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Comments by Peacebeuponme


751. Wicked untruths from the Church

Comment #149636 by Peacebeuponme on March 26, 2008 at 3:07 am

fides_et_ratio

Cardinal O Brien was calling for MPs to be given a free vote.
I would rather MPs were given free votes more often. However, I doubt we would see the Cardinal pipe up if the situation were reversed. The Church's line on this has been to lie and pressure MPs with words like "morality" and "conscience" into voting in line with an ancient fable. Its laughable that they think they are "good".

Of course, we could never accuse the catholic church of "oppresive, inolerant behaviour"...

752. Wicked untruths from the Church

Comment #149624 by Peacebeuponme on March 26, 2008 at 2:24 am

I agree with clearthinker that you cannot preclude anyone from being an MP based on religious belief. However, we can ask that they only allow in proper evidence when debating issues in the chamber; that they make decisions for the good of the people after taking the appropriate expert advice. Bishops, Cardinal and Priests are experts at nothing and should be ignored in these matters.

This issue has nicely highlighted how dangerous religious belief (even amongst "moderates") can be. We have a bill before us that will save lives, and muddled, silly superstition is trying to shoot it down.

753. The Secular Conscience

Comment #148554 by Peacebeuponme on March 23, 2008 at 9:33 am

MPhil - I've never seen PlagioClase much engage in debate here. Seems to just drop in every now and again with links and fairly ordinary religious comment.

754. The science of religion: Where angels no longer fear to tread

Comment #148550 by Peacebeuponme on March 23, 2008 at 9:30 am

Steve, Dr Benway, IanG - As usual I get here, read an article and see any thoughts I had (and more) already set out and discussed! Cheers.

755. Does God answer prayer? ASU research says 'yes'

Comment #148540 by Peacebeuponme on March 23, 2008 at 9:17 am

Overall, the meta-analysis indicates that prayer is effective. Is it effective enough to meet the standards of the American Psychological Association's Division 12 for empirically validated interventions? No. Thus, we should not be treating clients suffering with depression, for example, only with prayer.
Is this for real? People actually spend money on this nonsense.

756. In Defence of Selfish Genes

Comment #148537 by Peacebeuponme on March 23, 2008 at 9:12 am

hello_goodbye

I actually quite liked Midgley's book Beast and Man
I've read Evolution as Religion and Science As Salvation. Actually I think she makes some good points and gave me some things to think about when looking at the role of science and human progress. Of course the selfish gene affair is hugely dissappointing for her.

757. It looks like Man crucified

Comment #148531 by Peacebeuponme on March 23, 2008 at 9:06 am

Their arguments tend to diminish the scope of human achievement, emphasising our smallness in the Universe, that we are prisoners of our biology, and that we are all going to Hell in a plastic carrier bag with no prospect of salvation
Does that even come close to anybody's impression of Richard's and the others' views?
Only someone with the brain of an Easter egg could seriously believe that the influence of religion over our lives is on the rise today.
What Dinah said.

758. The Secular Conscience

Comment #147304 by Peacebeuponme on March 20, 2008 at 6:12 am

Yggdrasill

amorality is the only rational view i can see
You don't see the need for collective agreement enabling us to get along?

759. The Secular Conscience

Comment #147302 by Peacebeuponme on March 20, 2008 at 6:10 am

Henri Bergson

Secular liberalism is slave morality (Christianity in disguise).
Glad you are back, and as compromising as ever!

760. The Secular Conscience

Comment #147299 by Peacebeuponme on March 20, 2008 at 6:08 am

PlagioClase

Great article here:
UK Study Finds People Who Believe in God are Happier than Agnostics or Atheists.
Moreover, people become even happier the more they pray and go to church.
Great artice here : www.christianitywasmadeupbyhungryarabswithheatstroke.com.

761. Fleabytes

Comment #147213 by Peacebeuponme on March 20, 2008 at 3:24 am

Clearthinker

I don't want to go into all this again (see my earlier post) but the reason logical positivism failed as a philosophy is that it itself cannot be empirically proven. In other words it is self-contradictory.
You leave the door open to believing anything. Every position is equaly valid.

762. Fleabytes

Comment #146601 by Peacebeuponme on March 19, 2008 at 8:06 am

Pathfinder

I have to fight a daily battle with temptation
Therein may lie the problem.
On one thread I was told to "piss off" (GFM - profanity) and others have hurled Anglo-Saxon and tauro-scatological epithets in my direction. OK, par for the course, you might say, but it does the Atheist Cause no favors, does it?
Wouldn't want to respond to you, but this needs to be addressed. I told you to piss off, because your posts are trolling rubbish. You can spell and are deliberately writing inanity for your own amusement. So it wasn't because you were making good points and I'm just an obtuse, nasty atheist.

