51. Send a Message to God: He has gone too far this time

Comment #17554 by Martha on January 14, 2007 at 5:22 pm

This article starts of with:

"Centuries of uncritical worship have clearly produced a monster. God knows that he can sit passively by while human life is wantonly mowed down.."

Precisely! For centuries, we (in the Christian West)have been taught from birth to passively tolerate people who instinctively resort to violence and abuse of their power over others in order to have their way over the rest of us. That is, psychotic people who were rejected at birth, but who manage to rise to the top of Society (or pecking order) because they are aided and abetted every step of the way by their "minions". In a truly civilised truly society, such unfortunate creatures would be aborted, precisely because they were not welcomed into the world in the first place, as all children should be. But then, we don't live in Utopia. Far from it!

52. Creationism special

Comment #17552 by Martha on January 14, 2007 at 5:00 pm

Re: Comment No. 17541 by SANCUS, as follows:-

Quote Sancus: "Lewis Walpert revealed himself as a pompous ass.... Children aren't stupid. They don't need ID folks breathing down their necks, the same way they don't need people like Walpert to patronize them about their ability to understand and appreciate science." end quote.

Neither was I impressed by Wolpert's dismissive attitude (nor by one of his books I read a year or so ago: can't recall the title). However, the fact remains, if children can so eaisly be taught to BELIEVE in religious doctrine in schools, then they can just as easily be taught to believe in all science, good and bad. Its up to parents themselves to ensure their children think for themselves - and THAT degree of freedom in childhood requires a tremendous amount of love!

53. Creationism special

Comment #17546 by Martha on January 14, 2007 at 4:46 pm

[quote="Richard Dawkins"]What is interesting about the scientific world view is that it is true, inspiring, remarkable and that it unites a whole lot of phenomena under a single heading.[/quote]

Isn't this (uniting a whole lot of phenomena under a single heading) the same thing that Believers/Creationists mean when they talk about "God"?

54. Executing Saddam Hussein was an Act of Vandalism

Comment #16121 by Martha on January 4, 2007 at 5:07 pm

FACT: Saddaam Hussein was murdered by murderers; by people who are very bit as warped and twisted as he was. Are we in the so-called civilised West just going to sit back and let the likes of George W Bush, Rumsfeld & co., call the shots? If we are, then we are as foolish and warped as they are!

55. Executing Saddam Hussein was an Act of Vandalism

Comment #16061 by Martha on January 4, 2007 at 10:38 am

DavidJMH (see comment below) said it all. I agree with every word he says, because it happens to be true!

29. Comment #15869 by DavidJMH on January 3, 2007 at 12:07 pm

Dear Richard Dawkins, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The execution of Saddam Hussein was simply and only an act of revenge by the Bush family upon the Hussein family, because Saddam had both duped George senior when he was Director of the CIA and tried to have Bush senior murdered in the early 90's. As we are all now only too well aware, the allegations about Iraq and WMD and El Queda were a fabrication; the Bush administration decided to use 9/11 as an excuse to extract their revenge in the earliest days after the attack on the US, whilst at the same time, hoping to gain control of Iraq's oil.
With all due respect, it is naive to suppose that morality plays any part here on either side of the equation. Saddam Hussein was an amoral thug; there is nothing genetic here and nothing to research; some people are like that in the same way some people are exceedingly humane. No amount of probing in a laboratory would reveal anything else. The Bush family have the power at present to exact whatever they choose and no matter how much they may try to justify their actions, they used their power for personal retribution.
To the victor the spoils and this is an example of pure Darwinism, which in case nobody has noticed, has nothing to do with altruism or moral sensibilities. There is only one reason the Husseins and Bushes of this world seek power, it is to use it however they see fit for their own interests.

56. Not Yet The Majority But No Longer Silent

Comment #15475 by Martha on December 31, 2006 at 4:37 pm

Id the American comments here are genuine, then its does indeed seem as though American has been well and truly hijacked by the Christian Funadmentalist Right-Wing Fundamentalists - in (for example) much the same way Russia was once commandeered by Stalin. But I guess that totalitarianism was on the cards from way back, long before the Berlin Wall actually fell?

What is America anyway, only an infantile hyper-materialistic, dehumanised culture - just like any other fascistic society!

57. Not Yet The Majority But No Longer Silent

Comment #15470 by Martha on December 31, 2006 at 4:00 pm

HAYPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Brights, Dims, Dullards etc Its midnight!

