51. The Future Forum Presents: Christopher Hitchens and Marvin Olasky

Comment #49945 by Linda on June 14, 2007 at 8:01 am

Medecins Sans Frontieres is an excellent example of a organization predicated on helping those in need everywhere without proselytizing.
http://www.msf.org/

Check out Hitchens witty and insightful essay on the woman with the catchy stage name Mother Teresa in which he illustrates how she bilked millions of dollars that never reached the intended victims of poverty. Call me a conspiracy theorist buy my gut tells me that she was most likely Opus Dei (all that sado-masochism seems typical of the cult). Did the money collected as charitable donations go to fund more temples to kinkiness?

http://www.lipmagazine.org/articles/featpostel_56.htm

Atheists give blood or donate to charities because helping others makes sense from a survival point of view. Canadians & Europeans support the notion of universal health care for the same reasons.

Marvin Olasky and others cite comments from ancient texts as if the proof of god is in the olde thyme tomes where apparently the supernatural talked to illiterate peasants. Come on now fella is that the best you can do? Does he and others who romanticize Bronze Age science fiction ever wonder why the gods don't talk to modern literate people? Why do aliens only abducts hillbillies?
Surely the wicked pope should have god's cell phone number yet again no sign of goodness for goodness sake emanating from the evil Vatican.

On sharing selflessly: In North America United Way Charities support social organizations that run women's shelters etc. They are predicated on the values of communities supporting those in need. Contributing to any of those agencies is simply common sense for the common good.

It really is tiresome to hear the desperately deluded attacking Atheists for pointing out the obvious then suggesting through ignorance that we do not love or are not loved.
Handing out bibles with bread is IMO dishonest.

I was in NYC recently and quite surprised to find along with the Gideon a Mormon bible in the hotel room. It meant extra work for me as I'd forgotten a glue stick to attach the 'Imagine no Religion' notice but the handy sewing kit provided the tools to stitch the flyer into both books.

52. Observer Diary 27th May 2007

Comment #45310 by Linda on May 27, 2007 at 6:33 am

Hi Richard,
I did wonder why you were in Toronto and am really grateful that in one short day so many media outlets here took advantage of the opportunity for interviews.

The best TV interview is by Steve Paikin (deist) who seemed completely baffled by your refusal to humour him, well done!
http://richarddawkins.net/article,1041,The-Debate-Can-We-Live-by-Reason-Alone,The-Agenda-with-Steve-Paikin

The one hour radio piece by another Canadian pro-religion media personality is on CBC with Michael Enright. The broadcast is available via Real Player - go to the link and scroll down to 'Michael's Conversation with Richard Dawkins, Author of the God Delusion'
Sunday, May 13, 2007:
http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/audio.html

After reading details of your journey in the Observer and considering jet lag the above two interviews are some of your best. You clearly, carefully and with decorum outline the essential elements of TGL and New Atheism. Why some see this as threatening is beyond me.

Thank you for opening doors at letting some fresh air into our lives. Linda Ward Selbie

53. Cardinal: homosexuality a form of prostitution

Comment #38995 by Linda on May 9, 2007 at 5:41 pm

This wicked man inciting hatred would be indicted if the word Jew was substituted for homosexual. Cardinal Pujats is guilty of perpetrating hate speech and incitement to riot. He's an emotional terrorist preying on the ignorant and illiterate.

The Roman Church clergy is mostly homosexual so is this yet another case of 'do as I say not as we do' hypocrisy?

54. Now Muslims Get Their Own Laws In Britian

Comment #37173 by Linda on May 3, 2007 at 2:53 pm

"The Dutch novelist Margriet de Moor, writing in a German newspaper, wants to know whether anyone is at work on a novel titled "2084." Well might she ask. The world seems not to have changed much since George Orwell wrote "1984," his dark and gloomy look at a Marxist Utopia, where freedom of thought was brainwashed out of humanity by Big Brother, who monitored everything a man or woman said, did or thought.
When "1984" was published in 1949 the threat to the world was international communism, with its aim of total dominion over the minds of men. Orwell, once attracted to communism, had seen the light shining through the darkness imposed on Eastern Europe by the Soviet Union and the ruthless oppression imposed by Joseph Stalin.


The threat today is not a dictatorship of politics, but one of religious theocracy, not of surveillance cameras or deathly state interrogations, but of the imposition through intimidation of a perversion of religion. A novel called "2084" would confront this perversion of Islam, the rigid Shariah law where the distinction between church and state is not obliterated but sadistically internalized. Those most brutally victimized are women.

