601. Bright Chunks At Phoenix Lander's Mars Site Must Have Been Ice

Comment #198181 by Vaal on June 23, 2008 at 10:15 am

Maverickman

Brilliant avatar. How did you do it? Looks like a David Roberston debate :-))

602. On this Day: Galileo Sentenced for Believing Sun Is Center of Universe

Comment #197709 by Vaal on June 22, 2008 at 2:14 pm

The church is still debating that the Earth isn't going around the sun?

Mordatious1

Yes, and it took 475 years for the pope to issue a half-assed apology

Yep, not exactly a hot line to God is it? Also, Darth Ratzinger has being trying to absolve the Church of their responsibility recently.

603. What Happens When a School Board of Religious Zealots Will 'Lie for Jesus'?

Comment #197671 by Vaal on June 22, 2008 at 1:13 pm

Come on decius

No doubt about that one... Ben Stein!

604. What Happens When a School Board of Religious Zealots Will 'Lie for Jesus'?

Comment #197664 by Vaal on June 22, 2008 at 1:01 pm

AllanW

You are absolutely right :-)

Jodie Foster? How about it?

605. Oystein Elgaroy - the Christian defender who became an Atheist

Comment #197649 by Vaal on June 22, 2008 at 12:29 pm

Teratornis

I agree cycling is one of the best ways of getting fit. When I lived in Sydney, my cycling route was very hilly, but I was in peak condition. I hated it to start, but quite looked forward to it in the end. When I changed jobs and took the ferry across the harbour to work, I got a lot less fit, but I have to say, it was a wonderful way to start the day.

At present, I am cycling to work and trying to reduce my driving to essentials. However, that is more because I am absolutely determined not to give that pirate Gordon Brown an extra brass cent in tax!

606. What Happens When a School Board of Religious Zealots Will 'Lie for Jesus'?

Comment #197636 by Vaal on June 22, 2008 at 12:08 pm

I hope this book is made into a film. It will show exactly the campaign of deceit perpetrated by the Cretinists. A film could be a much more powerful vehicle of information than a book, unfortunately.

Tom Hanks? How about it?

607. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197625 by Vaal on June 22, 2008 at 11:52 am

Fanusi

Is that correct, the article from Churchill? My goodness. You should publish it as a comment on the Independent article. Can you imagine if they tried to convict Churchill if he was alive today of this "hate" crime.

Yes, I agree about subsidizing some of the great works of the dissidents, I regard Ayaan Hirsi's book "Infidel", as up there with Anne Frank. It should be required reading in school.

608. 'I despise Islamism': Ian McEwan faces backlash over press interview

Comment #197599 by Vaal on June 22, 2008 at 11:11 am

Good. About time some people grew a backbone and describe Islamism as it is. No doubt some demented mullah will stamp a fatwah on him, as they do on anyone who dares to criticize their backward religion. The more journalists and writers who stand up and confront medieval Islam and challenge the nonsense of "Islamaphobia" and the ludicrous call of racism the better.

I wonder how Winston Churchill, if he was alive today, would describe the cancer of aggressive fundamentalist Islam? I suspect he wouldn't pull any punches!

609. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #197423 by Vaal on June 22, 2008 at 2:58 am

Wheres clearthinker this morning? He is normally back on Sundays shortly after bleating to the flock, wielding his sword of inanity on the "unbelievers".

Maybe he has taken on board the points that several people have made about it being a sin posting on the Sabbath. Better get my beard and buy some stones ready for the stoning!

I will beat you to it David. We are all fundamentalist atheists and YOU believe, so we are all immoral and can't see the evidence that doesn't exist. There you are, saved you the bother, back to the sheep.... baa baa...

610. Rapture site sends unbelievers their last chance ... via email

Comment #197184 by Vaal on June 21, 2008 at 9:56 am

Has anyone wondered what would happen to poor Jesus if he did return? I suspect that he would either be put into an asylum, or the Evangelists would accuse him of blasphemy, or the Muslims would try to chop his head off.

What would be the litmus test? If he can change water to wine, he can stay at my house as long as he wants!