Martha

58. Not Yet The Majority But No Longer Silent

Comment #15469 by Martha on December 31, 2006 at 3:58 pm

Re Comment No. 15456 by G BILE:

"It looks like the US is going backwards in time, ending up in the 'Middle Ages" perhaps ?"

Well, it is now the world's so-called Super Power. "Might is right" and all that (brute force)!

59. Not Yet The Majority But No Longer Silent

Comment #15466 by Martha on December 31, 2006 at 3:41 pm

"As long as those who are believers will acknowledge that their allegiance gives them no privilege, no direct line to the absolute truth, no advantage in moral insight, we should be able to get along just fine."

AS IF?! That would be like asking George W Bush et al to act like RATIONAL (evolved/adult) human beings. Duh!

60. Ghosts in the Machine

Comment #15338 by Martha on December 30, 2006 at 1:31 pm

Comment #15320 by mdowe: "It is astonishing that so many people can progress through the ranks of higher education, obtain a Ph.D. (more than I can ever hope for), and yet still remain gullible, irrational, half-wits at heart."

Ah yes, but that's because a great deal of third-level (college) education is nothing but the systematic reinforcing of traditional ignorance, not least in the American system of education (or rather, schooling) where people pay Big Bucks for reinforcing this ignorance. Its often the only way one is guaranteed a high-paying prestigious career. You know? Say what your Masters want to hear!

61. A Christmas thunderbolt for the arch-enemy of religion

Comment #14830 by Martha on December 25, 2006 at 5:07 pm

Comment 14825 TearTheRoofOffTheSucker:

"..we are ALL born as atheists. Every one of us."

Absolutely right!

62. A Christmas thunderbolt for the arch-enemy of religion

Comment #14829 by Martha on December 25, 2006 at 4:32 pm

IRATE HARRY Comment No. 14795:- "One feels profoundly sorry for the man, but I do not think the crisis of his formative years has passed yet. Cornwell's own smugly sanctimonious christian 'god delusion' (an irresistible double entendre) illustrates the outcome of rape of human intellect by the egregious religious establishment."

Thanks Harry, for putting up that extract from Cornwells' recent biography, which I alos read. Yes, you're right in your observation that he is stuck in the emotional crisis of his formative years, big time!

... and I send my Seasonal Greetings to you too!
Martha

63. A Christmas thunderbolt for the arch-enemy of religion

Comment #14828 by Martha on December 25, 2006 at 4:15 pm

Having read this article from start to finish, that old song came to mind: "O Lord its hard to be Humble, when your're Perfect in every way (to know me is to love me, and I get better looking each day!" Great song!

Cornwell is obviously jealous of Dawkins; hates him with the vengeance of the religious zealot that he is... bet he sang REAL LOUD at midnight mass last night! LOL

64. The Only One in Step

Comment #14685 by Martha on December 24, 2006 at 10:01 am

Re Comment No. 14675 by Seals:

Seals said: "....speaking as a non parent, kids are not so easily indoctrinated by their parents - they're more inclined to rebel against parents' values."

Seals, speaking as a parent of almost 25 years experience, I would say that children are only more indoctrinated, or influenced, by the wider environment if their own parents do not take sufficent interest in their early development, namely, love and respect them during their formative years. The only children who rebel against their parents are those who are systematically oppressed in some way by their parents, and ironically they are the very children who, more often than not, turn out to be clones of their oppressive parents! The fact is, if parents treat their children with love and respect and teach them things that are of REAL benefit to their lives, they don't have anything to rebel against because they are not at war with their parents!

65. The Only One in Step

Comment #14684 by Martha on December 24, 2006 at 9:41 am

Comment No. 14662 Marc Holt.

Marc, you hit the nail on the head when you said its (organised religion)all about the ruling class subjugating the masses.

I would agree with you that the intellect of those two Wingnut Creationist professors has been severely damaged by their upbringing. In other words, they were corrupted as children, otherwise they wouldn't be so hell-bent on corrupting another generation of children.

Quote you: "Perhaps they (these Nutty Professors)are starting to wonder if they could be wrong after so many people have denigrated them for their absurd statements." Somehow, I doubt it. After all, this Faith Schools stuff is happening under Tony Blair's watch, so its no suprise to me!

66. The Only One in Step

Comment #14621 by Martha on December 23, 2006 at 6:41 pm

COmment 14574 VERONIQUE: "Richard, this form of educational abuse is on the rise. How does anyone combat it?"