Ms. De Moor describes a visit to a Dutch shelter for battered women, where typically 80 percent of the women are Muslims. On the day she visited, the women had just watched a showing of the documentary "Submission," depicting the abuse of Muslim women in the name of Allah. The screenwriter, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, wanted to demonstrate to the battered women the way "the machismo of Islam" is grounded in their religion. But women who had been brutally beaten by their husbands were merely outraged by the honesty of the filmmakers. When the film showed Koran texts projected onto the naked bodies of women, calling attention to how and why they were disrespected, dishonored and abused, the battered women of the shelter demanded that the projector be stopped. They were offended by the "blasphemy" on the screen, not by the bruises and wounds on their bodies. They would not consider how their treatment was rooted in the Islamist interpretation of the Koran. They were the helpless prey of a dictatorship of the spirit. "
http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20070502-092200-2226r.htm

55. How multiculturalism is betraying women

Comment #37053 by Linda on May 3, 2007 at 9:35 am

nickthelight - The Koran specifically advises men to harm women:

"Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because men spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because God has guarded them. As for those among you who fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them." Sura 4:34

56. Now Muslims Get Their Own Laws In Britian

Comment #37052 by Linda on May 3, 2007 at 9:32 am

No religious tribunals should exist. There is a set of laws that protect all citizens equally.

In fighting Sharia in Ontario we successfully managed to have the provincial government outlaw all religious arbitration as it marginalizes poor women:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4236762.stm

57. How multiculturalism is betraying women

Comment #36903 by Linda on May 2, 2007 at 5:40 pm

"Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because men spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because God has guarded them. As for those among you who fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them." Sura 4:34

58. How multiculturalism is betraying women

Comment #36897 by Linda on May 2, 2007 at 5:28 pm

Domestic violence is an insidious disease that is particularly odious when perpetrated by those who claim religious justification for abuse.The fact that governments continue to protect and sanctify superstition and its peddlers is shameful.

CBC Documentary: SILENCE LIKE AIR
"Last October was a particularly cruel month for Indo-Canadian women In B.C.'s lower mainland. Navreet Kaur Waraichi was stabbed to death in her home in Surrey, BC. Her husband was charged with second degree murder. A few days later, pregnant Surrey schoolteacher Manjit Panghali (she was a stunningly beautiful woman who was adored by here students) was found in nearby Delta. She had been killed and her body set on fire. Her husband and brother-in-law have been charged with her murder. Not long after that Gurjeet Ghurman was shot in the face by her estranged husband who then killed himself. It was too much.

At a public forum at Langara College - in the heart of Vancouver's Punjabi market - people spoke out on the issue, many for the very first time. B.C.'s Attorney General called domestic violence a cancer on the community. And he welcomed the new attention to the issue. Three women, in their very early twenties, caught the attention of the Attorney General at the Langara forum. Wally Oppal invited Supreeti Ghosh, Ashley Sandu and Sandeep Rokra to meet with him and continue the conversation.

The three students came well-prepared, with a remarkable willingness to explore the impact of the violence on their own lives and the life of the community, and to think about solutions. In today's documentary, "Silence like Air", Supreeti Ghosh, Ashley Sandu, and Sandeep Rokra have the ear of the Attorney General. Meet them, as they talk to each other, and to Wally Oppal.

"Silence Like Air" was produced by Teresa Goff, with special thanks to Indira Prahst. In the upcoming months, you may hear more from Supreeti Ghosh, Ashley Sandu and Sandip Rokra. They and others are working to organize another Langara College Forum for the fall - about the issues of violence, double lives and the generation gap."

Listen to the piece - hit the link and scroll down to 'SILENCE LIKE AIR'
http://www.cbc.ca/radioshows/THE_SUNDAY_EDITION/20070429.shtml

59. Bill Maher - APATHEIST

Comment #35438 by Linda on April 27, 2007 at 6:40 am

phasmagigas - Am I correct in remembering that slavery was only bannned in Mississippi in 1995?

and so it goes ... for a nation rooted in the goodness of Christian mythology ...

60. Bill Maher - APATHEIST

Comment #35432 by Linda on April 27, 2007 at 6:17 am

I subscribe to Real Time podcasts. They are free to everyone.

For those who love a bit of comedy at the expense of US rednecks this one is a classic:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dZLyGqAnRLA

61. Bill Maher - APATHEIST

Comment #35428 by Linda on April 27, 2007 at 6:06 am

I am excited about Maher's new movie. He is a brilliant artist. His book New Rules is fantastic. Frankly I will give money to any super star that has the balls to rattle the cage and clear cobwebs so that everyone can see clearly. Maher's point about the absurdity of religious myths such as the one about Jesus flying out of the cave shouldn't be viewed as provocative but rather as a chance for enlightenment. It's truth talk and reality that scares the masses.

Uh oh it seems that the Creation Museum staff on high alert: "Bill Maher evades security at Creation Museum"
http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/04/bill_maher_evades_security_at.php
I wonder if the Creation Museum will allow Richard Dawkins in for a peek.

Is Easter the one in which baby Jesus comes out of the cave and sees his shadow?

62. One Hell of a Religious Read

Comment #34460 by Linda on April 24, 2007 at 6:12 am

Hitchens is so deliciously proactive that it may take some of the nasty anti-Dawkins rhetoric down a notch since there is fresh blood for the religion defenders to attack.
Yummy!

