651. Hitchens V. Boteach

Comment #124045 by AllanW on February 8, 2008 at 8:07 am

Re; comment # 124006 HughCaldwell
"Terribly polite requests from a malevolent idiot who has chosen to ignore all matters of substance, specifically the criminal destuction of Iraq by the United States. If you have any specific questions, please put them."

Definitely not polite of you but I'm sure Steve can look after himself.

Do you realise how antagonistic and ultimately opposed to your objective of getting people on your side using phrases like 'criminal destuction of Iraq by the United States' is? I suppose not as you do it often.

As for your last sentence, if I need a biased rant from a foaming-at-the-mouth issue-zealot I'll get back to you. Until then (as I see no point in exchanging posts with someone who is plainly uninterested in a mutual interchange and developing opinions) I say au revoir, you blinkered, arrogant prick.

652. Hitchens V. Boteach

Comment #123987 by AllanW on February 8, 2008 at 4:52 am

Re; comment #123981 HughCaldwell

Yeah ...

Again with the rhetoric. From my reading of Gorgeous Georges saga I'm tempted to feel a little sorry for him too. Yet despite a most polite series of requests to delineate why you have arrived at this position you provide nothing but assertions and ad homs.

Stick to the facts; persuade with links and evidence; outline and back-up your views in detail. Anything less is bluster and will alienate people who might have been half-way to your viewpoint anyway as well as giving ammunition that enables opponents to dismiss your arguments as worthless and insubstantial.

Just my two cents ..

653. Sharia law in UK is 'unavoidable'

Comment #123663 by AllanW on February 7, 2008 at 1:24 pm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7233335.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7233337.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7232661.stm
http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=4246

Bottom link is the comments forum, rest are articles.

Hehe 5400 comments in moderation queue :0

And the Guardian comments section;
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/andrew_brown/2008/02/laws_of_the_land.html

654. Are Darwin's Theories Fact or Faith Issues?

Comment #122222 by AllanW on February 5, 2008 at 12:16 am

re; comment #122206 wipeout

Sigh. Now marked as troll. Evidence? DNA soup; oh dear, not again. Faux jokey and upbeat straining tone and then completely ignoring the substance of previous posts to present a mistaken propoganda ('Wow! You seem to be having really hard time with this guy, wooter, ha!'; no, the only hard time we had was swallowing our feelings of deep regret and sadness when it became obvious that he was a deluded troll).

Josh; do us all a favour and mark this jerk as wooter, please?

655. Are Darwin's Theories Fact or Faith Issues?

Comment #121962 by AllanW on February 4, 2008 at 12:20 pm

'Perhaps Simmons has not evolved enough to know how to use simple research tools?'

Maybe he was just dogma-bound; you know, like egg-bound but his mental straitjacket only allows him to see/read/hear from one source.

656. Letters: Theology has no place in a university

Comment #121767 by AllanW on February 4, 2008 at 5:36 am

re; comment #121763 Galactor

'I am sure, however, that Steve "Gentlemen Jim" Zara will, as always, be more than courteous in answering your remarks and observations.' while the rest of us will just laugh at you.

Nice post, mate. Well-meant, clear and trying to be helpful. It's unfortunate that it will be as much use as a one-legged man in an arse-kicking contest I suspect but at least you tried :)

657. Are Darwin's Theories Fact or Faith Issues?

Comment #121703 by AllanW on February 4, 2008 at 2:32 am

Re; comment #121688

You write like wooter; are you the same person?

Your facts are wrong; wooter was an ignoramus who was shown many times where to look for scientific facts and he refused. His comments were not deleted but moved as the above poster points out.

Anything else we can help your trolling-ass with?

658. Are Darwin's Theories Fact or Faith Issues?

Comment #120452 by AllanW on February 1, 2008 at 4:51 pm

The arguments are all indicative of self-limited thinking and understanding; limited by an unquestioning mind-set.

- it's too complex to have evolved
- I don't understand how this could have happened
- It must be irreducibly complex cos I can't see any other explanation
- There are no transitional fossils
- It could not have happened by random chance
- It must be designed cos the world is so perfect for us
- Why are there no half-monkey half-men walking around

And then add in the ad hominem arguments against Darwin et al and you end up with circular reasoning and questions without ever reaching for the toolkit to remedy the ignorance.