611. Bright Chunks At Phoenix Lander's Mars Site Must Have Been Ice

Comment #196718 by Vaal on June 20, 2008 at 11:21 am

5. Comment #196703 by scottishgeologist

am old enough to remember growing up in the late 60s early 70s when the Moon missions were happening. What an exciting time for a child with an interest in science that was!

Me too. I remember the first Mariner probes going past Mars, and how disappointed the astronomers were. Also, when Viking first landed. Awesome!

Now, we can just look at pictures taken of Mars and Saturn on the Internet every day, images that you could hardly have conceived of, and just take it for granted. What a wonderful time to be alive!

612. Bright Chunks At Phoenix Lander's Mars Site Must Have Been Ice

Comment #196713 by Vaal on June 20, 2008 at 11:13 am

4. Comment #196690 by 35bluejacket

God please...let them find a bone. Any kind of bone

Would have been put there by Satan of course!

613. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates

Comment #196666 by Vaal on June 20, 2008 at 10:08 am

161. Comment #196654 by al-rawandi

But half my family is from New Zealand. I want to know should I feel guilty about Native Americans, Maoris, or both?

So, Al, does this mean that you should feel collective guilt about the Maori's colonizing NZ (the land of the long white cloud) and eating the poor old Mori Ori's :-)

614. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates

Comment #196643 by Vaal on June 20, 2008 at 9:24 am

I don't see any point in going over actions taken in the past by countries colonizing others. All of them had their hands dirty, and colonialism was regarded in those days as an acceptable policy, not least to spread Christianity. I don't think we can turn the Zeitgeist of modern times back to 200 years ago or longer. Most people then would just not recognise it as being a bad thing at all. I expect that they regarded the indigenous populations as pests, and that it was now their land by conquest. They were bringing civilisation and Christianity to the heathens.

However, it is horrendous to read about it now. I was shocked when I read "bury your heart at wounded knee", and many other stories such as the appalling destruction of the cultures of Polynesia by the missionaries. The genocide of the Tasmanian aborigines etc. All countries have a dark past, including the genocide perpetrated in the name of God in the land of Caanan by the Jews.

It is all history, and the best we can do is learn from it.

615. Muslim countries win concession regarding religious debates

Comment #196427 by Vaal on June 20, 2008 at 12:17 am

Utter bullshit. What is going on with the world?

If there is any subject it is religion which is most ripe for robust criticism about their appalling human rights record. Seems like the Muslims are desperate to stop any debate about their religion. What a complete farce. Who are these cretins that make these decisions? NOT on my behalf!!!!

616. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #196068 by Vaal on June 19, 2008 at 9:09 am

Irate

Summer Solstice tomorrow. Can you bring back dancing around the woods naked please. That looks like much more fun than being stuck in some dull dark church being told how sinful we all are.

Oh, and can you replace wine and bread with Guinness and pork pies please.

617. Oystein Elgaroy - the Christian defender who became an Atheist

Comment #195908 by Vaal on June 19, 2008 at 3:03 am

184. Comment #195814 by irate_atheist

Irate, first of all, brilliant post. As usual, most commentators here shredding Robertson's crass inanities to shreds. Not that he will take a blind bit of notice. Quite a lot of words just to describe a fucktard.

162. Comment #195589 by clearthinker

The Galileo myth for example was far more to do about Italian politics than it was religion or the Bible.

Nothing mythical about it, it was very well documented. However much spin you put on it, Galileo was accused of heresy. He could have been burnt at the stake, as the poor unfortunate Giordano Bruno, but was put under house arrest for the rest of his life and not allowed to publish any of his works in his lifetime. If you don't regard that as religious persecution, then you really are a willfully ignorant imbecile.

Lets make clear the Church's view of the status of the Earth...

Western Christian biblical references Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, and 1 Chronicles 16:30 include text stating that "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved." In the same tradition, Psalm 104:5 says, "the LORD set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." Further, Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that "And the sun rises and sets and returns to its place, etc

Here are the heresy charges Galileo was accused of..