It really does grow tiresome listening to the pompous on both sides of the argument who seem a tad jealous of the super stars of New Atheism for making waves accusing people like Dawkins, Harris or Hitchens of neither having a background in or experience of theology therefore discrediting their inspiring contribution to New Atheism. Everyone one of us over a certain age did not escape being conditioned into superstition as children. Some like me at the age of six knew that what I was hearing and forced to regurgitate was ridiculous but had no opportunity to escape. Even as adults those who do not go along with superstitious rites and rituals tend to be marginalized by family and friends. Most want everyone to like them so sitting quietly mumbling to oneself during rites it not unusual.

To suggest that Atheism is not new is of course true. What is new is that we are FREE!
Thanks to the Internet, feminism and Western concepts of free speech we can mostly say things out loud and inspire others without fear of personal harm. This is the right time and place to express the ideas. Yes of course there are backwater locals in the USA and Europe where superstition peddlers still are sanctimoniously protected yet that will change when more people grow backbones and speak up.

63. Doctors Opposing Circumcision: An Appeal for Misha

Comment #32493 by Linda on April 17, 2007 at 7:00 am

Here is a link to an ongoing discussion of the subject:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbreligion/F2213234?thread=3714127&skip=0&show=20

Nancy your case is rare. Surely you don't advocate carte blanche removal of the genitals of children simply to satisfy the creepy desire to act out religious bloodletting rituals on defenceless victims?

64. Doctors Opposing Circumcision: An Appeal for Misha

Comment #32459 by Linda on April 17, 2007 at 5:50 am

Why on earth are people still turning a blind eye to the ritual genital mutilation of defenceless children? Consenting adults are free to opt for tattoos, piercings, circumcision or any other kinky forms of self-mutilation. It is however immoral and should be illegal for ignorant parents to offer their children as victims for creepy clerics to engage in blood letting rituals. Shades of the Inca!

A few years ago the Canadian Medical Association tried to outlaw circumcision but of course it was then the very vocal Jewish superstition peddlers that put a stop to that. Today rabbis would be joined by imams in the chorus celebrating ritual bloodletting when performed on victims who do not give consent.

65. What We Need More Of Is Science

Comment #25765 by Linda on March 15, 2007 at 4:27 am

Corlus - Working for the gods delivers big paychecks.

66. What We Need More Of Is Science

Comment #25689 by Linda on March 14, 2007 at 6:12 pm

Say it with the voice of Dr. Evil:
'Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor wins $1.5-million Templeton religion prize'
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=3a8179d7-713f-4317-ac17-effbd92f30a1&k=42537

67. Free Speech

Comment #25650 by Linda on March 14, 2007 at 2:19 pm

If Hitchens needs bodyguards curently for speaking out about the terrorism inherent in the 3 books of monotheism then he should really watch his back after the new book is available. I love the title 'God is not Great, How Religion Poisons Everything'.
Yummy!

Does Richard Dawkins also need bodyguards?

68. Top Scientists Warn of Water Shortages and Disease Linked to Global Warming

Comment #25440 by Linda on March 13, 2007 at 6:25 am

Here there and everywhere Submission spreads ignorance by instilling in constituents the notion that females are brood sows this of course results in overpopulation. What a tragedy that Submission was forced on the people there upstaging original nature based superstitions. Then again the Indonesians if they were not infected with Submission would have got it up the rear from Roman Church imperialism/colonization.

Veronique - I live in the sanctuary that is Canada. We have abundant fresh water however that and other resources are siphoned off by our nuclear-armed, greedy neighbours to the south. Personally my preference is to live surrounded by trees and fresh water. It seems to me that Canada is overpopulated too.

Superstition - sing it Stevie Wonder!

69. Top Scientists Warn of Water Shortages and Disease Linked to Global Warming

Comment #25345 by Linda on March 12, 2007 at 10:43 am

I am fed up with hearing about environmental issues without anyone raising the obvious elephant in the room issue and that is overpopulation. This is a small planet and we are depleting natural resources to support a huge human population. It is tragic that thanks to Roman Catholicism, Submission and other sundry fundamentalist ideologies over 2 billion exist in a state of illiteracy and without access to clean water or electricity. If all 6.66 (chortle) billion of us enjoyed a first world lifestyle the environment would be in even worse shape. Personally I believe that every human birth should be planned and all people deserve a reasonable quality of life.

Since none of those raising public awareness about climate change or resource shortage problems are willing to go against the global gag order (Bush Regime) on planning for parenthood and contraception then why bother caring?

Water wars are on the horizon and yet thanks to those who promote a dumbed down population that is essentially a mob existing in a delusional state of religious superstition that haven't caught on that they may be the worst off. Then again without suffering who would go to heaven? Can you say http://www.raptureready.com ?

You can listen to Australian voices on this topic:
"A new report by a British parliamentary group argues that the global gag rule on family planning is undermining the millennium development goals. They say if contraception is not made a priority, the earth's population will reach an unsustainable 10.5 billion people."
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2007/1842958.htm

(The piece starts about 10 minutes into the programme. – maybe Josh will grab the audio)

Population growth plays a key role:-
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.climate.population13feb13,0,6428654.story
"Global warming is "unequivocal," according to the recently released report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The most likely culprits are people - all of us. Yet there never has been much public discussion about the role of human population growth in global warming."

