251. That's it. Texas really is doomed.

Comment #184904 by phil rimmer on May 26, 2008 at 11:41 am

FightingFalcon

However, this so-called religious awakening is nothing new in America

But the move into politics by the religious right is. My point, unaddressed, is not about this mildly corrosive effect on the status quo, but the huge antipathy I would expect from the religious apologists, newly ensconsed in positions of power, to any proposal of a substantial increase in science education required to maintain your position. (Barrett quote.)

The success of tax-funded "science" projects is irrelevant to the fact that many courses of your commercial lunch are being eaten. Existing businesses (e.g. automotive) are being trashed through complacency.

The company I work for sells technology to the US. A decade ago this was mostly US technology, tweaked. Now at least 50% is pacific rim. (We go where its most advanced.) There is no sign of a let up.

I know better than to point to a government for moral leadership (after Bliar). No, it is the aggregate of the peoples of the US, that by the operation and fairness of their society, demonstrate the power of an enlightened morality.

Failure is unthinkable.

252. Town moves against Islamic school

Comment #184890 by phil rimmer on May 26, 2008 at 10:50 am

We need to know a lot more before the racist card is played.

Would the community object to a new, but smaller school for just their indigenous Muslim population?

Would they object to such a large school for some loony Christian cult, a new branch of the Westboro Baptist Church for instance?

If the possible answers are no and yes respectively (as they may well be)you have precious little to go slandering the community just yet.

253. That's it. Texas really is doomed.

Comment #184878 by phil rimmer on May 26, 2008 at 10:23 am

FightingFalcon

This posted on the same day that NASA lands its third rover on Mars

... said Craig Barrett, Chairman of Intel and one of the supporters of the Science Debate initiative, "Without the best education system and aggressive investments in basic research and development we will become a second rate economic power.

Its not just about drifting backwards slowly. Its about not understanding the need to move forward aggressively, given that your competitors in the world are at the point of out-inventing, out-competing and out-smarting you.

Boy, you don't need McLeroy right now.

As a Brit I give a damn because I look to the US for moral leadership in the World (despite some serious misgivings about recent performance). China as top nation, for instance, would be a moral disaster until they could actually afford some morals of their own.

254. Repulsive but right

Comment #184776 by phil rimmer on May 26, 2008 at 6:36 am

hungarianelephant

Surely you don't mean that theists sometimes invent ex post facto rationalisations to explain their prejudices???

heh heh.

But in fairness, given the latest theories about conscious experience, we are all apparently post-event explainers-away of our actions. Its just that theists have a seriously limited and spurious palette to draw from.

EDIT Sorry I edited the phrase you quoted to clarify what I intended.

255. Repulsive but right

Comment #184773 by phil rimmer on May 26, 2008 at 6:27 am

Richard!

I hope you are well.

We thought you were gone for good.

Didn't you leave because you thought the words often used here at RD.net were a little chilly?

EDIT I clearly missed your return recently. Just catching up on it :-) EDIT :-(

256. Repulsive but right

Comment #184768 by phil rimmer on May 26, 2008 at 6:21 am

FightingFalcon

I have a friend who refuses to argue religion with me because he has a personal relationship with god that I can't understand.

Now I never argue religion with a religite. I discuss art, relationships, education, beer, politics. The moment a piece of argument from religious authority pops up I whack them with Diacanu's mallet. I find that it does more to get them to change their views than a frontal assault.

What I find often happens is that their views (on a moral issue say) aren't substantially altered, but their reasons for holding those views become more rationally based.

257. Repulsive but right

Comment #184539 by phil rimmer on May 25, 2008 at 4:16 pm

Hitchens' job is to stiffen the sinews of the "intellectual" agnostic, not preach to the unconverted.

EDIT. He also serves as the logical brick wall enlightened religites can see looming up ahead. I think it is entirely arguments such as his that lead such (nice and otherwise reasonable) people to modify and modify again their positions to lessen the impact.

