 5:16 am

Comment #258482 by Peacebeuponme

Likewise, I appreciate yours.

I wrote it calmly and deliberately, not emotionally nor hysterically. It is a calm and deliberate invective against the undermining of the principle of equality, and the unfortunate ideas that generate these misguided post-modernist views.

I cannot see how setting up two parallel justice systems, one especially designed for a religious group, can be called equality.

Please explain to me.

535. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258479 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 5:01 am

Comment #258477 by hungarianelephant

I for one am sick of seeing Muslims treated like children who are incapable of thinking for themselves. It is bad enough that the government ignores abuses in Muslim communities because of cultural sensitivities, i.e. these savages cannot be expected to live up to the normal principles of civilised society and must be treated differently.Let's not make this worse by telling them that their way of resolving civil disputes is uniquely in need of supervision by Nanny.

Sorry, this is contradiction.

I agree with your principles of equality and precisely because of those we should regard them first and foremost as citizens, not as muslims, and they should comply with the law of the land, not being allowed to set up their own savage courts.

536. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258476 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 4:53 am

Comment #258469 by hungarianelephant

(What ruling? Am I missing something?)

I meant the sharia proceeding. For instance, the dowry taken away, the woman realising only afterwards that she has been cheated, double mess etc. When everything could be settled fair-and-square by a British tribunal in a single instance.

But banning Sharia courts (however exactly this is supposed to work)

As it worked before this travesty appeared, and as it does all over the world. One system for all citizens. Hardly a novelty.

f someone is going to be intimidated into not appealing a Sharia court ruling in a civil court, how likely is it that they will not be intimidated into initiating a civil action where there is no Sharia court to go to?

That's always a danger, we should in fact inform and empower women, and establish support agencies.
However, it's far more likely that a woman who has made up her mind will find her way to a real tribunal, if we leave only that option available.

537. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258467 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 4:16 am

Comment #258465 by stephenray

I didn't miss it.
The distinction you make wasn't introduced and is not on the table as we speak. We have the option to make our voice heard, and splitting hairs isn't going to help.

You do, in fact, indirectly apologise for islam, since sharia is directly based on islamic principles.

I don't need to know ALL of fucking sharia to be absolutely sure that it's far more important to guarantee everybody equal treatment in front of the law, than to allow pseudo-intellectual hyper-liberal self-loathing counter-enlightenment multicultural drivel to poison the progress of the past three centuries.

538. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258461 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 3:55 am

PBUM, Hungarian.

We agree on the crucial point, then.

I submit to you, that, in most cases, it will prove impossible to monitor how a woman is dragged in front of a sharia court. Even more so after the ruling was passed.

You have to take a step back and look at the issue from the POV of the underprivileged women who grew up in a patriarchal family, who have been afforded no education, who are chastised for even daring to speak out and brutalised for any sign of rebellion.

You meet them every day in the streets, coerced to cover themselves from head to toe, denied by some bearded illiterate bully of their own femininity. Do you really think that women would hang around looking like heaps of rags out of free choice? (If you believe this, you completely and utterly fail to understand the opposite sex).

If they are denied the most basic of their rights: their IDENTITY, how can you dream that they will be granted equal treatment in a sharia court, or awarded the right to choose where marital disputes should be settled?

Come on, boys, let's stand up for the women who had the misfortune to be born in a neolithic community. Fucking sign.

539. Petition YouTube for Pat Condell

Comment #258443 by decius on October 2, 2008 at 3:14 am

Comment #258420 by stephenray

You totally miss the point.

Women may be coerced in private to submit to sharia courts, through violence, peer-pressure, disinformation etc. The only way to assure that this doesn't happen is to guarantee them the FULL PROTECTION of the British law.

Stop apologising for fucking Islam, for goodness sake. There is no 'baby' there, there is an abomination.

540. The world according to Hitchens

Comment #258206 by decius on October 1, 2008 at 3:16 pm

Frankus

Very interesting story. I think I am going to buy one or more of his books.

I've found Yahia's channel on youtube.
He takes a very dim view of Bush and the war, in spite that he got off Ouday's claws because of the invasion.

541. Those fanatical atheists

Comment #258183 by decius on October 1, 2008 at 2:32 pm

Comment #258179 by mjr1007

Interestingly enough, there were never any proper citations from the Atheist side on the whole Occam's Razor debacle.