Human overpopulation threatens Earth's future:
http://media.www.dailyemerald.com/media/storage/paper859/news/2007/02/09/Commentary/Human.Overpopulation.Threatens.Earths.Future-2709597.shtml

" Insufficient food, poor nutrition, poor eating habits, substance abuse, lack of
clean drinking water and lack of exercise weaken body and mind and perpetuate the
spectacular growth of our global disease-illness misery systems."

Within Islam there must be almost a billion unplanned, unwanted, illiterate young
males under the age of 25. The scary part is that these people have nothing to live
for and are fired up on Wahhabism funded by Saudi Arabia.
http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/johann_hari/article2248747.ece

The water war issue highlights the immorality, misogyny and cruelty of religion.
Personally until I hear politicians, journalists and environmental activists addressing the issue of human overpopulation I am not willing to change my habits.

70. How my eyes were opened to the barbarity of Islam

Comment #25008 by Linda on March 9, 2007 at 4:37 pm

Excerpts of Sheik Taj el-Din al-Hilali's controversial speech.

"Those atheists, people of the book [Christians and Jews], where will they end up? In Surfers Paradise? On the Gold Coast?

Where will they end up? In hell. And not part-time. For eternity. They are the worst in God's creation.

Who commits the crimes of theft? The man or the woman? The man.

'Women's responsibility'

That's why the man was mentioned before the woman when it comes to theft because his responsibility is providing.

But when it comes to adultery, it's 90% the women's responsibility. Why? Because a woman possesses the weapon of seduction.

It is she who takes off her clothes, shortens them, flirts, puts on make-up and powder and takes to the streets, God protect us, dallying. It's she who shortens, raises and lowers.

If the meat was covered, the cats wouldn't roam around it. Then it's a look, then a smile, then a conversation, a greeting, then a conversation, then a date, then a meeting, then a crime, then Long Bay jail. [laughs].

Then you get a judge, who has no mercy, and he gives you 65 years.

But when it comes to this disaster, who started it? In his literature, scholar al-Rafihi says: 'If I came across a rape crime - kidnap and violation of honour - I would discipline the man and order that the woman be arrested and jailed for life.' "
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6089008.stm

What charming sentiments.

71. Academy denies claims from job candidate

Comment #24967 by Linda on March 9, 2007 at 2:37 pm

Valentine should have been better prepared for the interview. If he had brushed up on topical subjects and was able to quote from conservapedia this would not be an issue.

"When Noah was 600 years old, God commanded Noah to build an Ark that would have two of every "clean"(kosher) animal and 7 of every clean animal. Noah did as he was told, God flooded the earth. After the flood (which lasted almost a year), Noah came out of the Ark, and made sacrifices to God. After this, Noah invented wine and got drunk. The resulting series of events led to the cursing of Noah's grandson Canaan."
http://www.conservapedia.com/Noah

Is our children learning?

72. Conservapedia v Wikipedia

Comment #24592 by Linda on March 7, 2007 at 1:43 pm

"Conservapedia - the US religious right's answer to Wikipedia":
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2024724,00.html

73. Conservapedia v Wikipedia

Comment #24588 by Linda on March 7, 2007 at 1:21 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbreligion/F2213234?thread=3939280&skip=0&show=20

We can't log on to conservapedia to edit entries.

Origins
kangaroo
"According to the origins model used by creation scientists, modern kangaroos, like all modern animals, originated in the Middle East[1] and are the descendants of the two founding members of the modern kangaroo baramin that were taken aboard Noah's Ark prior to the Great Flood."
http://www.conservapedia.com/Kangaroo

Who knew?

74. Long live satire

Comment #24575 by Linda on March 7, 2007 at 11:24 am

The ongoing insanity and tragedy of Submission is shameful.

"A TEENAGE Saudi gang-rape victim who was sentenced to 90 lashes for being alone with a man she was not related to has beseeched King Abdullah, the country's monarch, to intervene in the controversial case."
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=348792007

75. Long live satire

Comment #24433 by Linda on March 6, 2007 at 4:22 pm

Who isn't fed up with the perpetual bullying by theists? Submission is no way to live life in fact it seems to be the root cause of terrorism. Proponents of Atheology must take on the pushers of superstition and defend rational thought against clerics who advocate violence endorsing anti-social acts.

Getting a sense of humour should be added to the St Petersburg Declaration too:-

"We are secular Muslims, and secular persons of Muslim societies. We are believers, doubters, and unbelievers, brought together by a great struggle, not between the West and Islam, but between the free and the unfree.

We affirm the inviolable freedom of the individual conscience. We believe in the equality of all human persons.

We insist upon the separation of religion from state and the observance of universal human rights.

We find traditions of liberty, rationality, and tolerance in the rich histories of pre-Islamic and Islamic societies. These values do not belong to the West or the East; they are the common moral heritage of humankind."

http://www.secularislam.org/blog/SI_Blog.php

Thank you Sue Blackmore.

