1051. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #71597 by Philip1978 on September 19, 2007 at 5:11 am

Oops, didnt clarify that one well enough did I, apologies, just wanted to give an example of miracles in your name!
*bows humbly and says sorry a heck of a lot*

Philip

1052. God Talk on 'The View'

Comment #71544 by Philip1978 on September 19, 2007 at 2:26 am

This is brilliant, I have not laughed so much in a while!

I loved that bit about dinosaurs, that lady next to Whoopie saying look they are there, get over it and that wonderful non- answer "But the Bible says..."!
Priceless and I didnt vomit!!

Philip

1053. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #71539 by Philip1978 on September 19, 2007 at 1:55 am

Biz and Revcort,

I was wondering if you would consider Quetz as a better God, I say this because look at this form of communication- I Praised Him and He wrote back to me, now, compare that to your Gods and well, sorry chaps but Yahweh doesnt even begin to cut the mustard. Jesus? where is he, cant find him in history anywhere, none of his miracles recorded or even his birth. My Prophet, Billy, to Whom Quetz gave his one and only Lab Coat, has a birth certificate and passport which confirms his existence. He also performs many miracles everyday in his Lab for the good of humanity and in Quetz's honour. Good efficient records are kept of this so no lies can be made up or quibbles about their authenticity. Brilliant stuff!

Now, I hear you cry, but what has Quetz done, how can you prove his miracles upon this earth, gentlemen, when you next have a cup of Tea you will Know what I am talking about! For further proof, my, sadly, ex-girlfriend once was suffering from a bad headache, she had a cup of Tea and lo, Quetz had blessed that Tea in order that she suffered no longer that day. Truly great stuff, a truly great God, I urge you to consider the benefits!

Praise be to Quetz!

Philip

1054. Catholic school board in Halton may ban HPV vaccination

Comment #71533 by Philip1978 on September 19, 2007 at 1:31 am

I am almost tempted to drop the C bomb in a minute, these people are utterly without doubt some of the worst human beings in history.

I am with EastCoastAtheist here these people are nothing but sick in the head. What human being could ever want to not eradicate Cancer in any form at all? This is what really winds me up about religious attitudes towards sex, they like to turn it into the most depraved act in the world rather than admit that their efforts to combat it are KILLING PEOPLE!

I have changed my mind, I will not use the C word to describe these people because its an insult to the C word itself

I am disgusted

Philip

1055. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #71523 by Philip1978 on September 19, 2007 at 1:05 am

Biz I thought I would correct your statement to make it more real!


"Quetzalcoatl is no different. If you desire to argue successfully against an idea, you have to know what it is that you are arguing against. It's a rather simple concept. Intellectual laziness is no excuse for not believing in Quetzalcoatl. One of your own arguments against God's existence is the typical "well who created Quetzalcoatl?" argument. If you knew but a small fraction of basic theology then you would understand that part of what defines "Quetzalcoatl" as "a God" is his self-existent nature. He is not a contingent being. The question is therefore absurd as it is really asking "who created a being who by definition requires no creator?". This is but one example of your rather meager knowledge of one of the most basic defining characteristics of Quetzalcoatl. To dismiss a concept that you happen to be afraid of exploring on the mere basis of a sense of a priori incredulity is just unscientific."

PRAISE BE TO QUETZ!!

Philip

1056. Larry King Interviews Kathy Griffin

Comment #71503 by Philip1978 on September 19, 2007 at 12:17 am

Hear Hear Yorker,

Oi you lot, stop being so negative! Do you really think young Kathy there is unintelligent? More to the point does it matter? Just because she has a weird smile and an odd voice, doesn't scratch the surface. I saw the video before I read all the comments and I really think she has got her head screwed on.

There she is saying "Look, I am a D list celebrity, I have just made a load of Christians spend vast amounts of money just because I said the word Jesus out of context"! She has got the religious up in arms over HUMOUR! Wasn't it Sam Harris who mentioned something about how the Klu Klux Klan was brought down by humour?

I am totally behind Yorker in his statement, the fact that some of us are smarter than others is bollocks to the core in most people's eyes. I am highly impressed by the level of knowledge on this site, one of the reasons I come here is because I want to learn a few things and hear different opinions (and slowly bend your will to mine mwwhahahahahahahha etc!) But I also want people to be aware of the damage that religion is doing to this world and explaining the Anthropic Principle to "Joe Sixpack" is not going to wash is it?

So why not have a media savvy D list celebrity show how easy it is to offend the religious, let the world see the hysterical rantings of the Bill O Reilly's and the Donahues of this world for what they are- meaningless rantings! She got an award for some dumb arse reality show, which I think even she admits in this video, she then goes up on stage and makes some funny comments about Jesus and how people seem to think their careers are built because of God! She is going to be making jokes in Madison Square Garden soon, what is the betting she will make fun of this event? Just think about who will be attending that show.

Bravo Kathy, go for it girl!

Philip

1057. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #71284 by Philip1978 on September 18, 2007 at 9:29 am

Revcort,

This is getting weirder by the second, I have to admit now I am very confused as to how you can arrive at such conclusions with the weight of evidence against it.

Ok, here goes, I think Professor Dawkins used a similar story but I will see if I can show you why this is confusing me.

