Comments by Tyler Durden

551. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158860 by Tyler Durden on April 11, 2008 at 6:03 am

9) Disappear when the questions about your "sources" get tough.

552. The simple falsehood at the heart of Expelled

Comment #158833 by Tyler Durden on April 11, 2008 at 5:15 am

iBELIEVEinJESUS,

Please lay out a 10-point plan for us on how "You're a christian if you believe in and obey Jesus' commands" and who you know that actually achieves this today.

Do you?

553. The simple falsehood at the heart of Expelled

Comment #158806 by Tyler Durden on April 11, 2008 at 4:00 am

And that Jesus actually existed.

554. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158798 by Tyler Durden on April 11, 2008 at 3:51 am

"Alms for an ex-leper?" :)

555. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158760 by Tyler Durden on April 11, 2008 at 2:45 am

Mark Mathis takes a hammering from the staff of Scientific American with regard to the content of "Expelled". Well worth a listen:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-conversation-with-mark-mathis

556. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #158258 by Tyler Durden on April 10, 2008 at 9:06 am

"In a previous blog posting, I pointed out that evolution is not scientific fact. It's a theory and nothing more."

kjmastaw,

I wonder if you believe that relativity is also "a theory and nothing more."

Do you accept E=mc2?
What about the fact that moving clocks are measured to tick more slowly than an observer's "stationary" clock?

Do you also think that gravity is "a theory and nothing more."?? Perhaps you could take a walk off a tall building and let us know the result!

557. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158246 by Tyler Durden on April 10, 2008 at 8:54 am

Inane rambling #158237 by ASMarques:

A massive 2000 year conspiracy involving hundreds of millions of people that has not been refuted in all that time, with a mass of corroborating evidence to support it plus eyewitness and direct testimony that has not been recanted.

Hard for people who've been dead for 2,000 years to "recant" their testimony, don't you think.

Idiot.

558. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #158238 by Tyler Durden on April 10, 2008 at 8:46 am

Comment #158182 by kjmastaw

It occured to me that, for a group of people who claim to be anti-religion, you've set up quite a nice one here.

Wrong. I don't believe in God/gods. You've simply made an assumption based on your limited knowledge of what you've read here. Not very scientific, now is it?

Try reading some more before commenting.

You wait for your high-priest, Richard to write your scripture, deliver your homily, and then out you go out, self-satified, into the world wearing your armor or rightousness.

Wrong again. I was an atheist way before I'd even heard of Richard or read any of his books.

You're 0 for 2. One hell of an impressive debut, congrats!

559. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158195 by Tyler Durden on April 10, 2008 at 7:38 am

Yawn!

560. Fleabytes

Comment #158145 by Tyler Durden on April 10, 2008 at 6:12 am

I'm BAEOZ and so is my wife! :)

561. Fleabytes

Comment #158105 by Tyler Durden on April 10, 2008 at 4:28 am

Philip,

I was just about to cut/paste that quote from IMDb, damn you!! ;-)

562. Thy will be done

Comment #154281 by Tyler Durden on April 3, 2008 at 3:54 am

Another point is that those who don't wish to take part can wait in the corridor outside the council chamber for a couple of minutes and help themselves to a cup of tea.

Hold on a sec here. Why should people be put out because of some superstitous ritual? If you want to pray, do it on your own time. Not that it'll make any difference, as we all know - prayer doesn't work.

Although I'd be open to hearing accounts from any theists where it did work. Fides, any good prayer stories?

563. Fleabytes

Comment #153954 by Tyler Durden on April 2, 2008 at 9:07 am

mixmastergaz,

Ooh, ooh, play "Leper Messiah" by Metallica :)

564. Vatican: Islam surpasses Roman Catholicism as world's largest religion

Comment #153139 by Tyler Durden on April 1, 2008 at 5:36 am

When considering all Christians and not just Catholics, Christians make up 33 per cent of the world population, Formenti said.

