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Comments by mdowe


51. Submission, 'Part 1'

Comment #105125 by mdowe on December 30, 2007 at 4:13 pm

RIP Mr. Van Gogh.

As to the film ... it boggles the mind that people still live like this in our day and age. Plain and simple barbarism ... I can't put it in a kinder way.

52. Man and God

Comment #103450 by mdowe on December 25, 2007 at 5:16 pm

Same old 'mean 'ol atheists' BS. I can't even bear to finish reading these articles anymore -- I just shove them into categories.

53. The Evangelical Rebellion

Comment #103273 by mdowe on December 24, 2007 at 9:25 pm

Corporate America vs Dominionist Christianity ... there just isn't anyone to like here. A rise to power by Dominionist Christianity would pretty much destroy the USA as a power in a generation or two. Masses of mis-educated kids and Christian-dogma defined science (and probably a mass exodus of the educated in the country) would have the rest of the world quickly leaving the USA in its wake. The raping of the country that has gone on under greedy corporatists almost looks like a mere nuisance by comparison. If America doesn't dodge this bullet (I'm optimistic they will ... surely the average American is not this stupid) it is likely to lead to bloodshed.

54. Priest who committed suicide for rebirth cremated

Comment #103077 by mdowe on December 24, 2007 at 9:34 am

Natural selection at work ....

55. Al Qaeda: We're open to questions

Comment #101356 by mdowe on December 20, 2007 at 9:15 am

Re: 21. Comment #101334 by al-rawandi


... a lot of atheists (occassionally myself included) have a lot emotion wound around the anti-religion thing ...


Left to my own devices I never give religious considerations a second thought ... until it is forced on me from the outside.


Ok how do you plan to get rid of it?


Sadly there is such thing as a problem with no particularly good solution, and I'm afraid these dangerous religiously-motivated groups form the basis of one of them. I think the only realistic approach is to try and contain the problem as much as possible in order to minimise the suffering and carnage. You isolate the states that support the fundamentalism/terrorism, support those that try to fight it and educate their populations, try to foil the schemes of the terrorists, and capture or kill them and their leaders whenever you get the chance. You are bound to have good days and bad days. If this sounds a lot like what most countries are doing, well, the options are kind of limited. What else are you going to do? -- start vapourising the countries from which the fundamentalists/terrorists are springing along with their populations? Invade every such country and try to impose change from outside? Unthinkable and fantasy respectively.

On another note, It is my opinion that we should be (or more to the point, should have been ...) a lot more careful about the ideals of the people we allow to settle in our countries. As I see it, particularly dangerous religions like Wahabist Islam, should be treated as criminal.

56. Religious Freedom in Military Questioned

Comment #100855 by mdowe on December 19, 2007 at 1:02 pm

This is a huge, huge, problem in the American military. Not only atheists are running into problems ... even Christians that aren't perceived to be 'Christian-enough' are under the gun. People are, more or less, being murdered over this (the method being repetitive assignment to the most dangerous areas and duties)! Listen to the September 8 Freethought radio podcast:

http://media.libsyn.com/media/ffrf/FTradio_72_090807.mp3

57. Way of the Master Radio talks about Dawkins' Christmas Comments

Comment #100549 by mdowe on December 18, 2007 at 9:36 pm

I think Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens should get together and do a Christmas album -- just to poke'em in the eye =) Let the fundies deal with that...

(Perhaps with a large choir children ... Monty Python style).

58. Borders Tags Atheist Book with 'O Come All Ye Faithless' Cards

Comment #100219 by mdowe on December 18, 2007 at 11:49 am

Playing the 'offended and hurt' card seems to get good milage for the Muslims. On the bright side, at least the Christians don't resort threats and murder at every (real or imagined) insult.

59. The Four Horsemen: on Christmas

Comment #99920 by mdowe on December 17, 2007 at 8:59 pm

If you are going to go HD you have to justify it. So for the sequel I have a two word suggestion: pole dancers!! Ok, so this results in a vid of four of today's most influential atheist spokespersons gibbering incomprehensibly ... the male half of your target audience almost certainly won't notice. In fact we'll insist that it is best atheism video ever!

60. Creation college seeks state's OK to train teachers

Comment #99145 by mdowe on December 15, 2007 at 6:19 pm

Hey, maybe these people are fairly recent descendants of a single breeding pair -- has anyone checked? It would sure explain alot.