A policeman turns up at the scene of a murder crime and begins to study the clues of what happened to the murder victim. He will work with a team to discover various clues including DNA testing, fingerprints, blood analysis, dirt on the carpet from the murderers boots, the whole lot. This evidence is taken away and tested to the extreme using modern methods which have gone through the most rigorous peer review in order to establish if they work or not. These scientific methods are there for a reason, they have to work or the wrong person would be caught every single time. In order for somebody to found guilty the policeman has to find evidence, its that simple and its logical. It also means he does not actually have to be there at the time of the murder, have all sorts of recording equipments and witnesses including the judge who will be presiding over the case! The policeman has to make do with the evidence in front of him, that has been proven to work many times before and catch the right murderer if he can. Are you with me so far, that is an example of modern evidence gathering.

What you are suggesting is completely the opposite, it would be like the policeman walking up to the nearest person on the street, taking him down the station and charging him on the sole evidence that God had told him. How do you think that would stand up in todays society if some poor sod off the street was nicked solely on the basis that God apparently revealed to him that this the murderer he was looking for? Would you be happy if that was you who was picked up? How would you argue with it? You could have proof you were no where near the murder scene, have absolutely nothing to connect you with the victim, totally innocent but on the word of this policeman who says he was told by God!

I have more evidence from the scene of the crime that tells me that the Earth was not created in 6 Days and that it is not 6000 years old. This is based on better facts than told out of one book that was supposed to inspired by a deity whose own incredibly complex existence is just too improbable to confirm. You really need to study history a bit more to find out than humans create their gods, not the other way around. I can mention many different gods and their direct similarity with the actions in the stories of your God and Jesus. Ask anyone on this site for more information about various things and I am sure they will be glad to help. But I think you really have to start asking yourself some questions before you start making statements from which you cannot back up with anything solid.


Right, there is my rant over, I will leave you to it,

kind regards, Philip

1058. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #71254 by Philip1978 on September 18, 2007 at 8:04 am

Revcort,

What do you mean by "Hey Philip, it looks like they have gotten to you my friend"?

Who is this THEY? I came to the conclusion that praying was a waste of time when I was 8 years old under no duress from anyone!

Plus you have to convince me that Jesus actually existed, I am a history and English graduate and I have studied a lot recently about that time period and I cannot find any record of Jesus outside the bible, doesn't that seem odd? You know the site Nazareth was a graveyard up until 67 AD? I am talking religious archaeologist's findings here also the findings of some of the best in the business whose work has been thoroughly picked apart and their findings are pretty much conclusive. I will talk more about this if you like, I have to be brief now cos I have to get home from work!


I think you really should take GG's advice and think about a lot of things

Cheers,
Philip

1059. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #71252 by Philip1978 on September 18, 2007 at 7:55 am

Revcort,

Whilst I am at it, I will give you something more simple, if the Earth is 6000 years old, there would not be such a thing as 5th Millenium BC yes?

Here is what was happening around that time, I know its Wikipedia but its all I have time for

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5th_millennium_BC

How can we know this and yet the Bible have it otherwise?

Cheers,
Philip

1060. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #71249 by Philip1978 on September 18, 2007 at 7:27 am

Revcort,

One thing I do on this site is ask questions, like for example about Carbon Dating because I know nothing about it. I would suggest you look at this, its written by a Christian and is very informative about how dating is done

http://www.asa3.org/aSA/resources/Wiens.html

Once you have done that look at this, it will explain to you that had God created the Earth in six days, Adam and Eve would have been fried because the Earth had not had time to cool down for them to exist on it.

http://gondwanaresearch.com/hp/adam.htm

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did,

kind regards,
Philip

1061. The Dawkins debate

Comment #71231 by Philip1978 on September 18, 2007 at 5:41 am

charlieallery

I havent had the chance to trawl through it all ( I saw one comment about Einstein being religious that annoyed me a bit!) I think that is a wonderful thing to say about what the Professor and others are doing, puts things into perspective a lot, if only people would realise it more!

Cheers,
Philip

1062. Religious education

Comment #71195 by Philip1978 on September 18, 2007 at 2:43 am

pewkatchoo
Sorry, you have mentioned in the past about your campaigning and I totally 100% agree with you, this is a dreadful abuse of kid's education. I dont want to sound like I dont care about all this, I was just being a bit silly earlier.
Apologies,
Philip

1063. Richard Dawkins and Alister McGrath

Comment #71192 by Philip1978 on September 18, 2007 at 2:30 am

Paul,
I think V has got this very right indeed, I am 29 and am now slowly beginning to understand the world around me better and how I affect it. I may be still a little naive around the edges, but thats simply because I am an optimist of the highest order!


In my, mostly daft, opinion my life is hugely governed by the choices and actions I make and how they affect my environment. Sometimes all it has taken to change things are the smallest of words and I can make someone happy or sad or change a particular situation in the blink of an eye. Life is tough one to manage, especially as unexpected things tend to happen whilst you are making other plans. This is also in conjunction with everybody else I have to share the planet with, people are busy with their own actions and choices! So postulating that a God somehow has some part in this makes absolutely no sense at all to me. 6 Billion people on this planet and rising, each with their own agendas, actions, morals etc and you are telling me God has some part in this? God has a lot of work to do doesnt he? A Mind Bogglingly large universe to cope with, I dread to even think about how many weird and wonderful things there are to prod and play with. Then you have planet Earth, with its animals, weather etc and still God has to have some part in this? Lets face it, he hasn't really gone out of his way to make it easy to believe in him has he? No, its the most complex and improbable that proves his influence and that for me clinches it when science pops up and starts studying it. From what I have learned on this site we humans know roughly about 5% about how life, universe and everything works, possibly moving on to about a staggering 25% if we ever get this dark energy stuff sorted. I dont know about you but that suggests to me that God has very little to do with this universe because the more we know about it the less he is involved.

