151. Anger over 'blasphemous' balls

Comment #66508 by pewkatchoo on August 30, 2007 at 6:54 am

Russell's Teapot

I think you are wrong. If even the IOC could not figure out that sticking the Saudi flag on a football could cause offence how could the US military? The IOC has loads of muslims working for them, yet even they got it wrong. I say don't even bother trying to work out if you are causing offence, just it take it as a given that you are going to, whatever you do or don't do.

Personally, I have had enough of religious stupidity in general and Islamic stupidity in particular. I have had muslim friends in the past, but no longer. I just can't stand their particular brand of total mindlessness and irrationality.

152. The Sacrifice of Reason

Comment #66501 by pewkatchoo on August 30, 2007 at 6:26 am

Richard Morgan

Git! (^8

153. Teresa, Bright and Dark

Comment #66500 by pewkatchoo on August 30, 2007 at 6:23 am

I believe that Hitchens is anti-abortion. However, it is not clear what his reasons are nor what exemptions he would credit. One of two things that I disagree with him on.

154. There is no God and Dawkins is his Prophet

Comment #66495 by pewkatchoo on August 30, 2007 at 6:11 am

Just one more piece of worthless nonsense. However, I wonder who is his audience given that Sweden is supposed to be firmly secular and atheistic.

155. The importance of doubt

Comment #66463 by pewkatchoo on August 30, 2007 at 3:46 am

I don't credit believers with the capacity to be pluralists either. That is a false premise. The simple fact is that they are given no choice in the matter and that is the way that it should be. In UK society tolerance is forced on the religious by unambiguous laws, and even that doesn't always work, otherwise they would be as intolerant as they could get away with.

Secularity has put the breaks on bigotry and intolerance. The enlightenment happened in spite of religion, not because of it. We should never allow these people to forget this.

156. The importance of doubt

Comment #66461 by pewkatchoo on August 30, 2007 at 3:38 am

What a terrible article. Start off with a strawman then a non-sequitir and continue on downhill thereafter. I have read some rubbish from the religites before but this one encompasses every trick in the book.

As soon as they start talking about Stalin and Hitler, you just know they are going to talk rubbish. And so it was.

157. The Sacrifice of Reason

Comment #66451 by pewkatchoo on August 30, 2007 at 2:56 am

Veronique
Marry me and have my babies, I am sure my wife won't mind. You are one cool atheist chick!

158. The Sacrifice of Reason

Comment #66447 by pewkatchoo on August 30, 2007 at 2:46 am

This is quite a good article, borneo mating rituals notwithstanding, and the final statement is emminently quotable.

However, I agree with Richard that the starsinyereyes groupies are faintly embarrasing and demonstrate a singular lack of emotional maturity. Come on guys, it is possible to praise an article without coming across as mindless fanatics. Try harder.

159. Christopher Hitchens and Bill Donohue on Mother Teresa

Comment #66442 by pewkatchoo on August 30, 2007 at 2:22 am

There is no such quote, Donahue is simply being a fool, something that he is obviously well qualified for. I would have loved it if Hitchens had replied 'OK you loud-mouthed pr1ck, outside now and we will see what you've got.'

In Scotland we invite someone for a square-go.

160. Another view

Comment #66209 by pewkatchoo on August 29, 2007 at 10:48 am

BicycleRepairMan
That sounds more like a double-stupid test.

161. Shop targets U.S. hunters with camo Bibles

Comment #66165 by pewkatchoo on August 29, 2007 at 6:37 am

Fin
Er, surely the whole point of camo luggage should be that you can't spot it easily.

Rokort
Come on. Most Dutch people of my acquaintance are able to think in English. They also seem to have an unhealthy obsession with Monty Python and Fawlty Towers too.

162. A Matter of Faith

Comment #66124 by pewkatchoo on August 29, 2007 at 1:15 am

Guys, please. Learn to recognise a wind-up when you see one. I actually don't have any strong feelings about Chomsky one way or the other. I don't see him as a fellow atheist but the last part of my post was a wind-up as I had already intimated. Now get over it!