His problem for the majority is his baggage. He is unattractive to the clean living (cigarettes and whisky) or to the right wing (Marxism) or the left (Iraq).

258. Repulsive but right

Comment #184532 by phil rimmer on May 25, 2008 at 3:36 pm

Teratornis. Comment #184525

I love your posts as a rule (especially as I'm a reasonably good speed reader.) But the second half of this one is bollocks.

Death rates are a poor metric of net harm, not least because, net good and net pleasure are often neglected.

Death (meaning premature death)of individuals may prove a poor indicator of the ability of a state (or a species!)to survive and thrive in the future.

Enormous, cataclysmic risks inevitably await us, far exceeding the scale of the 50 year economic glitch that will inevitably follow on from peak oil. These looming natural disasters need us to be at our most knowledgeable, foresight-full and creative.

In that light, the catastrophic dumbing down of our children at the hands of those in love with catastrophe is a very big deal indeed. Further, our failure to stem a religious polarization between (middle)east and west may be bloodier than all the toll taken by cirrhosis and lung cancer, our inability to argue the immorality of unreformed Islam with a fundamentalist White House behind us, a catastrophe of our own making.

259. Repulsive but right

Comment #184526 by phil rimmer on May 25, 2008 at 3:01 pm

Purveyors of Truth shouldn't seek to seduce.

A "conversion" based on warm words is worth nothing.

260. A Tribute to Douglas Adams: Towel Day May 25th

Comment #184327 by phil rimmer on May 24, 2008 at 4:02 pm

Recently, working on one of the most basic electronic circuits, an astable multivibrator, I was shocked to realize its output was always an endlessly repeated string, answering the most basic question that has ever been posed since DNA famously first framed it.....

101010 it bleats. A clearer sign of the hand of the almighty deeply embedded in the very fabric of the Farnell electronics catalogue has never been shown us.

The man was truly more deserving of the title prophet than any we have encountered to date.

I for one will be carrying my towel on May 11001.

261. 85% of Americans Want a Presidential Debate on Science

Comment #184264 by phil rimmer on May 24, 2008 at 8:31 am

No debate needed.

Just hear and understand this-

... said Craig Barrett, Chairman of Intel and one of the supporters of the Science Debate initiative, "Without the best education system and aggressive investments in basic research and development we will become a second rate economic power.

Then decide if you want your country to be on top of the heap or living off scraps down at the bottom.

262. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #184221 by phil rimmer on May 24, 2008 at 2:11 am

Glorious INPUUUTT.

Made my weekend.

Thanks, Callilasseia.

*Gives Phil Rimmer salute* (slightly less silly.)

263. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #184060 by phil rimmer on May 23, 2008 at 2:02 pm

Diacanu.

purity is for water, not people.

Dirty sexy compromise. Love it.

264. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #184041 by phil rimmer on May 23, 2008 at 1:24 pm

Just for completeness.

Sorry, Epeeist, you can't shake me off that easily.

The problem is that societies are dynamic, hence I think you need a dynamic balance.

Exactly.

The "public sector bad, private sector good" mantra is a canard.

Yes. Completely agree. (And from personal experience too.)
No the pertinent virtue of the private sector is the ready provision of temporary staff. The risks are those of quality control and accountability.

Agreeing isn't much fun is it? I could carry on with the rest of your post, but people will start to suspect I'm your sockpuppet.

265. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #183908 by phil rimmer on May 23, 2008 at 6:56 am

Epeeist

So let me get this right, libertarianism - maximum limitation of government. A working possibility.

Libertarianism doesn't work for me. (Though self-responsibility is an important moral concept.)

Apologists for it see it working through negative reinforcement only (a poor way to teach/learn).

I believe that laying aside most of the tools of statecraft is to allow them to become rusty and unusable in future. We may want to use one or two in a hurry.

The state provided safety nets of health and welfare in the UK and Europe suit me fine. I believe the levels of fear engendered in the least advantaged sector of society by a lack of safety net can lead to greater irrational wish-thinking and lower levels of creative risk taking in that group.

