251. Admitting that you have no religion is not politically correct

Comment #122097 by MelM on February 4, 2008 at 5:23 pm

This university really really needs a visit from Hitchens. Perhaps he could give the speech he gave at the University Of Toronto.

http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2007/03/free_speech_6.html

I wonder if he'd be even allowed on campus.

252. Admitting that you have no religion is not politically correct

Comment #122090 by MelM on February 4, 2008 at 4:17 pm

Starting with:

...your club's vision is the promotion of "a fulfilling life without religion and superstition".

secular does not denote taking an active stance in opposition to the principles and status of religious beliefs and practices.

But due to the need to respect and tolerate the views of others, the Campus Clubs department is unable to approve a club of this nature at this time.

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

Comment #121653 by MelM on February 3, 2008 at 10:16 pm

About the book "Developmental Plasticity and Evolution" by Mary Jane West-Eberhard

PZ: "...lists all the problems in modern theories of evolution..."

Simmons: "I would like to take a look at that."

254. Female Muslim medics 'disobey hygiene rules'

Comment #121516 by MelM on February 3, 2008 at 2:32 pm

How about an email campaign?
In the U.S., a refusal by Muslim taxi drivers to carry any passenger with alcohol (even inside of baggage) at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport was initially met with a very compromising idea from the MSP Airport Commission. After an email campaign was initiated, the MSP Airport Commission finally decided not to give in to the drivers. Perhaps a similar campaign would work in the UK; let the hospitals and/or regulatory agencies know that you strongly oppose any compromise on this and any attempt to weave religious superstition into your regulatory structure.

255. God the psycho

Comment #121052 by MelM on February 2, 2008 at 10:40 pm

This god certainly has a talent for really strange and imaginative punishments. I would never have thought of sending frogs for the Second Plague.

http://www.thebricktestament.com/exodus/the_second_plague/ex08_01-02.html

256. Pope says some science shatters human dignity

Comment #120532 by MelM on February 1, 2008 at 10:59 pm

Just what I expect from a misery cult.

These creatures won't even allow people to seek a doctor's help in ending their own life at the point of a terminal illness. If you've ever seen someone you care about have a very hard death, maybe you'll allow me to hate these people. Indeed, I don't remember seeing this outrage being brought up very often. Yet, this atrocity goes on every day--every day. It's not just in a horrid future we'd all like to avoid; it's here and it's now.

257. Hitchens V. Boteach

Comment #120521 by MelM on February 1, 2008 at 10:08 pm

Yet another "red herring" debate?

From scooternyc,

In fact, the rabbi did not present his case at all.

Hitchens clearly stated at the beginning what the motion before us was, "Does god exist?". The burden was all upon the those that claim it - hence, the rabbi - who never even approached the challenge.

The rabbi spent more time attacking Hitch and utilizing quotations not germane to the motion presented; was illogical and had no grasp of science but for which he acted as though he was. This was the same tactic utilized by Sharpton and challenged by Ayaan back in May, one of the other times I saw Hitchens in this forum

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

Comment #119587 by MelM on January 31, 2008 at 5:10 pm

State of delusion
Thinking we can or should bring "freedom and democracy" to Afghanistan and Iraq is a state of delusion--they want their sick theocracy and that's what they're going to get. But, we keep dumping money into these countries for civilian projects and more and more military lives are sacrificed--all for nothing. And notice how Weasel pulls out the "democracy" spin trying to sprinkle a little deodorant on these shit holes. But, he did give us a warning; yes he did. Everyone should have paid attention when he talked about "democracy modified according to local conditions" (or something meaning the same thing). Really, I understood what he us trying to get away with. The centers of Islamic totalitarianism are Iran and Saudia Arabia and nothing has been done to stop them. As a result, every few months, the jihadis let us know about a rule they are imposing on us. And, we obey; we whine but obey.
Is Canada going to obey? See Pat Condell's latest video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUTFcgE1F7w

OT, faith based schools quote
BTW, someone mentioned that Weasel wanted to put money into faith based schools. I found the section of his speech where he said it.

Members of Congress: The No Child Left Behind Act is a bipartisan achievement. It is succeeding. And we owe it to America's children, their parents, and their teachers to strengthen this good law. (Applause.)