The answer to that, Veronique, is for parents to take more interest in their offspring than the school and other authorities. In other words, for parents to take FULL responsibility for their childrens' psychological development, or, more accurately put, emotional wellbeing!

67. The Only One in Step

Comment #14617 by Martha on December 23, 2006 at 6:28 pm

Comment No. 14518 RICHARD DAWKINS said: "These are not ordinary creationist wingnuts. Both are professors at reputable universities, powerfully placed to influence hiring policy at those universities, and to influence successive generations of students"

Richard, thank you for your response and I appreciate the gravity of what you are saying. However, it is my firm belief (as an atheist) that THE most powerful influences in our life are our earliest experiences, i.e., our childhood conditioning; not wingnut university professors - unless such creatures happen to be our parents! Note, the Jesuits knew what they were talking about when they said: "Give me the child until age seven and I will give you the man (adult)!"

Martha

68. It is possible to respect the believers but not the belief

Comment #14584 by Martha on December 23, 2006 at 2:44 pm

To Veronique Comment 18:

I don't see anything wrong with using the word belief as an Atheist. I'm certainly not using it in the way religious people use the word "Faith", if that's what you mean? My beliefs are based on my actual tangible (scientific)experience of life, that is, what I know, from my own experience, to be factual.

69. It is possible to respect the believers but not the belief

Comment #14496 by Martha on December 22, 2006 at 5:43 pm

To GODDOGIT: You are right to notice the Islamophobia in Garton-Ash's article. What else to expect from a dyed-in-the-wool Christian! His argument is this: Christianity = Good. Islam = Bad; reminiscent of George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM: "Four legs, good. Two legs, bad."

And what a Great guy Jesus was, says Garton-Ash. Jesus, yeah, what a great guy indeed! If he was SO great, how come the Garton-Ashes of this world aren't queuing-up to be crucified? Well, apart from the morons who are, or were, falling over themselves to fight Number One Christian, Mister George W Bush's war (on middle-eastern OIL) there's not too many REAL christians hanging around these days, are there?

Anyone for a crucifixion? How about you, Garton-Ash? Or are you too busy getting your rocks off listening to the words of tunes you don't understand? Wish I could pull off that stroke!

Merry whatever it is you're celebrating this time of year!

70. It is possible to respect the believers but not the belief

Comment #14493 by Martha on December 22, 2006 at 5:18 pm

To Timothy Garton-Ash I would say this:

I have had lots of friends of the mainly Christian Faith who are now my long-standing acquaintances. I wouldn't regard them as my friends in the real sense of the word, that is, people whom I could trust with my the most intimate details of my life, simply because they do not share the same "fundamental" values and beliefs that I hold dearly to my heart. It all comes downto the basics of one's own Values and Belief System at the end of the day. Why would I, as an Atheist (not beholden to ANY organised religion) want to put my trust in someone who lives their life according to the second-hand beliefs and claims of others? Thanks, but no thanks!

71. The Only One in Step

Comment #14489 by Martha on December 22, 2006 at 4:42 pm

Missus God will be wiping the table for a very long time. A woman's work is NEVER done!

72. The Only One in Step

Comment #14485 by Martha on December 22, 2006 at 4:24 pm

Richard Dawkins is right, but the question is, why does he feel compelled to PROVE himself right against his obviously stupid and ignorant opponents? When I know I am right about X Y or Z I just know it and that is all that matters, to me!

73. The Grinch Delusion: An Atheist Can Believe in Christmas

Comment #13590 by Martha on December 18, 2006 at 3:29 pm

People, how do I get myself an AVATAR on this forum?

74. The Grinch Delusion: An Atheist Can Believe in Christmas

Comment #13587 by Martha on December 18, 2006 at 3:27 pm

Hi Edutheria! I too liked your comment very much.

Merry Xmas to you!

75. Preaching to the converted

Comment #13436 by Martha on December 17, 2006 at 5:02 pm

AUSSIE Comment No. 13320:

"But isn't it odd that we - and Dawkins in particular - are still troubled by these irrational fears? If they really are as primitive as he's suggesting, wouldn't he expect them to have died out, or at least diminished, as human beings have become more sophisticated?"

You must remember that Richard, like many of us was infected by faith during his formative years until he shook off the affliction.

Like the Herpes Zoster virus (chicken pox) following recovery it can live inactively in the system for decades and then reappear suddenly without warning (as shingles)."