And 47.2% of all statistics are made up on the spot - Steven Wright

565. Vatican: Islam surpasses Roman Catholicism as world's largest religion

Comment #153135 by Tyler Durden on April 1, 2008 at 5:23 am

Comment #153065 by irate_atheist

A case of 'who's got the biggest cult', eh?

irate, you did mean to type "cult", yes? Just checking as I would've spelt it differently :-)

566. Fleabytes

Comment #152592 by Tyler Durden on March 31, 2008 at 8:41 am

Anna,

And while your in Scotland, drop over to Dublin for a Guinness. Some women (and tourists) tend to have a glass of the black stuff instead of pints as it can be heavy going. Even worse, some tend to drink it with blackcurrant cordial/Ribena to take the edge off it. Sacrilege I tells ya :)

(Don't listen to hungarianelephant, Porterhouse Oyster Stout is just a poor version of Guinness! My liver is witness to that!!!)

567. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #152473 by Tyler Durden on March 31, 2008 at 5:53 am

Unfortunately, these faith-heads will rationalise it all away as "God's will". Either way, they win. Child survives = God's will. Child dies = God's will.

While watching an epidose of ER last night, I was annoyed and exasperated when a young mother claimed it "a miracle" when her son, having fallen into a frozen lake, was saved by a heart by-pass machine - and so it was "God's will" her son survived.

Nope, not a miracle, just science!

Of course in the same episode one doctor remarked about faith/God - "It doesn't have to make any sense, that's why it's called faith".

How right he was.

568. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #151107 by Tyler Durden on March 28, 2008 at 7:03 am

Online preacher comments on girl's death

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080328/WDH0101/803280742/1581/WDHnews

The founder of an online evangelical Christian ministry (Unleavened Bread Ministries) wrote on his Web site Thursday that he had spoken with Kara Neumann's parents the day before the girl died, and moments after. He also disputed police claims that Kara probably had been ill for up to 30 days and criticized the need for a criminal investigation.

David Eells, who is the head of Unleavened Bread Ministries and operates AmericasLastDays.com, wrote that he wanted "to clear up some misconceptions from what we know, which is little."

The Wausau Daily Herald reported Wednesday that Leilani Neumann, 11-year-old Kara's mother, had posted a story on the Web site about a month ago about her success in sharing the Holy Spirit with other members of her prayer group. The Daily Herald also reported that Eells' ministry professes that God has sole authority over healing and that it ridicules doctors as "more dangerous than gun owners."

Kara's parents, Dale and Leilani Neumann, contacted Eells on Saturday night asking him to pray for their daughter, Eells wrote Thursday on his Web site. "To my knowledge this was the first time I had spoken to them other than by a few e-mails over the last few years and posting a testimony on our site from their ministry. It has been reported that they are 'under' our ministry but they have had their own coffee house ministry for a few years in which they share the Gospel and we are glad of their work in The Lord."

He went on to write that members of his ministry "are not against doctors" for those who believe in seeking medical care. "But we know that the best one to trust in for healing is Jesus Christ."

Ah yes, the old "not my god" defence. What a filthy little maggot this David Eells is.

On the one hand he absolves himself and his "ministry" of any blame with regard to the death of Kara Neumann by distancing himself from her parents and their prayers, he then opines that "members of his ministry 'are not against doctors'" but then categorically states "But we know that the best one to trust in for healing is Jesus Christ."

Talk about flip-flopping!!! So, which one is it, you moron!!

569. Fleabytes

Comment #151024 by Tyler Durden on March 28, 2008 at 3:29 am

Comment #150930 by annabanana

I really enjoy guiness.

Anna, drop over to Dublin for pint of the black stuff, first 10 are on me :)

Best. Drink. Ever.

570. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #150714 by Tyler Durden on March 27, 2008 at 9:53 am

Anna,

Is this case getting primetime coverage in the states on channels like CNN?

571. Fleabytes

Comment #150694 by Tyler Durden on March 27, 2008 at 9:10 am

Although, hitting me with a rolled up newspaper might not necessarily discourage my behavior...

An ex-girlfriend of mine... nah, wrong time and place :)

572. Fleabytes

Comment #150682 by Tyler Durden on March 27, 2008 at 8:57 am

Well, we are currently 7078 comments in, sex had to come up at some stage :)

"I feel sex is a beautiful thing between two people. Between five, it's fantastic." Woody Allen

573. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #150602 by Tyler Durden on March 27, 2008 at 6:51 am

It just gets worse:

Mother: We didn't know

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080327/WDH0101/803270635/1581/WDHnews

Kara Neumann's mother, Leilani Neumann, told The Associated Press Wednesday she never expected her daughter, who she called Kara, to die. The family believes in the Bible, which says healing comes from God, but they are not crazy, religious people and have nothing against doctors, she said.

