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

Comment #142648 by GBile on March 13, 2008 at 12:10 am

Lucas,
Apparently I should be offended by being called a "rube". I am not, I don't even have the slightest idea what a "rube" is. Well, anglish is not my native language, that could be an explanation for my indifference to "rube".
On the other hand, at Richarddawkins.net I am characterized as a "lurker". I am annoyed about that, because in my English (american) dictionary a lurker is someone who hides in the bushes with the intention to commit evil deeds (or something like that). A complaint to Josh about the "lurker" status was dismissed by the remark that in the age of the internet this qualification might be quite appropriate (it is not).
The point I try to make is that offense is largely in the eye of the beholder. A quote to underscore this would be: "nobody has the right NOT to be offended". In cases that people hold extreme beliefs, and act on those beliefs, "strong" language might be warranted. Most religious beliefs are extreme.

52. Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?

Comment #141358 by GBile on March 10, 2008 at 9:46 am

irate_atheist .. right on.

From an other article about the matter (CNN):

Girotti, who heads the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican body that issues decisions on matters of conscience and grants absolutions told the paper that whilst sin used to concern the individual mostly, today it had a mainly a social resonance, due to the phenomenon of globalization.

Father Antonio Pelayo, a Spanish priest and Vatican expert noted that it is time for both sinners and confessors to get over their obsession with sex and think about other ways humans hurt each other in the world in which they live.

53. Crossing the Divide

Comment #140707 by GBile on March 8, 2008 at 11:53 am

Polydactyl,

I think the 'truths' of atheism are a good deal more bitter than the 'truths' of religion.

54. Contribute to science directly by volunteering some of your computer's processing power!

Comment #140446 by GBile on March 7, 2008 at 11:13 am

From the BOINC statistics for the RD Foundation I learn that on januari 25, 2008 a 'singularity' took place in the BOINC-space.
( http://boincstats.com/stats/boinc_team_graph.php?pr=bo&id=133060 )
What happened ?

55. Crossing the Divide

Comment #140289 by GBile on March 7, 2008 at 5:29 am

"I still have childhood friends and relatives who won't speak to me."

Godfrey's father eventually asked that he stop mentioning evolution, as the topic was too upsetting to the family, who believe that their afterlife depends on embracing creationism

56. How to abandon your God

Comment #139469 by GBile on March 5, 2008 at 11:33 pm

In other words, maybe you abandon God by realizing it's all God, it's all divine ..

57. Bulldozers tear down giant religious teapot

Comment #139102 by GBile on March 5, 2008 at 6:14 am

"When you come out you come back with inner peace," he said.

58. Darwin's dangerous idea

Comment #137528 by GBile on March 3, 2008 at 4:53 am

Maybe, just maybe, the 'getting dumber of America' is a good thing. It might even be evolution at work.

Religious people breeding profusely 'for Jezus or Allah' will eventually mean less science, less advanced technology, prayer instead of medicine and so on. So in the end we will again have 'hunter-gatherer' societies and these 'fittest', one million per continent, might be longer around than now is in store for mankind.

Did I miss something ?

59. A God blog

Comment #137520 by GBile on March 3, 2008 at 4:00 am

Badger and Schipper.

Thanks for responding and clarifying Ceri Radfords statement.

I am not pessimistic about a post-religion era of 'trivial living'. The 'hour of power' might then very well be people studying nature, discussing scientific findings, exploring new technologies etc.

60. A God blog

Comment #136979 by GBile on March 2, 2008 at 4:48 am

This is a strange conclusion:

I also have my doubts about the post-religious utopia he seems to envisage - I suspect Big Macs and Nike trainers will feature more strongly than love of nature and scientific zeal.

61. Evidence can't shake your faith if your faith excludes it as evidence

Comment #132638 by GBile on February 25, 2008 at 4:16 am

Paul Campos, OC register.

I am an angel of the lord. The proof, of course, is that I write lord rather than Lord (as you are supposed to do !)
I don't use the 'ye' language, but just my sort of english. And the internet has reached us as you can see, so I appear before you electronically.

Now hear this, directly from the lord by the way, who is rather annoyed by you (your current status is 'lower limbo'!). Unintelligible, random rantings like the one produced here, do not help our cause. Don't do it again! You might not like what we have below lower limbo.

A sentence that starts with: 'After all, a genuine atheist must interpret such an event as ...', oh boy. You should have seen the lords face when he read that. So behave !