Half the time I suspect the more intelligent of the Creationists realise exactly that understanding the ToE properly will force them to abandon their god belief and shy away from doing it through fear of letting go the crutch.

Sad really. But that shouldn't stop us from taking every single opportunity to shout about the facts for the very reasons that Teratornis mentioned above.

659. Are Darwin's Theories Fact or Faith Issues?

Comment #120292 by AllanW on February 1, 2008 at 11:45 am

I posted on pharyngula but wanted the chance to echo the praise here, PZ. It was very welcome to hear the muscular way you dealt with obvious and deliberate lies as well as being unequivocal in reply to the various canards being repeated. Nice job.

BTW I think you get to crack open a nice bottle of wine and bask in the glow of the well-earned praise of the poster above :)

660. Ken Ham in Leicester April 2008

Comment #120033 by AllanW on February 1, 2008 at 7:37 am

I don't believe it ...

Even though I have not managed to get a religious believer to accompany me to Preston tonight, I have handouts at the ready and was preparing to go to this presentation until my wife rang to accompany her to the doctors for some blood tests in advance of a procedure she is being admitted for on Tuesday. So I can't attend Preston. Bugger.

Is anyone else going?

661. A Letter From Hell

Comment #117601 by AllanW on January 29, 2008 at 8:06 am

Re; comment #117597 omega369

"I'm still going to Church though."

Why, if you're not sure it exists? And how will your flaky world-view cope if/when you get there and it does exist?

Wake up, mate.

662. Ken Ham in Leicester April 2008

Comment #116315 by AllanW on January 26, 2008 at 8:36 am

I tend to agree zendal_darkman, as I posted earlier in this thread. The thrust I'm taking is;

1. Politely hand out flyers to attendees.
2. Listen to the talk, take notes or record/video if possible to gather data.
3. Hit as many local and regional media outlets along with local government, schools and other interested parties as possible after the event to generate as many articles and website postings as possible.
4. Use this publicity to stifle the amount of venues willing to takle their bookings and also reduce the number of attendees.

Starve them of the oxygen of funds and venues and they will either spend more of their money to go along other routes or they will gain no substantial platform to spread their lies.

As for progress on the organisation for Preston;

epeeist has started the press (see earlier), I will be generating a flyer (unless someone already has one for the purpose), I still need someone to put me in touch with a religious believer who is willing to join me at the event. I will write the article after the event but I need you to help identify the targets for that article (and maybe rewrite it into a better format for specific targets). I was thinking (as mentioned in an earlier post) to use media outlets but also schools should be sent messages. Anybody else have any thoughts?

After this activity we should be able to take a breath and adapt the work for future appearances by the creationists.

I'd welcome any further assistance on this from others as epeeist and PJG have already offered.

663. The God Delusion: Now Available in US Paperback

Comment #115894 by AllanW on January 25, 2008 at 2:10 am

I sincerely doubt whether anyone on this site let alone RD would feel anything other than sympathy. It's entirely human to contemplate these issues and have these feelings; you are stronger and more self reliant for doing so than ascribing the whole issue to a supernatural being who will sort it all out for you. That would, in my opinion, be a real demeaning of you as a conscious human being.

Your friends' suggestion does not seem to me to be one of ignoring the problem and hoping it goes away or to suggest you don't have time to think about it; rather its a suggestion to rediscover activity with people that reminds you of the good and worthwhile things in life so that you don't solely contemplate the negatives.

It's a good suggestion. Get back to doing what you enjoy doing best but also make yourself a promise to do something, go somewhere, get in touch with an old friend, anything that you have put on the back-burner for ages. Make yourself a promise to do something like that and then do it.

664. Ken Ham in Leicester April 2008

Comment #115298 by AllanW on January 24, 2008 at 1:08 am

Re; comment #115295 epeeist

Well done; we are off and running :)

I still need a person of religious belief from this list or one who I'm put in touch with to come along to Preston. Please come forward; you know it makes sense.

665. Ken Ham in Leicester April 2008

Comment #115000 by AllanW on January 23, 2008 at 12:10 pm

Ok, things are moving along in preparation for Preston.

1. Epeeist has drafted a letter to be sent to the local media. Thank you.

2. I will be attending outside the meeting and listening to it if possible. Anyone else who is interested please contact me to co-ordinate or if you need a lift.

3. A few forum members are putting together a flyer to be handed out to attendees. Obviously if the NSS or BCSE come up with something already prepared we can use that if it's better.