61. 2007 Audiobook Download of the Year: The God Delusion

Comment #98866 by mdowe on December 14, 2007 at 7:13 pm

I've got the audiobook, and it's wonderful. It adds a dimension you can never get from simply reading a book. Everyone here knows that Prof. Dawkins is a skilled and expressive speaker, but you quickly learn from the book that his wife, Lalla Ward, is also a fabulous narrator. I loved her reading from A.A. Milne. (She should consider narrating children's books if she hasn't done so already). The audiobook is almost like a long visit with the Dawkins household -- the interesting and articulate friends we all wish we had.

62. Jumbo shrimp, creationist astronomy

Comment #98824 by mdowe on December 14, 2007 at 1:53 pm

I'm always astonished how many like-minded people I run across on this forum ... whatever the topic. It makes me feel so ... normal! It seems we have a disproportionately large OSS Linux/Unix crowd (with Mac users getting partial points here too). Any other OpenBSD people by chance? (I know ... that's pushing it.)

BTW -- 'mplayer' with win32 codecs installed will suffice to play most QT files in a pinch: http://www.mplayerhq.hu

63. Jumbo shrimp, creationist astronomy

Comment #98642 by mdowe on December 14, 2007 at 1:15 am

I'm a Unix person myself, and an advocate of open source and open standards, so naturally I am of the opinion that posting multimedia in a open media format is best (then everybody with a computer can access it!)

64. U.S. Congress Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith

Comment #98197 by mdowe on December 13, 2007 at 8:45 am

Sigh ... it looks like I'm overdue to make room in my basement for American intellectual refugees.

65. An Open Letter to Richard Dawkins

Comment #96675 by mdowe on December 10, 2007 at 8:18 pm

Maybe we need an Open-letter from the atheist community to Father Jonathan Morris. I suggest something like:

Dear Father Morris,

Stick it. Save your pedantic babble, half-truths, and bullshit for the gullible masses of brain-washed sheep you hold mass for on Sundays.

Sincerely,

blaa, blaa, blaa...

On second thought, maybe diplomacy isn't my strong-suit. Perhaps somebody else would like to revise it a bit before it goes out...

66. Atheists' sign sparks controversy

Comment #96259 by mdowe on December 10, 2007 at 8:44 am

So ... what do you think? Will they resort to vandalism (or worse -- violence) before or after they try either the misapplication of some existing law, or the creation of special bylaws, to silence perceived opposition? I don't buy the 'prayer' thing for a second.

67. Richard Dawkins - Science and the New Atheism

Comment #95852 by mdowe on December 9, 2007 at 10:52 am

On the topic of human evolution and food, I suspect it won't be too much longer before we have, at least, the technical ability to alter our genetic endowment so that our bodies could manufacture all the (non-elemental) nutritional factors we currently have to ingest. Of course any research with this kind of potential will immediately raise a moral outcry from religites, and be banned by brainless politicians.

68. Richard Dawkins - Science and the New Atheism

Comment #95510 by mdowe on December 8, 2007 at 1:30 pm


killing and eating those that consent


I think my reaction matches Arthur Dent's on this matter ... just give me a green salad!

I don't really think we have the consent of the cow either ... pretty much any animal will run away if it comprehends that it is in danger.

69. Richard Dawkins - Science and the New Atheism

Comment #95505 by mdowe on December 8, 2007 at 1:16 pm


94. Comment #95492 by erphasmagigas
one wonderers about the whole issue. would i prefer to live in a world where i could savor an occasional beef stew from a humanely locally reared animal, so killed as to be rendered oblivious in a careful in ...


Let me think about this for a second. If I said I prefer to live in a world where I could savour an occasional Granny stew from a humanely and locally reared Granny that was killed ... you get my point. Clearly the culinary-choice aspects of 'kind of world I would like to live in' doesn't influence the moral question, and even humane and painless killing doesn't get me completely off the hook from a moral perspective. If it is ok to kill the cow, why isn't it ok bump-off Granny? I guess I'm personally just skirting the issue by just leaving the cow (and Grannies) alone .. call it intellectual laziness.

70. Richard Dawkins - Science and the New Atheism

Comment #95484 by mdowe on December 8, 2007 at 12:34 pm

Diacanu: I have a sneeking suspicion your question is disingenuous, but never being afraid to re-examine my convictions, I'll attempt an answer. Nobody is claiming we are not part of nature, but because of our intellectual capacity (and in this case the happy coincidence that we evolved to be omnivores) we can choose not be carnivorous when we have the option, and to minimise the suffering we cause when we don't. Lions, tigers, etc. don't have a humans intellect so they get a pass on aspects of morality that require it. If they did have our intellect, they still wouldn't the digestive system to be vegetarians. I guess that that point they would have to consider the morality of what animals they choose to eat and how they raised and killed them.