Yep, Aussie, you have a point there! Its our FORMATIVE years that make the greatest impact on our life and future development as adults! Much as I admire Richard Dawkins, I do think he's trying very hard to rid himself of his own religious indoctrination, which is the driving force behind his "crusade" against the Kristuns and Mad Mullahs. I'm of the view that a REAL atheist would be completely indifferent to the beliefs and fantasies of others, in the same way a heterosexual man (or woman) has no particular interest in gays or lesbians. Any comments on that, anyone?

76. Preaching to the converted

Comment #13431 by Martha on December 17, 2006 at 4:46 pm

ZAPHOD, in answer to your question (No. 13299):-

Sometimes I sniff just a little, and sometimes a lot (wink)! Actually, NINE's response to my comment was interesting: it made me reflect some more. However, the point I was trying to make was: if we were truly and genuinely loved as children, I don't (in all honesty) think we're going to waste much time asking ourselves such profound qeustions as to WHY we are here and WHY we were born; we just instinctively get on with the business of living. We just DO IT! In other words, we're too busy LIVING, enjoying life, to bother ourselves with the whys and wherefores of life. We just "IS" as Winnie the Pooh would say. Unfortunately, most of us aren't that lucky... which is why I am enjoying Richard Dawkins' sustained attack on organised religion. Its great. Now, excuse me, but I have to get back to my glue-sniffing!

77. Richard Dawkins on The Sunday Edition

Comment #13415 by Martha on December 17, 2006 at 2:39 pm

Can anyone tell me how I can get to se all of this ITV YouTube video? So far, every time I click it on I only get the first 20 seconds then it switches off! I did get to se ALL of The Panel YouTube clip though, and it was terrific!

78. The Grinch Delusion: An Atheist Can Believe in Christmas

Comment #13412 by Martha on December 17, 2006 at 2:26 pm

I love Chrissmas (smile) or Xmas and I celebrate it as Winter Soltice, i.e., I see it as a way of lighting up the dark days of winter, which I suppose is what celebrating the Winter Soltice essentially is? I put up my fairy lights and my tree with all sorts of decorations, and put a holly and ivy wreath on my halldoor etc etc., and it all adds to the joy and fun of the season. I love it!

MERRY XMAS EVERYONE!

79. The Panel with Richard Dawkins

Comment #13391 by Martha on December 17, 2006 at 11:41 am

Excellent! I've only just caught up with this now and I have to say there's nothing like a bit of humour to help deal with SERIOUS topics like this. Well done to The Panel!

80. Preaching to the converted

Comment #13291 by Martha on December 16, 2006 at 8:55 pm

Dawkins asks: "What are we here for? Where did it all come from? ... "

Whilst I admire Richard Dawkins for his valiant attempt to topple organised religion (which I too dislike, to put it mildly) I think such questions can only come from people who (A) were not welcomed into the world by their parents and (B) who have never come to terms with this painful fact. Sorry about that, Richard, but I have (had to) and I am still vehemently opposed to organised religion, if that's any consolation to you!

81. Grandparents linked with church-going

Comment #13283 by Martha on December 16, 2006 at 6:55 pm

23. Comment #13157 by NIELS THORSEN on December 16, 2006 at 1:24 am:-

""""Throughout history, myth has proved an unsurpassed motivator for human kind. Joseph Campbell made this very clear. We ignore his insight at our peril.""""

I disagree. Nothing surpasses truth than truth itself! You seem to be peddling (reinforcing) the notion - myth - that human kind is inherently evil? It isn't. Sorry to shock you, but human beings are only MADE evil by their exposure to evil environments, we humans are not BORN evil, as your comment seems to suggest.

82. Response to Richard Dawkins' Criticisms in The God Delusion

Comment #13281 by Martha on December 16, 2006 at 6:16 pm

>>>Did any of my fellow Brits watch the TV programme today with Tony Robinson on More 4 "The Domesday Code?" It is really frightening how The U.S.A. takes the book of revelation as fact.It was terrifying.<<<

That's the whole idea about such programmes: to TERRIFY the general population! Its just more of the same CH4 and Western Media PROPAGANDA in cahoots with Corporate America .. generate as much FEAR as you can, to control the populace. Get a grip!

83. In case you didn't know I'm a fool, here's an article to prove it.

Comment #12954 by Martha on December 14, 2006 at 3:28 pm

To No. 14 :TranshumanAtheist said the younger generation.. don't know about the USSR ... well, we now have the USA in its place!