Both extremes (libertarianism and marxist socialism) look like dogma to me. Nasty. Spit.

I'll settle for a nice, empirical balance. I will watch the US and Sweden with different balances and find something to admire in both.

EDIT Taxes are the bill for services provided by a monopoly provider. Monopolies are often self serving. I believe governments should be under relentless pressure to justify the costs and nature of those services. We need to create the natural expectation within the civil service, for instance, that departments and sections may shrink rapidly as needs evolve. The private sector can deliver a lot of this kind of flexibility.

266. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #183874 by phil rimmer on May 23, 2008 at 4:35 am

Epeeist

The concentration on immediate issues such as pay and conditions is, in the end, counter-productive.

Right on.

The only way a post-industrial society such as ours in the UK can prosper, is through problem-solving and other forms of creativity. (Or being a plumber, of course. £250/day! Not bad.) Individuals must think of themselves as being able to add value in some way, and given the huge changes in the nature of work (quite beyond the capability of governments to control) only good and continual education can fit us to the varying tasks ahead.

267. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #183866 by phil rimmer on May 23, 2008 at 4:11 am

Heffalump

How, if at all, would you propose to address that?

I'm all for some forms of pump priming, particularly where other "state" objectives (e.g. Eco) are involved. But..

Governments often screw up when trying to invest in specific technological market opportunities as they themselves are market insensitive. They do best when investing in the provision of education and research opportunities. Though two or three steps away from creating real income for their country I feel sure it ultimately wins by virtue of the "Headquarters Effect". (Corporate headquarters are based where the brains are. The money flows through where the headquarters are.)

Having said that I have known a few government funded technology development programs to work well, where the set-up of the project (its people and its objectives) have been well scrutinized by market experts and the metrics and milestones used in the project are allowed the flexibility demanded by rapidly changing markets.

Even the most free-market of countries engage in government funding of commercial technology capabilities. In the US, military budgets are quite often blatantly applied to technology that can have only marginal military application. (Some good eco things included. Yay!)

268. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #183854 by phil rimmer on May 23, 2008 at 3:28 am

Epeeist

I know what the answer to the above is, it was written into my contract.

Ah, the state as sole employer. Horrid thought. At least you can choose not to take up the job with a company with an over onerous contract. Generally such contracts can be confined to reasonable scopes these days as people feel freer to up sticks and leave.

I started my political life on the left (not quite as far over as you)and as is so often the way (acquiring family responsibilities) drifted right to somewhere near the (British) centre.

I have no fear of state intervention in many areas where the market is just too dumb or short sighted or unable to establish a (morally) fair value for things. I certainly foresee substantial state intervention in ecological matters for instance.

I think things started quite well at the beginning of the industrial revolution with entrepreneurs being notably more enlightened than land owners. (Read Langford's [?] "The British, a Polite and Commercial Society 1726[?] 1778[?]" or indeed "The Lunar Men" by Jenny Uglow) Things certainly turned nastier through the Victorian period, despite the likes of Lever Brothers, Cadbury and non-conformist others.

The trade unions were essential then. They have lost their way rather now. I do wish that adult education and training were at the heart of their concerns.

EDIT para.1

269. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #183849 by phil rimmer on May 23, 2008 at 2:50 am

A Marxist Socialist Leviathan-of-a state may have a brain the size of a planet. It may have the algorithms and look-up tables to superficially create a fair world where people receive what they think is reasonably theirs, but, it will have the emotional sentience of a zombie.

How are your changing emotional needs to be registered? How is the irritation of the noise from a poorly designed engine to be valued and set against the value of stylish clothing or tasty food?

The market not only expresses relative value, it expresses, with great facility, emotional value.

270. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #183842 by phil rimmer on May 23, 2008 at 2:22 am

Epeeist

Tell me what "Intellectual Property" is and I might have an answer.