There are other reasons relating to share of planetary resources (it takes 10 lbs of grain to make 1 lb of meat ... less for chickens I understand) that make vegetarianism or at least low meat consumption a boon for humanity. Some would say ... perhaps it is true, that it is a moral obligation (equivalent to the many other such moral obligations we ignore on a daily basis).

71. Richard Dawkins - Science and the New Atheism

Comment #95465 by mdowe on December 8, 2007 at 12:00 pm

Yet another long-time vegetarian atheist here. I don't preach about it, but I personally refuse to be a cause of suffering when I can choose otherwise. As to the comments of Bonzai and others, yes ... sometimes you have to kill things and presumably be a cause of suffering to some critter or other. It sucks, but I live in the real world. Still, I prefer to stay as high up this slippery slope as possible.

72. The God Delusion in Turkey

Comment #95294 by mdowe on December 7, 2007 at 11:05 pm

If I were Professor Dawkins I'd cheerfully agree to discuss my views for the Turkish public, but only from a safe distance well outside of Turkish jurisdiction!

73. Debate between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox

Comment #76080 by mdowe on October 4, 2007 at 4:14 pm

Does any know if there is an ogg or mp3 version of this 'debate' available somewhere?

74. Polygamist Leader Convicted in Utah

Comment #73870 by mdowe on September 26, 2007 at 12:14 pm

Comment #73860 by Linda


The big perk for men is obviously the 'get out of jail free card' bestowed by the gods which is a carte blanche excuse to have sex with children


While men are generally attracted to young women (politically incorrect as it may be), *most* men would not consider having sex with children a 'perk'. I think you're showing a prejudice here. I suspect its more true to say it takes something like a religion to have otherwise normal men override the instinct to protect children. The majority of us men are actually pretty decent folk if you give us a chance =)

75. Polygamist Leader Convicted in Utah

Comment #73790 by mdowe on September 26, 2007 at 7:47 am

I don't care how adults chose to live their life. Frankly, I don't see it as any of my business. But you would think that people who worry about having the values of their country's Christian majority shoved down their throat, would be more conscious of doing the same thing to someone else. The idea of forcing myself sexually on *anyone* (much less someone barely more than a child -- and the 'barely more' is debatable) is absolutely repugnant. But then I guess I'm just a amoral atheist....

76. There Go The Dinosaurs

Comment #73682 by mdowe on September 25, 2007 at 8:29 pm

Comment #73676 by Crazymalc


So, why do I see through the shallow facade, and 800,000 do not?


The relative intensity of childhood indoctrination is likely part of the reason. The power of childhood indoctrination to warp a mind is rather astonishing. I count myself very fortunate that mine was mild enough that I shook it off before puberty.

77. Why are we Muslims so self-destructive?

Comment #73320 by mdowe on September 24, 2007 at 5:43 pm

Just a reminder that the West should be bloody careful about pushing for democracy in Pakistan. We might just get what we demand, and live to regret it. The less enlightened the general population, the poorer a democracy can hope function.

78. Crisis of faith in first secular school

Comment #72969 by mdowe on September 23, 2007 at 4:37 pm

Re: Comment #72884 by Dr Benway


If you've an hour to kill, this is entertaining: British vs American English


No wonder we Canadians often feel misunderstood. When it comes to English, we are neither fish nor fowl. =)

79. Crisis of faith in first secular school

Comment #72900 by mdowe on September 23, 2007 at 11:25 am

I wonder, would it be too much for Dr. Kelley to send the children home with a multi-option permission slip, something like:

With regards to religious instruction in school,
I request that my child receive:

A) Indoctrinal religious instruction in the
Christian religion.

B) Indoctrinal religious instruction in the
following religion:
(Please specify) ____________

C) A secular education, including religion
as an academic study.

D) A secular education, without a formal
study of religion.

If he could have such a slip sent home to be filled out and signed by the parents, he might be surprised how many parents support a secular education for their children.

80. Crisis of faith in first secular school

Comment #72830 by mdowe on September 23, 2007 at 5:10 am

This is ridiculous. It is long passed time the UK reformed the House of Lords IMHO. A few bishops should not be able to force religion on an entire country. In the mean time, maybe Dr Kelley should have his school offer up daily prayers to Joe Pesci (that would be 'broadly Christian' wouldn't it?)

