51. Who Was More Important: Lincoln or Darwin?

Comment #204095 by 35bluejacket on July 4, 2008 at 6:11 am

Its been years, but I remember reading that Lincoln and another guy (working on a barge Lincoln built) kicked some ass one night down Na-lens way. It said they were black. Anybody got some info on this?

52. Psychiatrists: Least Religious But Most Interested In Patients' Religion

Comment #200537 by 35bluejacket on June 27, 2008 at 8:33 pm

If it is true; that the most sane person is a person devoid of delusion, then why don't these learned psychiatrists see this? Have they been that poorly taught? Is our education system that bad?

53. Psychiatrists: Least Religious But Most Interested In Patients' Religion

Comment #200512 by 35bluejacket on June 27, 2008 at 6:52 pm

It makes me wonder how many psychiatrists have helped tarot card readers out of depression and back on the business road, or sharing the feelings about the refrigerator size diamond buried in the back yard. (S. Harris)

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

Comment #196944 by 35bluejacket on June 20, 2008 at 4:27 pm

That looks like Alaska permafrost, minus the lichen.

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

Comment #196690 by 35bluejacket on June 20, 2008 at 10:40 am

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

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

Comment #192288 by 35bluejacket on June 12, 2008 at 5:07 pm

Joining a religion is kind of like joining a lynch mob mentality.

57. Blogger spreads the gospel of science

Comment #189421 by 35bluejacket on June 6, 2008 at 8:43 am

There once was a sailor from Kent
that had a p**** so long that it bent.
So to save himself trouble
he put it in double
and instead of c***** he went.

58. Shermer's 'Mind of the Market' Reviewed in L.A. Times

Comment #116980 by 35bluejacket on January 28, 2008 at 12:30 am

As for some experience in self-reliability, I built my 35 foot wooden sailboat and am a long distance single-handed bluewater sailor and hang with the same crowd. Shermer makes good sense, but "research has shown that autonomy and self-reliance make people happiest" blows my mind. That maybe true for us waterdogs but for the average person...they are in another world and will most of time ignore and sometimes fight knowledge (reality), believing that they were born with intuitive wisdom. Reality is the (and a) Mother of all Teachers, the best and not very forgiving. She is the pure Truth and you gotta love her and her surprise tests, because she will never let you down or deceive you (so much for free-will :). I talk as if she has human qualities, but she doesn't, she is far above that; the brain-mush of humans. She has no intelligence, no conscience, no will or purpose, just result. (Robert G. Ingersoll)

By-the-way, the true nature of man is; he seeks meaning, but fights enlightment at every step.

Of all the crap in the world going on that we think is important, 30,000 inocent children, under the age of five, die each day needlessly.


In the gizmo-comfort-money-religious-world, I don't see much hope for humanity. Even E.O. Wilson's ants have more sense of self-preservation than humans.

Just my opinion.

59. Priest who committed suicide for rebirth cremated

Comment #103212 by 35bluejacket on December 24, 2007 at 1:48 pm

Al-Rawandi:
Like I said before; you need to keep history out of your arguments. :)

60. Was Muhammad Epileptic?

Comment #103151 by 35bluejacket on December 24, 2007 at 11:16 am

Mansa Musa: Is it not also ethically permissible for you to lie to us? My Moslem ex-son-in-law believed and used to do that.

61. Priest who committed suicide for rebirth cremated

Comment #103132 by 35bluejacket on December 24, 2007 at 10:52 am

Radesq:
Good movie!! Princess Bride

62. Was Muhammad Epileptic?

Comment #102781 by 35bluejacket on December 23, 2007 at 4:10 pm

Mansa musa:
Your approach to "miracles as proof of Divinity" is a logical mistake, as pointed out by the Moslem Al-Ghazali in the twelfth century. Al-Ghazali gives the story of a self-called doctor who enters a village and claims he can heal people. The chief of the village asks for proof, whereas the self-called doctor flaps his arms and flies about the village. The chief said: "That is proof you can fly, not that you can heal."

63. 'Christian God is not to blame'

Comment #102718 by 35bluejacket on December 23, 2007 at 1:11 pm

Where in bloody hell does he think Hitler got his hatred of the Jews?