What citations do you need?

OR is a tool which has been successfully employed to weed out bad ideas way before its principle was thus formalised: numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.

Either you understand how it works, either you don't.

Most of the posters here think with their own head, they don't parrot citations. Live with it.

542. Do We Live in a Giant Cosmic Bubble?

Comment #258154 by decius on October 1, 2008 at 1:32 pm

Comment #258146 by Ty_Webb

Are we really able to detect supernovae at further away than a billion light years?

Yes, they normally outshine the galaxy that contains them.
Some have been detected as far away as 11 billion ly (thus equally old).

543. Those fanatical atheists

Comment #258139 by decius on October 1, 2008 at 1:05 pm

Comment #258135 by Steve Zara

Nice pics, Steve.

Xena is extremely cute. The little bird is a specimen of Regulus regulus, the smallest European bird.

544. Those fanatical atheists

Comment #258129 by decius on October 1, 2008 at 12:52 pm

Comment #258121 by Steve Zara

I am an equal-opportunity anti-Goddist. I am harsher even than Richard Dawkins. Deists will come in for my attack too.

But if he pulls out BigFoot or the leprechauns, leave him to me. Don't be greedy.

545. Do We Live in a Giant Cosmic Bubble?

Comment #258108 by decius on October 1, 2008 at 12:30 pm

Comment #258099 by Steve Zara

Yes, but he said 'universe'.

546. Do We Live in a Giant Cosmic Bubble?

Comment #258100 by decius on October 1, 2008 at 12:26 pm

Comment #258092 by Swordmaiden

Try this one.

547. Do We Live in a Giant Cosmic Bubble?

Comment #258094 by decius on October 1, 2008 at 12:19 pm

Comment #258090 by aprocess

It could be that, while we think its getting bigger, the Universe is collapsing

I think it would result in blueshifted as opposed to redshifted doppler effect, if that were the case.

548. Earliest reference describes Christ as 'magician'

Comment #258080 by decius on October 1, 2008 at 12:08 pm

This is old news.

Rowan Atkinson got it right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTzXJMU1sLc

549. Those fanatical atheists

Comment #258062 by decius on October 1, 2008 at 11:54 am

Comment #258051 by Steve Zara

You should know from past threads it is

WWSZHD... it's HUSBAND!

They didn't want to scare him off. The full non-sequitur goes:

I don't need to show the most reasonable interpretation of the evidence, just a reasonable interpretation, therefore jesus, therefore homosexuality is a sin.

550. Those fanatical atheists

Comment #257990 by decius on October 1, 2008 at 10:15 am

Brother epeeist

your metagods theory is bulletproof. Not only does my numerological research confirm it, but it reveals that your role as high priest of this new religion is written in your name.

You entered: epeeist

Your Soul Urge number is: 6

A Soul Urge number of 6 means:
With a number 6 Soul Urge, you would like to be appreciated for your ability to handle responsibility. Your home and family are likely to be a strong focus for you, perhaps the strongest focus of your life. Friendship, love, and affection are high on your list of priorities for a happy life. You have a lot of diplomatic tendencies in your makeup, as you a able to rectify and balance situations with an innate skill. You like working with people rather than by yourself. It is extremely important for you to have harmony in your environment at all times.

The positive side of the 6 Soul Urge produces a huge capacity for responsibility; you are always there and ready to assume more than your share of the load. If you possess positive 6 Soul Urges and express them, you are known for your generosity, understanding and deep sympathetic attitude. Strong 6 energy is very giving of love, affection, and emotional support. You may have the inclination to teach or serve your community in other idealistic ways. You have natural abilities to help people. You are also likely to have artistic and creative leanings.

If you have an over-supply of 6 energy in your makeup, you may express some of the negative traits common to this number. With such a strong sympathetic attitude, it is easy to become too emotional. Sometimes the desires to render help can be over done, and it can become interfering and an attitude that is too protective, rather than helpful. The person with too much 6 energy often finds that people tend to take advantage of this very giving spirit. You may tend to repress your own needs so that you can cater to the demands from others. At times, there may be a tendency in this, for becoming over-loaded with such demands, and as a result become resentful.

http://www.paulsadowski.com/NameData.asp