Ok, lecture over, (I'm too young for this sort of thing hehhehe!) I only urge you to take in what V posted, not only is it very insightful but because its her birthday too hehehe!

cheers,

Philip

1064. The Nonbelievers

Comment #71173 by Philip1978 on September 18, 2007 at 1:43 am

pewkatchoo

Let nobody ever say that your wisdom is never sound, I completely agree with you!

Fair enough I think this is a funny idea but I am a little uncomfortable with it too. Surely there are better places to form communities? I was in a church the other day feeling nauseated to the core seeing some poor children being christened. I am really happy for my friends having kids, even more happy to help with anything that may arise, just cant stand church services. I would feel uncomfortable in a church, even though I agree with what this chaplain is saying.

Don't get me wrong, I love church architecture having studied a bit of it during my A-Levels and have been round many a cathedral etc and been very impressed by their beauty. But dont stick me in a place of worship to acknowledge the fact that I dont believe in it, not my scene, would rather be down the pub!

Philip

1065. Religious education

Comment #71170 by Philip1978 on September 18, 2007 at 1:32 am

Richard, though my science knowledge is practically as non- existent as the gods I think it would have to be particles, they bounce together quite a bit dont they? I am sure they could be mustered up in to a bit of a frenzy to make you shine!

Philip

1066. State Senator Ernie Chambers Sues God

Comment #71168 by Philip1978 on September 18, 2007 at 1:27 am

V
My prediction had to come true in accordance with the laws of probability, I knew several were leaving and the chances of someone coming back were pretty high! I know full well I could not survive cold turkey, the addiction has become too much!


One thing that grabs me about this article is that if God a) turns up and proves his existence then Senator Chambers better start searching for asbestos underpants b)what if God is found guilty? if he is charged with the above, surely like all the other laws that he has broken (Laws of Physics, Chemistry and Biology to name but a few!) Heck, he even breaks his own 10 commandments on a regular basis esp about the killing one, how is he going to be stopped by the injunction?

My theory on this one is hopefully quite sound, if humans can create their gods then they can jolly well conjour up a god shaped injunction! Ha! Get out of that one Yahweh!

Philip

1067. Religious education

Comment #71162 by Philip1978 on September 18, 2007 at 12:55 am

Yay, got here first!

Well, I guess I would have failed that test, I cant think of 10 reasons for God's existence and I can't think of a "skaky" reason for him not to, if they want a plethora of reasons why I am convinced God does not exist then I would get quite a few minus marks to be sure!

Good Article though, I like the way he writes, I like the Satanist school he intends to create hehehe!

Philip

1068. State Senator Ernie Chambers Sues God

Comment #71156 by Philip1978 on September 17, 2007 at 11:42 pm

My goodness what a great day!

V and BAEOZ I wish you the finest, wildest and most naughty birthdays imaginable, pleased be advised I have a gargantuan imagination so get to it!!

This article has made me smile sooo much, I would love to see what happens when God also gets done for not turning up at court! Hang on, what happens if all this goes through all the way, does this mean the entire clergy of the world goes to prison for accessory to murder, surely they would get an ASBO (English stupid law to stop people being a pain in the arse, Anti Social Behaviour Order, the only degree some kids will ever get!) for all the wanton destruction and fraud! Maaaarvelous, what a lovely day!

Cheers all,

Philip

1069. Airline sacrifices goats to appease sky god

Comment #70847 by Philip1978 on September 17, 2007 at 4:18 am

Hahaha can you imagine the new and improved safety talk at the start?

"This is your Captain speaking, in the event of Armageddon could the Christians strip off and jump out from these doors indicated, Muhammed will be parking his fiery chariot alongside the plane for all those worthy. As a special service today the Norse Valkyries will be past to pick up anyone who wants a scrap at Ragnarök"!

Cheers, Philip

1070. Youtube hater, I respect your right to free speech.

Comment #70819 by Philip1978 on September 17, 2007 at 2:29 am

Sapient

I am also very proud of your RRS and I wish you and your team all the success you deserve, its hard work and I am glad people are doing it!

Spinoza,

My not being exactly over furnished in the brains dept does not mean I can't be an atheist and I find it completely weird you don't want me to be one just because I have not got the gargantuan intelligence of someone like Professor Dawkins. I dont think this is true but it is almost sounding like the same imaginary status that the religious claim when something is supposed to be "holy". Being an Atheist to me is simply not believing in gods or the fairies etc, it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out! From what I have read in your posts, you do seem to be very intelligent and well educated, I would just ask that you be more considerate when attacking thickies like me!!

cheers,

Philip

1071. Good News: Both our Foundations are now Officially Recognized as Charities

Comment #70269 by Philip1978 on September 14, 2007 at 4:16 pm

To quote from Blackadder

Permission to shout bravo at an annoyingly loud volume?

Philip

1072. The Fleas Are Multiplying!

Comment #70170 by Philip1978 on September 14, 2007 at 8:34 am

Forgive him Oh Quetz, for he knows not what he does!

1073. The Fleas Are Multiplying!

Comment #70167 by Philip1978 on September 14, 2007 at 8:30 am

Nooooo
I meant I do not want any other saviour or prophet other than Quetz and Billy!!