64. The Ethics of Hell

Comment #102549 by 35bluejacket on December 23, 2007 at 7:53 am

Perhaps we are not under the threat of a hell in a life after death, however, we are under the threat of a hell of misery in this life. There is no escape. We are all mental slaves to rational thought. Under the universal law of Causality we have no other system of thought, no system other than logic and reasoning. To stray lightly, results in being disconected from reality and to steer greatly from rational thought brings insanity.
Rational thought is very intricate in our thinking, one syllable follows another, in a word, one word rationally follows another and the same with a sentence and paragraph. In fact we cannot even know if we need rational thought or not, unless we use it. There may not be the threat of hell in the next life but on earth each human and humanity is under the threat. The battle of rational thought over irationality is not "and vs. or" debate but rather a total submission to the universal law of Causuality, to ignore it produces the hell we see here on earth of famine, genocide, war, raceism, intoleration, fanaticism, greed, distruction of the planet and even the misery of our own personal lives. Let us raise the sanctity of Reason for our Salvation. :)

65. The Ethics of Hell

Comment #102536 by 35bluejacket on December 23, 2007 at 6:56 am

Y. Bother:
Freewill is not a license to irresponsibility.

Good work Brian!

66. Al Qaeda: We're open to questions

Comment #101641 by 35bluejacket on December 20, 2007 at 4:24 pm

Al-rawandi:
You need to stop using history for your arguments. You are very mistaken if you think that dropping the nuke bombs on Japan was not military strategy. The cost in lives on both sides were weighed very seriously by Truman and his advisors, that's why they dropped them. They dropped one A-bomb and waited for a response; none, so they dropped the next.
The loss of at least a million lives were prevented by stopping a ground invasion of Japan. Actually the war with Japan is a good lesson in how dangerous and how to stop a suicide supported, fanatical, totalitarian, quasi-religion. We had to shake their god Hirohito literally.

67. Three wise men just legend: archbishop

Comment #101459 by 35bluejacket on December 20, 2007 at 11:41 am

Are we talking about Nun young or Arkansas young?

68. Al Qaeda: We're open to questions

Comment #101413 by 35bluejacket on December 20, 2007 at 10:29 am

I'm getting really tired of the sexual innuendoes. We should rethink our value judgements that we have inherited from religions. The brainwashing has been quite complete and most of us don't realise or ask where the thoughts came from. How have we come to believe that the worse thing we can say to another is imply a sexual act? Sexual actions between consenting adults is supposed to be one of the kindest, nicest things on the face of the earth. Only religion could poison something so pure and natural. :)

69. What Your Brain Looks Like on Faith

Comment #100658 by 35bluejacket on December 19, 2007 at 4:35 am

I doubt the results of the research will convince any hardcore faith-heads, accept for one more thorn in their crown, but for truth seekers and the medical world it would be a godsend. I think Harris has just the right personality to be doing this type of work.

70. What Your Brain Looks Like on Faith

Comment #100523 by 35bluejacket on December 18, 2007 at 7:41 pm

D. Goetzinger:
You have made a good observation. It brings up the question of all the millions of ignorant superstitious people, lose on the streets, who have lost their religion (because of our atheist teachings) and what little moral compass they recieved from their religions. Who is going to control them? Could we expect them to be rational in their morality?

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

Comment #100290 by 35bluejacket on December 18, 2007 at 1:10 pm

The Bible says one of the fruits of the spirit is "long suffering". So Christians, suck it up.

72. THE FOUR HORSEMEN - Available Now on DVD!

Comment #99651 by 35bluejacket on December 17, 2007 at 8:47 am

Cartomancer:

To talk safely behind a monitor, one can voice our petty political correctnesses. I wonder what kind of habit you would take up if you knew you were under a 24/7 death threat, that someone or many, would literaly love to cut your heart out. Imagine the childish absurdity of criticizing Churchill because of his cigars.

73. THE FOUR HORSEMEN - Available Now on DVD!

Comment #99459 by 35bluejacket on December 16, 2007 at 5:45 pm

Hitchens reminds me of G. Patten. The pure warrior. Cast perfectly in history at the right time and place. We should be thankful for our luck.

As for Hitchens drinking; A. Lincoln said about Gen. Grant bingeing: find out what he is drinking and pass it to the other Generals, he fights.

74. Creationists plan British theme park

Comment #99410 by 35bluejacket on December 16, 2007 at 3:18 pm

For some reason the Creation Museum reminds me of the freak shows of the 50's and their carnival barkers telling weird stories.
What was that saying of P. T. Barnum?

75. Creationists plan British theme park

Comment #99336 by 35bluejacket on December 16, 2007 at 10:55 am

Keeping in mind that "He who has the gold, makes the rules", it seems to make sense to keep educating them (GDs to the MPs) to secularism while depleating the creationist's coffers.

76. Creationists plan British theme park

Comment #99320 by 35bluejacket on December 16, 2007 at 10:01 am

They neeed a few of these theme parks in Finland and Sweden too.