84. In case you didn't know I'm a fool, here's an article to prove it.

Comment #12953 by Martha on December 14, 2006 at 3:07 pm

My response to Mark Dooley is: the whole problem with being raised as a child in an environment dictated by organised religion, is that the child is not allowed to be a 'ME" but instead is reduced to an "IT" that is subservient to the prevailing Status Quo and after all that childhood conditioning (brainwashing) ends up being the automaton SLAVE to The System, instead of being the Free and therefore RESPONSIBLE adult that s/he would have been had s/he not been robbed of his/her identity (ME / MYSELF / I) in the first place!

85. The A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science (US)

Comment #12949 by Martha on December 14, 2006 at 2:56 pm

With respect, YORKER, merely swearing on an oath by any name is not going to guarantee that the person taking the oath is going to stick by the agreed rules. After all, doctors still (presumably) take the Hippocratic Oath and it doesn't magically turn them into moral human beings! I could provide you with a list of such people (fully-trained medical practitioners) who are actually quite reckless and even malicious, but of course I won't!

86. Richard Dawkins on The Late Late Show with Pat Kenny

Comment #12741 by Martha on December 13, 2006 at 2:06 pm

Hello YORKER

Thank you for sharing your story and no, it certainly didn't bore me. Thanks again!

87. Richard Dawkins on The Late Late Show with Pat Kenny

Comment #12541 by Martha on December 12, 2006 at 12:54 pm

Well, if this Late-Late Show proved anything, it is that Ireland is still the land of Saints, Scholars -and- Schizoid Sociopaths!

88. A man who believes in Darwin as fervently as he hates God

Comment #12052 by Martha on December 9, 2006 at 6:16 pm

JOHN PHILLIPS said:- "If such religions are to be our moral compass for the next 2000 years then we really are in deep deep trouble."


We couldn't possibly make that same mistake again, now could we!!!

89. A man who believes in Darwin as fervently as he hates God

Comment #12051 by Martha on December 9, 2006 at 5:47 pm

Reply to Post No. 20: Author SANCUS

Re: Ownership of your own life seems to be your creed. How come then you are advertising Health Insurance on your website?

90. Intelligent Design: The Clincher. A butterfly explodes the theory

Comment #11550 by Martha on December 5, 2006 at 1:27 pm

The following is a "history" collected by teachers throughout the United States, from eighth grade through college level. Read carefully, and you will learn a lot of incorrect information.

The inhabitants of ancient Egypt were called mummies. They lived in the Sarah Dessert and traveled by Camelot. The climate of the Sarah is such that the inhabitants have to live elsewhere, so areas of the dessert are cultivated by irritation. The Egyptians built the Pyramids in the shape of a huge triangular cube. The Pyramids are a range of mountains between France and Spain.

The Bible is full of interesting caricatures. In the first book of the Bible, Guinesses, Adam and Eve were created from an apple tree. On of their children, Cain, once asked, "Am I my brother's son?" God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Montezuma. Jacob, son of Isaac, stole his brother's birth mark. Jacob was a patriarch who brought up his twelve sons to be patriarchs, but they did not take it. One of Jacob's sons, Joseph, gave refuse to the Israelites.

Pharaoh forced the Hebrew slaves to make bread without straw. Moses led them to the Red Sea, where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. Afterwards, Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandments. David was a Hebrew king skilled at playing the liar. He fought with the Philatelists, a race of people who lived in the Biblical times. Soloman, one of David's sons, had 500 wives and 500 porcupines.

Without the Greeks we wouldn't have history. The Greeks invented three kinds of columns - Corinthian, Doric, and Ironic. They also had myths. A myth is a female moth. One myth says that the mother of Achilles dipped him in the River Stynx until he became intollerable. Achilles appears in The Iliad, by Homer. Homer also wrote The Oddity, in which Penelope was the last hardship that Ulysses endured on his journey. Actually, Homer was not written by Homer but by another man of that name.

Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. Socrates died from an overdose of wedlock.

In the Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled the biscuits, the threw the java. The reward to the victor was a coral wreath. The government of Athens was democratic because people took the law into their own hands. There were no wars in Greece, as the mountains were so high that they couldn't climb over to see what their neighbors were doing. When they fought with the Persians, the Greeks were outnumbered because the Persians had more men.

Eventually, the Ramons conquered the Greeks. History calls people Romans because they never stayed in one place for very long. At Roman banquets, the guests wore garlic in their hair. Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Nero was a cruel tyranny who would turture his poor subjects by playing the fiddle to them.