We must also do more to help children when their schools do not measure up. Thanks to the D.C. Opportunity Scholarships you approved, more than 2,600 of the poorest children in our Nation's Capital have found new hope at a faith-based or other non-public school. Sadly, these schools are disappearing at an alarming rate in many of America's inner cities. So I will convene a White House summit aimed at strengthening these lifelines of learning. And to open the doors of these schools to more children, I ask you to support a new $300 million program called Pell Grants for Kids. We have seen how Pell Grants help low-income college students realize their full potential. Together, we've expanded the size and reach of these grants. Now let us apply that same spirit to help liberate poor children trapped in failing public schools. (Applause.)

259. Richard Dawkins on The Big Debate

Comment #117860 by MelM on January 29, 2008 at 8:56 pm

Does this appearance by Dawkins mean that he's achieved the status of being the "go-to" guy when the UK media needs a representative of the secular point of view?

The woman from Iran deserves a lot of credit--a lot of credit.

260. Richard Dawkins on The Big Debate

Comment #117849 by MelM on January 29, 2008 at 7:52 pm

News: According to CNN, with 80% of the Florida precincts reporting, Huckabee has only 14%. I'll feel better this evening anyway.

Secularist opportunity
Well, secularists really did have quite a lot of time to speak--I don't believe such views would be represented nearly so well in the U.S. in a similar format.

Christian Nation
I noted the "Christian Nation" ploy being used which is a favorite trick in the U.S. where it's used to equivocate between being demographically Christian and being politically Christian despite the fact that our founders could have easily built (having plenty of examples) some form of theocracy, but clearly did not. The "Christian Nation" propaganda is responsible for House Resolution 888 which we've already seen on this forum.

Indoctrination
Somehow, the religious students didn't believe they were being indoctrinated. I don't believe this for even one second.

Point for Dawkins
Getting the Muslim guy to inform everyone what the penalty for apostasy is in Muslim countries was certainly a score for Dawkins. Hip Hip Hooray!


"Our beliefs." "Our beliefs." "Faith." "Faith." "Faith."..........disgusting!

261. Belief in Belief

Comment #117345 by MelM on January 28, 2008 at 3:34 pm

Faith is a vice; reason is a virtue.

262. New atheists or new anti-dogmatists?

Comment #117307 by MelM on January 28, 2008 at 2:32 pm

Some links related to my comment #117300

Malleus Maleficarum

The Demon-Haunted World

263. New atheists or new anti-dogmatists?

Comment #117300 by MelM on January 28, 2008 at 2:26 pm

Ayn Rand on religion.

Too bad "objectivist" is already taken by the Ayn Rand fans - although she detested religion herself.

264. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #116842 by MelM on January 27, 2008 at 3:14 pm

Talk shows help make religion controversial.
One thing to be noted about radio talk shows is that people make them a regular habit--which means (I believe) that people will hear Dawkins who would never attend a public lecture--especially at a university. Therefore, by doing radio and TV, atheists can help to make religion v. atheism controversial among the general public. If people come to accept that there really is an alternative to religion and that they have to decide (think), that can only be a good thing.

John? Forget it. Future Johns? There's hope.
I doubt that the Johns of the world can be deconverted but maybe some future Johns can be averted by shows like this. And, we need to find a way to talk to high school and college age people; if this "Jesus Camp" and hell fire video stuff isn't limited, we're really screwed.

265. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #116819 by MelM on January 27, 2008 at 2:24 pm

Enlightenme..(116680),
and Slyer (116676)

I've bookmarked these two videos. Thanks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwrqHzQY7hY
http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=oP9zWI5gCWs

266. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #116639 by MelM on January 26, 2008 at 10:15 pm

Frankly, if Dawkins sees a burning bush and hears voices from the sky, it's his students pulling a prank on him.

267. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #116637 by MelM on January 26, 2008 at 10:08 pm

I'm very glad to see that the multiple sects (religions) argument was used. I think this has the capability of throwing real doubt into some religious minds. Doubt is reason knocking and asking to be given the floor. Plant a seed of doubt in every radio or TV talk and let it grow.

268. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #116563 by MelM on January 26, 2008 at 6:19 pm

Please Richard, memorize the tiktaalik.uchicago.edu URL. Even if John wouldn't use it, other listeners might.

269. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #116559 by MelM on January 26, 2008 at 6:12 pm

The accusation of "fundamentalist" comes up over and over again in religious prattle. Atheism is attacked as a religion as is evolution. You'll see "dogmatic atheism" charged as well. These look peculiar because they all say: "You're ideas are worthless (irrational), just like ours." Note, however, that these attacks count on the implicit concept of reason in the listener's mind but it isn't mentioned. This type of formulation avoids bringing the concept of reason (observation based) to the surface where it would be contrasted with faith. If the drivelers can convince everyone that all ideas are just "faith" then there is no grounds for attacking theirs and they are free to indulge their fantasies. In many of the debates and write-ups of debates on this web site, I've seen religionists attempt to attack people's confidence in reason time and time again. (There's even such an attack on the Ken Ham web site.) If they can put out the fire of the mind and the joy of understanding, they win. An attack on reason is self-contractory; one would have to defend such a position by reason. An attack on observation is self-contradictory; such attacks always count on observations. Religion is inhuman at the most fundamental level. It's a philosophy of misery and death because it's so irrational.

270. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #116496 by MelM on January 26, 2008 at 4:07 pm

Beware: "...a sequel to Of Pandas and People (Second Edition, 1993), and a stand alone book in its own right..." (from Amazon.com)

From the Wikipedia article cited above:

There are currently two editions of the book, the 1989 first edition edited by Charles Thaxton, and the 1993 second edition, which included a "Note to Teachers" by Mark D. Hartwig and Stephen C. Meyer. A forthcoming third edition is to be retitled The Design of Life. Jon Buell, the president of the Foundation for Thought and Ethics, said that the ruling in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District that intelligent design was religious would make the textbook "radioactive" in public schools and would be "catastrophic" for the marketability of both the present (second) edition and the forthcoming third edition, citing possible losses of around US$500,000. The renaming of the book is viewed by some as way of mitigating this and at the same time distancing the book from past controversy.

271. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #116493 by MelM on January 26, 2008 at 3:49 pm

"Of Pandas And People"

A notorious little creationist book which ended up involved in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial.

Here's the Wikipedia entry for it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Pandas_and_People

272. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #116487 by MelM on January 26, 2008 at 3:31 pm

Roy_H,

Thanks for the link to the Tiktaalik site.(http://tiktaalik.uchicago.edu/) I've memorized it.

273. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #116473 by MelM on January 26, 2008 at 3:11 pm

A nice YouTube video of a young woman escaping religion because of the "multiple faiths" issue is "my coming out story". She's quite a gem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naLQjFNQVAM
I think the "multiple faiths" approach is a good one. Faith can't tell anyone whether a religion is true--thus allowing proper selection--or whether any of then are true. Religion is then quite subjective and cannot provide the "truth" and much desired "absolutes" at all. Only reason can discover facts.

I'll skip the nostalgia for religion in weddings and funerals; don't need it and don't want it; yucky.

I'm reading "Your Inner Fish", written by one of the discoverers of Tikaalik. It was released Jan 15, 2008. I see that it's at number 34 on the New York Times best seller list--pretty good I'd say.

As for the burning bush, scientists would treat it like the leg suddenly grown again after amputation which was mentioned in the piece by Anatole France ("Miracle"). Page 113 in Hitchens' "The Portable Atheist". Scientists would look for the yet unknown conditions.

274. A Letter From Hell

Comment #116164 by MelM on January 25, 2008 at 4:56 pm

Ah, the video's based on "The Delusions Of Faith" (TDF).

275. A Letter From Hell

Comment #116159 by MelM on January 25, 2008 at 4:34 pm

Beth,

Agree! I think some kids could get really messed up by this type of video. It's a very destructive psy-op.

276. A Letter From Hell

Comment #116154 by MelM on January 25, 2008 at 4:23 pm

Deepthought,

I don't know about regret, but it's very worisome and I think everyone should see it. Some people who are ateists still do not see the depth of the problem we're facing. Anyway, I think your reaction will be something like "Oh, shit!!!"

277. A Letter From Hell

Comment #116152 by MelM on January 25, 2008 at 4:18 pm

Ok, so it may be aimed directly at proselytizers but it seems also to be seen by at least some of them as a tool. Double Bass Atheist's son was hit with the video and that school teacher in Bismarck decided to use it on his 8th grade health class. I really would expect that the little nutters heading out to teach will find this video an excellent teaching aid.

Belief--or the faking of it--based on terror must be a nightmare. What incentive is there to think if the result might be death or hell?

278. A Letter From Hell

Comment #116147 by MelM on January 25, 2008 at 3:52 pm

You can still see the trailer for "Jesus Camp".
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0486358/
Then click on "trailer".