And .. don't try to convince yourself that that I am not the real stuff. You don't have evidence for that. How low can you go ... remember?

62. The coming religious peace

Comment #132061 by GBile on February 24, 2008 at 4:39 am

Diacanu

What about:

- Jezus saves .. at Northern Rock.

- Are you sure your Mother went to heaven ?

Well okay, that is not pro-atheism but may get the relis to think.

63. Don't blame Islam for terrorism, expert says

Comment #131259 by GBile on February 22, 2008 at 6:21 am

It has been remarked that the 'West' has started global conflicts "with no remote parallels in Islamic history".

Remote in time, but nevertheless a parallel, would easily be the attempt by islam to eradicate hindus in the Indian subcontinent. Fanusi pointed at this his comment.

Daily we are witness of the ease with which Muslims blow themselves up (or maybe rather force others, boys, mentally handicapped women and so on, to blow themselves up) in the middle of crowds of ... other muslims.
My conclusion is that 'mutually assured destruction', the MADness that may have prevented a fatal clash between the 'Free' world and the 'Communist' world some decades ago, might not work in the Islamic context. For Islam conquering 'the enemy' will undoubtely be rewarded in 'heaven', so if you yourself (and maybe everyone around you) perish, is only a plus.

I may not be an expert, but I do blame Islam for terrorism.

64. The Lava Lizard's Tale

Comment #131173 by GBile on February 22, 2008 at 3:13 am

This video is perfectly in line with 'The Ancestors Tale'. That book is a 'must-read' for every citizen of this earth, especially for the religiously inclined.
It not only fascinated me by presenting our 'ancestors', thereby giving me the feel of having a (distant) relative in my cat, the birds in my garden and even in the orange I ate today, but also by explaining the problems (and solutions) of exploring the field of evolution. Problems like timing and time scales for instance, which was the subject of this video.

65. Archbishop's 8 March centennial message: Let Sharia Law govern women's lives, Amen!

Comment #128637 by GBile on February 17, 2008 at 1:38 pm

This is a great article. Azar Majedi demolishes the Archbishops reasoning in a devastating manner.

One which is seemingly very liberal is the assumption that members of the "Muslim communities" will voluntarily resort to Sharia law. If Muslim women or children had any choice or voice, they would tell the Archbishop to keep these proposals to himself.

66. A match made on RichardDawkins.net?

Comment #128172 by GBile on February 16, 2008 at 12:04 pm

This is a happy announcement. Veronique and Yorker, congratulations.

Why don't we all meet somewhere on our planet to celebrate. Tristan da Cunha, Jipsingboermussel, Bangan si api api ? Name the place.

By the way, although earth may be our only home, I expect our great- great grandchildren to inhabit other parts of our solar system. Mars or lots of interesting moons available I think.

67. Smaller Version of the Solar System Is Discovered

Comment #128134 by GBile on February 16, 2008 at 9:35 am

5000 light years ?
If we just had a big powerful telescope to watch their Noah with his ark floating in their flood, then we would know ...

68. Charles Simonyi Professorship in the Public Understanding of Science

Comment #125173 by GBile on February 11, 2008 at 3:27 am

Gee, I am also 'retiring' in september 2008. Apart from other things, I intend to brush of some rust of my Golf-game. Could we meet on a Golfcourse somewhere Professor? You certainly deserve some leasure time.

69. Sharia law in UK is 'unavoidable'

Comment #124362 by GBile on February 9, 2008 at 7:52 am

From a BBC-comment:

According to Bishop Lowe:

"We have probably one of the greatest and the brightest Archbishops of Canterbury we have had for many a long day," he said.

70. Blasphemy

Comment #122501 by GBile on February 5, 2008 at 11:01 am

I find that we must do as much as we can to save mr. Kambakhsh from the fate that the Afghan religious court has condemned him to. And we must try to save the next victim, and the next ...

Of course we must also closely observe what is done (or is not done) in Pakistan, Saoudi Arabia, Alegeria, Egypt, the muslim communities in Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and so on.
It could well be that, on basis of action or inaction in those places, we will one day have to judge the muslims of this world.

From experiences in the past, I expect that this judgment will be harsh.

71. Dusty Clues: Study suggests no dearth of Earths

Comment #122194 by GBile on February 4, 2008 at 10:31 pm

Just think of the millions of 'Holy Books' out there.