She said the family is not worried about the police investigation into her daughter's death because "our lives are in God's hands. We know we did not do anything criminal. We know we did the best for our daughter we knew how to do."

574. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #149766 by Tyler Durden on March 26, 2008 at 8:08 am

Irate,

Not to mention an Agrument from Ignorance.

bibanu,

The only thing you've proven is that you could not find anything anything about Mathis that suggests that he is a practicing Christian - it doesn't mean he isn't.

575. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #149750 by Tyler Durden on March 26, 2008 at 7:50 am

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080326/WDH0101/803260645&theme=WDHNEUMANN

The Rev. Ted Nelson, leader of Big Church Alive, a nondenominational church in Wausau, said "it's easy to judge a family for doing this or not doing that, but the bottom line is, they did what's best in their heart, and the result turned out to be bad."

"I would be the last one to condemn those parents for what they believe," Nelson said. "People are very sincere about their beliefs. But we can be sincerely wrong."

Idiot!

576. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #149677 by Tyler Durden on March 26, 2008 at 5:23 am

Comment #148713 by clearthinker on March 23, 2008 at 4:24 pm

Dr Dawkins,

Could you please tell us what Mark Mathis has to do with Jesus? How do you know his motivation for lying was 'for Jesus'?

David, must we explain everything to you?

Are you saying you don't mind Mark Mathis lying once it's not for Jesus?

577. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #149674 by Tyler Durden on March 26, 2008 at 5:17 am

wooter/clearmind,

Were you dropped on your head as a child?

Just wondering.

578. Report: 32% Of Prayers Deflected Off Passing Satellites

Comment #147410 by Tyler Durden on March 20, 2008 at 10:06 am

GAA Archbishop defends church appeal to curb Sunday sports

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/gaa-archbishop-defends-church-appeal-to-curb-sunday-sports-1315046.html

"The GAA's Honorary Patron, Archbishop Dermot Clifford of Cashel and Emly, has robustly parried a suggestion that the Catholic bishops scored "an own goal" in urging young people to pray and not play sports on Sunday mornings."

Are these clowns actually living in the real world? Seriously? It's not the 1950s, get over it.

579. God's cure for gays lost in sin

Comment #147404 by Tyler Durden on March 20, 2008 at 9:47 am

Scrabble is for wussies, try Risk, lots more fun. 15 armies into Kamchatka, whilst also trying to defend Australia and South America. Oh the fun! If you want to go all night, this is the way to do it :)

580. God's cure for gays lost in sin

Comment #147402 by Tyler Durden on March 20, 2008 at 9:40 am

Rachel,

What, no pillowfights? :)

(Damn, my fantasies pertaining to lesbians have been dashed, will need a thesaurus next time around)

581. Report: 32% Of Prayers Deflected Off Passing Satellites

Comment #147366 by Tyler Durden on March 20, 2008 at 8:22 am

Comment #147347 by Ygern

From that Examiner article:

"The most dramatic difference, however, is in the numbers attending mass or other religious service on a weekly basis. In 1981, the figure was 82%; in 1990, it was 81%; in 1999, it fell substantially to 59%; and in today's survey it has fallen again to a mere 45%."

45%?? Wow!

582. Fleabytes

Comment #147359 by Tyler Durden on March 20, 2008 at 8:06 am

Comment #147354 by Dr Benway

Crap. I'm late for a meeting. This site is like crack.

How very true! But don't they have programs to help you kick a crack habit? :-)

583. Fleabytes

Comment #147335 by Tyler Durden on March 20, 2008 at 7:22 am

Comment #147332 by mlearnedfriend

And who knows, maybe supernatural events do have their rules and laws?

Nope, that's just wishful thinking on your part. How would you propose to "test" the supernatural? Shall we watch "Ghostbusters" again, see how they did it?

Rules and laws when it comes to science are testable, predictable and open to falsification. How would this apply to the "supernatural"?? Examples, please.

584. Fleabytes

Comment #147326 by Tyler Durden on March 20, 2008 at 6:56 am

Comment #147324 by mixmastergaz

How can you be sure that these texts aren't what they appear to be: the comforting fireside tall-tales of ancient, superstitious and semi-literate desert shepherds?