4. I would ask you to suggest at least one religious person who is willing to accompany me to help hand out the flyers, please. Someone from this site or who you know would welcome the chance to work on this together. I think it's an important part of the article afterwards to demonstrate that this is not a religious quarrel but one of science and rationality and inter-faith (hehe an athiest and Christian) participants make a stronger point in that regard.

5. I also need some help in identifying the media outlets and messages to target after the event. If you read my earlier post for the idea I'd welcome some input to the sites, schools, biology/science teachers mailboxes etc etc etc to target with pointed messages, please. Any headstart we can get before the event just means we can roll-out the article and messages that much quicker.

6. There is a little time after the Preston event to assess what has worked in this tactic, what hasn't, what we need to refine, change and discard beofre it could be applied to Leicester and Mr Ham.

Any other ideas, suggestions, contributions, observations?

666. Ken Ham in Leicester April 2008

Comment #114935 by AllanW on January 23, 2008 at 7:55 am

Epeeist and _J_; I'm in the area as well and have been thinking about this for a little bit. Here are a few thoughts;

- ideally this sort of thing should be co-ordinated and resourced from the BCSE maybe aided by the NSS (as they have the experience, media contacts and resources to cover most angles).

- I would be against anything that smacked of repression of free speech or entailed illegal activity.

- I think the aim should be to report the presentation/meeting as fully, rationally and devoid of emotion as possible to negate any militant atheist or zealot accusations.

- Report the meeting at the moment (see what to do with the information further down) by going to the venue, attending the talk and writing a summary.

- The reason for doing it at this stage after the event is to prevent any rent-a mob style agitators from turning up and to prevent any publicity apart from what they generate themselves swelling the audience.

- Get the report into as many media outlets as possible with as many slants as possible; eg newspaper report, letters column of the newspapers, local tv news reports, local media website discussion threads, school and science websites, NSS and NCSE websites or press releases. Incorporate some of the ideas expressed before; indignant taxpayer letter, frightened child letter etc

- The content might be; cult religious evangelicals bringing American-style anti-scientific talks to UK. Use the text we already have in abundance about (direct quotes, writings etc) to pour ridicule on them for being out of touch with reality, attempting to disseminate blatant lies to UK people especially vulnerable children and church-going non-scientists who are not in a position to rebut the babble. Their own material is the best ridicule weapon.

- monitor the events planned and as we build up a bank of credible media stories and public reaction to them, use them to send to non-church venues they book. Remind council-owned venues about their duties and stress the cult nature of the event, remind schools of the anti-science nature of the talk etc in an effort to limit the venues they can use in the future. It might even be possible to remind moderate church committees how extreme they are and as someone said above that moderate Christians support evolution to get them to deny the creationists access to venues.

Does this make sense?

As far as Preston is concerned could we message off-list to try to organise something along these lines?

667. Ken Ham in Leicester April 2008

Comment #114923 by AllanW on January 23, 2008 at 7:33 am

Yeh, thanks for that Artful Dodger; we know. However if you agree that Creationist lies are harmful to real science then we'll stop trying to counter it when the huge effort from moderate, rational Christians has succeeded in driving Creationists out of existence. Until then we'll have to do it ourselves, deal?

668. Florida in the process of approving new science standards

Comment #114912 by AllanW on January 23, 2008 at 7:13 am

Just a technical query; if you have 72 virgins that need to last you for eternity, what happens after the first time with each of them? Presumably they are no longer virgins. Would you have to work out a rota? How do you plan your time if it's infinite? 72 would not last that long, I'm guessing, so what happens after that?

Just asking ...

669. Ken Ham in Leicester April 2008

Comment #114884 by AllanW on January 23, 2008 at 5:46 am

Ok I'm going to ask for some help on this forum and elsewhere. The tenor of most contributors to this thread is that they would be prepared to put themselves out a little to disrupt or limit the damage that these Creationist liars are promulgating. Can I ask for some guidance on the best form that this should take considering legality and likely publicity, please?

If the NSS or BCSE has developed tactics for this then I'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction and maybe co-ordinate on this forum who will be doing what.

In the absence of clear tactics already in place, can we quickly decide and agree on what might be best to achieve the aim of diminishing the corrosive effects that these talks/presentations will have? A few ideas have already been put forward on this thread.

670. Ken Ham in Leicester April 2008

Comment #114833 by AllanW on January 23, 2008 at 1:28 am

Thanks Veronique; willdo.