279. US scientists close to creating artificial life: study

Comment #115828 by MelM on January 24, 2008 at 10:05 pm

It wouldn't take long for the JWs to decide that Venter WAS Jesus.

280. US scientists close to creating artificial life: study

Comment #115823 by MelM on January 24, 2008 at 9:41 pm

Hey, this is real "Intelligent Design". Something tells me that the nutters arn't going to be happy though.

281. The real danger in Darwin is not evolution, but racism

Comment #115280 by MelM on January 23, 2008 at 10:50 pm

Hey! Check out the post (on PZ Myers' Pharyngula blog)linked by Electric Monk (#48). This nonsense is debunked. Article: Was Darwin a Racist?

Anyway, I doubt that any of Darwin's books are being assigned to American high school students; they wouldnt' have time to read them. This stuff about "teaching Darwin" sounds like a sleazy equivocation. And if anybody is teaching the "racism in Darwin", you can bet it's creationists and the holy men.

282. Banned From Church

Comment #115148 by MelM on January 23, 2008 at 5:02 pm

With holy men issuing punishment against sinners and opponents, I think we're seeing what a "Christian Nation" with the wall of separation broken will look like. Not satisfied with respect for their b.s., these drivelers now are asserting power to mess around in peoples lives. This is a rather serious development.

But,
"The congregants had sued the pastor for access to the church's financial records."
and
"But she won't be pushed around."

used to be very American and we'd better hope the hell that they still are. If this practice continues and grows, it represents a further serious corruption of the American spirit; the country will have achieved "Theorcray readiness".

283. Life-Forming Chemicals Found in Distant Galaxy

Comment #114716 by MelM on January 22, 2008 at 3:57 pm

It's my expectation that some time in this century, Physical Cosmology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_cosmology) and Origins of Life (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_life) research will have solved their central problems. At that point, one might hope that religion will no longer have any dark corners to occupy with its holy books, spirit worlds, and miracles.

284. Islam in Europe

Comment #114659 by MelM on January 22, 2008 at 2:23 pm

Is the "New Atheism" getting anywhere on the continent? Less religion means less of a problem.

285. Islam in Europe

Comment #114645 by MelM on January 22, 2008 at 1:54 pm

"Spine" in the U.S.? Maybe; but then again, maybe not.

I haven't published this yet but I'm reminded of it now. This is from an email to me by one of those involved in last spring's "hate speech" flap surrounding a Pat Condell video. I had sent an email to this person (a public official in the U.S.) strongly objecting to his use of the term "racism".

I understand that race is not religion, but I think I
made my point clearly enough and believe the term
"racism" is being used more and more the way I did. As
to how that has happened, it is intuitive. It feels
like racism and ones natural response (at least mine,
and others I've heard use the word similarly) is that
the term applies.

286. Islam in Europe

Comment #114610 by MelM on January 22, 2008 at 1:22 pm

See also Pat's: "O Dhimmi Canada"
This was added to YouTube Jan 19, 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUTFcgE1F7w

287. Stop revisionist Christian nation House Resolution 888

Comment #114315 by MelM on January 21, 2008 at 11:18 pm

I gave it my best shot. It seemed a more formal style fit the occasion. "Christian Nation" like Intelligent Design, is just another fraud to advance the agenda of these zealots of the Holy Book, spirit world, and miracles.

We the People are not lacking among us in talented historians or in a generous supply of history books. Yet, some of our neighbors, being elected to the House Of Representatives, have now endowed upon themselves the power to legislate historical and political fact. They now propose to teach us, by law, a history lesson featuring the propaganda fraud generally known by the name "Christian Nation". It was written by the political arm of a cultish religious group brazenly seeking theocratic power over everything in the United States. This group is disappointed that the founders of the United States, having a plethora of theocractic regimes to enlighten their decision, chose not to follow any of them. Indeed, the founders could have created any number of tyranical systems but chose not to do so. It is this American system of liberty which these zealots seek to overthrow beginning with their "Declaration Of Theocracy" which is House Resolution 888. Instead of admitting their un-American goals, they've chosen to fraudulantly inform us that a theocratic government is what the founders really intended. In fact, the founders did not build such a system. House Resolution 888 should be rejected entirely.