Gaz,

That's just not fair, all the points you raised are pertinent, reasonable and logical - how do you expect David Robertson to respond to them, ya big meanie :)

585. Fleabytes

Comment #147273 by Tyler Durden on March 20, 2008 at 5:16 am

Billy,

Perhaps David needs an education in science, or if he does have an understaning of basic science, maybe just a refresher course. Now, who should we get for such a unenviable task, hmmm, how about that guy who's the Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University? :)

586. Fleabytes

Comment #147248 by Tyler Durden on March 20, 2008 at 4:34 am

Brian, you'll need to channel wooter to get any reaction around here :)

587. Fleabytes

Comment #147242 by Tyler Durden on March 20, 2008 at 4:22 am

Billy,

I know plenty of places, but David would have to want to get help first. Can't see that happening can you? He's more than happy with his head in the sand, and an audience of ignorant acolytes, telling them exactly what they want to hear.

And if he thinks his "table" analogy is somehow relevant, he's got a long way to go...

588. Fleabytes

Comment #147230 by Tyler Durden on March 20, 2008 at 3:49 am

Comment #147220 by clearthinker

But I confess my ignorance so I look forward to being enlightened.

Comment #147223 by Steve Zara

If you admit ignorance, why do you stand up and preach nonsense about it?

Because his audience is just as ignorant and more than happy to lap it up. If they did ever get themselves an education, Robertson would be out of work!

589. Religion 'linked to happy life'

Comment #146754 by Tyler Durden on March 19, 2008 at 11:06 am

Al,

When I were a young lad, me old Mum used to tell me that when people died it was becasue "Holy God wanted them back in Heaven with him."

I always found that answer peculiarly seflish, especialy for a "God" - and I was just a kid.

Aren't people supposed to grow out of such candy-floss, hairy-fairy, woo-woo answers to life and death? Guess not.

590. God's cure for gays lost in sin

Comment #146665 by Tyler Durden on March 19, 2008 at 9:10 am

Al,

I'd only opt for a documentary over lesbian porn if said documentary was about the lesbian porn industry :)

591. God's cure for gays lost in sin

Comment #146563 by Tyler Durden on March 19, 2008 at 7:37 am

Where's Mitchel and his avatar when you need it? :)

592. First 'Rule' Of Evolution Suggests That Life Is Destined To Become More Complex

Comment #146043 by Tyler Durden on March 18, 2008 at 2:07 pm

And the first rule of Fight Club is - You do not talk about Fight Club!

I'll get me coat :)

593. Religion 'linked to happy life'

Comment #146036 by Tyler Durden on March 18, 2008 at 1:56 pm

Wow. What a hackneyed piece of dross!

A belief in God could lead to a more contented life, research suggests.

So, it could lead to a more contented life, then again, maybe it couldn't. Oh, and alcohol is bad for your liver. Film at 11 :-)

And research suggests this. It only suggests it? Doesn't claim or assert? Or prove. Or even affirm. Strange.

"These findings are consistent with other studies which suggest that religion does have a positive effect, although there are other views which say that religion can lead to self-doubt, and failure, and thereby have a negative effect."

So what you're saying is that you don't actually know, and it could be either. Well, thanks for clearing that one up for us.

Their findings, they said, suggested that religion could offer a "buffer" which protected from life's disappointments.

Isn't delusion just wonderful? Yes, and I'm sure the ostrich with his head in the sand is just feeling dandy up until the point where he gets shot in the ass or run over by a 4x4 out on safari.

"A large part of it is due to the meaning, purpose and value which believing in God gives you, whereas not believing in God can leave you without those things." Justin Thacker, head of Theology for the Evangelical Alliance

Wow, guess I'll just end it all now. What's the point? I've no "meaning, purpose and value" left in my life. Boo hoo. Where's the nearest cliff?

And all because I don't believe in ~~Santa Claus~~ god. Sure, that following Christmas sure was tough knowing there was no Santa but I got over it, and it gave me a purpose - to tell everyone else there was no Santa, esp my younger siblings :-)

Living in the real world sure can be tough sometimes, I guess these clowns would rather avoid all that and live with their head in the clouds or up their own ass!