So yes, piss off, please.
Who, without God, His legislators on Earth, to hold this vile, devil-infested human species to account?
Each other. We collectively set agreed rules that allow us all to get along as best we can. It really can be that simple. Even you could grasp it.

763. Fleabytes

Comment #146574 by Peacebeuponme on March 19, 2008 at 7:49 am

Frankus1122

Paula, unfortunately I cannot access sexinchrist.com as I am at work and it has blocked it as inappropriate!
You tried to access that site at work?!

764. God's cure for gays lost in sin

Comment #146548 by Peacebeuponme on March 19, 2008 at 7:26 am

Irate_Atheist - I think you should tap into the youth market with a "Fucktardz" range of street wear.

765. God's cure for gays lost in sin

Comment #146517 by Peacebeuponme on March 19, 2008 at 6:52 am

Mercy Ministry may be a small church. It still angers me immensely that Religion can produce such bigoted words with little mainstream opposition. As has been said time and time again, you can't imagine an organisation today being able to preach the 'evils' of black people or jews without an uproar.

766. Two More Fleas

Comment #146426 by Peacebeuponme on March 19, 2008 at 4:38 am

Jellyfish condemns evolution
Fabulous.

767. New Atheists Are Not Great

Comment #145933 by Peacebeuponme on March 18, 2008 at 10:30 am

bagehot

As a newbie,
Welcome.
Concede that slavery, genocide and global enviornmental destruction was done in the name of God, not
because of it.
Well I don't think you have drawn a distinction there. Since God almost certainly doesn't exist, nothing is "because of God". The things you list above were done in the name of belief, religion, ideology and that's something a lot of us find troubling.

768. New Atheists Are Not Great

Comment #145920 by Peacebeuponme on March 18, 2008 at 9:56 am

Keith

They seethe with disapproval of God.
Who would have thought that atheists would disapprove of the idea of god?
I'm just wondering how the argument would run?

"I kneel before the divine majesty of Our Lord and see that my heart fills with joy at all that He has created. It troubles me though, to ask His Grace whether He may see fit to provide any evidence supporting His existence?"

(btw - I've jut read your last response to me on our little darlings and their monickers. It got buried amogst the "Fleabytes" postathon. Interesting. I'm getting worryingly optimistic about Cardiff now.)

769. Fleabytes

Comment #145806 by Peacebeuponme on March 18, 2008 at 6:49 am

Steve

I am guessing Quetz or Brian?
No, I'm Brian.

770. New Atheists Are Not Great

Comment #145802 by Peacebeuponme on March 18, 2008 at 6:44 am

fides_et_ratio

chirstianitytoady.com
That sounds an awful lot like a McGrath site...

(With apologies to The Reverend, who got there before me.)

771. Fleabytes

Comment #145797 by Peacebeuponme on March 18, 2008 at 6:40 am

Annabanana. Why? I'll tell you why: ever heard of the word "deterrence"? Setting an example?
For those mad few for whom burning in the everlasting fires of hell, just isn't quite going to stop them.

772. Ban anti-Catholic books in schools, says bishop

Comment #145795 by Peacebeuponme on March 18, 2008 at 6:37 am

scottishgeologist

If you made a film of this, you'd probably face prosecution
I would love to see a film made with a scene such as that, just to see the catholic church get all excited and call for a ban.

773. Fleabytes

Comment #145775 by Peacebeuponme on March 18, 2008 at 6:09 am

Refuting David's lies is necessary
Does anybody know how many theist sites Richard has been on and spent an inordinate amount of time disagreeing with a review of TGD?

Seems to me that David should learn to do what other authors do and learn to take the rough with the smooth (Such as it is) when it comes to criticism.

774. In Britain, creationist theory is evolving

Comment #145720 by Peacebeuponme on March 18, 2008 at 3:29 am

Pathfinder

And once and for all SHUT UP about my spelling!
If you can't be serious just piss off. Its funny for 10 minutes, but then it becomes really boring.

775. In Britain, creationist theory is evolving

Comment #145710 by Peacebeuponme on March 18, 2008 at 3:05 am

Pathfinder - it must be a pain having to force yourself to misspell like that. Have a proper conversation, you might like it.

776. Two More Fleas

Comment #145693 by Peacebeuponme on March 18, 2008 at 2:37 am

Not that we need to respons any more, but this tickled me from Wooter

If I want to open a hotel for guests, First I will build it up, design it, place all the necessary equipment and servants, then, I will invite the guests. God created this hotel like earth
His inane-analogy generator is truly astounding, you have to give him that.

