Comments by Smith

Comment #58113 by Smith on July 23, 2007 at 2:35 pm

steve99 wrote:

He would have to postulate an infectious disease that had precisely the same symptoms in all great ape species, in most mammals, even in birds.

Maybe Pinker didn't mean to ask: Is homosexuality the symptom of an infectious disease that in fact is the only cause for homosexuality?

152. Small, Yes, but Mighty: The Molecule Called Water

Comment #55233 by Smith on July 10, 2007 at 9:58 am

For your information, Angier had an interview with Point of Inquiry two weeks ago, promoting her new book "The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science".

Also, here is an article she wrote in 2004 titled "My God Problem," criticizing those scientists standing on the sidewalks. If you like Sam Harris' writing, I think you will like it, too.

153. Debate between Sam Harris and Reza Aslan

Comment #50493 by Smith on June 18, 2007 at 12:45 pm

Does anyone know where I can download the video version of the whole debate? It was on YouTube awhile ago, but was removed recently. Thanks for the tip.

154. We of little faith

Comment #48949 by Smith on June 9, 2007 at 5:47 pm

oh... did you miss the quotation marks, steve99?

155. We of little faith

Comment #48946 by Smith on June 9, 2007 at 5:28 pm

Hi, here is an link to the article "Killing the Buddha" by the "pro-torture neo-Zionist" Sam Harris. I think some of you might be interested in learning how crazy he can be.
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2903&Itemid=244

156. 4 Sermon for Matins: 'Dawkins and The God Delusion'

Comment #37001 by Smith on May 3, 2007 at 5:23 am

SharrieG

Two easy ways to get to the blogalogue page: 1. Click the link under the Headlines. 2. Search "sullivan."

To quote comments in a box and do other stuff, you can follow the "Comment Posting Guildlines" located right above your comment posting box.

157. Why the Gods Are Not Winning

Comment #36802 by Smith on May 2, 2007 at 11:14 am

Thanks, Fedler. I hope this works. I sent a few articles to that address before but didn't get any reply at all.
By the way, check out this comics block by Tom Tomorrow. It's about Tillman's death, afterlife and atheism.

158. Why the Gods Are Not Winning

Comment #36793 by Smith on May 2, 2007 at 10:37 am

Hi guys, can somebody please help relay this article to Josh/Admin/Webmaster? Its title: "Why do atheists believe in religion?"

159. 4 Sermon for Matins: 'Dawkins and The God Delusion'

Comment #36789 by Smith on May 2, 2007 at 10:14 am

Hi SharrieG, welcome to this site!
May I suggest you to take a look at the blogalogue, titled "God Is Not a Moderate," between Andrew Sullivan and Sam Harris. You can find it somewhere else in this site. I suspect that you and Sullivan share a lot of opinions, doubts and concerns and that you may find Sam's responses useful and, hopefully, convincing.
One thing I am sure. You will find Sam very cordial in the conversation and forthright in his arguments.

160. Army to EO Reps: 'Discrimination Against Atheists OK'

Comment #36465 by Smith on May 1, 2007 at 8:08 am

Hey people, check out this comics block on Tillman's death, afterlife and atheism by Tom Tomorrow.

161. Mormonism: A Racket Becomes a Religion

Comment #35525 by Smith on April 27, 2007 at 1:23 pm

For those who are interested in watching the South Park episode "All About Mormons" mentioned above by nrvous, click here.

162. Bill Maher - APATHEIST

Comment #35470 by Smith on April 27, 2007 at 9:02 am

If you guys wanna watch "Real Time with Bill Maher" free, go to www.veoh.com and search "mokeeloc". This guy mokeeloc somehow can get a hold of lots of real time episodes, even the most recent ones.

163. 'God Is Not a Moderate'

Comment #32917 by Smith on April 18, 2007 at 5:40 pm

I would love to see Sam Vs Resa (Aslan) next. They had a live debate months ago. I think their blogolog would be much more interesting. I mean, I think Resa would be better equipped than Andrew in terms of religious mumble-jumble. Can we start a petition of some sort? Any use at all?

164. Sam's Flea!

Comment #32913 by Smith on April 18, 2007 at 5:11 pm

Hey Doug, still around? Would you please lengthen your money quote a little bit? At least to the point where I can tell what those magic conditions and temperature are.

165. Sam's Flea!

Comment #32911 by Smith on April 18, 2007 at 5:02 pm

Thank you, Big T and Hip P. In fact, Sam just concluded the blogolog. It's posted on beliefnet already.
I don't know how to alert the admin here to update the front page and the thread. Can anyone help?

166. Sam's Flea!

Comment #32873 by Smith on April 18, 2007 at 3:16 pm

Also, Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I hope to do the same thing with Christopher Hitchen's book when it comes out.

I admire your candor, Doug.