76. Darwin's God

Comment #24063 by Linda on March 4, 2007 at 2:42 pm

I read the piece earlier today and can't access it now but if memory serves Atrans admitted possibly on page 11 that he may recant atheism in old age.
Richard Dawkins don't you dare!

77. Was there ever dog that praised his fleas?

Comment #24053 by Linda on March 4, 2007 at 1:13 pm

"Final Letter to the Reader - Why Believe?"
David Robertson - 26 February 2007

"When I began this series of letters I had no idea where it was going to lead. I approached The God Delusion with a certain fear. Partly this was because whilst at University, I spent one year studying the English Civil War. I remember one black week when in reading the brilliant Marxist historian Christopher Hill I came across a statement to the effect that the English Puritans had engaged in the biggest brainwashing exercise in history. The thought crossed my mind: 'What if that is true? What if I too have been brainwashed? What if belief in God is just a delusion?' 25 years later I sat down to read Dawkins book. I tried to be as open minded as possible. I approached it with 25 years more knowledge, knowledge of things that would strengthen my belief, and knowledge of things that would cause me to question my belief. Believe it or not the top three things that have caused me the most doubt have been some of the more difficult passages in the Bible, the Church and the God Channel. I have never really had any problem with the God vs. science dichotomy, which has always struck me as a false dichotomy – something that Dawkins illustrates almost more than anybody. And I still believe. Indeed I believe more than ever. If anything Dawkins' book has not only confirmed to me the barrenness of the wastelands of atheism but has caused me to be even more thankful to God for his glory, his truth, his universe, his word and, most of all, his Son."
http://www.freechurch.org/issues/2007/febb07.htm

For whom does the delusion bell toll?

78. Senator calls for answer on creation of universe

Comment #23957 by Linda on March 3, 2007 at 6:30 pm

This entry is funny too:-
"Bill Clinton managed to serve two terms without botching the prosecution of two wars, manipulating intelligence, engaging in a systematic program of torture, or mishandling the federal response to flooding of a major American city. Obviously, he is the devil incarnate."
http://www.conservapedia.com/Bill_Clinton

79. Senator calls for answer on creation of universe

Comment #23919 by Linda on March 3, 2007 at 2:29 pm

Conservapedia to upstage Wikipedia

The US religious right is so desperate to maintain the hold it has on Americans who willingly submit to living in a state of perpetual fear of the unknown that they have created a new disinformation site.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2024724,00.html

We just can't make this stuff up folks. It is too easy for comedy writers to take a poke at the clearly delusional and insane. The tragedy is that children suffer from bad education.

On the subject of Dinosaurs
Wikipedia:-
"Vertebrate animals that dominated terrestrial ecosystems for over 160m years, first appearing approximately 230m years ago."

Conservapedia
"They are mentioned in numerous places throughout the Good Book. For example, the behemoth in Job and the leviathan in Isaiah are almost certainly references to dinosaurs."
http://www.conservapedia.com/Dinosaur

Kangaroo origins: "According to the origins model used by creation scientists, modern kangaroos, like all modern animals, originated in the Middle East[1] and are the descendants of the two founding members of the modern kangaroo baramin that were taken aboard Noah's Ark prior to the Great Flood. It has not yet been determined by baraminologists whether kangaroos form a holobaramin with the wallaby, tree-kangaroo, wallaroo, pademelon and quokka, or if all these species are in fact apobaraminic or polybaraminic."

http://www.conservapedia.com/Kangaroo

"Conservapedia is a much-needed alternative to Wikipedia, which is increasingly anti-Christian and anti-American. On Wikipedia, many of the dates are provided in the anti-Christian "C.E." instead of "A.D.", which Conservapedia uses. Christianity receives no credit for the great advances and discoveries it inspired, such as those of the Renaissance."
http://www.conservapedia.com/Main_Page

What is to be done?

I bet the Alabama high school students were praying like crazy the other day asking God to let them live and make the tornado pass them by. Did he turn his cell phone off or forget to charge the battery and just didn't hear their prayers?

http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?13@306.61gtbkAhg4k.2@.775e799f/154

80. 'Everyone Is Afraid to Criticize Islam': Interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #22717 by Linda on February 21, 2007 at 6:14 am

Muslim manifesto calls for headscarves in state schools

"It says schools should help Muslim pupils avoid excessive exercise during Ramadan - when they will be fasting. They should also be "sensitive" to the need for separate changing rooms - and there should be no communal showering.

On dance lessons, it warns some styles may be seen as "sexually explicit" and most parents may find them objectionable. It argues against performances in front of mixed gender audiences for older pupils."
http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article2290056.ece

Perhaps if dancing was promoted over Submission everyone would get along.

81. Battle for Europe's secular values

Comment #22500 by Linda on February 19, 2007 at 2:43 pm

New Zealand is in step with human values.