Then came the Middle Ages. King Alfred conquered the Dames. King Arthur lived in the Age of Shivery, King Harold mustarded his troops before the Battle of Hastings, Joan of Arc was canonized by Bernard Shaw, and victims of the Black Death grew boobs on their necks. Finally, Magna Carta provided that no free man should be hanged twice for the same offense.

In medevil time most of the people were alliterate. The greatest writer of the time was Chaucer, who wrote many poems and versus and also wrote literature. Another tale tells of William Tell, who shot an arrow through an apple while standing on his son's head.

The Renaissance was an age in which more individuals felt the value of their human being. Martin Luther was nailed to the church door at Wittenberg for selling papal indulgences. He died a horrible death, being excommunicated by a bull. It was the painter Donatello's interes in the female nude that made him the father of the Renaissance. It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented the Bible. Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarettes. Another important invention was the circulation of blood. Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100 foot clipper.

The government of England was a limited mockery. Henry VIII found walking difficult because he had an abbess on his knee. Queen Elizabeth was the "Virgin Queen." As a queen she was a success. When Elizabeth exposed herself before her troops, they all shouted, "hurrah." Then her navy went out and defeated the Spanish Armadillo.

The greatest write of the Renaissance was William Shakespear. Shakespear never made much money and is only famous because of his plays. He lived at Windsor with his merry wives, writing tragedies, comedies and errors. In one of Shakespear's famous plays, Hamlet rations out his situation by relieving himself in a long soliloquy. In another, Lady Macbeth tried to convince Macbeth to kill the Kind by attack his manhood. Romeo and Juliet are an example of a heroic couplet. Writing at the same time as Shakespear was Miguel Cervantes. He wrote Donkey Hote. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote Paradise Lost. Then his wife died and he wrote Paradise Regained.

During the Renaissance America began. Christopher Columbus was a great navigator who discovered America while cursing about the Atlantic. His ships were called the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Fe. Later, the Pilgrims crossed the Ocean, and this was known as Pilgrims Progress. When they landed at Plymouth Rock, they were greeted by the Indians, who came down the hill rolling their war hoops before them. The Indian squabs carried porpoises on their back. Many of the Indian heroes were killed, along with their cabooses, which proved very fatal for them. The winter of 1620 was a hard one for the settlers. Many people died and many babies were born. Captain John Smith was responsible for all this.

One of the causes of the Revolutionary Wars was the English put tacks in their tea. Also, the colonists would send their parcels through the post without stamps. During the War, the Red Coats and Paul Revere was throwing balls over stone walls. The dogs were barking and the peacocks crowing. Finally, the colonists won the War and no longer had to pay for taxis.

Delegates from the original thirteen states formed the Contented Congress. Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, and Benjamin Franklin were two singers of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin had gone to Boston carrying all his clothes in his pocket and a loaf of bread under each arm. He invented electricity by rubbing two cats backwards and declared, "A horse devided against itself cannot stand." Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.

George Washington married Martha Curtis and in due time became the Father of Our Country. Then the Constitution of the United States was adopted to secure domestic hostility. Under the Constitution the people enjoyed the right to keep bare arms.

Abraham Lincoln became America's greatest president. Lincoln's mother died in infancy, and he was born in a log cabin which he built with his own hands. When Lincoln was President, he wore only a tall silk hat. He said, "In onion there is strength." Abraham Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg on the back of an envelope. He also freed the slaves by signing the Emasculation Proclamation, and the Fourteenth Amendment gave the ex-Negroes citizenship. But the Clue Clux Clan would torcher and lynch the ex-Negroes and other innocent victims. It claimed it represented law and odor. On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln went to the theater and got shot in his seat by one of the actors in a moving picture show. The believed assinator was John Wilkes Booth, a supposingly insane actor. This ruined Booth's career.

Meanwhile in Europe, the enlightenment was a reasonable time. Voltare invented electricity and also wrote a book called Candy. Graity was invented by Isaac Walton. It is chiefly noticeable in the Autumn, when the apples are falling off trees.

Bach was the most famous composer in the world, and so was Handel. Handel was half German, half Italian, and half English. He was very large. Bach died from 1750 to the present. Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf he wrote loud music. He took long walks in the forest even when everyone was calling for him. Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died for this.