But then again: thousands of Carl Sagans ? Sounds good.

72. Atheists to celebrate at Darwin Day in Coconut Creek

Comment #121973 by GBile on February 4, 2008 at 12:36 pm

I do not see any harm in holding Darwin-days, Pi-days, E-days, Relativity-days or what have you. Put a lot of science in, have fun, bring the kids and grandpa.
The last thing I would do is worrying about ''what would the 'believers' think''.

73. God the psycho

Comment #121273 by GBile on February 3, 2008 at 6:33 am

Pats performances should be shown on the big screens in those mega-churches before every service.

That will really 'test their faith'.

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

Comment #120664 by GBile on February 2, 2008 at 8:53 am

Mr Myers, I came across this comment at antievolution.org about the debate:

DLH: I understood PZ to say that the details evolution of the brain were well known.

Myers is lying, of course. He can get away with lying in a public debate because he comes off as being knowledgeable. The fact is that evolution cannot explain why the hemispheres are crisscrossed. This is an extremely over-complicated architecture with no survival value. Besides, there are no missing links with a non-crisscrossed architecture. Heck, evolution cannot explain why animals need two hemispheres in the first place let alone why they are organized in such a weird manner. After all, roboticists do not design double neural networks in the brains of their robots. Finally, evolution does not explain why humans “evolved� their inordinate infatuation with music and the arts. There are so many aspects of the brain that defy an evolutionary explanation that it’s hard to fathom how anybody with a modicum of honesty would fall for this nonsense.

Like I said previously, we are not going to win this war with honest arguments. If arguments could do it, it would have done it already. The enemy is fighting a political war, not a scientific one. They will lie as often as they have to. They are well equipped for it. Myers is a skilled and consummate liar, in my opinion.

75. Sentenced to death: Afghan who dared to read about women's rights

Comment #118849 by GBile on January 31, 2008 at 4:26 am

..tried by religious judges without – say his friends and family - being allowed legal representation and sentenced to death.

Under the Afghan constitution, say legal experts, Mr Kambaksh has the right to appeal to the country's supreme court. Some senior clerics maintain, however, that since he has been convicted under religious laws, the supreme court should not bring secular interpretations to the case.

76. Ore. Court: Boy Has Say in Circumcision

Comment #116465 by GBile on January 26, 2008 at 2:57 pm

Do not cut things of boys and do not cut things of girls. It is a simple as that.

77. A Letter From Hell

Comment #115937 by GBile on January 25, 2008 at 4:41 am

So this is apparently what they KNOW:

1. After death you again have a body with normal functions (pain, smell etc.).
2. Once dead you wait in a line, formed in a tunnel with bright light at the end.
3. There exists a 'Book of life' where things can be looked up.
4. Angels do various kinds of work there.
5. There are holding cells for those destined for hell.
6. In these holding cells one can send (oral ?) letters to those left behind.
7. Sulfur and brimstone it is.
8. Angels actually do the final dragging.

Let us hope that GodTube will publish more of these incoming letters. We could do research on them and maybe get some insight into the organisational stucture of Heaven-Hell Inc. From the present letter I get the impression that Hell is a subsidiary of Heaven and not an separate company run by Devils.
Well, just a tentative conclusion.

78. Banned From Church

Comment #115359 by GBile on January 24, 2008 at 5:01 am

... included adultery, drunkenness and refusal to honor church elders

79. Top 10 Reasons to Believe Logic Over Religion

Comment #114863 by GBile on January 23, 2008 at 4:25 am

I consider perfect:

The US as a part of Canada and Old faithful spouting Kokanee.

80. Violence fear over Islam film

Comment #114002 by GBile on January 21, 2008 at 7:38 am

It is far too easy to call Wilders a hypocrite. There is no rule that says that when you criticize the random rantings of the prophet (SBUH) of one religion, you should also attack the other religions muddle-heads.

Threaths, like the ones from the Grand-Mufti (SBUH also), should be met with derision. It would have been wise for him and all the others threathening with 'uncontrolable anger' to first watch the movie and then ... make a counter-movie. I can't wait.

PS. Roland_F , I like your comparison between Michael J and Mohammad (SBUH).

81. How Evolution REALLY Works

Comment #113268 by GBile on January 19, 2008 at 7:00 am

First these scientists tell us we are just molecules and chemical processes and now they tell us we are only ones and zeros ?? How silly can they get ? Don't they know that Goddidit ?