Would be a bit off his High Priest, who speaks highly of His work and his Great Tea then to slag him off, I would not dream of such a thing!

1074. The Fleas Are Multiplying!

Comment #70162 by Philip1978 on September 14, 2007 at 8:24 am

Did you read what that guy says, David you do it too! The next religious person who says that I or anyone on here is a "Follower" of Professor Dawkins I will...do such things, what they are yet I know not, but they shall be the terrors of the earth!!

Why can't you religious people understand, I dont want a saviour or a prophet(other than Quetz and Billy!) I don't follow Professor Dawkins for the simple fact that I do not regard him as a god or someone whose words I have to hang the meaning of my life on! I refuse to kiss the man's arse just because he is famous or that I have similar views on certain matters. Its just fucking annoying, sycophantic and I don't want any part of it. If I thought it right I would go tell the Professor to hurl his books and articles in the toilet along with the Qu'ran and the Bible!! But since I really enjoy reading them, think they have interesting and informative things to say and that I actually have learned something then bloody hell just let me enjoy it!!

My apologies for the language, but this stuff as you can quite see really gets on my tits!

Philip

1075. Honest Mistakes or Willful Mendacity

Comment #70096 by Philip1978 on September 14, 2007 at 4:27 am

He spoke out against Douglas? Slap the heretic!!

Northern Bright, a very well written piece, I enjoyed it immensely, its always a great relief to read a review from someone who has actually read the book they are reviewing! I will have words with Quetz to send you good Tea!

Philip

1076. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #70078 by Philip1978 on September 14, 2007 at 2:39 am

What the hell is that???

The moral of this story is, don't take hallucinogenic substances as it alters the chemistry of your brain, sometimes irretrievably!

Here endeth the lesson!

I think I will bounce off and learn about mad science and its history, cheers Corylus!

Philip

1077. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #70068 by Philip1978 on September 14, 2007 at 1:16 am

I get a very weird feeling when reading bits form the bible, and not just the prophesies

I quite liked Psalm 147:4, I rather think thats an honourable way to pass one's time as a God but as for the Issiah and Ezekiel, well really, thats a bit off in my opinion! THE LORD THY GOD has said nothing about clearing up the mess or turning the lights back on afterwards! What is it with big G and his son when it comes to animals, they seem to get in the way all the time when wrath or justice is being dealt out. Oxen seems to be big G's target, big J is all into sending pigs off on marathons to go jump off cliffs. Ok , I am no vegetarian but even I find that a bit wasteful!!

Mark, heres my question for you...when you have time you poor boy, actually, I throw this one out to the others who used to believe as well, as a Christian reading the Bible, how does/did this make you feel?

I dont just go looking for the bad bits in the bible but some of it strikes me as utter madness. I think this is one of the reasons I can't quite grasp the idea of this being a God inspired book. Obviously this is a little like quote mining and possibly taken as a whole book rather than just sentences it might be better, I really don't know.

All that gumph (another technical word!) in the Old Testament makes me positively ill, for example Genesis 22 Abraham nearly bbqing his son then going on to live an extraordinarily long, and lets face it naughty, life with his wife. Or Moses's second job as Gods ombudsman and estate agent in Deuteronomy 9. Even Jesus has his odd moments whilst saying to his disciples, if you are going to follow me, sell all you have, Mark 10:21, or the even more weird Luke 14:26, where in order to be His disciple hating your family and your life is the way forward.

I would then start to get worried if people really started following passages like Matthew 5:29 and actually gouging their eyes out or cutting off any other limb that "causes you to sin"!

I mean flipping heck, this is not right surely or am I really looking at this in completely the wrong manner. I read books like The God Delusion and I do what I can to infer its meaning, I have done the same with the Bible and if this really what the author intended I am sorry but it is all shades shapes and sizes of wrong. My most studied subjects in life were English and History, being able to look at something and see if I could ascertain the author's motives etc. I cant cope with all this "because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes" Deuteronomy 13:18. Or "But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him" Luke 12:5. Its all so harsh! Faith seems more like an inflicted punishment rather than a life fulfilling joy!

Oh shit, I have been ranting again, apologies all, I will get back to learning about physics, its safer and less scary!

cheers,
Philip

1078. The Fleas Are Multiplying!

Comment #69926 by Philip1978 on September 13, 2007 at 7:42 am

pewkatchoo

I suppose my dislike of idiots such as wee flea could be described as a fundamental position! What do you think?

I just think you speak your mind, so what if it involves swearing, plus as you say, its up to the moderator to look at it and decide, right thats it matey! I think the worst you have ever actually "threatened" someone with is to "Troll" them which is hardly the same as "burn in hell till you agree with me" or if there were such a thing as an Atheist fundie is "HOW DARE YOU CRITICISE THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE, WHAT DO YOU MEAN ITS NOT COMPLETE, ITS 100% RIGHT! Hehehehhe!

I have always thought a fundie was someone who even faced with the right evidence etc would vehemently deny it, make up something highly ambiguous to contradict the truth and threaten those who did not toe the line with violence or threats of death. As far as I know, you can change your mind and you are not violent...(well you are Scottish but thats another matter hehehhe!) *ducks*

Cheers
Philip

1079. The Fleas Are Multiplying!

Comment #69905 by Philip1978 on September 13, 2007 at 6:11 am

David


Pewkatchoo fundamentalist? I don't want to speak for the guy but I have seen various posts where he has changed his views on a number of subjects. Plus he has made abundantly clear those are just his views and he is not out to recruit anyone, does that really sound like a fundamentalist? I would have thought a fundie would stick to his guns in the face of all the truth piled against him and shout bellow and scream back, possibly frothing at the mouth...I don't see Pewkatchoo anywhere near that, that's my view of him anyway, there's nowt wrong with him!