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

Comment #98847 by 35bluejacket on December 14, 2007 at 3:54 pm

Sorry to put the disagrement in your faces like that: It was just to get your attention. I had hinted the hypothsis earlier on this forum.

The comment that a member on this site (another forum) that; the extreme fundamentalists puritans left England because King Charles issued an equality of religion law. The puritians were still still steaming from wanting a pound of flesh from the Catholics so they left for the Netherlands. Moderate Netherlands didn't want them so they came to America to found a fundamentalist new world. If you check out the evolution of laws in America or colonialism will see how those laws, watered down over time, showed up in the states.

This is just a hypothsis and needs more research.
But I think that one could be correct in giving the argument that this country was founded (colonies) on Christian principals (howbeit, God save us from those tyrannous puritan laws). Search those laws out on the web and it will remind you of Sudan.
This also gives rise as to why our federal government was secular? Didn't Jefferson mention the battles between sects? I think Hitchens brought that up.

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

Comment #98828 by 35bluejacket on December 14, 2007 at 2:05 pm

S. Mading:
Sorry to disagree with you but before the federal government was established the states were founded on Christian laws and traditions.

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

Comment #98172 by 35bluejacket on December 13, 2007 at 7:26 am

Beer-Monster:
Your question might be answered in our forum response to Hewitt's interview with Hitchens. Also for anyone else who might be interested in why our state laws were (and still are in many cases) religious, as opposed to federal laws in the founding years of the U.S.

80. Christopher Hitchens appears on the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show

Comment #97830 by 35bluejacket on December 12, 2007 at 5:26 pm

Fedler:
After some research, I may have to back up here, in the light of the "Puritan Legal System" of the 1600's, several colonies had written laws (demanded by secular businesmen (freemen) who owned the ships and stockholders of the companies, in fear of verbal arbitrary puritan magistrates) based on the Bible leaning heavily on the Old Testament laws. These laws were carried into statehood but were deluted somewhat over time with a bits of reality checks like the regrets of which hunts (Mather) growing wealth and population. It seems, in the beginning, the purians' idea of "liberty" was to be free to be fanatical.

One "could" argue that the USA was founded on bibical beliefs. But the argument; what is customary or tradition, is a logical fallacy.

Can anyone give more enlightenment to this?

81. Christopher Hitchens appears on the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show

Comment #97613 by 35bluejacket on December 12, 2007 at 12:32 pm

Fedler:
It would seem so. It may have been tent settled on Christian beliefs but I wouldn't go so far as say founded (politically). Eventualy the secularists took control politically. It would be a good study as to how and why they were allowed to. Didn't Jefferson mention the battles between sects?
Someone needs to give this hypothesis to Hitchens.

82. Christopher Hitchens appears on the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show

Comment #97597 by 35bluejacket on December 12, 2007 at 12:05 pm

Could this also explain why the US is more religious than the Europeans? Our heritage has been of religious extremists? Imagine... they came to America to escape secularism and tolerance and build a new world of fanaticism.

83. Christopher Hitchens appears on the Hugh Hewitt Radio Show

Comment #97563 by 35bluejacket on December 12, 2007 at 11:07 am

Sharrow:
That statement is quite profound and deserves good research. Thanks. Damn I love this site.

It may help explain why our founding fathers were so worried about religion.

84. Atheists' sign sparks controversy

Comment #96455 by 35bluejacket on December 10, 2007 at 2:54 pm

This never seems to be brought up but in the south, the KKK and the Protestants were in the same bed. It could be said they were the same persons. There were only so many people in those small towns where I grew up and everybody knew everyone. So screw the Christian feelings, the Circut Rider and his horse that brought those beliefs in.

85. Atheists' sign sparks controversy

Comment #96438 by 35bluejacket on December 10, 2007 at 2:35 pm

These Christian arguements remind me of of some of the strings and attitudes of the KKK I had in the family. What if the KKK had a holiday calling for peace and family get together and somone put up a sign saying "Imagine no KKK"? What an outrage!!!! Christians "Gag at gnat and swallow a camel".

86. Atheists' sign sparks controversy

Comment #96411 by 35bluejacket on December 10, 2007 at 1:45 pm

I fear that the only "imagine" That the Christians will picture, will be atheists burning at the stake. Well, so bring it on. Maybe they will get us before global warming.

87. Atheists' sign sparks controversy

Comment #96354 by 35bluejacket on December 10, 2007 at 12:39 pm

Northern Bright:
I would recommend putting something like that on my "older" car, visualizing what it might look like when I came back out of Wallymarts.