The stuff of my everyday commercial life is taken up with the niceties of that very issue. Its a can of worms I didn't intend to open. "Its in the hands of the Patent Liars" as my FD Freudianly slipped recently.

My intention was to question merely the relationship between the state and the individual in the matter of ideas.

A good idea may pop into an individual's head in a Marxist socialist society. It has merit and therefore value. Does the individual in any sense "own" the idea? Assuming the lawyers and thought police all agree it is not stolen in any sense and represents a genuine inventive step, when must you surrender this new piece of valuable property? What happens to it?

271. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #183827 by phil rimmer on May 23, 2008 at 12:21 am

Intellectual Property is Theft?

Where resources are truly limited (zero sum) a degree of state intervention in the market may be fully justified, as the market on its own may not be in a position to establish a fair value for the resource. Where resources are effectively unlimited and their use steals from none other (e.g.what my hand or brain may produce), it is state intervention that looks increasingly like theft.

272. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #183732 by phil rimmer on May 22, 2008 at 4:32 pm

2) How are people prevented from starting private sytems of finance.

As the means of living will be commonly owned by everyone to be used for the common good, much like the atmosphere today, there won't be any private property in the means of living.

Zero sum thinking.

What if someone is clever enough to create more atmosphere, more means of living? That would be in everyone's interests to encourage, surely?

And what if the state lays claim to the ideas in my head? Will they be safely extracted and cashed in for their full societal value? Will others care as much about these ideas? As much as me? Care enough? Does risk play no part in ensuring that ideas are nurtured sufficiently like your own children? (And that from someone who approves of the welfare state!)

D'Arcy your vision is the kiss of death for creativity, diversity, excitement and the ability to survive.

Bluntly. When everything is going to be more or less OK however well you perform, why are you ever going to give a flying fuck?

273. In God's Name

Comment #183627 by phil rimmer on May 22, 2008 at 11:44 am

Bergson.

PM for you.

274. Richard Dawkins Responds to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #182992 by phil rimmer on May 21, 2008 at 7:40 am

qomak

Its cheaper than going to the zoo...and more fun.

I'm also starting to see the possibility of a ceiling cat type website.

Besides Al and Epeeist are posting some useful stuff. (Nature abhors a vacuum.)

275. Richard Dawkins Responds to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #182972 by phil rimmer on May 21, 2008 at 7:00 am

Now some atheist people did some child abuse then can i say all atheists are child abuser? I can't. I did not see any of you doing such a bad thing neither did you.

But you spoiled it already.

Child abuse is again a sickness of mind where there is no REAL FAITH IN GOD OR NEVER FAITH IN AT ALL.

Want to show us a little of the man behind the giggles?

276. Richard Dawkins Responds to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #182935 by phil rimmer on May 21, 2008 at 6:20 am

clearmind

Assumptions, assumptions.

So you don't like Pakistanis?

I like them very much. I've certainly had one very good Pakistani friend and happily known quite a few more. Have you been subject to racism where you live? Did any of that have to do with expressing your religious beliefs?

I am genuinely interested. (Look no jokes. No snide remarks.)

277. Richard Dawkins Responds to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #182578 by phil rimmer on May 20, 2008 at 2:52 pm

I'd assumed emptyhead was Pakistani from the speech rhythms and some of the phrases. Any chance?

Hey! This is more interesting than listening to him. Real information might come out of it!

278. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #182284 by phil rimmer on May 19, 2008 at 3:21 pm

steveroot

I had a great uncle once who was still driving a motorbike at the age of 74. Deeply concerned at the risks he was running, the rest of his family persuaded him to give it up and take up a safer hobby. So he got really into fishing, became something of a bore about it actually. Inevitably it was fishing that did for him in the end. He caught the "big one" and got dragged in.

But what a way to go though! I liked to imagine him thoroughly excited up to the last second or so, leaving just enough time for him to think,"...Erm?"

279. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #182266 by phil rimmer on May 19, 2008 at 2:42 pm

I said "Fuck no you ain't!" And I found and sent him a batch of videos

Good man!

After the enthusiastic descriptions, I just wanted to be sure you hadn't gone and got yourself a video camera and a gallon of oil or a tripwire or something.

(Fuck! I said the "O" word. I predict a massive flapping of wings and an enormous post hurtling down out of the sky.)

280. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #182255 by phil rimmer on May 19, 2008 at 2:17 pm

Jesus, Al!

Are these videos like a hobby or something?

281. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #182239 by phil rimmer on May 19, 2008 at 1:17 pm

Doc.

What a bummer. I broke my scaphoid in a car accident 23 years ago. I was being taught to drive quickly by a prominent Christian Scientist at the time. Bastard! (I was somewhat dazzled by the "scientist" part.) Fortunately I didn't follow his practice and skip the hospital visit. He got an eye infection, prayed hard, and lost an eye. In hospital I got the same warnings as you and, as the odds predicted, it came out OK. I had a few years of twinges afterwards and then nothing.

My very best wishes for a good outcome.

Very good call on the motorbike. Last weekend in our area of Essex 7 bikers were killed in entirely separate accidents. If you have any problems with himself, point to your new (temporary) dependency to defer any discussions until a later date. The urge WILL pass.

My mate (a playwright) swears by the dictation capability of VISTA (pants as it is on other fronts). I hated dictation software because of the tedium of the correction process. My mate did a demo, dictating a couple of paragraphs. Dictation speed was almost natural speed and the few corrections needed were done in an extra 10% of the time. Damn slick.

282. Richard Dawkins Responds to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #181963 by phil rimmer on May 19, 2008 at 12:10 am

clearmind

I would not discuss something metaphysical with someone who is blinded by only physical things. It would be asking a blind man to watch a movie together.

Would you not describe to your blind colleague what is happening on the screen or do you suspect he just wont like what you will see?

Answering NO to my question about whether a child may be possessed is completely unambiguous, even to the metaphysically blind, so I must assume from your unwillingness that your answer is YES.

This explains your callous view of where harm was or rather wasn't done.

And this is my point about the metaphysically sighted like you. If you don't take very great care you may lose sight of people and the harm you may do them as you stumble towards that light that you see so clearly in your mind.

283. Richard Dawkins Interview on TVOntario

Comment #181902 by phil rimmer on May 18, 2008 at 4:56 pm

so it would have more British and thus European aspects to it.

(coughs)Quebec!

284. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #181897 by phil rimmer on May 18, 2008 at 4:48 pm

Diacanu

it's anti_American

It's anti British!

I think it may even be anti French, but I'm not sure.

Gimme the Raid!

285. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #181878 by phil rimmer on May 18, 2008 at 2:50 pm

MaxD

of txpiper: you assert- sans proof- that insurmountable problems exist

I am starting to suspect that this is the whole raison d'etre of the ID movement. More importantly, if no insurmountable problem can be found (and why should there be one?) I think their policy, in effect, is to MAKE one. Make governments question research budgets, make teachers and parents question curricula, make kids stupid, and make scientists scarce.

These people don't value knowledge, as they try to claim. Their eagerness to shovel bucket loads of the stuff out of the window in case its contaminated by the Conspiracy of the Brotherhood of Darkins rather demonstrates the fact. And they MUST say that this source of knowledge (from scientists) is poisoned otherwise a reasonable person might say to them that, "Well, you may be right, but why don't we just wait and see what the evidence turns up." The risk there being that no proof of Gods work is actually possible (save for the little stamp pronouncing Yaweh Fecit on the flagellum in question) so none ever will turn up. Still a pointless search should drag things out and keep the brain-dead faithful calm until they can stuff us properly. No, they value something else far more highly than real knowledge.

They value social cohesion. Science is the enemy as it generates uncomfortable and unsettling new facts that get people all agitated. Stopping new facts altogether is their ideal. Failing that, making all facts God's facts should reduce the scare factor somewhat.