As for J's suggestion that you walk in Atheist shoes for a mile, I would actually second it. He mentioned your view of the world in relation to your God (I hope he got that right, if I have got this wrong, then I apologise) Do you actually know how close my view of the world is to that? All that awe and fascination with this world, the people on it and the Universe is all there. People often think that I am simply being this happy to cover up for insecurities and depression and that is simply WRONG. The fact that I am even able to sit here as this live this particular Philip Priestley's life is more than enough to make me sit here and smile like the loon in my photo. I simply have not injected Gods into that view, I don't need them. Walking in the shoes of an Atheist is not that difficult and I suggest you do all you can and see what happens. What's the worst that could happen? (Asides from losing your job...oops...hehehehe!)

Take care
Philip

1080. Censoring Sir David

Comment #69831 by Philip1978 on September 13, 2007 at 1:12 am

I am never going to forget hearing Sir David talk about why he didn't believe in god, he was talking about a particular worm whose main function in life is to bore into the eyes of small kids. He said that he would never want to believe in a god that could create such a cruel thing and that it made more sense that it was nature at work instead.

Fascinating man, editing his words like this is an expression of just how closed minded someone can be, why not study all the facts and then decide if God is still involved! Censoring it makes people more curious about things in my opinion!

Cheers,
Philip

1081. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #69619 by Philip1978 on September 12, 2007 at 12:33 am

Goldy,
That cant be true if you and Oppenheimer were told others were cribbing off the bible, the Greek and Egyptian legends alone are centuries behind the bible. Plus how then do you explain all the other religions that popped up because they had never heard of Christianity, that's why the Norse mythology worked so well its because Jesus and God hadn't got that far yet. Unless God was seeing how different guises worked out I still can't see Christian God of the Bible being any more real than Ossiris or Jupiter, looking at the Egyptian Book of the Dead and the story of Ossiris alone convinces me some sort of cribbing went on.


Quetz, my apologies oh mighty one, I just thought it would be cool seeing the Falcons in action but your Divine Fire sounds way better, I like the recycling part as well!

Hurrah!
Philip

1082. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #69450 by Philip1978 on September 11, 2007 at 9:36 am

Ok, I might rant a bit here, so be warned this might be a long one!

This Anthropic Principle business, ok, I am going to be hideously wrong at this but bugger it, I want to give it a go! So, at one point in the history of the universe there happens to be events that were perfect for creating not only the Universe but later on, in the unfashionable end of the spiral arm of the galaxy, the Earth. Gas mixed with gas, chemicals tumbled into each other, the temperature was right etc It fell into place from simple beginnings into more complex beginnings as time wondered on. Had all this happened without lets say the right gas or star blowing up or something to that effect, this could have all gone tits up and no Planet Earth, right?

Now this is based on stuff from the 5% of the Everything that Lee was talking about earlier, yes?

Right, so here we have a universe kaboomed (my technical term!) into existence because the settings were just right if the universe was going to go about doing this sort of thing. We even have have a planet that was plonked( getting good at this!) in the path of a nuclear fireball some 93,000,000 odd miles away that is the right length for helping all the wonderful things that happened to get life up and running, yes?

Evolution also strides in and helps back up the origin of life from simple things to more complex as time wonders on, stop me if I am barking up the wrong tree here!

This has all been worked out, a sort of best guess we have now until a better one arrives that is more workable, by what was OBSERVABLE already. By putting observable in capitals, I am talking about that 5% stuff I mentioned earlier.

Right, so how on Earth does God get top billing for all this?

God has not been observed any more than the Loch Ness Monster or Russell's Tea pot and there is not a single conceivable way that she/it/he can be observed by the means we have today or ever as some theologians would have it. The only way to observe THE LORD THY GOD is to simply have "faith". The only possible and conceivable way God can exist at all is because Humans can make him do so by imagining He does.

It has been observable throughout human history that not just one God has popped up claiming property rights to the Universe, especially planet Earth, and how they went going about making it. Theories ranging from Odin creating the world out of his newly carved up dad with his two brothers to this one from the Greeks, a classic if ever I heard it

"In the beginning there was only the infinite space known as Chaos. Inside this void was a single creature, Nyx, the bird with black wings. She laid a golden egg and for ages sat upon it. When it finally hatched, out came Eros, the god of love. One half of the shell rose up to become the sky, and the other half became the Earth. He named the Earth Gaia and the sky Uranus. Eros then made them fall in love."

You have to admit these are pretty wild statements and I think we can all see why this stuff eventually became legend and myth because it was simply very silly. Humans learned things about their environment, started working out how things that happened were not actually the Gods they had made up but simply common sense shoved out all the fantasy involved in it. Bloody great stories though, I will give them that, keeps me entertained for hours on end.


So from that observable evidence, it is possible to see humans can make up some wild assertions without having any evidence, which is later explained by humans who have tested the wild assertions and come up with better and more logical solutions to problems.