163. Anger at Malaysia 'Jesus cartoon'

Comment #66054 by pewkatchoo on August 28, 2007 at 6:08 am

Seems to be an awful lot of offense around these days, what with blasphemous balls and pissed up jesuses.

164. Anger over 'blasphemous' balls

Comment #66053 by pewkatchoo on August 28, 2007 at 6:03 am

I seriously do not believe the people on here blaming the US military for this! Are you so slow of thought? Try using the ability to reason that you are so quick to trumpet as the standard of atheism. It is impossible to guess in what way you are maybe going to offend muslims. Even lifelong muslims themselves are often charged with offending allah and the faith. It is totally impossible to know what is offensive and what is not. Just consider that doing something will probably be offensive. Also doing nothing! You cannot win in the giving offense stakes.

165. Fallen Pastor Seeks Aid to Pursue Studies

Comment #66027 by pewkatchoo on August 28, 2007 at 12:44 am

I would like to inform everyone that I hereby repent from my life of debauchery and sinful pleasures and will be taking up a more simple life of quiet contemplation in the South of France. Unfortunately this will require more funds than are currently at my disposal, so I would enjure my followers to send all donations to my repentance fund to Zehr Geheim Bank of Switzerland, Zurich. All donations large and small accepted. Used banknotes prefered.

166. Anger over 'blasphemous' balls

Comment #66025 by pewkatchoo on August 28, 2007 at 12:26 am

Tumara Baap
Rubbish. Do you really think that the military in Iraq and Afghanistan don't have people who understand the culture. I am pretty sure that they would have consulted local people about whether it would be a good idea to release these footballs.

The problem is, with all the best will in the world, it is impossible to do anything at all for these people without causing some sort of offence along the way. As I said, you just can't keep up with it. So why bother trying.

167. Anger over 'blasphemous' balls

Comment #66024 by pewkatchoo on August 28, 2007 at 12:14 am

Oh FFS Russel's Teapot, grow up. You cannot keep up with the things that these morons get offended by. We continually find new and unusual ways to offend them on a daily basis.

168. A Matter of Faith

Comment #65884 by pewkatchoo on August 27, 2007 at 8:50 am

Aye Johnny O, but in Scotland we also have the Wee Flea )^8. I also believe that the Presbie church is the model on which modern American evangelical churches are built.

However, I am happy that nearly every Scot of my acquaintance is totally godless. Except for my idiot sister that is, who is proud of her elder status in the Kerk.

169. BBC Trust rejects Opus Dei appeal

Comment #65875 by pewkatchoo on August 27, 2007 at 8:14 am

Actually Waking the Dead is a load of mindless drivel, but at least the beeb did not cave in this time. Shame that they could not be like this all the time.

170. Feeding the fear gene

Comment #65850 by pewkatchoo on August 27, 2007 at 5:34 am

V
Looks like the last of the Mohicans to me!

171. Only secular schools will overcome sectarianism

Comment #65835 by pewkatchoo on August 27, 2007 at 2:37 am

Veronique
The Rat has got my dander up now. I will be confronting him on everything now. I am sending a letter to the Ayrshire Courier to rebuke them for giving him a free platform for his ridiculous views.

Incidentally, I don't have any lines on my forehead either. I just put it down to good genes as I certainly have a great deal of life experience. I do have laughter lines though.

172. Only secular schools will overcome sectarianism

Comment #65824 by pewkatchoo on August 27, 2007 at 1:03 am

Yeeeuuuuccchhh! What an ugly sight.

But I guess it confirms what I thought of the wee flea. He is simply a shameless self-publicist.

This sort of thing really annoys me though. His views are reported as if he is some sort of expert instead of simply being a believer in fantasies. Hundreds if not thousands of people look up to this cretin! The whole religion scam disgusts me totally.

173. Open letter to Michael Shermer in response to his letter...

Comment #65716 by pewkatchoo on August 26, 2007 at 1:22 am

Monkey
I would agree with you except for one thing. I don't refer to moving atheism forward as I don't think of atheism as a movement, just a position. I prefer to talk of moving science and humanity forward and superstition and barbarism back. Attack the delusions and the deluded.