France was in a very serious state. The French Revolution was accomplished before it happened. The Marseillaise was the theme song of the French Revolution, and it catapulted into Napoleon. During the Napoleonic Wars, the crowned heads of Europe were trembling in their shoes. The the Spanish gorillas came down from the hills and nipped at Napoleon's flanks. Napoleon became ill with bladder problems and was very tense and unrestrained. He wanted an heir to inherit his power, but since Josephine was a baroness, she couldn't bear children.

The sun never set on the British Empire because the British Empire is in the East and the sun sets in the West. Queen Victoria was the longest queen. She sat on a thorn for 63 years. Her reclining years and finally the end of her life were exemplary of a great personality. Her death was the final event which ended her reign.

The nineteenth century was a time of many great inventions and thoughts. The invention of the steamboat caused a network of rivers to spring up. Cyrus McCormick invented the McCormick raper, which did the work of hundred men. Samuel Morse invented a code of telepathy. Louis Pasteur discovered a cure for rabbis. Charles Darwin was a naturalist who wrote the Organ of the Species.

91. Holy Baloney: Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion crucifies religion and the religious

Comment #10263 by Martha on November 27, 2006 at 3:35 pm

This is the basic FACT of Humanity:

If you are the child of parents (or guardians) who rammed their inherited ideology, their "received wisdom", down your throat - however "nice and polite" they are about it - then you were abused and violated as a child by your own parents (or primary guardians)! And its no coincidence that parents who force-feed their children in this way are usually (9 times out of 10) "religious" people. Somebody said (on this site) that Stalin and Hitler were not religious. Of course they were! Of course they were the products of ideologically-driven parents/guardians/culture! Communism and Rampant Capitalism, i.e., Christian America, are two sides of the same coin! What do you think the Reds-Under-The-Beds 1950's scare was all about???

The GWB War Machine is just regressing, that's all!

92. Creation vs. Darwin takes Muslim twist in Turkey

Comment #9663 by Martha on November 25, 2006 at 12:47 pm

J said: "Take note. That's a declaration of war, that is."

Hi J,

This religious war has been going on for thousands of years. There's an awful lot of people in the world who feel threatened by the growing secularism, not least those whose sense of strength and power comes from manipulating, exploiting and controlling others - which is what organised religion is all about!

The best to reduce their numbers is to love and respect your own children, especially in the first three years of their life, so that they will not be the maleable puppets of religious or any other propaganda.

93. Canadian ID Scandal

Comment #9355 by Martha on November 24, 2006 at 2:56 pm

Big Bang says: "Of course Intelligent Design is correct! You silly atheist people, you should repent your sins and join us instead. Intelligent Design Is Our Truth Society (I.D.I.O.T.S.)"

Does that mean that idiots like George W. Bush and his christian cohorts are actually contributing to humanity whilst they inadvertently (in their ignorance) do all in their power to destroy the planet upon which ALL life depends?

94. Atheism, not religion, is the real force behind the mass murders of history

Comment #9059 by Martha on November 23, 2006 at 12:14 pm

47. Comment #8788 by Gary on November 22, 2006

"The fact is, that while someone like Hitler did use the language of Christianity, he was not driven by Christianity to do what he did, and neither were the Germans that followed him. Instead, as I believe both Dawkins and Harris point out, Nazism itself had many of the characteristics of a religion."

Why the, did Hitler use the language of Christianity?


"My hypothesis is that we should be focusing not on disproving that God exists, but rather, we should be focusing on the underlying psychology of why someone would blindly follow a set of beliefs -- whether it's a set of beliefs about God, or (for example) a set of beliefs about why the Germans need and deserve lebensraum at other people's expense."



The ONLY reason why people blindly follow a set of rules handed down by their parents (or primary guardians) is because their parents are INSANE.. and it so happens that such parents are psychologically infected, ie., severely emotionally retarded: if they can't think FOR
themselves, as adults, then they must be mentally impaired! Normal parents do not have fixed ideas about anything, other than their natural inclination to love and protect their offspring - which is something that idelogically-driven/religious parents are incapable of, as a result of their warped childhood conditioning.

95. BEYOND REDUCTIONISM: Reinventing The Sacred

Comment #8465 by Martha on November 21, 2006 at 10:44 am

Hello asdf:

Your first point (1. example or pressure from parents, professors, or any authority figure;)
exactly confirms my point. In other words, parents who LOVE their children do not put any pressure on them to conform to anything! On the contrary, the help them make up their own mind about whatever friends and groups they choose. So ultimately, by the time they are adults proper, they have made free-er choices than those who are pressurised to conform to the norm as children.