Therefore the Anthropic principle makes sense to me because it is based on all the available evidence, it could jolly well be wrong, but there it is, its a good starting block. One day we might be lucky to actually figure it out better with more observed evidence and Gods will be moved further back into the legend area. Gods are great, magnificent figures, very good for literature and anthropological studies etc. How then are they great for explaining how the universe works?

I rather hope, through all this waffle I have made my point that at least science is making its wild and probably inaccurate for now statements in the hope that we can learn something cool about the universe! Gods do not, cannot, will not be anything other than fiction, I hope I gave good enough examples of just how wild things can get. Claiming and basing all evidence on the origins of life because a book, finally completed after much argument near the end of the 2nd century says so does not make sense to me. (Of course after the 2nd century it was then edited, re-translated, lost, found, hidden in jars and found again so many times before it even enters the English language and then gets meddled with again throughout the middle ages and so on...!) Doesn't that sound just a tad dodgy? You see humans from all over the place, with this book and that book, claiming they have been hearing the voice of a deity and that they wrote down his words into a book for all to read and adhere to. Look at Mormons, how the hell they feel for that one I really can't fathom!

Mark you say the bible is the inspired word of God but can't you see that other people have also been inspired to write books about gods that are so similar to yours its untrue. Don't you think that the story about the Earth stopping in its diurnal course just so some humans can smack the crap out the enemy is a bit like having a huge bird lay an egg in space to create the universe? Why is it I can laugh tons when thinking about how Douglas Adams wrote a story about a group of people who believed the universe was sneezed out of the nostril of a being called the Great Green Arklesiezure and that the day of judgement is referred to as the "coming of the great white handkerchief"? How is that any different from Jesus pitching up one day on his fiery chariot and telling me off for being a naughty heathen? Surely basing the evidence on something at least tangible and workable is better than using the more unknown and impossible to explain it all, isnt it?

Sorry, I have wiffled on for far too long, truth be told I got bored at work doing overtime!
If this makes any sense to anyone, cheers, tons for reading it, but I just needed to get that off my chest and get back to that lovely cup of Assaam that Billy and Quetz just inspired me to drink!

Cheeeeeeers!
Philip

1083. Young Muslims begin dangerous fight for the right to abandon faith

Comment #69339 by Philip1978 on September 11, 2007 at 12:04 am

This is definitely a step in the right direction and I hope that all Muslim Apostates will eventually gain the right to have the freedom to choose what they want. I think its sickening that people's lives can be torn apart like this all because they dont want to believe in gods anymore.

I have heard some awful stories about how people not only in the Muslim faith have been bullied and persecuted because of their lack of belief. It gives me hope to see people standing up to these dogmatic bullies, whether or not you can change the mind of fundamentalism is a difficult task, but not impossible and I hope they succeed. Change is needed and this is the way forward, its such a pity its such a dangerous thing for these people to be doing.

Philip

1084. The Emptiness of Theology

Comment #69279 by Philip1978 on September 10, 2007 at 9:41 am

Theology: the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods.

Stem cell therapy has the potential to radically change the treatment of human disease.

So essentially we are up against knowing more about an invisible IT that miraculously humans can never know because God is infinite etc or we have the means to cure diseases which have caused the human race untold damage...

Professor Dawkins is completely right

"The achievements of theologians don't do anything, don't affect anything, don't mean anything"

Good article, I hope your christian friends read it Billy!

Cheers, Philip

1085. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #69264 by Philip1978 on September 10, 2007 at 8:27 am

Chariots vs the Cloned army of Quetz? No contest, the lasers mounted on the Falcons alone would melt the Iron!

Epeeist, good point, they were using iron in the Middle East by about 1200 BC, would that have been in time for the Old Testament? Sorry, my history on the OT is a little hazy

Philip

1086. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #69255 by Philip1978 on September 10, 2007 at 7:43 am

Pewkatchoo, dont bother with Zeus, he like Mohamed, was a paedophile and was more interested in shagging around with the other female goddesses and fathering many offspring, Hera had a lot on her plate after marrying him I tell you!
His favourite punishment I think was sticking old Prometheus to the cliff to have his liver eaten out by an eagle every day until Heracles kindly saved him! ( I personally think Terry Pratchet wrote a better story about how he really got saved!!)
Stick with Quetz, he is the best of all the gods by far!

Cheers, Philip

1087. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #69228 by Philip1978 on September 10, 2007 at 5:07 am

Lee,

That has got me thinking, I hear all these stories about how the earth stopped, how the dead rise from graves, how it goes dark when it shouldn't, how the world suddenly floods because The Lord Thy God is not best pleased with something. My question is why isn't it happening now?

It seems to me from my Bible readings that God was involved with the earthly goings on in a more "hands" on way ( Does God actually have hands?) than he is these days. Can anyone remember the last time the Earth stood still or people being charged with His work actually parting rapidly flowing water to escape the nasty people or bringing back people from the dead etc.

Nothing happens on a Biblical scale any more, life would be a lot more exciting, you know, having the LORD THY GOD pitch up in the most dramatic fashion of His choosing, telling you its time to raise folk from the dead or something like it.

Then again, my Tea does taste better now that I worship The Mighty Quetz. Plus He did charge his Prophet Billy to go forth and do great things with His one and only Lab Coat...ahhh all is not lost! Praise be to Quetz!

Philip

1088. We need a more intelligent religion debate

Comment #68434 by Philip1978 on September 7, 2007 at 7:10 am

Oh really Mr Hobson! They don't know what they are talking about? Intellectual cowardice? I call yelling and pleading to the invisible and highly improbable for help intellectual cowardice!