"The gods offer no rewards for intellect. There was never one yet that showed any interest in it." Mark Twain

594. New Atheists Are Not Great

Comment #145938 by Tyler Durden on March 18, 2008 at 10:54 am

Comment #145736 by fides_et_ratio

One of the things I'm grateful to this site for, is that it points me in the direction of so many valuable resources. I've just visited chirstianitytoday.com

fides, if that's the type of "valuable resources" you pick up from this site then you've got your head further up your ass then I originally thought!

Doesn't your imaginary celestial dictator want you to learn, or do you wallow in ignorance of your own accord??

595. Fleabytes

Comment #145901 by Tyler Durden on March 18, 2008 at 9:37 am

Comment by "clearthinker"

I guess I am motivated by the following a) personal experience and love for Jesus Christ.

Comment #144990 by "clearthinker"

5238 - Tyler
David, are you saying the you have "personal experience" of Jesus Christ?
If so, do tell.

Or that you're motivated by your personal experiences in life

Both.

So, David Robertson thinks The Universe revolves around Jesus Christ and he actually has "personal experience" of him.

Amazing. The cognitive dissonance required to even type that is just incredible, never mind actually believing it.

596. Richard Dawkins on The Alan Colmes Show

Comment #145208 by Tyler Durden on March 17, 2008 at 11:16 am

Comment #145065 by fides_et_ratio

'I doubt if any educated intelligent person really believes in God.'

'There are about 3 or 4 good scientists in Britain who are genuinely religious.'

I wonder how RD reconciles these two opposing statements. Any suggestions?

Er, they're deluded. Duh!

597. Fleabytes

Comment #143707 by Tyler Durden on March 14, 2008 at 10:07 am

Brian, no worries :)

Here's what yer man tried to pawn off on me as "proof":

From an interview with Ben Stein :

"Finally, he is asked how life could have originated presuming that God does not exist. He begins to explain Darwinian Natural Selection but is asked to back up to how life began in the first place. Taking a page straight out of Francis Crick's atheist escapism playbook - he proposes Directed Panspermia. He lucidly explains, beyond any obscurity, that alien civilizations could have developed to the point of gaining the ability to seed life on earth. This is a theory for the intelligent design of life on earth! What then is the next logical question? How did life originate on that alien world? Prof. Dawkins explains that he believes that it was through Darwinian mechanisms."

Have they no shame?

598. Fleabytes

Comment #143696 by Tyler Durden on March 14, 2008 at 10:00 am

Brian,

I had a similar experience online yesterday from a guy named "stephen" who brought up the interview of RD by Ben Stein in "Explled" as, ahem, "proof" that RD believed in Directed Panspermia.

Here's what Roland_F sent me on:

'The ancestor's tale' page 563 : Francis Crick, no less, has speculated semi-seriously in "Life itself" that bacteria might not have originated on this planet but been seeded from elsewhere. In Cricks fantasy, they were sent in the nose-cone of a rocket by alien beings, who wanted to propagate their form of life, but shrank from technically harder problems of transporting themselves and relied, instead, upon natural evolution to finish the job once the bacterial infection had taken root. Crick and his colleague Leslie Orgel, who originally suggested the idea with him, supposed that the bacteria had originally evolved by natural process on the home planet, but they could equally, while in the mood for science fiction, have added a touch of nanotechnological artifice to the mix, perhaps a molecular gearwheel like the flagellar motor which we see in Rhizobium and many other bacteria.

599. Fleabytes

Comment #143668 by Tyler Durden on March 14, 2008 at 9:43 am

Comment #143661 by MetroCalvinist

more accurate in its presentation of Jesus Christ to Scotland

James,

Can you tell me exactly how do you aim to achieve this feat?

Thanks.

600. I don't believe in atheists

Comment #143627 by Tyler Durden on March 14, 2008 at 8:58 am

So you think that Hitchens, Dawkins and Harris are just shills for a neocon agenda?

Well, Dawkins is a little different, because he's British. But looking at our own homegrown version of new atheism, yes. Hitchens and Harris do for the neocon agenda in a secular way what the religious right does in a so-called religious way.

Does he realise Hitch was born in Portsmouth, England?

Yes, he is currently holds US citzenship but how is he less British than Dawkins when it comes to giving his opinion prior to 2007?