Galileo was required to abjure the opinion that the Sun lies motionless at the centre of the universe, and that the Earth is not at its centre and moves; the idea that the Sun is stationary was condemned as "formally heretical."

# The proposition that the sun is in the center of the world and immovable from its place is absurd, philosophically false, and formally heretical; because it is expressly contrary to Holy Scriptures", and the converse as to the Sun's not revolving around the Earth.
# He was ordered imprisoned; the sentence was later commuted to house arrest.
# His offending Dialogue was banned; and in an action not announced at the trial, publication of any of his works was forbidden, including any he might write in the future.

Galileo died in 1642. The Inquisition's ban on reprinting Galileo's works was lifted in 1718, nearly a century after his death. The Catholic church finally apologized in 1992, and officially conceded that the Earth was not stationary, only 400 years later (very nice of them). However worryingly Darth Ratzinger is trying his best to absolve the Church from any responsibility, with spin Tony Blair would be proud of.

Now. lets look at the unfortunate Giordano Bruno in more detail..

Bruno held firm to his belief in the plurality of worlds, although he was admonished to abandon it. His trial was overseen by the inquisitor Cardinal Bellarmine, who demanded a full recantation, which Bruno eventually refused. Instead he appealed in vain to Pope Clement VIII, hoping to save his life through a partial recantation. The Pope expressed himself in favour of a guilty verdict. Consequently, Bruno was declared a heretic. At his trial he listened to the verdict on his knees, then stood up and said: "Perhaps you, my judges, pronounce this sentence against me with greater fear than I receive it." A month or so later he was brought to the Campo de' Fiori, a central Roman market square, his jaw clamped in an iron gag and an iron spike driven through his tongue. He was tied to a pole naked and burned at the stake, on February 17, 1600.

In case you are in any doubt, lets look at how the dictionary describes heresy.

One who holds to a heresy; one who believes some doctrine contrary to the established faith or prevailing religion

Finally, yes, we would like to hear your evidence of your supernatural entity. Since you have been on this board, you haven't provided an iota. In fact, what you would consider as evidence wouldn't persuade my cat. As I said, zero evidence. Just because you believe it, doesn't make it true.

EDIT: Makes you think what would have happened to poor old Darwin if he had been around then.

618. Oystein Elgaroy - the Christian defender who became an Atheist

Comment #195440 by Vaal on June 18, 2008 at 8:18 am

No, no, no please don't encourage Mr Robertson!! Even if Steve does have a point.

108. Comment #195326 by mixmastergaz

I'm so afraid of my folks' reaction to my lack of faith that I've not told them. It would cause them terrible distress to believe that their son was going to burn for all eternity. I have to hide my copies of New Humanist when they come to visit!

Mixmastergaz, not quite sure how you are going to keep it a secret from them if you are in the papers, TV or on the Internet debating with Mr Robertson. Oh, I loved your comment about your teaching techniques in religious studies.

I agree with many others, a pleasure having you on the site Oystein, cosmology is, along with quantum physics something I am very interested in, but struggle to understand as a layman. Having a professional cosmologist on the forum is an asset indeed.

619. Oystein Elgaroy - the Christian defender who became an Atheist

Comment #195277 by Vaal on June 18, 2008 at 2:11 am

ctrkev

I strongly believe there is a God and He loves each and everyone of us

Well, he certainly loves barbecuing those of us who question his existence. Not very loving, is it?

Good point above Steve.

620. Oystein Elgaroy - the Christian defender who became an Atheist

Comment #195267 by Vaal on June 18, 2008 at 1:52 am

Congratulations Oystein

As you, many of us on this site were bought up as Christians, and know the bible perhaps better than some of the theists that visit this site.

Fortunately, my parents let me make up my own mind about religion, and even though they insisted that I had to go to Church as a youngster, there was no angst shown by them concerning my disbelief. I had an interest in Astronomy at an early age, after
looking at the sky when camping in Cornwall and was hooked. With my friend, the vicars son, we built a telescope and marvelled at the scale of the Universe, and realised how small and insignificant our little world is.