174. Rational Atheism

Comment #65596 by pewkatchoo on August 25, 2007 at 3:27 am

Roach
Amen, Brother! (^8

175. A Matter of Faith

Comment #65426 by pewkatchoo on August 24, 2007 at 6:23 am

Johnny O

Er, Gibbo Brown keeps going on about his religious upbringing providing him with his moral compass.

Anthony Blair esquire, in his resignation speech, suggested that this is a blessed country, and I am pretty sure that he did not mean that in the sense that we were blessed to be rid of him. In addition, Blair's idiot wife believes in every piece of new age mumbo jumbo that you could possibly think of, from healing crystals to chakras to communal showers. Professor Dawkins could have done a whole series of programs on her alone.

Blair and Brown have also given the nod to more and more faith schools and are investing taxpayers money on funding Islamic scholarships.

It is impossible to get an unequivocal answer from any of the main parties on their stance on Creationism and Intelligent Design and the need to keep it out of schools.

Even state schools in the UK still teach religious belief as a subject rather than as a cultural phenomenon.

And don't get me started on Bishops in the House of Lords.

I would not be so hard on our cousins.

176. A Matter of Faith

Comment #65425 by pewkatchoo on August 24, 2007 at 6:23 am

Johnny O

Er, Gibbo Brown keeps going on about his religious upbringing providing him with his moral compass.

Anthony Blair esquire, in his resignation speech, suggested that this is a blessed country, and I am pretty sure that he did not mean that in the sense that we were blessed to be rid of him. In addition, Blair's idiot wife believes in every piece of new age mumbo jumbo that you could possibly think of, from healing crystals to chakras to communal showers. Professor Dawkins could have done a whole series of programs on her alone.

Blair and Brown have also given the nod to more and more faith schools and are investing taxpayers money on funding Islamic scholarships.

It is impossible to get an unequivocal answer from any of the main parties on their stance on Creationism and Intelligent Design and the need to keep it out of schools.

Even state schools in the UK still teach religious belief as a subject rather than as a cultural phenomenon.

And don't get me started on Bishops in the House of Lords.

I would not be so hard on our cousins.

177. Rational Atheism

Comment #65402 by pewkatchoo on August 24, 2007 at 4:10 am

Thor, that is a possible interpretation I suppose. It is not one I immediately saw and if he really meant that, then why did he not say so! I thought that atheists were supposed to be more articulate and able to avoid ambiguity.

178. Not So Fast, Christian Soldiers

Comment #65400 by pewkatchoo on August 24, 2007 at 3:54 am

Fanusi
All you would do is replace islamic lunacy with christian lunacy. It would not change anything that is fundamentally wrong with the place. I see no real solution at all. It will require a total sea change in values, conscience and outlook of all the population to get anywhere. I don't see that happening any time soon.

179. Rational Atheism

Comment #65390 by pewkatchoo on August 24, 2007 at 2:32 am

Thor
Perhaps I was being a bit clumsy, simplistic even. What I was trying to get at was that Shermers' criticisms were unfounded and therefore unnecessary. He made accusations (mild though they were) that just don't hold any water. None of the people he criticised, even Hitchins, are even remotely guilty of what he suggests.

You and JC seem to have taken that as inferring that I want total obediance to some hierarchical cause. Not at all. What I don't want is dilution of perfectly good and sound positions. What is the point of that? Shermer should have taken the view that 'I have my way, they have their's', which would have totally obviated the need for him to produce such a letter.

I mentioned in another thread that I thought that he was just having one of those days, and I still believe that. But as one poster said, Corylus I believe, you should not touch a computer when you are p1ssed. Or feeling a bit emotional I would suggest.

If one of the fab 4 ever decided to call for an armed revolt against the religious, I for one, would condemn them out of hand both privately and in print. That is hardly advocating blind obediance.

180. Open letter to Michael Shermer in response to his letter...

Comment #65388 by pewkatchoo on August 24, 2007 at 2:13 am

Agree with Steve99. What, some mistake pewk!