671. Ken Ham in Leicester April 2008

Comment #114824 by AllanW on January 23, 2008 at 1:04 am

I'm going to check with the NSS and my local freethinker, humanist or rationalist groups to see if they are going to these things. Maybe Roger Stanyard could help us find out?

If not then I will go to the nearest to me, Preston. Not to debate them (that would do no good) and not to demonstrate (that would give them more publicity) but rather to record or video the presentation. They may not let me (and I may need to be a little sneaky) but I firmly believe that shining a little light on them makes them pause and reconsider at the very least.

I shall avoid any confrontation if at all possible but I do think that they should not feel that they are completely free to spread their pernicious lies without some polite concerned scrutiny.

Anybody else suggest another tack to take?

672. The God Delusion: Now Available in US Paperback

Comment #114819 by AllanW on January 23, 2008 at 12:47 am

October mermaid; I'm no expert but your comments indicate to me at least that you're already achieving a good measure of understanding and wisdom. You recognise the false promises that religions offer; you recognise the essentially impersonal nature of the forces of the universe; you recognise that competition/conflict on a personal level is not necessarily to be avoided but rather that those circumstances might spur us on to be more active and effective.

You raise some interesting points but let me ask a question; why do you worry about what will happen to your hopes, dreams and memories? Is the term 'soul' being used as a shorthand for your sense of individual self? If so, can you think of some ways in which that may be copied, multiplied and perpetuated to persist after your end?

Your final point is again very perceptive; taking comfort, solace, enjoyment, interest and wonder from our interactions with other people can indeed enrich our lives. I personally work on the premise that, as Terry Pratchett outlined, while there may be no physical atom of truth, justice, compassion or wonder in the universe they nevertheless can motivate the highest behaviour in us as if they do exist.

673. Florida in the process of approving new science standards

Comment #114439 by AllanW on January 22, 2008 at 7:59 am

Re; comment #114432 al-rawandi

"how is Rugby a gentleman's sport? Eye gouging, testicle grabbing, etc... If that is a gentlemanly pursuit, I prefer to remain a ruffian."

You have to remember where most of these sports had their rules codified; English public schools ..

674. Florida in the process of approving new science standards

Comment #114425 by AllanW on January 22, 2008 at 7:41 am

Re; comment #114422 al-rawandi

"In a reference to evolution, baseball and football are the more evolved forms of cricket and rugby, respectively."

And there we have a mis-appropriation, my friend.

Baseball has no common ancestry (apart from deep in geological time) with cricket. It is a transitional form between rounders (played in England by little girls) and a predicted game 'Steroid-blast' that will be played by junked-up monsters, barely human as we know the term.

Whereas American Football shares a lineage solely with war rather than gentlemanly sporting pursuits. But equally played by junked-up etc etc

:)

675. The God Delusion: Now Available in US Paperback

Comment #114343 by AllanW on January 22, 2008 at 2:50 am

October Mermaid; you are not rambling at all. These are exactly the feelings and thoughts most people go through when comtemplating the end of life.

I have nothing to offer you in your particular situation other than my own thoughts.

It would indeed be desperate to think that the meaning of your life was nothing if it all revolved around the eternity of non-existence at the end of it. For me it's a matter of perspective; rather than concentrating on the end think about the before and during as well. I tend to think along the lines of where my life will fit into the the stream of life both before and after I'm here.

While it's tempting to reflect on the idea of how insignificant we may physically appear in this immense universe let alone the earth the flip-side of this is that while we may be small and frail compared to the vast forces of the cosmos, we are unique. In special and fantastic ways the combination of genetic material, natural experiences and physical and emotional interactions that has made you exactly how you are now will never be repeated; you are unique. I am unique.

We will only get this one chance in the whole great expanse of time to live the life we have. That leads me to try not to waste it.

How you translate that thought into your life is your choice; for me it means a number of motivations and objectives about how I live this life. I want to (and have) caused to exist and brought up to close to maturity two children who I'm very proud of. They will continue some of the ideas and viewpoints I have tried to help them understand and accept into the future and adapt their knowledge and viewpoints in their own way to influence their own offspring.

I explore and develop my own relationship with my wife to understand and make personal some of the great themes I've experienced at second hand in literature, the theatre, film and television.

In my work I increasingly try to apply the principles of tolerance, justice and the wonder of exploration to help people around me live better, more fulfilled lives.