Utter drivel!

Philip

1089. The smallest signs of retreat

Comment #68431 by Philip1978 on September 7, 2007 at 7:06 am

I will have to concur with the right honourable ladies and gentlemen of this post, Ms Bunting is talking the most almighty drivel known to humanity, all in favour of her case getting thrown out of court say aye!

Judge Philip!

1090. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #68256 by Philip1978 on September 6, 2007 at 2:21 pm

Billy,


Bugger! How frustrating! I will go see him in Wycombe, if only to wear my new A t-shirt! I take it there is no way of asking him how exactly he wishes to date things? I am no science know-it-all but I am under the impression dating requires not just one test but several before people will authenticate it!

Either that or I get lynched in Micklefield heheheh!

Philip

1091. Interview with BHA President Polly Toynbee

Comment #68248 by Philip1978 on September 6, 2007 at 2:07 pm

Pewkatchoo
I actually have to agree with you and Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson, wrote that she, "incarnates all the nannying, high-taxing, high-spending schoolmarminess of Blair's Britain. Polly is the high priestess of our paranoid, mollycoddled, risk-averse, airbagged, booster-seated culture of political correctness and 'elf 'n' safety fascism"

I respect that she got an award for being a pain in the arse towards Islam and wow, what a voice on the rights of women and their role in religion, if my posts on this site have said nothing else, I totally agree with her views on how religion is nothing but despicable to women. But she gave loads of support for Tony bLiar beforehand and although she has criticised him I am wary of her opinions now, ok she may have rescinded it a bit but there is this part of her I do not agree with and that is sometimes I think she may have gone over the top somewhat. I disagree with Boris on his views sometimes but I think he is right in this cause, I am open to advice as how to like this woman a bit more!

Philip

1092. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #68244 by Philip1978 on September 6, 2007 at 1:50 pm

Billy

Gosh, he is heading to High Wycombe, stupid boy, I sort of live near there and grew up near there, if there is anything I can say of the Micklefield area is that you have to know which pub you are in!

So be it, I will go an ask Mr Ham some questions, I kind of get the feeling I will not get as good an answer as I have from Mark. Not being sycophantic Mark but I respect that you do your research and work hard at it. I thoroughly expect I will get obfuscation from Mr Ham as to how complex his god is, but being the good man I am, I will walk in there with as open a mind as I can and accept they believe in their God. I know there exists a greater god called Quetzalcoatl who not only is able to answer my questions but also works hard at his Tea!

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeers
Philip!

1093. Bible Belter

Comment #68222 by Philip1978 on September 6, 2007 at 12:16 pm

mikehicks55

I see what you mean, but without wanting to sound sycophantic to Professor Dawkins, I preferred his book the most out of all of them.

Hitchens was so hard hitting and direct I loved it, I love his style and I love his wording. My only problem with it was that I found him running off on weird tangents throughout the book, like in Notes on Health he moves from a great passage about how positively disgusting the spread of Aids has been aided by religion to then talking about Pakistan's nuclear tests, I felt a bit out of place when reading it but on the whole, just amazing. His chapter on Religion as an Original Sin is something that I think is top notch!

Sam Harris blew my head off and scared the living daylights out of me in a good way! I finally realised how dangerous religion is in the hands of the religiously motivated. I read him before I did Hitchens so I was, sort of, prepared for it all when I got to God is Not Great! Sam I really cannot criticise, I like his vocabulary and the pace of the book is unrelenting.

Professor Dawkins however was the first author I have read properly on the subject of religion, I had my own ideas but never really bothered to really think about it. Professor Dawkins introduced me to something that I really had not paid enough attention to as a schoolboy which I kick myself for now a bit, evolution. Plus the book really cemented for me the fact I still had a lot to learn about science and its effect on the world. I studied History and English at University and this was the first book in a long while to get me interested in biology and evolution. I still have a lot to learn but I like this book because it prompted me to think about something I had not paid enough attention to at school. His book inspired me to want to investigate things again, it inspired me to want to read about this subject so on to Harris and Hitchens and load of others who I want to read.

Like I said, being sycophantic is not my style and there are plenty of other books, especially by Douglas Adams, that have been a wonderful influence,its just Richard Dawkins wrote a damn good book!

Philip

1094. Interview with BHA President Polly Toynbee

Comment #68203 by Philip1978 on September 6, 2007 at 10:42 am

Sorry Fides, I was being rather unfairly sarcastic in my tone towards you when I meant it to be directed at the Vatican and I apologise for that. Its not you I have the beef with, I simply have a massive dislike of the Vatican and I shouldn't take it out on you.

I think I will explain myself better in my opinions of the Catholic church.


At the time I wanted to point out the Vatican's bias towards men, even during these modern times the Vatican has gone out of its way to make it a men only club, women not allowed. See around 2002 when it made it very clear women were not allowed to be ordained. The Vatican said it

"constitutes the simulation of a sacrament and is thus invalid and null, as well as constituting a grave offense to the divine institution of the Church"


These women were forced to repent or be excommunicated! Why? Here is where my second argument came into play and also what the Mighty Quetz added, the right to religious privilege. As long as it can be made up by the Vatican because of the dogmatic view that the Pope is the spokesman for God himself, so what he sayeth on earth is exactly what God is thinking. That really annoys me intensely and that is why I got in a huff about what you wrote.