By the way, since you're around, why don't you, as a promotion, grant us a money quote from your latest work? I mean, something that is as distinct from the well-recycled arguments as possible?

167. Sam's Flea!

Comment #32866 by Smith on April 18, 2007 at 2:44 pm

Hey Krogercomplete! I feel awefully sorry! I accidentally flag your comment (#32859) as OFFENSIVE! What should I do? How should I contact "admin" to clear things up? Can anyone help (say, forward this note to them)? (I used the email contact@richarddawkins.net a few times before; but never got a reply.)

Really sorry, Kroger!

168. Sam's Flea!

Comment #32837 by Smith on April 18, 2007 at 12:21 pm

Sorry, King. Looks like you're not being sarcastic anyway.

For cheap (I don't wanna waste money) and lazy (I don't wanna waste time) atheists like myself, would you please kindly quote a few passages from the "book" that could vaguely constitute a (Yeah, one is enough!) brand new "argument" against those presented in LtaCN? Please, for God's sake?

169. Sam's Flea!

Comment #32791 by Smith on April 18, 2007 at 8:57 am

Are you being sarcastic, King? Because:
1. "He actually read Harris' book" sounds like "God exists!" to me. Of course, I can't prove he didn't.
2. "He's actually responding to words written in LtaCN": Yeah, he's not responding to the "arguments presented" in LtaCN.
3. "You aren't helping the atheist ethos. He's shown more goodwill at this point than any atheist could rationally or consistently muster.": Now I'm totally lost.

170. Sam's Flea!

Comment #32760 by Smith on April 18, 2007 at 7:28 am

Just curious (but don't wanna waste time on the interview): Did Gary DeMar "demolish the army of straw men raised by this predictable scat" then?

171. Sam's Flea!

Comment #32742 by Smith on April 18, 2007 at 6:43 am

Does anyone have any idea about what's happening with Sam's blogolog with Andrew Sullivan? Is it ended somehow already? Anyone gets an update?

172. Genie shows barred by Islam, clerics say

Comment #31942 by Smith on April 15, 2007 at 2:17 am

The quote itself sounds onionic.

173. Der Digitale Planet (lecture)

Comment #31301 by Smith on April 12, 2007 at 1:25 am

For those who somehow can't get the clip here, you may wanna try the following links, which work in my PC.

1. From Muffathalle:
http://www.muffathalle.de/Mediacenter/web_tv_archiv.html
(The link is at the very bottom of the page.)

2. From Reitstoen.com:
http://www.reitstoen.com/dawkins.php
(The link to the talk is near the bottom the page.)

174. 'God Is Not a Moderate'

Comment #31191 by Smith on April 11, 2007 at 9:52 am

Andrew just posted this on his blog. I wonder who are the atheists.

A reader writes:

I've been catching glimpses of your conversation with Sam Harris. But what's caught my eye have been the e-mails from your detractors like this one and this one and this one. The last one in particular, which asks,

"Do you think God knows that you won't have very good answers to the points Sam Harris brings up at the end of his last reply?"

got me thinking that this obsession with "good answers" points to something close to the heart of this frustration with faith, something you touched on in your last post to Sam - the concept of mystery. Not the Colonel-Mustard-in-the-library-with-a-candlestick kind of mystery, but the awe-and-humility-before-truths-and-experiences-greater-than- we-are-and-deeper-than-we-can-grasp kind of mystery. Seekers like you and I aren't afraid of it, and find our lives are invigorated by it. Some, however, seem allergic to it.

But why is it so hard to embrace mystery? It is so tightly woven into our human experience. The search for answers to even the most basic questions about ourselves can take us to unplumbed depths of the unknown: Who am I? Not my name, not what I do, but who am I? What do I want? Why do I love this person? What is the meaning of this experience? Try to really answer these questions, really answer them, and you inevitably run up against the unknown. And the unknown only grows and multiplies when we ask the even bigger questions that reach beyond ourselves: Where did I come from? Why am I here?

Maybe this is the fundamental disconnect between believers and non-believers - that the latter insist on answers, and if the answer appeals in any way to mystery, then the answer must be wrong. But practical human experience shows us that mystery is all around us, and that answers to even the simplest questions often cannot be found or must bow, at least somewhat, to mystery - not as a cop-out or a catch-all explanation, but as a humble acceptance of the limitations of human understanding and the possibility that the answers are more than we can know.

Sometimes, instead of finding answers, we just have to live the questions. And we do. We all do. Every day. This is the real world and our experience of it: no matter how much we know, most of the important stuff is steeped in mystery. Strange that some athiests, who fashion themselves realists, cannot accept that simple reality.

This reality is, in my view, the core basis of all true religious faith and the only solid philosophical foundation for political conservatism. It's also why I find agnosticism far more persuasive than atheism.