Sorry, a little irony here. This video, 10 minutes for explaining the essence of evolution, is in my opinion only suitable for relative experts. So it will not work for almost all of the 'faithies'.

82. George Scales, War Hero and Generous Friend of RDFRS

Comment #111337 by GBile on January 14, 2008 at 11:49 am

Dear Mr. Scales,

Prof. Dawkins often compares us to a herd of cats, but I am sure we are all united in our wishes that your operation will go well and that you will recover swiftly.
The foundation is doing great things. Supporters are greatly thanked. But of course, the sooner it is no longer needed, that is when the world is flooded with reason, the better.

Regards, GBile

83. Mother Nature is Not Our Friend

Comment #106146 by GBile on January 2, 2008 at 12:28 pm

Just being practical.

The best thing to do, gene-manipulation wise, would be to introduce dwarfism on a global scale. This would have tremendous benefits. Less food needed, smaller houses, cars, well almost anything can be smaller. Of course we have to lower the height of the baskets, hurdles and so on proportionally. And we have to breed smaller pets, but that's easy. I expect that the average human length of, say, 50 centimeter (20 inch for the appropriate part of the world) would be nice.
Of course horse-riding will become pony-riding ...

This might take us to the next asteroid-impact, when it will all be over for us anyway. Then the 'little-ones' can restart the process again.

84. Photos from Center for Inquiry's November Conference in NYC

Comment #104397 by GBile on December 28, 2007 at 12:32 pm

Is there an 'anonymous' login possible ?

85. 2007, a bad year for God squadders

Comment #102529 by GBile on December 23, 2007 at 6:12 am

Frodo LIVES !!!

86. Abstinence Programs Face Rejection

Comment #100607 by GBile on December 19, 2007 at 1:26 am

Abstinence ! Good !! And no jerking off either , dumwits !!

87. This Week's Flea

Comment #100592 by GBile on December 19, 2007 at 12:44 am

I have no problem with all the 'flea books', they mostly show the shallowness of the theistic arguments. For example Haught sees the atheistic position in:

And whatever happiness Camus thought we could attain comes from the sense of strength and courage that we feel in ourselves when we shake our fist at the gods

But the conviction of the Abrahamic religions is that if ultimate reality were not at least personal -- at least capable of everything that humans are capable of -- then we could not surrender ourselves fully to it. It would be an "it" rather than a "thou" and therefore would not reach us in the depth of our being

88. Creationists plan British theme park

Comment #99345 by GBile on December 16, 2007 at 11:37 am

There is a relieve close by, in the middle of Amsterdam, Holland. A scientific themepark called NEMO.
http://www.e-nemo.nl/index.php?id=5&s=85&d=551

But there was also someone who built an Ark in that country ...

89. Happy Newton Day!

Comment #98966 by GBile on December 15, 2007 at 3:57 am

... public display of cribs and similar Christian symbols is outlawed for fear of offending Jews and others ( not atheists )

90. An Open Letter to Richard Dawkins

Comment #97359 by GBile on December 12, 2007 at 12:29 am

I once asked father Jonathan to end his 'sermons' with:

'I believe that there is a God and I hope that he will bless you'

He never did this (he didn't even answer). Apparently for him (and for many (most?) religionists) the existence of God is a 'fact'. So an atheist is someone who, for some reason, wants to deny the existence of God. Hence the 'atheist religion', 'atheist philosophy', 'atheist worldview' etc. Of course this way of reasoning is wrong.

Father Jonathan BELIEVES (and enjoyes the 'rich catholic life'). What he says is unimpressive.

91. Richard Dawkins - Science and the New Atheism

Comment #95946 by GBile on December 9, 2007 at 2:13 pm

ungodlystheist,

I thank you for your comment # 206. You very clearly addressed some interesting topics. Some time ago, on an other forum, I was asked by someone who called himself 'Evangelical' what my preoccupation was with 'mere' animals (I had written about the 99% of all living species, who already have gone extinct during the past billions of years) and about the in his view existing 'greater importance' of humans. My ideas and convictions in this matter resemble yours very much. Being an animal, seeing a distant relative in your cat or in the bird in your garden is uplifting, dignifying. Religionists seem to think the opposite. I hope krisking will read your comment carefully and rethink how a religious 'straightjacket' might warp his view on life.