It's not much but I feel happier and more fulfilled when I'm achieving these things than when I'm not. I'm making a difference to the world; small but measurable. If evolutionary biology tells us anything it's that small but measurable changes can influence the outcome.

A bit too long but I hope these words may be of help.

676. Florida in the process of approving new science standards

Comment #114204 by AllanW on January 21, 2008 at 2:26 pm

Re; comment #114164 quill

"but if the state says it's in, it's in, biatch."

That's true apart from two things; the state has not approved the standards yet and even if they do they need to be enforced in every school.

I've suspected for awhile these statements and resolutions are meant to put pressure on the standards board to water down or throw out the evolution parts of the new standards. They must be countered.

I don't mean at the school boards but spend a little time on the local newspaper forums and forcefully put the rational arguments to people. There are plenty of rational humanists in these counties but they need support and need to know they can win these battles. Look up the link to the Florida Citizens for Science and send some e.mails, please.

These are activities that are important and can make a difference and are happening now.

677. Mandrake: Charles's letter in support of Islamic 'fundamentalism'

Comment #113951 by AllanW on January 21, 2008 at 4:37 am

Hey! Quite irrationally I'll not hear a bad word said about William since I learned he is a fellow Villa fan. So having got the future King as a fan along with the Governor of the Bank of England and Ozzy Osbourne we should be set for global domination soon :)

678. Honour Killings

Comment #113750 by AllanW on January 20, 2008 at 12:47 pm

Re; comment #113744 Prankster

"Perhaps we should just pity Mr Ahmad and ignore him" etc

I'd love to think this would be the path of least damage to our society but I don't think it is. The writer is not alone in his views and recommendations.

The sub-text of the message is; "Circumstances in this country need to be changed to allow the full application of Islamic teachings and law to be fulfilled." i.e. we want to change the rule of law here to be in accord with our religious teachings.

How can this viewpoint be compatible with the established rule of law in the UK?

There was an article in the Guradian recently; what should take precedence; the rule of law or religious law?. The answer in this country has been settled for three or four hundred years yet a significant number of the commentators in the CiF column immediately trotted out the knee-jerk view that 'we must respect their cultural traditions'. How does Islam (a religion NOT a race) have cultural values that supercede our own?

I disagree; I resent any challenge to the rule of law from any direction. I have many problems with how the law is arrived at and currently practiced in this country but as a society we all need to (and broadly do) accept that the way to change any particular aspect of that is through the ballot-box and lobbying.

679. Violence fear over Islam film

Comment #113721 by AllanW on January 20, 2008 at 11:50 am

Thanks Steve. You know, if I was of a believing type of mind I'd be tempted to worship you :)

After all, isn't that what personal experience and revelations is all about?

680. Violence fear over Islam film

Comment #113719 by AllanW on January 20, 2008 at 11:45 am

Nah. It started with Vinelectric on my screen.

Hey, Vinelectric! Stop screwing around with my screen!

681. Violence fear over Islam film

Comment #113711 by AllanW on January 20, 2008 at 11:32 am

Am I missing something? What's with the italics?

682. Dawkins: I'm a cultural Christian

Comment #113704 by AllanW on January 20, 2008 at 11:18 am

Re; comment #113687 djspideyspinster

No apology necessary, I assure you. I admire your stated objective of weighing viewpoints as I too subscribe to it. My response was equally tongue-in-cheek with a little sting at the end so please rest assured that I and, I think, fellow atheists are quite robust enough to take in our strides swipes from wherever they come (although we tend not to turn the other cheek :)).

My best wishes to you and I look forward to dropping into your site in the future.

Regards

AllanW

683. Mandrake: Charles's letter in support of Islamic 'fundamentalism'

Comment #113702 by AllanW on January 20, 2008 at 11:08 am

I am reluctantly forced to tend to agree with a poster above; if it were not obvious before it is now that we need as a nation to think hard about the separation of church and state when and if this numpty succedes the throne.

I'm not a republican. My balance on this view while Liz is monarch falls firmly on the side of 'not what we would do now but not worth the hassle of changing it. Brings in net tourist dollars rather than not so let sleeping dogs lie'.

However Charles is a very different kettle of fish. No discernable intellect to bring to bear; is the most influenced by the supernatural 'woo' trends in modern society of all the royals from what I can see; has a penchant for trying to 'make a mark' by intruding into matters in which he is plainly not equipped to meddle. In short, dangerous to our stability as a nation.