"Despite outrage from some religious groups, a revised national statement on religious diversity has retained the principle that New Zealand has no state religion."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/3967386a10.html

82. 'Everyone Is Afraid to Criticize Islam': Interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #22438 by Linda on February 17, 2007 at 9:11 am

When making references to Islam it would be helpful to use the English translation for the word. Submission reflects an ideology rooted in bondage and slavery among other things. There is a litany of human rights abuses that seem protected by a global gag order.

" Kuala Lumpur - A leading Malaysian Muslim cleric has suggested that all women should be fitted with chastity belts as a deterrent to rape and incest, a news report said Friday."

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/news/article_1264557.php/Malaysian_Islamic_cleric_proposes_chastity_belts_to_stop_rape

83. Preaching the word via satellite: Megachurches branching out

Comment #22399 by Linda on February 16, 2007 at 9:31 am

My son gave me an XM satellite radio thinking that I'd be able to listen to the BBC World Service everywhere. Yes there is the BBC WS, no CBC and there are more Christian music channels than classical ones. Even the Folk or Blues broadcasts have overtly Christian themes. Somebody on a MB posted that listening to XM Radio for too long could result in stigmata. Yikes my palms are bleeding.

84. Kansas science standards evolve again, becoming pro-Darwin

Comment #22367 by Linda on February 15, 2007 at 6:08 am

A new film by evolutionary biologist Randy Olsen reveals that a scientist can have a delicious sense of humour.

http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20070214/LAW09314022007-1.html#

"LOS ANGELES, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Overflow crowds at national screenings of the funny and critically acclaimed documentary FLOCK OF DODOS: THE EVOLUTION - INTELLIGENT DESIGN CIRCUS, timed to coincide with Charles Darwin's birthday this month, are being further fueled by the unprecedented decision of the Kansas School Board. In a 6 to 4 vote on February 13, driven by school board members featured in FLOCK OF DODOS, the new board ousted the pro-intelligent design standards approved by the previous board. This makes Kansas not only the first school board to approve intelligent design standards, but also the first to reject them.
In FLOCK OF DODOS, filmmaker and evolutionary biologist Randy Olson pokes fun at both sides of the evolution vs. intelligent design controversy as he delves head first into the seriousness of the issue. One of the film's many revelations is that the controversy is less about science and more about communication dynamics. Over the past few days, the public's interest in learning more has been seen at packed screenings of FLOCK OF DODOS followed by very lively discussions in Kansas City, Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, Tucson, Los Angeles, Denver, London, etc. For complete schedule visit"
http://www.flockofdodos.com/.

85. Is God a Delusion? Atheism and the Meaning of Life

Comment #22194 by Linda on February 13, 2007 at 7:59 am

The Langue d'Oc is on my to-do list too! If only photography and TV was invented way back then and Roman Catholic hegemony exposed for perpetrating possibly the first European holocaust among the litany of other criminal acts. That provoked me to think about some of Leonardo's paintings and the symbolism used to outsmart his murderous Dominican employers. Leonardo seems to have put Cathar and tarot imagery in the Last Supper. I love how he used a bust of Plato as a model for the figure on the extreme right of the painting.

Why is Dominic de Guzman a celebrated Roman Catholic saint when it seems he perpetrated worse crimes against humanity than Mr. H. or even Saddam? De Guzman would be locked up in the Hague today hopefully.

As for Christian professing McGrath – has anyone pinned him down and asked with an open mike to his mouth if he believes that a virgin gave birth to Jesus and that after death he resurrected and his mom floated off to join him? Is that a scientific fact? Who does McGrath think invented all and sundry gods and religions if not human males? Are we a product of some clever techie playing and inventing Second Life realities?

http://secondlife.com/

If life on this planet is the direct result of a superbeing then why doesn't he/she ever speak up and what's up with so many feeling afraid of it?

Most of the well-educated people I know who still participate in superstition have some unresolved emotional issues around sexuality and possibly incest. Marshall McLuhan never recanted Roman Catholicism and that is a puzzle to me too.

86. Is God a Delusion? Atheism and the Meaning of Life

Comment #22033 by Linda on February 12, 2007 at 1:09 pm

Someone on the audio said that he couldn't find McGrath on youtube. Here at last 4 months after McGrath's anti-Dawkins dog and pony show someone has noticed:

February 02, 2007 - book review of 'The Twighlight of Atheism'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUQj99-PagY

87. Believing Scripture but Playing by Science's Rules

Comment #22012 by Linda on February 12, 2007 at 10:20 am

Religion is weird and thanks to TV and now youtube there is a wealth of material to laugh about after all if we aren't laughing then it would be too easy to give up.

I am a big fan of fellow photographer Shelby Lee Adams. Adams works in Appalachia. http://www.photographsdonotbend.com/past-shows/adams/adams.html
A couple of years ago TVO (TV Ontario) presented a documentary 'The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia.' The documentary is a chance to see Adams working to chronicle the lives of the people in that region most of whom are inbred, illiterate and practice bizarre rituals for Jesus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMP-CQ_bvSM

The music is hot!

As for the topic I'm working on a Phd about the Secret Life of Pixies so please stay tuned.