For Internet posts documenting some of the "Chirstian Nation" fraud contained in HR 888, I recommend these pieces written by Chris Rodda:
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/1/4/24725/53989
and
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/1/18/16547/2657/Front_Page/More_Reasons_To_Fight_H_Res_888

She is also the author of the book "Liars For Jesus" which has its own Web page at http://www.liarsforjesus.com/

Thank you for your attention,

288. Florida in the process of approving new science standards

Comment #114278 by MelM on January 21, 2008 at 6:02 pm

Here's a report dated Dec 11, 2007 from NCSE (The National Center for Science Education: Eugenie Scott is Executive Director): Creationist pressure mounting in Florida

A little sample from the story:

A scant two days later after its report on Callaway, the St. Petersburg Times (December 8, 2007) revealed that there was opposition to the treatment of evolution in the draft standards within the state department of education itself: "Selena 'Charlie' Carraway, program manager for the department's Office of Instructional Materials, recently used her personal e-mail on personal time to send a missive urging fellow Christians to fight the proposal to include evolution as a "key idea" in the science curriculum. But she invoked her position as a way to, in her words, 'give this e-mail credibility.' And that, it turns out, is a no-no." A spokesperson for the department told the newspaper, "It is inappropriate for any department employee to use their public position to advocate their personal positions."

289. Vatican slams California firm's cloning experiments

Comment #114266 by MelM on January 21, 2008 at 5:04 pm

I would expect nothing better from this misery cult.

290. Violence fear over Islam film

Comment #114251 by MelM on January 21, 2008 at 4:11 pm

...freedom of expression doesn't mean the right to offend,' said Maxime Verhagen, the Foreign Minister...

291. Violence fear over Islam film

Comment #114212 by MelM on January 21, 2008 at 2:51 pm

Pat Condell has something relevant to say in a new video added Jan 19, 2008: "O Dhimmi Canada"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUTFcgE1F7w

292. Stop revisionist Christian nation House Resolution 888

Comment #113884 by MelM on January 20, 2008 at 10:47 pm

Whereas the first week in May each year would be an appropriate week to designate as `American Religious History Week': Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the United States House of Representatives----

(1) affirms the rich spiritual and diverse religious history of our Nation's founding and subsequent history, including up to the current day;

(2) recognizes that the religious foundations of faith on which America was built are critical underpinnings of our Nation's most valuable institutions and form the inseparable foundation for America's representative processes, legal systems, and societal structures;

(3) rejects, in the strongest possible terms, any effort to remove, obscure, or purposely omit such history from our Nation's public buildings and educational resources; and

(4) expresses support for designation of a `American Religious History Week' every year for the appreciation of and education on America's history of religious faith.

293. Minnesota Atheists Interview Richard Dawkins

Comment #113801 by MelM on January 20, 2008 at 4:04 pm

It turns out that Dawkins wasn't the only person tricked into an interview for "Expelled".
From a Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expelled:_No_Intelligence_Allowed

The movie has been criticized by several of the interviewees, including biologists PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins[38] and NCSE head Eugenie Scott, who say they were misled into participating by being asked to be interviewed for a film named Crossroads on the "intersection of science and religion", with a blurb[39] which described the strong support that had been accumulated for evolution, and contrasted this with the religious who rejected it, and the controversy this caused.[40][41][42]

On learning of the pro-intelligent design stance of the real film, Myers said "not telling one of the sides in a debate about what the subject might be and then leading him around randomly to various topics, with the intent of later editing it down to the parts that just make the points you want, is the video version of quote-mining and is fundamentally dishonest."[40] Richard Dawkins said "At no time was I given the slightest clue that these people were a creationist front"; and Eugenie Scott, of the National Center for Science Education, said "I just expect people to be honest with me, and they weren't."[2]

294. Minnesota Atheists Interview Richard Dawkins

Comment #113791 by MelM on January 20, 2008 at 3:08 pm

I agree 100% with Dawkins about saving the word "atheist". The concept is clear and there is no cognitive need for another word. If we don't use the word, you can bet that the religionists will keep on using it and they'll also keep on loading it with all the negatives they can think of. Nobody will be fooled by "brights" and it'll just look like we're trying to hide something. "Brights" is also bad because it's such an obvious piece of spin and it's just setting ourselves up for joke makers and sarcasm.