I understand that was not your intention, you have pointed out that it does look similar to the BHAs mission statement. I personally dont think it was the intention of the BHA to do that. I definitely think the Vatican did mean what it said when it was using the Male gender in its statement, they have been using it a long time before the 60s and they are still using it now which I disagree with wholeheartedly.

Hope that explains things a little better,

Philip

1095. Interview with BHA President Polly Toynbee

Comment #68132 by Philip1978 on September 6, 2007 at 8:12 am

hungarianelephant

Scary isnt it! Justify anything cos its not in your hands and this is what God wants! I have a strong dislike of the Roman Catholic Church, I disagree with a lot of what it says, though I did like some of the safer car driving suggestions it put forward a few months ago!

1096. Interview with BHA President Polly Toynbee

Comment #68122 by Philip1978 on September 6, 2007 at 7:45 am

Fides
I love the bit in that Vatican Council quote where it refers to women....hang on, doesn't it say "all men"?
Is it me or is that sentence biassed towards the rights of men?

"No one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs"

Call me picky but doesn't that basically say that nobody can boss a Catholic man around if it conflicts with his beliefs?

Philip

1097. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #68091 by Philip1978 on September 6, 2007 at 5:38 am

Newatheist, come on, this is not a pissy planet! This planet is so amazingly mind bogglinly fortunate to actually have life and Tea existing on it how can you call it pissy? The Mighty Lord Quetz did not create this planet with his subcontractors weeing everywhere, he did create it partially so you could drink Tea on it for one thing! How can it be pissy with the Tea of Quetz existing on it?

Philip

1098. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #68083 by Philip1978 on September 6, 2007 at 4:50 am

My goodness Lee that was rather formidable! Well done!

Mark, I think you rather have enough on your plate here so I will type what I have found out but, really, reply when you can because this is simply a question I brought up to ask if you had any information or ideas about the existence of Nazareth which you have very kindly given! I love doing the research and will pass on what I find out unless I am boring the crap out of you all!

Ok, here goes!

In 1962 a Jewish Archaeologist Michael Avi-Yonah discovered 3 broken pieces of marble tablet dating to about the 3rd or 4th century listing 24 priestly courses. The 24 priestly courses were 24 groups of Jewish priests who took turns in the service of the Jerusalem temple as prescribed by bible numbers 24:1-19. After the destruction of the Jerusalem temple by the Wromans in AD 70 and/or after the Wromans repressed the Bar Kochba Jewish revolt in AD 135 those 24 priestly courses would have left Jerusalem & scattered around with one of them possibly ending up in Nazareth.The reference on this tablet reads as follows from the Hebrew translation as copied by Avi-Yonah

'The eighteenth priestly course [called] Hapizzez, [resettled at] Nasareth.'


Right, here goes, I have read a bit about this and I agree with what various people have said about this

Frank R Zindler writes(http://www.atheists.org/christianity/jesuslife.html)

"It is doubtful, however, that the inscription really mentions Nazareth. The several related fragments of the inscription were interpreted by means of Hebrew liturgical poems dating from the sixth to seventh centuries - when present-day Nazareth was already a thriving tourist site and the name was well-known. The letters n-ts-r-t are bounded by broken edges of the stone (in fact, the n is only partially present), and it is not certain what letter may have preceded the n. In my opinion, the damaged n probably was preceded by a g (a narrow letter in Hebrew, easily fitting into the space hypothesized by the discoverers of the inscription) and read Gennesaret, not Nazareth. Gennesaret was founded in Hellenistic times and was well known."

I looked elsewhere
http://utah.indymedia.org/news/2005/12/12674.php
and again, this problem is this tablet is so fragmentary it is very difficult to ascertain the actual translation of where the Hapizzez went and also when, are we talking about AD70 or Ad135? Plus this is not proof of Nazareth ever existed during Jesus's time of roughly 4BC/6AD to 32AD because the people who made this tablet wrote it a minimum of 150 years after this event, exactly how would they know? Where did they get their information from considering the Wroman obliteration of of the Jews in AD67 and AD135?

Most archaeological studies of the site of Nazareth have found evidence of a grave yard and possibly a small farm but nothing to indicate the "city" mentioned in the Bible. I will continue to poke around but this tablet, like all other references to Nazareth brings up more questions and doubt in my mind that Nazareth ever existed in the 1st century during the period of about 6AD to 32AD.

I hope that was interesting, if I am being boring, tell me and I will mention this no further!

Cheers,
Philip

1099. The Atheist

Comment #68060 by Philip1978 on September 6, 2007 at 12:04 am

I too would like to offer my thanks to those who are leaving, believe it or not but I have learned a mass of things from you, it is the reason I visit this site in my spare time. I offer a bet that you will not survive cold turkey and will be forced back in no time whatsoever! I wish you all the very best in your pursuits and look forward to hearing from you again so I can tease the hell out of you!!

Cheers

Philip

1100. The God of the Bible is No Delusion!

Comment #67901 by Philip1978 on September 5, 2007 at 5:10 am

Mark

Excellent response! (Excuse the surprise, its just when I have asked others they have not been as helpful!)

Ceaserea, right, I will look into that, sounds brilliant. My own digging still says it was a graveyard site for Japha up until about 67 when Emperor Trajan arrived to spread a bit of Wroman influence! Most of the lists I found of towns, pilgrim routes and such the like do not list Nazareth until about the 4th century but this sounds like something more positive.

Thanks tons,

Philip