88. Believing Scripture but Playing by Science's Rules

Comment #22001 by Linda on February 12, 2007 at 8:34 am

Get back to Kansas please Dorothy. There seems to be certain evidence that some Americans are mating with vegetables.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6MJVzXbqRU

89. Believing In Things Unseen Is Not Delusion

Comment #21854 by Linda on February 11, 2007 at 8:12 am

A top secret mocumentary in the work asks "Is religion an obsessive-compulsive disorder?"
Bill Maher & Larry Charles

"In the aftermath of "Borat," one of the most intriguing projects to surface at Berlin's EFM is the untitled Larry Charles doc being touted by First Look Intl. It features Bill Maher in a satirical investigation of the major global religions and sounds calculated to invite letter bombs from fanatics of every creed.

Charles and Maher have already been shooting for some time below the radar in the Mid-East and London, but footage is being kept tightly under wraps. Pic is being hyped as "Borat" meets "Fahrenheit 9/11," but the only materials that buyers are allowed to see is a single sheet written by Charles, which isn't permitted to leave the First Look office. "Is religion an obsessive-compulsive disorder?" asks Charles, who bills his movie as "Bill Maher vs. the Anti-Christ (or is Bill Maher the Anti-Christ?)"

http://weblogs.variety.com/fest_central/2007/02/larry_charles_d.html

Bill Maher quotes: "I think flying planes into a building was a faith-based initiative. I think religion is a neurological disorder.

Maybe every other American movie shouldn't be based on a comic book. Other countries will think Americans live in an infantile fantasy land where reality is whatever we say it is and every problem can be solved with violence."

We (USA) are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion. I do believe that. I think religion stops people from thinking. I think it justified crazies."

90. 'Everyone Is Afraid to Criticize Islam': Interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #21627 by Linda on February 10, 2007 at 7:54 am

"October last year (2006), a group of children was arrested for playing football during the holy month of Ramadan in Mogadishu's Boondheere district and detained in prison for over five hours. They were only released after their parents pledged that they will never again allow them to play ball. On 17 October an Islamic court released a fatwa to arrest all members of the National Music Committee of Somalia which forms part of the UNESCO's International Music Council. Furthermore, it imposed the death penalty on the musicians for making music deemed as un-Islamic. A fatwa is a legal pronouncement in Islam made by a scholar permitted to issue judgments on Sharia. On 6 December,

an Islamic court in Bulo Burto, southern Somalia, announced an edict that residents who do not pray five times a day will be beheaded. (Ouch, call me dead already!)

During prayer time, shops and tea houses should close and no one should be in the streets. The UIC restored security by ending years of massive human rights abuses against civilians by armed factions, but these few examples demonstrate that this happened very much at the cost of fundamental freedoms. Since the takeover of the Islamists thousands have fled the country for fear of being prosecuted or being forcibly recruited by the militias. It is doubtful if there was such an overwhelming support for the UIC as was widely reported."

http://allafrica.com/stories/200702081076.html

Why is it so difficult to put a stop to that sort of thing? Is religion the root cause of slavery and human misery? Is it even worth our time to worry about the species that has learned to type?

"Religious and political leaders dare not speak out to halt the population growth that is overwhelming vast regions of Planet Earth. Insufficient food, poor nutrition, poor eating habits, substance abuse, lack of clean drinking water and lack of exercise weaken body and mind and perpetuate the spectacular growth of our global disease-illness misery systems."

http://www.dailyemerald.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=6a5ef739-a32e-4731-bcbc-7075ea114e0d

91. The Current: Part 3: The Religious Right

Comment #21471 by Linda on February 9, 2007 at 10:20 am

Did Chomsky and Pinker weigh in on the issue of religion at Harvard:

Harvard embraces religion
" CAMBRIDGE: Harvard University has proposed a curriculum overhaul to emphasise sciences, religious beliefs, and world cultures, according to a faculty committee final report.

The recommendations come after years of internal debate over what courses should be required of all Harvard students. The current core curriculum at America's oldest college has been criticised for focusing on narrow academic questions rather than real-world issues.

The report calls for Harvard to require students to take a course in "culture and belief", to introduce students to religion and ideas."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Rest_of_World/Harvard_embraces_religion/articleshow/1581322.cms

92. Panel discussion on atheism where no atheists are included

Comment #21291 by Linda on February 8, 2007 at 2:31 pm

Uh oh a US porn star has just died and that seems to be the breaking and only news on CNN channels. Zahn's producers may decide to drop the Atheist segment in favour of joining the media frenzy for sordid and pointless tabloid gossip. Call me cynical.

93. Panel discussion on atheism where no atheists are included

Comment #21278 by Linda on February 8, 2007 at 11:48 am

Richard as I guessed in my #143 you won't be allowed more than a few seconds to speak. Be prepared with your very best material edited into catchy sound bites. Hitchens will be center stage promoting his new book, which as you know is about to hit the streets. (I've bought tickets for the upcoming lecture/book launch at the NY Public Library on May 7th https://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showCode=CHR9 ) Yes most of us know that that 'God is not Great'. Hopefully one of the two of you will make waves. Of course tomorrow all of the complaints will again be raised that godless Europeans are butting once again into the USA. You are quite right though that Americans atheists should have been on the panel for that very reason.