684. Honour Killings

Comment #113692 by AllanW on January 20, 2008 at 10:46 am

Put the explicit view represented here (educated in a single sex state funded Muslim schools by female Muslim teachers.) with the Telegraphs 'We want to offer Sharia law' article today and you have a clear picture.

It is not Islamophobic if they ARE out to change the country (remember the old joke? 'It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you').

685. Ethical storm as scientist becomes first man to clone HIMSELF

Comment #113562 by AllanW on January 20, 2008 at 3:32 am

Always look at the source. In this case, as a few posters have said above, it's the Daily Mail. In the dictionary under 'knee-jerk reactions filled with fear, loathing and bile and based on no fact-gathering at all' it says 'See Daily Mail'.

This is the rag that did most to cause the MMR vaccination scandal. Never forget that.

686. The Group Delusion

Comment #113357 by AllanW on January 19, 2008 at 11:16 am

I just re-read a few of the comments at the start of this thread. Did I miss the chance to mention my choice for the possible title of the follow-up to 'The God Delusion'? Surely 'The Second Coming' has to be a shoe-in.

687. Dawkins: I'm a cultural Christian

Comment #112824 by AllanW on January 18, 2008 at 6:31 am

Re; comment #37

I couldn't resist replying.

688. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112745 by AllanW on January 18, 2008 at 3:15 am

I understand your frustration stephenray and agree that there are not many legally trained professionals in the UK who exhibit this particular lack of analytical faculties.

But it's a phenomenon not restricted to the legal profession. In my experience, many professional people are able to completely compartmentalise their life on the one hand and their professional thinking and work on the other.

My observation is, however, that the major reason for this in the UK is monetary in origin whereas in the US this is mixed to a large extent with religious viewpoints.

Just look at the calibre of political leaders and appointees of the last twenty years in both countries (start with Reagan over there and Major over here) and try to tell me that both countries don't really need intellectually nimble people to reclaim the leadership. Because I'll disagree with you if you do :)

689. Interview with Neil Shubin, author of 'Your Inner Fish'

Comment #112715 by AllanW on January 18, 2008 at 1:03 am

Yep, nice job by both Shubin and Colbert. I agree that Colbert seems to be science-friendly but Shubin did a great job of seeming relaxed, getting the science information broadcast and being humorous with it.

Read the Pharyngula piece where he describes his preparation for the interview. Any real scientist who can appear this relaxed and informative on television needs our support.

I ordered his book immediately after seeing this interview and can't wait for it to arrive.

690. Ben Stein Bribing Schools to See His Anti-Evolution Movie 'Expelled'

Comment #112573 by AllanW on January 17, 2008 at 1:37 pm

gtcc has already showed a canny school administrator how to make money for their school. Spend a weekend outside the cinema, collect stubs, hand-in and collect cash. No propoganda necessary to be endured.

And if enough schools try to pull the scam then the producers either lose a lot of money or we get a nice story about how they welched on the deal :)

Go to it School Administrators of America! Do your duty!

691. The Group Delusion

Comment #112456 by AllanW on January 17, 2008 at 7:00 am

Timmeh you have hit the nail on the head.

Wooter likes explanations that comfort him. He can understand explanations if they are simple enough (Goddidit!) and don't make his head explode in concentration.

He likes explanations that calm his fears about the nasty, scary world all around him that he doesn't understand.

He likes the calming words that mean nothing outside of his own head (bliss/rapture/redemption/divine purpose etc) .

In other words he likes simple, calming safety-blanket stuff that keeps him calm and ignorant until he dies. It's what religion does well.

His problem comes when he tries to apply these explanations to the REAL world he lives in and demonstrate to others that he knows what's going on. They don't work. They never can. He demonstrates that he is an ignoramus.

It's sad and deluded.

692. The Group Delusion

Comment #112403 by AllanW on January 17, 2008 at 3:37 am

Wooter; yet again (sigh).

You have proven time and time again that you have no interest in reading the copious links given to simply explain the phenomena contained in your asinine analogies and questions.

You have proven time and time again that your pre-infantile grasp of scientific basics is driven by your religious convictions rather than an open questing for actual, provable, real information.

You continue time after time to ignore simple questions posed to you on this forum and prefer instead to return here demanding the time and effort of others who have put the time in to do the reading and understand to spoon-feed you out of your deep ignorance.