What really exasperated me were the Centuries of stifled knowledge caused by the Church's intransigence, knowledge which was freely
available to the Greeks thousands of years ago. Every time a scientist such as Galileo tried to explain the world around them, they had to fight tooth and nail against religious dogma, and worryingly it is still occurring in the 21st Century. Personally that is why I am much more strident in criticizing faith taught as truth, especially in schools.

Yes, you are right about the poor arguments of the Theists. They just don't stand up, and despite the bayings of the Alistair McGraths and David Robertsons of this world, practically everybody on this site would welcome some real evidence of God(s), and if found would change their minds, which hardly makes us dogmatic. However, there is zero evidence.

David, give it a rest mate. You have done that atheist "faith" to death, it is embarrassing. You have had plenty of opportunity to give your
evidence of God on this site, and the best you can come up with is personal incredulity, which is ridiculous, and narcissistic. As shown by your snide attacks on people here, you have nothing to bring to the table, and have your head buried in enough sand to build the pyramids.

As Irate once eloquently remarked "Not only does the Emperor have no clothes, the Emperor doesn't even exist".

621. Discussion between Richard Dawkins and Paula Kirby

Comment #194630 by Vaal on June 17, 2008 at 5:40 am

Mixmastergaz

Wow, you are a religious studies teacher and you are an atheist? I don't know that I could do that.

Admirable for wanting to take on the debate, but you are precisely right. Robertson would D'Souza you, and declare himself a victor against a representative of Richard Dawkins and the "Darwinian" cohorts. I have no doubt that the venue would be filled to the rafters with the Free church of Scotland choir. Who else would bother to go and see it?

I would still love to see Irate or Rev Dark do it, just to see the punch up! That would definitely be worth watching on Youtube :-)

622. Breaking the Silence

Comment #194029 by Vaal on June 16, 2008 at 9:51 am

Wow. Very brave and very outspoken. It may actually be the women who bring about reformation in Islam. They have been subjugated for centuries, treated more like livestock than human beings.

As usual, the weakness of Islam is shown in that the only way that the demented mullahs can react to these criticisms is by death threats and baying blasphemy, the last resort of the failed argument. Hopefully, it is the first chink in the armour of Islamic theocracy from within, and the whole edifice will come tumbling down and return to the seventh century, where it belongs.

I hope this woman remains safe.

623. Vatican bans Dan Brown film Angels & Demons from Rome churches

Comment #193915 by Vaal on June 16, 2008 at 8:03 am

Why are they so worried by a fiction? Still, I suppose it can be argued that Christianity is a fiction.

All that will happen is that it will just make more people want to see it .. just like Life of Brian. So, another spectacular own goal by the Catholic church.

What is their view of the Life of Brian, incidentally? Is that allowed in Rome? Does Darth Ratty have a chuckle watching it, like most of my Christian friends, or does he burst a blood vessel.

Edit: Sorry, misread article, thought they were banning the film, not the filming.

624. Intelligent people 'less likely to believe in God'

Comment #193753 by Vaal on June 16, 2008 at 2:07 am

Irate

Man, you have just covered my screen in coffee. Stop it!

625. Holiday in Hellmouth

Comment #193232 by Vaal on June 15, 2008 at 3:18 am

Ah David,

So, more of the same, saying nothing.

Right, just off to have my fundamentalist breakfast, then off to see the Windsor Triathlon, then on this beautiful day maybe a fundamentalist BBQ this afternoon?

626. Unlike Others, U.S. Defends Freedom to Offend in Speech

Comment #192522 by Vaal on June 13, 2008 at 9:14 am

What I did find very worrying was this report recently that a British policeman accused a religious group of hate crime when distributing leaflets, and accused them of being in "a Muslim area". The political tirade he launched into them for being American was a disgrace, and how he has still got his job is outrageous.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2058935/Police-advise-Christian-preachers-to-leave-Muslin-area-of-Birmingham.html

627. Discussion between Richard Dawkins and Paula Kirby

Comment #192517 by Vaal on June 13, 2008 at 8:55 am

MixmasterGaz

We are only being tongue in cheek. Definitely don't jump on the Robertson propaganda wagon!!