96. BEYOND REDUCTIONISM: Reinventing The Sacred

Comment #8205 by Martha on November 20, 2006 at 3:58 pm

The reason why "Believers" cling to the notion of a God (of their imposed, not freely-chosen faith) is because they don't want to face up to the fact that they were effectively motherless children. That is, emotionally abandoned by their mothers (and fathers) - in other words, not unconditionally loved, as ALL children NATURALLY expect of their parents and/or guardians! Religious people are psychologically as infants, terrified of the prospect of being alone in the world, so their hostility and defensiveness is understandable. After all, who of us wants to be told the truth that we were not wanted and therefore loved by our own mother!

97. E-Petition: Abolish Faith Schools

Comment #7837 by Martha on November 19, 2006 at 3:44 pm

Sorry, I meant four quotes instead of three. . . . there were more juicy bits than I remembered . . .

98. E-Petition: Abolish Faith Schools

Comment #7834 by Martha on November 19, 2006 at 3:42 pm

I think these three quotes basically summarize this discussion and the petition very well:

"But telling people what to believe is wrong and abusive. If you dont like that, tough."
--McGlashan

Well duh! Talk about ironic self-contradiction. Be polite to people, dumb ass!


"Some times you have to take away certain freedoms for the general good."
--McGlashan

Did you quote that from Hitler, Stalin, or Bush?


"If this makes the signatories 'militant atheists', then so be it."
--John Bolch

So be it. At least you can come to terms with the fact that you are on your own jihad. But then don't complain to the rest of us when religious jihadists retaliate in kind.


"Your weak approach would allow muslims to take away our freedom. Or do you want to be subjected to shia law?. . . . Did bush senior not once say that 'atheists are not patriots?'"
--McGlashan

So do you agree with Bush or not? Isn't your argument about Muslims the very rationale that Bush used to get into Iraq? The problem with men, atheist or religious, is that they get militant and think that they can solve the world overnight by shoving their willie at other people who aren't interested.

99. E-Petition: Abolish Faith Schools

Comment #7675 by Martha on November 19, 2006 at 2:56 am

"No one is suggesting that children should not be taught that such mythologies exist, just that children be free to make up their own minds, when they are mature enough to do so."

John, "free to make up their own mind" necessarily requires meaningful exposure to multiple viewpoints. Teaching someone about a "mythology" presents a straw man, not bona fide debate (in much the same way that one does not go to an Evangelical Christian to accurately understand the thinking of atheists). Moreover, since you are really against discussion of religion at any level of education, except perhaps in a caricatured fashion, your pretense of open-mindedness is disingenuous.

This "freedom to make up one's mind" already exists for virtually all children as they mature in our modern society. For many children, it occurs in college; for others, when they leave home; for others, from business or the school of hard knocks; for others, from the television, internet, or other media.

Remember that it is possible for a tyrant to have many scientifically-accurate ideas. In the end, that only makes his oppression more efficient.

100. E-Petition: Abolish Faith Schools

Comment #7529 by Martha on November 18, 2006 at 5:54 pm

McGlashan, please do not give me a lecture about Americans by relying upon your own bigoted stereotype about them. As pocked with injustice and mistakes as American history may be, and it certainly is, America's history hardly overshadows the bloodletting in the UK and Europe (or other places in the world) over the centuries. And by the way, without the stupid Americans, you would be speaking German right now.

But perhaps that would suit you. Your aproach, not mine, is much closer to the Nazi Germany approach to education. In fact, if you read www.quaqua.org/nazi.htm, a very good page on a very good web site that is not my own, you will see your coercive approaches are very similar to the Nazis and the Kulturekampf. I hate to tell you this, but your idea has already been tried before.

By the way, when it comes to free speech, my tolerance runs to Communists, Nazis, racists, greenies, worshippers of the pink unicorn, Republicans, Democrats, and yes, even you. I would never presume to step between you and any child you might have, despite the possible benefit of starving the child of your influence, unless you were physically or sexually abusing the child.

It is disingenuous for you to say you do not support forcible abolishment of religion. If it is true that children ought not to suffer the impositions of their parents through "indoctrination," but be freed from their parents and intolerant religious influences, that rationale logically extends to schools and all other settings where children are raised. If religion should not be "forced" upon children in private or home schools, how can it simultaneously be appropriate to "force" such views upon children at church? Why can't you acknowledge the obvious, which is that if your approach was actually employed, it would purge all metaphysical views besides your own from the general population within one generation?