Zahn and others at CNN never give a topic more than a few minutes, as that is the attention span of the US public it seems.

IMO CNN is an acronym for Clueless News Network.
LindaWS

94. Panel discussion on atheism where no atheists are included

Comment #21229 by Linda on February 8, 2007 at 5:51 am

Dear Richard Dawkins,
The TIVO is set to capture your appearance on Paula Zahn tonight. Guests on shows like that are usually given only a couple of minutes to make comments. If it is a panel situation then no doubt some rabid, professional snake oil salespeople will try to command the airtime. Be prepared for a very frustrating experience, as there is little hope that the American people will hear your ideas.

American friends of RDF perhaps it is time for more letters to CNN requesting that Larry King devote an hour to hosting Richard Dawkins.
Best to you, LindaWS

95. Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins

Comment #20988 by Linda on February 7, 2007 at 7:48 am

How long will until some cranky deist accuses Dawkins and Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials) of killing god? Why are the deluded never embarrassed by their simplistic endorsement of the supernatural?

I think it was Dennett who suggested that the word god is a linguistic contrivance. That is astute and worth remembering.

Back to Pullman – does anyone know why he's sold out to Disney and maybe has recanted the end of god:

God is cut from film of Dark Materials

"THE Hollywood adaptation of Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials, in which two children do battle with an evil, all-powerful church, is being rewritten to remove anti-religious overtones. Chris Weitz, the director, has horrified fans by announcing that references to the church are likely to be banished in his film. Meanwhile the "Authority", the weak God figure, will become "any arbitrary establishment that curtails the freedom of the individual".
The studio wants alterations because of fears of a backlash from the Christian Right in the United States. The changes are being made with the support of Pullman, who told The Times last year that he received "a large amount" for the rights"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article400396.ece

96. 'Everyone Is Afraid to Criticize Islam': Interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #20968 by Linda on February 7, 2007 at 6:20 am

AHA's Hardtalk interview was broadcast yesterday:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/6335401.stm

There is now a new Muslim cartoon issue erupting in France and of course violence is threatened: "Two French Muslim groups have begun a lawsuit in a Paris court against magazine Charlie Hebdo over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6337307.stm

For Islam to really achieve a Little Mosque on the Prairie http://www.cbc.ca/littlemosque/ ideal then recognize the truth that it like Christianity was spread by very violent, vile and cruel men and the only way forward for all people who view human rights as paramount to building healthy communities is through education. Make the Little Mosque a reality everywhere and gosh darn it gals will be free and peace may just be a wonderful by-product.

97. Give us back our bones, pagans tell museums

Comment #20723 by Linda on February 6, 2007 at 6:30 am

Worshipping relics is another manifestation of superstition.

Do any of the groups seeking to remove artifacts from museums have the capacity for curatorial care and protection of the objects? The opportunity for studying the past is far more important to collective humanity than it would be to disburse items to satisfy a few quirky fantasies.

Say does anyone ever wonder about getting a chance to go backstage at the Vatican to see what that secret society is hording?

98. Taking the fight to Islam

Comment #20623 by Linda on February 5, 2007 at 7:00 am

For those who are brave enough listen to AHA's description of her personal experience of being circumcised at the age of 5 -- the truly creepy bit is about the man cutting off the threads used to sew up the the clitoris with his teeth:

You can listen again here: 1 Feb 2007: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/01/2007_05_fri.shtml

What exactly is going on when a man gets his nose and mouth so close to a child's vagina?

99. Taking the fight to Islam

Comment #20616 by Linda on February 5, 2007 at 5:50 am

NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/weekinreview/04goodstein.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

It's really tragic that seemingly female Muslim women who post on the GU despise AHA:

http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?13@858.IECQaqayUkh.0@.775e6b1b/385

100. Dispatches: Undercover Mosque

Comment #20564 by Linda on February 4, 2007 at 8:10 am

It's well and good to expose Islam as dangerous to the psyche of so many yet after catching a few politicians vying for the job of POTUS 2008 on US new-stainment venues today why must they continue to boast credentials from participation in superstitious practices? In order to make waves somebody in politics who is as brave as Dawkins must start to stir the pot. Is religion the root cause of the failure of the USA? What would Jefferson say about the whole sorry mess?

From a sociological perspective I wonder about the mental health of young males. Communities everywhere are affected by the demographic of young angry men some of whom are attracted to street gangs or other anti-social activities. Historically young males were conscripted to fight and die in hegemonic wars. Today that is no longer an option. Is there a global pandemic of mental illness due to an excess of population?

It does sound sexist to ask but for starters what makes some males so crazy:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/6326513.stm

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/30/ashoura.children.ap/index.html

http://www.thestar.com/artsentertainment/article/178028

Is it that they do not have meaningful work or existence?