You are as demanding and as uneducated as one of the six year olds you claim to be teaching. With none, absolutely none of their excuses of infancy to plead for clemency.

You spout inane, vacuous religiosities that daily demonstrate your closed attitude and mind-set while presenting a demeanour of beligerant, pious certitude that is as breathtaking in its scope as in its shallowness.

You are an ignorant troll. You are deeply and offensively closed in manner and mind. You are to be pitied. You are wasting our time and yours. You are incapable of understanding just how sadly we here feel that you are a spectacular waste of genetic material and earth resources. You have wasted your opportunity in this life to demand of yourself something fine and noble and have told us how you pollute those around you with your poison. You are beneath contempt.

693. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112078 by AllanW on January 16, 2008 at 9:30 am

Re; comment #112074

"May I refer you at this point to Zahavi's Handicap principle."

ROFL. I love science jokes; even better when I understand them!

Now Diacanu; choose between sitting in the top of the tree to warn the flock or bringing a nice, juicy worm to Anna. Hang on. I may have got finches and humans confused here ...

694. Why people believe weird things about money

Comment #112067 by AllanW on January 16, 2008 at 9:14 am

Re: comment #112062 Anabanana

"Yes, back on the "market", so to speak."

Oh dear. I'm sorry to hear that Anna (if you're sorry, that is) but I predict a slew of people joining this thread. And not to contribute to the debate :)

695. Huckabee Wants A 'Faith-based' Constitution

Comment #112007 by AllanW on January 16, 2008 at 7:45 am

We all see that it would be a theocracy if this were enacted but is it possible? Let's start to shade-in the probabilities;

1. The country gave the last two terms to a president who was out-spokenly religious and as evolution-denying as Huckabee. It could happen.

2. Twenty years ago all political commentators assumed that the evangelicals were being 'used' by the right wing conservatives to bolster the vote but would never choose the nominee. All nominees on the right are hard-line religious observers this time.

3. Voting participation forty years ago was at least double the rate it has been at the last election. And has been declining steadily from the educated, literate population at a far greater rate than all others due to 'voter apathy'. It's not a great choice but 'the lesser of two evils' still is better than letting the greater of two evils gain power.

4. What if McCain and Huckabee fought on a joint ticket? McCain brings his voters, Huckabee his and they engineer a pact for nomination and Vice between them? Is this scenario incapable of beating the Democrats?

5. What if the Democrats spend the next 3 months kicking the shit out of each other (pointing out the weaknesses and slinging-mud) then, exhausted and lacking funds, they have to fight the joint Republican ticket mentioned above. Still think the Democrats are a shoe-in and that the nightmare scenario cannot be realised?

If you think the prospect of Huckabee in any sort of control over the country is to be avoided and cannot happen then I suggest you rethink; it is to be avoided but it could happen.

All it takes for evil to prosper is for good people to do nothing.

696. The Group Delusion

Comment #111996 by AllanW on January 16, 2008 at 7:05 am

Applause to the Reverend for his use of language; a comprehensive and vitriolic attack, hitting the targets but without gratuitous profanity. Good man! :)

697. Huckabee Wants A 'Faith-based' Constitution

Comment #111968 by AllanW on January 16, 2008 at 5:24 am

Re; comment #111965 Azven

"Which standards?" Whichever the reigning politicians decided mate.

"What would be the point?" To engineer legislation and the enforcement of that legislation to amend/modify behaviour.

The thought-processes (such as they exist in this mind-set) do not concern themselves with empathy, compassion, acceptance, toleration, understanding, exploration, compromise or diversity. It is a fundamentalist attitude; I KNOW the right and only acceptable way to live your life. And now I have the power to enforce your acceptance of it at pain of your death.

Please do not post that this is a little extreme as an extrapolation of the fundamentalist mind-set; just look at all examples in actuality that bear it out.

698. The Group Delusion

Comment #111559 by AllanW on January 15, 2008 at 2:30 am

Re; comment #111544 wooter
"I am holding my reason in my hand only."

I don't know what you normally name it but I think that 'reason' is a little strange, mate.

699. The Group Delusion

Comment #111550 by AllanW on January 15, 2008 at 1:57 am

Troll, troll, troll, troll.

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

Comment #111549 by AllanW on January 15, 2008 at 1:55 am

troll, troll.