81. Oxford's Christian colleges 'are not suitable for school-leavers'

Comment #71600 by mdowe on September 19, 2007 at 5:13 am

RE: Comment #71580 by Dud Bug

I think it would be kind of fun to study Theology ... it would give you loads of ammunition with which you could beat ignorant fundamentalists over the head =)

On that subject, I found the documentary "Who wrote the Bible?" (Channel 4 again) presented by Dr. Robert Beckford (whom I thought came across as scholarly, objective, and respectable) very well done and informative. You can probably find it out on the net somewhere if you haven't seen it.

82. Oxford's Christian colleges 'are not suitable for school-leavers'

Comment #71576 by mdowe on September 19, 2007 at 4:33 am

The study of religion is a legimate pursuit; you can be an atheist and be an academic theologian, and I suspect the most objective ones probably are atheists. However, the teaching of fundamentalist religious dogma does not belong in education at any level, certainly not at a university, and most especially not at Oxford! I'm sure this has to honk-off Prof. Dawkins. Well, at least it is being reviewed. I just hope they actually do something about it.

83. Catholic school board in Halton may ban HPV vaccination

Comment #71571 by mdowe on September 19, 2007 at 4:08 am

RE: Comment #71562 by action bastard

Hepatitis B can also affect bugg^H^H^H^H men (such as Catholic priests). You won't see them ban this one any time soon. HPV is only a serious problem for women, and we all know where they sit in the 3 so called "Great" Abrahamic religions.

84. Catholic school board in Halton may ban HPV vaccination

Comment #71407 by mdowe on September 18, 2007 at 5:37 pm

I just can't believe these pinheads can, in Canada, get away with setting such a sick policy -- one that could cost some of these kids their lives in later years. And coming from a religious institution that has been sheltering paedophiles for years, the hypocrisy is just too much. Clearly they should be relieved of the burden of having to make such decisions in the future.

On another note, the CBC is currently featuring a short article on faith-based schools in Canada:

http://www.cbc.ca/ontariovotes2007/features/features-faith.html

85. Open letter to YouTube video

Comment #70354 by mdowe on September 15, 2007 at 3:32 am

Comment #70343 by epeeist

I'm also a big proponent of free (in the sense of liberty) software , so of course I'm not surprised. The DMCA pretty much seems to have been drafted with heavy-handed arbitrary application in mind. The law serves little legitimate purpose. Hell, the whole United States patent & copyright system has long stopped serving the populous ... even some corporations are starting to have second thoughts these days (so of course the US government tries to force the system on the world at every opportunity). The whole issue sits not too far under religion on my list of annoyances.

86. Scientists' Good News: Earth May Survive Sun's Demise in 5 Billion Years

Comment #70019 by mdowe on September 13, 2007 at 4:59 pm

The Earth will become uninhabitable long before the Sun becomes a red giant -- the Sun is getting hotter over time and so will the Earth. But it seems ludicrously unlikely to me that humans (as such) will be around in even a billion years to care. Hell, it seems unlikely we will even be the preeminent intelligence on the planet in 150 years (I expect intelligent computers will have long overtaken us by then ... probably much sooner.)

87. Review of Richard Dawkins' new book 'The Fascism Delusion'

Comment #69034 by mdowe on September 9, 2007 at 2:49 pm

Bravo! I wish I'd thought of it!

88. Interview with Francis Collins

Comment #68851 by mdowe on September 8, 2007 at 11:51 pm

Maybe Dr. Collins is a good scientist, but I'm afraid with all the non-sense he spouts (and apparently believes) I can see only one gap that worries me, and it is one of credibility.

89. Creationism raised as Ont. election issue

Comment #68500 by mdowe on September 7, 2007 at 10:15 am

I'd worry more, but haven't the Progressive-Conservatives been politically extinct in Canada since the 1980's?? Is there any chance they will win anything, anywhere? Somehow I doubt it ... it sounds like they have sunk to new levels of desperation. Anybody from Ontario reading this forum? (Silly me, looks like there are several Ontarians!)

90. 'Root of All Evil? The Uncut Interviews' Released on DVD

Comment #67931 by mdowe on September 5, 2007 at 7:52 am

18. Comment #67916 by Cregaune


I'm sure Mr Dawkins has got more than a few pennies ...


I'm sure Prof. Dawkins is beyond the need to make money at this point, but I'm guessing he wasn't the only person involved with the production. I'll go out on a limb here and hazard a guess that there might be other people involved that *do* need their paychecks!

91. 'Root of All Evil? The Uncut Interviews' Released on DVD

Comment #67861 by mdowe on September 5, 2007 at 2:52 am

Re: Comment #67851 by admin (Josh)


For legal reasons, we weren't allowed to use the Ted Haggard footage


The fact that you could not use the footage is in itself rather interesting. Can you elaborate on the reason? (Or can you not elaborate for legal reasons...).