Our generation(s) (mumble, mumble sort of in the same ballpark as steve) has potentially more influence than any other generation before and definitely more than upcoming generations will have if we don't do something about what is wrong now.

I am not yet ready to lie down and let the barstewards have their way! So come on Dr Benway, gee yourself up for another few jousts. We could always call ourselves the brigade of atheistic old f*rts.

181. Enemies of Reason

Comment #65384 by pewkatchoo on August 24, 2007 at 1:54 am

I actually found the series a bit boring. There were a couple of amusing bits and the Atlantis lady was a total hoot, but all in all I did not think it really had much bite. Perhaps if they had been able to include the invocation of Prof Dawkins dad it might have been more interesting.

I just thought that it was all a bit flat.

182. Researchers find fossils of 10-million-year old ape

Comment #65383 by pewkatchoo on August 24, 2007 at 1:50 am

Suely it is the fossil that is 10 million years old and not the ape itself! Unless evolution is making a monkey out of us!

183. Scientists Induce Out-of-Body Sensation

Comment #65378 by pewkatchoo on August 24, 2007 at 1:34 am

So perhaps we can now refer to this as 'Sensory Dissonance' instead of the usual Out Of Body or Astral Bodies nonsense.

More and more science is stripping away the superstitious nonsense that underpins faith. Soon the religious will be left standing in nothing but their metaphysical socks.

184. Rational Atheism

Comment #65279 by pewkatchoo on August 23, 2007 at 12:57 pm

Thor
Two words: Straw Man. You infer something that I never said. Try again pal!

By the way, you are still my favourite superhero!

185. Rational Atheism

Comment #65210 by pewkatchoo on August 23, 2007 at 7:32 am

NakedCelt
and your point is what exactly?

There is room for all sorts of approaches, including the softly softly approach. I never doubted that and even use it myself when the occasion demands. However, what there is not room for is an article in the form of a letter that diminishes the argument by attacking (however mildly) the principal atheists alive today.

I disagree with a lot of the people on this website including, occasionally, Prof Dawkins himself. But I still consider them all to be on my side and would, for the most part, support them publicly. I might sometimes call them a twat to their faces, but never behind their backs. That is how I consider this open letter.

What is so good about the new atheist movement is that it brings together disparate people with different views who are all in agreement about one thing. Science good, religion bad. Why dilute that with trivial nonsense like Mr Shermer has done?

186. A Matter of Faith

Comment #65203 by pewkatchoo on August 23, 2007 at 6:56 am

I love the reactions when anyone dares to badmouth the Chomsky. Brilliant. Sorry, methinks he protesteth over much. Still, he and his views are necessary in this rather anodyne world.

I just don't see him as a fellow traveler.

187. Poll: Which religion do you associate with?

Comment #65190 by pewkatchoo on August 23, 2007 at 5:53 am

With which religion do you associate? Surely!

So ungrammatical.

188. Scientists should unite against threat from religion

Comment #65183 by pewkatchoo on August 23, 2007 at 5:26 am

robotaholic

these girls came into my store all dressed in dresses on SUNDAY of course - i had the nerve to say "where are you all coming from today?" and she said "oh we're church hopping". i said well you should ask each preacher how many souls they've 'saved' and just go to the church who saved the most people" - she just looked at me and glared

189. Open letter to Michael Shermer in response to his letter...

Comment #65179 by pewkatchoo on August 23, 2007 at 5:12 am

For those who are worried about atheist chicks and their relative body temperature, you are in danger of missing the woods because of all those trees!

This is an excellent reply to Mr Shermer's rather poor piece. It also, of course, vindicates my own stance (^8, so I would say that. I think Michael Shermer is mostly OK, but it just sends a message that he, like everyone else, needs to keep on top of their game and not undermine other good work, deliberately or not.

It is very easy to produce stuff when you are having an off-day and I am sure that this piece simply reflects how Mr Shermer was feeling on a particular day. Even I have days where I am more fluffy bunny than my usual velociraptor mode. I prefer me in velociraptor mode though.