Irate,

Still, it would be worth good money hearing your famous phrase winging its way in a debating hall, and to see Mr Robertson being reported in the Scottish news as a "Fucktard", a description he would never be able to shake off, quite aptly!

628. Richard Dawkins lecture at ASU's Tempe Campus

Comment #192496 by Vaal on June 13, 2008 at 7:53 am

It's all downhill from now Cartomancer. HaHa! :-))

629. Discussion between Richard Dawkins and Paula Kirby

Comment #192463 by Vaal on June 13, 2008 at 5:27 am

Of course, it might be worth a bit of a laugh.

Irate, fancy debating Robertson?

Mind you, debating with Mr Robertson might be quite reminiscent of the Monty Python argument sketch...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3HaRFBSq9k

Edit: Sorry, in a facetious mood today.
Edit again: Veronique, you are a Scottish lass now, up for it?

630. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #192461 by Vaal on June 13, 2008 at 5:18 am

6992. Comment #192426 by The Reverend Dark

Excellent post, and cutting through the absurdity of creationist bunkum like knife through butter. Direct, to the point and taking no prisoners. Well said.

631. Saving Us from Darwin

Comment #192456 by Vaal on June 13, 2008 at 5:10 am

Added this to my favourites.

632. Holiday in Hellmouth

Comment #191847 by Vaal on June 12, 2008 at 1:44 am

Guys, no point biting to David Robertson. It is a futile exercise. He just posts his paranoid drivel and waits for the reaction. He doesn't have anything new to say, and he doesn't bring anything to the debate.

I admit I have had my fun with him in the past, as he is very easy to wind up, but I think it is time to just ignore him as the troll he is, until he actually has something to add to the discussion, otherwise it will be just more of the same. David, when you can add something substantive other than your incessant vacuous inanities, then you will get a decent response. Until then, personally I will be ignoring your sad, condescending and worthless rants.

633. New British Petition: Stop the Nightmares

Comment #191774 by Vaal on June 11, 2008 at 4:39 pm

Good points here, both for and against. You could argue that the parents want their children to be aware of Hell. They honestly deeply believe that they will go to Hell, as they were taught to believe the same by their parents and religious leaders, and would do everything they can to prevent such a horror come to their beloved child.

However, I was bought up with the threat of Hell from our local preacher, and although I recognized it as utter cods wallop from a bullying and nasty proselytizer, I saw the effects on some of my friends, who were genuinely traumatized.

There was also an appalling TV program recently showing a Jesus camp in America, where very young children were put through a disgusting evangelical boot camp where adults gloried in terrifying the poor kids by leaving them in no doubt they were going to Hell unless they believed God loved them. All carrot and stick, in a vulgar, sick and very effective propaganda campaign. That these children were crying and petrified meant nothing to the adults who were only concerned about recruitment, in a vile campaign the Nazi's would be proud of.

So, yes, I have signed the petition. Not that I think government legislation will come of it, but that hopefully the meme of threatening children with Hellfire will be regarded as repugnant and unacceptable by all responsible adults. If it raises the Zeitgeist, all well and good.

634. Discussion between Richard Dawkins and Paula Kirby

Comment #191551 by Vaal on June 11, 2008 at 7:39 am

Tyler

Not to mention David Robertson boring God to death for eternity! :-))

By the way Paula, did Mr Robertson make an appearance? Did he have a large black cape and red eyes and arrive in his 4 wheel drive, paid for by his parishioners, obviously not by cheque, with a fundamentalist atheist kangaroo bar?

635. Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab

Comment #191515 by Vaal on June 11, 2008 at 5:27 am

Thanks for that bugaboo. That is the great thing about this site, that I can find links to other resources that I would hardly ever find for myself, thanks to some great contributors.

Azven, of course they will ignore it, or just say it is incorrect, and spout the usual Behe inspired discredited nonsense.

636. Court Claim: Chimps Are People, Too

Comment #191505 by Vaal on June 11, 2008 at 5:08 am

47. Comment #191475 by The Third Man

Perhaps it is better to think of it not so much a case of animals having rights, but human beings not having certain rights - for instance, we should not have the right to hunt elephants for their tusks

Totally agree with you. Unfortunately practically one of the first things said in the Bible and perhaps one of the least ethical, which caused me to wince even as a child, is ..