92. Psychiatrists are the least religious of all physicians

Comment #67615 by mdowe on September 4, 2007 at 2:57 am

Re: Comment #67578 by BAEOZ


How do you challenge irrational theistic beliefs?


I suggest going straight to electro-shock. Reason and rational argument rarely ever have any effect, and at least you'll get a bit of satisfaction >=)

93. Review of Darwin's Angel: An Angelic Response to the God Delusion

Comment #66908 by mdowe on September 1, 2007 at 1:21 am

Re: Comment #66904 by Veronique


Is he another twit or not?


Yes, he is just another twit ... or maybe not. My head hurts...

94. Review of Darwin's Angel: An Angelic Response to the God Delusion

Comment #66902 by mdowe on September 1, 2007 at 1:02 am

The one thing that just blows me away when it comes to these so-called 'Christian' reviewers -- even more than their gullibility and irrationality -- is their astonishing lack of personal integrity. They generally just skip any attempt at real rebuttal or reasoned argument, and just advance immediately to out-and-out dishonestly and thinly veiled personal attacks. What a revolting bunch of hypocrites...

95. Polling Data on Science and Religion

Comment #66829 by mdowe on August 31, 2007 at 5:20 pm

I wonder. In these surveys so many people *claim* they will choose God over science, if they are forced to choose. When push comes to shove, I quite frankly think these people are talking through their hat. I propose an alternative method for the survey:

All the individuals in the survey are flown to roughly 3500' in some large aircraft, and have their choice of A) a parachute -- the science solution, or B) a Bible and however much prayer they can manage in the time after they are C) pushed (or shoved) out the back of the plane. I bet that when the stakes really count, you'll get a 100% adoption of science (and if not ... well, that's natural selection at work, isn't it?)

96. Fruit fly parasite's gene invasion raises questions over evolution

Comment #66776 by mdowe on August 31, 2007 at 10:12 am

We've known about things like transposons and endogenous viruses for some time now. I don't see why this "gene invasion" would come as a particularly big surprise.

97. Gene regulation in humans is closer than expected to simple organisms

Comment #66587 by mdowe on August 30, 2007 at 2:25 pm

RE: Comment #66556 by Corylus

If you are interested enough that you want some basic background on this topic, the "lac operon" is the classic example of gene regulation taught in biology classes. If you can get by all the jargon and acronyms, you'll find the basics are simple enough -- even an artsy-type can understand it =)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_operon

98. Gene regulation in humans is closer than expected to simple organisms

Comment #66563 by mdowe on August 30, 2007 at 12:29 pm

It is interesting to those of us with related backgrounds, and has implications for evolutionary biology. But I don't think more scientific evidence is really going to matter much to the blindly religious, and so I don't really see a connection on that front. I'm taking it as a general-interest science article for biologists.

On a completely irrelevant note, I just have to say I love open-access journals. These are among the best the things the internet has brought us.

99. Richard Dawkins at the Edinburgh Book Festival

Comment #66081 by mdowe on August 28, 2007 at 12:00 pm

RE: Comment #65946 by theedinburghblog

Well then, I will take you at your word, sir, as to what you what you meant. However, in the context of your paragraph, use of the term 'opposite extreme' was somewhat ill-chosen.

The term 'extreme' when applied to religion generally implies violence and death. Curiously, it is frequently applied to atheists just for having the gall to actually open their mouth and state an opinion, or demand that the law actually be followed. So perhaps I'm a bit touchy about it.

I should also add that atheists virtually never ride the opposite of 'absolute belief in God'. I say this because those with an 'absolute belief in God' take the position that *absolutely nothing* will change their view. Dare I say that our position is that there is no evidence to indicate that there is a God. Thus, in principle, we are open to evidence to the contrary. It would not be reasonable for me say I have an absolute (unassailable) disbelief in God, because I simply have no way to check to confirm that I am right.

100. Richard Dawkins at the Edinburgh Book Festival

Comment #65629 by mdowe on August 25, 2007 at 7:44 am


... whether books like The God Delusion, which are at the opposite extreme would spur the extremist elements on even further ...


First off, books like the TGD are *NOT* 'the opposite extreme'. This is a blatantly false assertion. Prof. Dawkins never advocates, or in any way insinuates, that we should suicide bomb churches. He doesn't even suggest we selectively kill those choice people we figure the world could do without. It seems Professor Dawkins is a just boring 'moderate'... gasp. He just looks tough because the "people of reason" which he represents by their very nature oppose extremist, violent, views.

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