190. Rational Atheism

Comment #65108 by pewkatchoo on August 22, 2007 at 11:15 pm

82abhilash
Have you been on the Ganja man? It is not very often that we get totally incoherent posts on here, at least not from the unbelievers, but that has to count as one of them.

Would you like to try again?

191. Rational Atheism

Comment #64872 by pewkatchoo on August 22, 2007 at 6:32 am

Steve
I am not out to change minds with my particular approach. I just will not let them get away with even mild prosoletisation (is that a word? ed). And that also applies to my wife, bless!

If someone wishes to engage me in a full-on discussion, then I will happily intellectualise my views and discuss with reason. But just how reasonable can you be when your protaginists are totally unable to string together a reasoned argument in reply? Let us be honest about it, we have experience with the wee fleas and bizarros on this site so we know whereof we speak. Total bollox is the default argument position of all religious people. There is nothing we can do about it! Faith is the equivalent of a non-surgical frontal lobotomy. All in all, I think I would rather discuss quantum theory with David Beckham.

192. Poll: Which religion do you associate with?

Comment #64850 by pewkatchoo on August 22, 2007 at 4:46 am

amesolaire

Simply rephrasing the question as "What is your religious association?" instead of the current "Which religion do you associate with?" is not so much to ask for.

193. Rational Atheism

Comment #64848 by pewkatchoo on August 22, 2007 at 4:40 am

Sorry Thor, with the risk of being fried by one of your lightning bolts, I have to disagree with you. It is very clear that softly softly does not catch monkey. I make no apology for being inyerface about my atheism and will happily confront anyone who tries to push it to me in any way. Even people who say things like 'god be with you', to me get a mouthful now.

194. A Matter of Faith

Comment #64840 by pewkatchoo on August 22, 2007 at 3:40 am

OhioAtheist
I would have to agree with you. I would not want Noam Chomsky to be considered as a fellow traveller. He is definitely not someone I would want to be associated with. I find many of his views repellant. Just a tired old communist hack.

195. Rational Atheism

Comment #64810 by pewkatchoo on August 22, 2007 at 12:37 am

Ho hum. Yet another, keep quiet, mustn't upset the religites, article. What stuff and nonsense. Has this guy actually noticed? THEY WANT TO BLOW THE FSKCING WORLD UP WHILE I AM STILL ON IT!

196. Ancient Protein Tells a Story of Changing Functions

Comment #64809 by pewkatchoo on August 22, 2007 at 12:19 am

And in studies reported today, scientists have determined that the T rex would have been able to outrun an average footballer. They would very probably have been able to score more goals than the average Emile Heskey too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6956867.stm

197. Atheists and believers have got religion wrong

Comment #63814 by pewkatchoo on August 16, 2007 at 1:43 am

Sounds good Naked Celt, except that there are an awful lot of stupid people out there. How else do you explain the popularity of the Sun newspaper, all those celebrity photo mags, etc.

Sorry, my default position is that the person I am talking to is intelligent, otherwise why would I waste my time talking to them. As soon as they show that they are not, I walk away. Life is just too short to deal with abject stupidity.

198. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #63800 by pewkatchoo on August 16, 2007 at 12:29 am

I am starting to warm to Darwin2 now. He is much more fun than the WeeFlibbertygibbet. It is not often that one has the opportunity to converse with a total and absolute fruitcake, outside the walls of a sanitarium at least.

His lunacy is bordering on comic genius, which gives me a sneaking suspicion that he is actually just a very clever piss-take.

Reincarnation and karma plus an infinite being, wonderful stuff. You just couldn't get more value for your money than this.

199. Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy's Couch

Comment #63794 by pewkatchoo on August 15, 2007 at 11:52 pm

Russell, just bang yourself on the head a few times. Does it hurt? Does that pain feel real? Apply Bill O's shaving utensil!

200. After 60 Years, Will Pakistan Be Reborn?

Comment #63674 by pewkatchoo on August 15, 2007 at 9:58 am

USA_Limey. Of course there is another way of looking at it. The British empire may have been responsible for keeping the peace for all those years. When they left, those countries then reverted to their natural states, war and chaos. Just a thought.