I think it's important that we counter the religionist view that "atheist" is some icon of evil. Why? Well, if the New Atheism can accomplish anything, it must make the issue of atheism vs religion controversial. People should have to think about which way to go and not have the "atheist" boogeyman in the back of their heads. In the long run, the only way to end religion is to define and defend reason. Religion is a weed that can only grow where the concept of reason is dead as a value in the general culture. Arm people with reason and an awareness of what irrational thinking looks like and religion will die. Even in some of the debates, if just one logical fallacy were mentioned, at least something would be accomplished. Frankly, I don't think the New Atheism is up to the task; so, I'll be pleased if it can just make religion controversial and throw doubt into a few religious people. Best of all would be to influence high school and college age young people.

295. Minnesota Atheists Interview Richard Dawkins

Comment #113762 by MelM on January 20, 2008 at 1:19 pm

Chris Rodda, the author of "Liars For Jesus", is a woman and not a man as stated in the first part of the audio.

Here is a link to a piece where she takes on some of the fake history "Whereas's" in House Resolution 888 (which I call "The Declaration of Theocracy".

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/1/4/24725/53989

296. What Religion's Blind Stranglehold on America Is Doing to Our Democracy

Comment #113535 by MelM on January 20, 2008 at 12:37 am

Mercurious,

Thanks for the link. I followed it to the Talk2Action piece about connections to Gothard: http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/1/2/101614/4338

In the Salon.com piece, I got a big laugh out of this:
Referring to Huck's statements about changing the Constitution,
"That outburst appalled many Republicans, who heard those words as an assault on traditional conservative and libertarian values. The next day on National Review Online, Republican speechwriter and strategist Lisa Schiffren complained: "Mike Huckabee is going to force those of us who have wanted more religion in the town square to reexamine the merits of strict separation of church and state. He is the best advertisement ever for the ACLU."

Yes Lisa, the strict separation of church and state has merit--most especially, the separation of Huckabee and the state.

For those who may not recognize the name, the National Review is a very old conservative magazine. It is not at all without significance if it appears in the National Review. I'm not sure where they come down these days but, seeing people from the mag on TV at times, they seem to follow their own path.

297. What Religion's Blind Stranglehold on America Is Doing to Our Democracy

Comment #113506 by MelM on January 19, 2008 at 8:13 pm

Broad principles--yes; vague language--no. But I have no idea exactly what Huck means or is whining about in that sentence; these nutters have learned the fine art of double-speek very very well.

When I read this "judges" page this morning, it seemed not to hang together very well but I haven't been back to dig further into this aspect.

It was just announced awhile ago the Huck has lost in South Carolina. That's good news but, as I recall, all of the Republican candidates are either nutters or have sold-out to the nutters. Another very important fact to consider is that Supreme Court judge Stevens (who is on the "liberal" side of the court) will be 88 years old this April. With one more nutter judge, it would be a 5 to 4 nutter court--very bad news.

298. What Religion's Blind Stranglehold on America Is Doing to Our Democracy

Comment #113495 by MelM on January 19, 2008 at 7:10 pm

Good comment jshuey.

Most often these days I see "democracy" used as spin by people who think they have the votes to get away with something or by people who say they've succeeded in fixing a country when they haven't and it's a mess. I find it incredible that sometimes I have to explain to people that just because we vote a bunch of people into office, that doesn't mean they have the power to violate our rights. One of the reasons for a Constitution (and a Supreme Court) is to protect us from the government.

Anyway, I looked up Huck's position on judges today and excerpted this quote: "The powers delegated to the federal government by the Constitution come from "We the People," and judges have no right to prohibit the people from passing democratically-enacted laws unless we have explicitly authorized them to do so. Nor can vaguely-worded language in the Constitution be used by judges to give them power over subjects the framers never intended our founding document to address."
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=28

Whoa!.....What was that?...Did I read that correctly?

Some religionists both want to change the Constitution and keep judges from looking at their laws--"democracy". If I'm reading the quote correctly, Huck is one of them.

299. The New Theology

Comment #113461 by MelM on January 19, 2008 at 3:59 pm

This new religion doesn't look like much fun; these drivelers should cantract the whole thing to Pixar Animation Studios.

300. The New Theology

Comment #113371 by MelM on January 19, 2008 at 12:51 pm

"Kenneth Miller of Brown has suggested that God might nudge events in the natural world through imperceptible changes at the quantum level."
...and the nutter governor of Georgia thinks god can control rain.

These people seem not to be able get by without a haunted Universe and miracles.