If I ever needed another reason not to stay at BestWooter Hotels then this was it. Apparently Wooter sees no problem with God including Box Jellyfish, Malaria, E Coli, Brown Recluse Spiders, Hepatitis, Golden Poison Frogs and Black Mambas in his 'hotel'.

777. Fleabytes

Comment #145368 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 2:11 pm

annabanana - no point thinking about it. Either Pathfinder is thick, or a bored net user taking the piss. Best not to engage.

778. Fleabytes

Comment #145323 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 1:33 pm

Atom bomb's and depravity and faggotism and lessbianism and comunism. The legacy of ATHEIST'S. Thank's, guys.
We can now cease talking to this idiot, guys and girls.

779. Fleabytes

Comment #145310 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 1:21 pm

epeeist - Pathfinder may have Wooterism. We've not found a cure yet, so our thoughts should be with him.

780. Fleabytes

Comment #145294 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 1:09 pm

pathfinder

Mr peace: of course I wrote this all by myself- what do you think I am, some sort of randomly selected imbecile?
No, but the rose-tinted impression you have of clearthinker's non-posts and the comments about Dawkins Worship are familiar rubbish.

As Irate_Atheist says, some theists are fucktards.

781. Fleabytes

Comment #145273 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 12:49 pm

Pathfinder

This is an extremely well maintained website with a great deal to recommend it, for the Godless. However, I feel no one is really dealing with Clearthinkers excellent point's.
As Epeeist has said to posters before: did you write that all by yourself?

782. New Atheists Are Not Great

Comment #145270 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 12:43 pm

al-rawandi

Do you wann get kicked in the balls, or punched.
I could probably use a good punching.

783. New Atheists Are Not Great

Comment #145257 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 12:25 pm

annabanana

As much as I dislike the manipulations and misrepresentations of science by D'Souza, I much prefer him to David Robertson, methinks.
There's not much to choose between them.

784. In Britain, creationist theory is evolving

Comment #145042 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 7:53 am

reason-first

Not only does it not explain anything, it confuses and misleads the people who fall for it.
Sadly that seems to be the express purpose of the creationist buffoons who use the term.

785. Full house captivated by atheist Dawkins' take on religion

Comment #145032 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 7:38 am

post-secular Ph.D

give my children a reality that goes beyond the microscope and embraces their hearts and souls and teaches them to embrace others and not one that focuses merely on fleshly matter
Science goes beyond a simple notion of "fleshly matter" in ways the bible authors could not possible have imagined. You have a curious notion of what it means to enquire and learn about the world through evidence-based reasoning.

Ask any atheist with children on this site about the values they try to teach their children. I would suggest compassion, love respect are pretty high on the list. So, your "reality that goes beyond the microscope" is something that they would definitely recognise. This is not exclusive to and should not lead to Christianity or any sky-fairy worship.

786. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #145017 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 7:16 am

Al-rawandi - I agree. What's even worse is the false compassion from the people who read the books. Who actually want to buy a book so that they can read about someone elses misfortune and feel sad. It was like when Diana died: it seems like peope just want to feel grief for the sake of it. Its seems fucked up to me.

787. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #145000 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 6:53 am

al-rawandi

I find it revolting that anyone would try to corner the market on suffering. There is plenty to go around.
Slightly off-topic, but I was dismayed to see a section for "Tragic Life Stories" in a local branch of W H Smiths recently. I do wonder about people sometimes.

788. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #144949 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 4:47 am

Bonzai

I'm not saying you shouldn't have a bash if you want to. People are free to do whatever they choose and good luck to them. I was just saying that I think for most its pretty clear on which side they fall. As you say, some are not like that, but I was just making a general case.

(Why to they put the back-page button next to the back-space button?! just lost another post.)

789. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #144942 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 4:38 am

Steve

Indeed. The focus on homosexuality is a little odd.
A homosexual relationship no more ruins the family than the vow of celibacy that catholic priests have to take.

790. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #144939 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 4:32 am

Bonzai

I think that is not even the issue. So what if it is changeable? It doesn't follow that anyone should change.
If it isn't the issue then what is the explanation for the Churches stance? If we are not likely to chance then I fail to see how homosexuality could ever be an "attack" on the family
I wish more straight people would "experiment", we believe in science don't we?
Whilst there are those who might be unsure, or might like either sex equally, I think most people pretty much know where they stand. There is no need to experiment when the difference in reaction between meeting a male and a female is so stark.

791. In Britain, creationist theory is evolving

Comment #144933 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 4:13 am

fides_et_ratio

Students are more likely to learn when they fully engage with a subject, and it sounds like they are starting to engage more
bur are they really engaging or just refusing to listen because of the rubbish their parents have told them?

792. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #144929 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 4:04 am

Steve - we were just waiting for the Government to bring in civil partnerships before making the switch.

793. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #144920 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 3:54 am

Steve - of course, but persecution is persecution, no matter which group is on the wrong end. What Jews went through during the war was truly horrible and we should never forget that. There is still anti-semitism (particularly in the middle east) and that needs to stop. I just don't like this impression I get from some that somehow Jewish people have it the worst out of any oppressed group.

794. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #144915 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 3:44 am

Anything which attacks the sanctity of marriage and the family will be opposed by the church,"
I love these kinds of comment. How do gay people "attack" the family exactly. Steve, Cartomancer, have you been going around threatening couples with children again?!

795. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #144914 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 3:39 am

Steve Zara

Sorry, but I think not.
I have to agree. There was a time when slave ships threw lines of shackled slaves overboard when they needed to lose cargo.

Jews are only alone in the way they carry on about it and spotting percived anti-semitism wherever they go.

796. In Britain, creationist theory is evolving

Comment #144911 by Peacebeuponme on March 17, 2008 at 3:33 am

More underhand theist nonsense from Monty White this time. Ken Ham is not "tearing evolution to pieces". He also jumps from denying evolution to spirituality as though they are the only alternatives and equates secularism to consumerism and hedonism. As nickthelight says : Wanker.

They should teach creationism in schools. Just get a biologist to spend half and hour pulling it apart scientifically and be done with it.

797. Fleabytes

Comment #142329 by Peacebeuponme on March 12, 2008 at 10:36 am

al

Anyhow, this is off topic
Apologies. I've lost track of the topics covered on this thread...

798. Fleabytes

Comment #142328 by Peacebeuponme on March 12, 2008 at 10:35 am

al

Wasn't trying to point fingers at you, and not attributing that statement to you. Various people here have made that kind of comment though (if not those exact words).

I was just saying I found your debates with Keith interesting. I learnt a lot. I hope that comes across a positive on your part (whether or not I finally agree with you on the issue).

799. Fleabytes

Comment #142324 by Peacebeuponme on March 12, 2008 at 10:24 am

Keith - your posts are some of the most refreshing and sensible (not to mention amusing) ones I read here. I can only find myself nodding in appreciation at most of the content(incidently, that's why i bought and enjoyed God is not great. Hitchens is a delight to read, even though it didn't make me ponder my position on anything).

As for Iraq, that's exactly where I am. I watched a few of your ding-dongs with al-rawandi and others from the sidelines with a lot of interest. It is truly an area where the correct position seems to be elusive, or non-existent. I was happy to see you defend against the knee-jerk "Hitchens is a hearless neo-con" line as well.

You do seem to show up a little bit of cabbie mentality in some areas though (I can imagine the audience of "The Big Questions" nodding furiously to some bits armed with their tabloid sensationalist view of the world). Comments such as these:

why would a little girl's parents give her a man's middle name? And why do Americans and some Brits nowadays give their children surnames as christian names?
and
Looking round at the teenagers that hang around on the streets of my town, most of them are holding a can of beer.
Are kind of pet hates of mine. What's wrong with giving kids any name they so choose? Who defines 'boys' and 'girls' names anyway. When people are called Leaf or Demi there seems little to help you decide. I know two Finnish people called Jukka-Pekka and Piia-Tuulia? Would you be able to guess their sex from that? I'm disappointed that France has a rather draconian system effectively requiring all names to be Government approved.

As for teenagers drinking, I did a bit of street drinking when I was younger, but it was not a daily occurrence and caused little harm. I'd be interested to see the proportion of teenagers who actually do this regularly? I think the data would belie the accepted wisdom that all teenagers are drinking, causing trouble, crime is soaring, you can't leave your front door open any more etc etc.

I'm just picking up on little things in your post and this may all appear trivial to readers here, but these things interest me, so what the hell.

Finally, I am a Cardiff boy (well, from Cwmbran which is near enough). Premiership is but a dream to us, though a good cup run has given me something to cheer about.

800. Fleabytes

Comment #142189 by Peacebeuponme on March 12, 2008 at 6:12 am

Keith

life is usually interesting enough without artificial stimulants.
The 1st division is interesting enough without watching the premiership.

Without deeming either the "on drugs/alcohol" experience or the "sober" experience as superior, Surely it is good to experience both? Everything in moderation and all that. I agree that a friend who cannot enjoy an evening without stimulants can be pretty boring, but there is a time and a place for everything.

I certainly don't want the pope or christians telling me what I can or can't do.

btw - what did you miss? usual theist nonsense, plus maybe a few Iraw discussion that could have used your particular skills.

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