"And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

That is a license to do whatever you want to any other creature on the Earth, even to the point of driving them to extinction, which is precisely what we are doing at an ever increasing rate. I would highly recommend reading the 6th Extinction by Richard Leakey.

We need to confront this mind set, or we shall be the only species left on this planet. I would argue as the most intelligent species on this planet (although that is debatable) that it is OUR responsibility to ensure the protection of the Earth's' biodiversity, not to plunder it.

637. Discussion between Richard Dawkins and Paula Kirby

Comment #191490 by Vaal on June 11, 2008 at 4:03 am

199. Comment #191476 by Paula Kirby

The women wear frumpy clothes and clearly don't approve of hairdressers; the men wear dark suits and frowns

So, Paula, how did you avoid being lynched as it must have been obvious as you were the only woman in the audience that had some clothes sense and seen a hairdresser in the last decade. They must have seen immediately that you had been sent by Satan, sorry RD!

I have to say I admire your fortitude. I think I would have had to have a case of whisky after having to endure that.

Edit: reminds me of my old church in Belfast. The congregation seemed to consist of people who had never smiled in their lives, and who seemed to enjoy being miserable. Surprising, considering they thought they were the only ones being saved. Imagine meeting that lot in Heaven? You would have to give God some prozac.

638. Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab

Comment #191453 by Vaal on June 11, 2008 at 2:13 am

Very interesting experiment. Evolution in action, fascinating. Experiments like this are the reason I love science. Those gaps are really getting smaller, except of course for the wilfully ignorant and deluded.

Listening to some of the comments of the most obstinate theists who sometimes populate this site, it is self evident that they will find no evidence that could ever persuade them. Unless of course God visited them to say that he doesn't exist!

639. Court Claim: Chimps Are People, Too

Comment #191184 by Vaal on June 10, 2008 at 10:39 am

I wonder what the legal status of a Homo Neanderthalus or Homo Erectus would be, should we miraculously manage to recreate them? Would they be considered human too? I suspect it would be more likely they would be considered abominations by the religites and hunted or put into zoos.

Of course, in the end, even we only have the rights that are accorded to us by our leaders, and those rights vary throughout the world, particularly where people are living under the tyranny of theocracy.

Didn't I see an article not so long ago where a parrot had a greater vocabulary than an average Chav. Would that mean it should also be accorded rights, according to its intelligence. How about crows?

Still, any legislation that protects these wonderful animals from the extinction that their human cousins are driving them towards has to be good news.

640. Louisiana's latest creationism bill moves to House floor

Comment #191180 by Vaal on June 10, 2008 at 10:26 am

Wow Steve

Is this the new you? One body blow followed by a right hook and the poor old theists are out for the count. Will they come back for round two?

Edit: Sorry, forgotten about bruiser Robertson, got a head like concrete, but can't throw a single punch.

641. A word for nonbelievers

Comment #190999 by Vaal on June 10, 2008 at 4:31 am

Comment by David Robertson:

I am always due to debate with atheists - it is something I do regularly - although I have to say that often it is like shooting ducks at the fairground.

Bet you miss them by a mile as well.

EDIT: Interesting use of the word debate. Spouting hogwash, not listening to anybody else, putting your fingers in your ears and going LALALALALA, the usual "atheist" creed non argument etc etc. Debating you David is like debating a bit of Lego. You just don't have an argument other than vacuous piffle and just talk in endless circles saying nothing. I'm surprised you don't give yourself a headache.

642. Discussion between Richard Dawkins and Paula Kirby

Comment #190690 by Vaal on June 9, 2008 at 11:52 am

And in the next room we shall have an astrologer, maybe Russell Grant, debating with Steven Hawking's about the origin of the Universe, or the flat Earth society having a debate with an astronaut.

Now if the hall was full of flat Earther's and the case for the flat Earth was popular, would that mean the flat Earthers would win the debate? Of course, it wouldn't make it true so it is utterly pointless.