88. The art of the soluble

Comment #95976 by 35bluejacket on December 9, 2007 at 3:21 pm

Thanks Spikie! Looks like another bloody Sunday.

89. The art of the soluble

Comment #95963 by 35bluejacket on December 9, 2007 at 2:48 pm

Steve 99:
You made me chuckle! Oddly enough St. Paul (Hebrews 11) explicitly gives the definition of "Faith" as "evidence" and "substance" I often wonder why Christians have missed this. It is so in their face.

90. Beyond Belief 07: Enlightenment 2.0

Comment #95511 by 35bluejacket on December 8, 2007 at 1:30 pm

If Scott Atran had done interviews with the KKK he might have also concluded that those good ole boy citizens of the small towns in the south had nothing in common with the burning of blacks, just a couple of boys that got a little out of hand, the KKK is a good community philosophy. It would seem Atran misinterprets his fact findings because he is of the same mindset of his interviewees.

During the conference Harris was passed over twice with his questions to Atran (when Atran referred to him) and when Harris got a chance, he gave him both barrels.

I reckon Atran (as they say in the south) needs to come down off his high-horse.

91. Interview with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #93756 by 35bluejacket on December 4, 2007 at 6:10 am

Perhaps you noticed the comment made on Mohammed's teaching of idolatry, that was trying to forbid it. Mohammed had seen the damaging effects of Christianity's Trinity and graven images, religious artifacts becoming things of worship, and tried to prevent it in his own religion. But as we can see, anything in the hands of men overtime suffers corruption, even to the point that man's interpretations end up being completly opposite of what was intended.

In conclusion I submit that it is "not" the messengers of these religions that should suffer our rath. Those messengers, of which very little of what they actualy said, was recorded. It is very possible they held the same enlightened motivation as the epicureans and Lucretius. It is the clergy and extreme of dogma leaders then and today that deserve our attitude of damnation and excomunication.

92. Banishing the Green-Eyed Monster

Comment #92107 by 35bluejacket on November 29, 2007 at 10:11 pm

Diacanu:
When it comes to the "truth of reality" from a scientific study, its not about whether people will except it or not.

93. Banishing the Green-Eyed Monster

Comment #92095 by 35bluejacket on November 29, 2007 at 9:36 pm

Diacanu: I'm not trying to be hateful. And I apologise if you felt that way, what I am saying is: where did you get your value judgements when you passed them on the Bonobos?

94. Banishing the Green-Eyed Monster

Comment #92086 by 35bluejacket on November 29, 2007 at 9:19 pm

Diacanu:
More of your christian values? They are not that extreme and I would not judge them with our religious social values. They seek and have found peace and harmony without religion, which is more than I can say for this society. Suppression breeds extremes.
In the past society was shocked when evolution told us our ancestors were chimps. Now it looks like we need to take some morality lessons from them. It is the only way to be sure our social values are not poisoned by religion.

95. Banishing the Green-Eyed Monster

Comment #92073 by 35bluejacket on November 29, 2007 at 8:44 pm

Dawkins is "right" and is just following implications of Evolution. Can't you also see the the society of Bonobo chimps have a far more peacefull and caring lifestyle than us humans.

96. Banishing the Green-Eyed Monster

Comment #91999 by 35bluejacket on November 29, 2007 at 5:07 pm

I can't believe how many people on this forum are talking about biological sex in this infected emotional way. The christian worms are coming out of the atheistic fruit of eden; possession, control, jealousy, cheat, lying, betrayal and public disgrace. Don't you know that evolution calls for a whole different philosophy of life?

97. Turkey probes atheist's 'God' book

Comment #91792 by 35bluejacket on November 29, 2007 at 10:29 am

Mercer:
Turkey's history kinda reminds me of the USA. What went wrong?

98. Turkey probes atheist's 'God' book

Comment #91751 by 35bluejacket on November 29, 2007 at 6:22 am

Hi Doc, I'm still chewing on your "Map is not the territory" approach. That was a good analogy. Thanks again

99. Turkey probes atheist's 'God' book

Comment #91747 by 35bluejacket on November 29, 2007 at 6:15 am

Maybe I should have left it. :)

100. Turkey probes atheist's 'God' book

Comment #91739 by 35bluejacket on November 29, 2007 at 5:44 am

As a history lesson you might want to consider the effects of the illegal Wycliff's Bible on the illiterate Brits. Also Later when Antwerp smuggled in Tyndal's translation. It changed the whole history of Britian. Them boys, Wycliff, Tyndal and Cranner got burned at the stake, but at least they didn't stand around with their hands in their beckets.