92. Islam's Silent Moderates

Comment #95124 by GBile on December 7, 2007 at 11:52 am

Fanusi,

In discussions about Islam I always argued that the extremist muslims could only be 'stopped' my moderate muslims. In this I assumed that moderate muslims actually existed. Of course various events made me conclude that this group had to be smaller (and smaller ...) than I expected. By now it seems to be an 'empty' set. In your comment (#6) you very clearly explain why this is indeed so.

So it seems there is (almost) no one around to stop extremist Islam. This is a scary thought.

Your solution is to teach to muslims the 'language of enlightenment'. I am all for that. How do we do it? It should be our challenge to find a way achieve this goal.

93. Bad Faith Awards: Vote for the winner now

Comment #94526 by GBile on December 5, 2007 at 11:25 pm

'Kill a commie for christ'

Oh, nostalgia ...

94. Why Science Can't Save the Republican Party

Comment #93192 by GBile on December 2, 2007 at 12:05 pm

Science can not be rushed. Science never accomplishes a thing 'on command'. Especially in medical science this is regrettable because people suffer, and worse, from lack of progress. So it is even more despicable when politicians hamper possible progress in promising research because of their own 'agenda'.

I sympathize with the writer and share his frustration about this issue. We should not let these politicians, responsible for this mess, get away lightly. The voting booth should be the place to confront them.

95. Poll finds more Americans believe in devil than Darwin

Comment #93188 by GBile on December 2, 2007 at 11:52 am

In an other thread BONZAI was 'pissed of' by the suggestion that religious belief led people to other evidence-less believes. This poll suggests otherwise in my opinion. Although europeans and others are not immune to superstition, conspiracy-theories and the like, in the USA these delusions seem to be more widespread and persistent. There could be other factors involved (free press, TV), but this american dream might well turn out to be a nightmare.

96. Dutch lawmaker planning film criticizing the Quran

Comment #91669 by GBile on November 29, 2007 at 12:06 am

Already a member of a dutch 'Muslim Council' is predicting (threathening ?) that 'young muslims' will burn cars and revolt when this movie will be shown. He already 'knows' that this film will 'criminalize' muslims.

He could be predicting that young muslims will themselves make a movie with counter-arguements, but alas. The idea of 'freedom of speech' seems to be non-existent in the muslim world. Let us fight this all the way.

97. Rock of Ages, Ages of Rock

Comment #90681 by GBile on November 26, 2007 at 5:45 am

I don't think that first having an idea (hypothesis) and then, scientifically, find evidence for it, is bad at all.
But in the mean time, do not present your hypothesis as fact ('the flood did it' where it should have been 'it might have been caused by a flood and we are trying to find evidence for that').

The crucial point is, of course, that when you do not find any evidence (but in this case overwhelming evidence leading to other conclusions) you must abandon your initial hypothesis.

By the way I remember having read that in middle eastern regions 'sedimentary cones' have been found that point to a flood (tsunami) that occurred around 4000 BC. This event might have been the basis of the 'flood myth' in the bible. Investigating that would be 'real' geology.

98. New Ape Fossils Found in Africa

Comment #88899 by GBile on November 19, 2007 at 6:31 am

This beats Jeremia 2: 2-12 or Habakuk 5: 1-6 any time.

99. Why Science Will Triumph Only When Theory Becomes Law

Comment #88179 by GBile on November 15, 2007 at 4:36 am

We will really be in trouble if we would switch to the L-word.

'Law of evolution', 'Laws of Physics'?? Then there must be a 'LAWGIVER' !

Guess who that would be.

Let's not do it, it will not work.
'Scientific theory' has a well established meaning. Anyone who wants can understand this.

100. Losing faith in Quebec

Comment #86379 by GBile on November 9, 2007 at 5:43 am

This is a very good development in Quebec. I hope it will succeed and that it may serve as a model for education in my European country and elsewhere. I think that any first grade and second grade education should take place in 'public schools'. Yes, our children should learn things in a religion free context, and in these schools they could learn about religion in the way described in the article. Of course parents can try to bring their children up in their own religious tradition (if they still have one ...), but school-education should be 'religion-free'.

Only an narrow-minded 'Archbishop' could attack this with the objection that this would be 'a dictatorship of relativism'. Nothing is more dictatorial than religion.