Of course, RD would love to debate with the rational and "open minded" David Robertson. Wooooooshh ... there goes a flying pig.

643. Logical Proof of the Existence of a Divine Creator, Why Atheism is Not Logically Sound

Comment #190687 by Vaal on June 9, 2008 at 11:33 am

Oh Dear..

The youngest school child can tell you that a building does not build itself and that, by extension, neither does a universe

Ah, the youngest school child knows how the Universe was built then? Why bother going to school or trying to learn anything; after all "Goddidit" is the answer to anything. If it was down to that mind set we would all still be living in caves. Perhaps the youngest school child could tell me all about quantum mechanics then, as it is beyond me, even after trying hard to understand it. Moron!

Would human beings survive if one organ or cavity was missing or displaced, even after somehow being otherwise perfectly formed with no designer?

I was thinking this weekend that I could have used my prehensile tail to help me prune the trees in the garden. Damn that Abrahamic God for leaving me only a remnant. He must have just been teasing. Don't know, your God seems to have disposed of your brain and you somehow manage to survive.

What unmitigated drivel. That is your argument for God? It wouldn't persuade my cat.

644. John McCain: America a Christian nation, needs Christian president

Comment #190242 by Vaal on June 8, 2008 at 3:36 pm

Wow, excellent contribution from Obama. The voice of rationality, rarely seen in politics. I suspect that this man will make a great President.

However, is McCain serious or is he just playing to the powerful religious lobby? Will the witch doctors be baying "vote McCain" from their pulpits? Are the religites really that dumb they just jump to the tune of whatever their shamans tell them? What a tragedy for America if that is true.

645. Prayer to feed the hungry

Comment #190031 by Vaal on June 8, 2008 at 8:56 am

Ah, so better stop my payments to charity, and just send five loaves and fishes, and pray a lot. That will stop world poverty for sure. Nothing like a bit of blind faith to address a world crisis. I'm sure those dying of starvation will appreciate my faith.

Why bother praying, might as well just have a dump for all the good it does.

646. A word for nonbelievers

Comment #189726 by Vaal on June 7, 2008 at 4:21 am

33. Comment #189725 by Obecalp

Would love to read a reply from 'clearthinker'

Really? I think I would rather hang by my testicles in the garden than have to listen to another essay of befuddled mental gymnastics by Mr Robertson.

647. 'My daughter deserved to die for falling in love'

Comment #188510 by Vaal on June 4, 2008 at 7:02 am

My goodness, I have only just seen this. It is absolutely disgusting. "Death was God's punishment". I am profoundly upset at this poor brave women's foul murder and the odious mind set that approves it in the name of their vile non existent God.

Even Shakespeare could not have thought up anything as sad and tragic. I sometimes despair of the human race. Religion really is the curse of humanity.

PZ remarks on it on his blog as well..

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/06/a_barbaric_tragedy.php

I sincerely hope that the murderers and the wretched husband and sons are bought to justice. Hanging is too good for them.

648. Storm erupts over 'virginity' divorce

Comment #188389 by Vaal on June 4, 2008 at 3:25 am

884. Comment #188388 by Appleby

You actually have no good reason to believe in a god of any kind, if you don't mind my saying so

HAHAHAHAHA. You have obviously never read any of my posts. Yes, you could say I don't believe in any gods of any kind.

Anyway, I will let the others have their fun with you... ciao

649. Storm erupts over 'virginity' divorce

Comment #188386 by Vaal on June 4, 2008 at 3:16 am

You guys are having too much fun with Appleby :-)

I usually bed virgins for crying out loud!

Maybe he should be a Muslim. He will be ploughing virgins for eternity. Probably get a bit tedious after the first year or so though.

650. When two worlds collide: threat of class warfare over faith-based schooling

Comment #187559 by Vaal on June 2, 2008 at 10:07 am

Students who know themselves and are confident in their own faith are far more likely to be open and generous towards others of faith

So, as long as you have a faith you will be open and generous towards other faiths, yet there is no mention at all of those with no faith, which in Australia is the majority of the population. What a fucktard. Sorry Irate.