Truth? Txpiper and his lot can't handle the Truth. They're truly scared of it. That's why they NEVER read the books or the links, or look too closely, or think too hard.

Please, tx, prove me wrong. My Troll button finger is getting itchy again.


Sorry. I seem to have got a little paranoid there. That skunk was stronger than I imagined. Filthy smell too.

286. Richard Dawkins Interview on TVOntario

Comment #181864 by phil rimmer on May 18, 2008 at 1:48 pm

BW022

Canada would appear as progressive on non-belief as most European countries. Certainly ahead of Ireland, Spain, Italy, etc. Likely something close to Britian, France, etc.

However, both Ireland and Spain are coming up fast on the rails. Ireland seems to have had its fill of sectarianism and now has a very rosy economic future. Priests in general have not served them well. Spain, too, rushing into the 21st century, has been kicking Cardinals out of their cosy positions of influence in the state, and getting a proper quantity of women into political power, which should ensure they don't make the same mistake again. Oh Joy.

Sebastien and BW are right about Canada. It is a glorious piece of Europe set in fabulous American countryside. My first visit there last December was a delight. Cultured, intelligent, quietly self-confident, they took to my unarguable talents straight away. Such good taste!

287. These dim-wits believe in anything but God

Comment #181798 by phil rimmer on May 18, 2008 at 9:28 am

Bergson

A teacher friend of mine is most up to speed on this. I'll get the latest and best off him and post links here. Its been 6 months or more since I did any work. In the mean time I'll dig up what I've got.

288. Richard Dawkins Responds to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #181792 by phil rimmer on May 18, 2008 at 9:18 am

"clearmind"

Punishment of possessed children or other wrong applications of some people who claim they act on behalf of God or holy books, will not bring any harm to the truth of God.

Got your priorities straight then. No harm done to the truth of God. Phew! Oh and where did the quotes around "possessed" go? Don't tell me child possession is a possibility!....Is it?

289. These dim-wits believe in anything but God

Comment #181770 by phil rimmer on May 18, 2008 at 7:47 am

Rtambree

Sure, learn about it, but not three hours a week for every school year throughout highschool. That's too much time to devote to Bronze Age hocus pocus.

I agree if that is how it remains. BUT, I have been pushing for ages for the adoption of philosophy as a proper subject for adoption by schools from primary upwards. There is a strong "philosophy in schools" movement both in Europe and the US but not as yet mainstream. I have seen their excellent materials in use and tried the stuff on my own kids, with great success. The key concept is to develop critical thinking skills for quite general application. Essential for all, surely?

This would be a great opportunity to put critical thinking skills into an under-utilised slot in the school timetable

290. Face to faith

Comment #181730 by phil rimmer on May 18, 2008 at 4:57 am

This is very welcoming. However, humanism, as a secular western moral outlook, derives from 2000 years of Christianity.

Real atheism should be taught to school children, an atheism which is amoral as it is atheist; as well as humanism.

This is substantially correct, if a little compressed. Humanism, is a mongrel and in its roots can trace a line back through the renaissance, through Islam to axial age Greek thought but also out sideways a long way. Latterly, through the Enlightenment, though ideas of atheism were starting to be philosophically justifiable, it was mainly through dissenting religious groups that an enhanced moral "philosophy" was being developed and applied to peoples daily lives. (I think people often have a false idea of how cultural ideas spread. That positions of atheism could then be justified is meaningless to 99.9% of the population. Hume, or more pertinently, the writings of Solon etc. are substantially irrelevant at this time.) This enhanced moral "philosophy" derives as much from the junking of irrational Christian Dogma as by the realization that we have a natural and innate moral capacity and that by and large it is a capacity that all share. The "Inner Light" of the Quakers, though still God Given, was personal and guiding and more to be trusted than any scripture. By the mid nineteenth century there were as many non-conformist Christians as a Anglicans. The myriad dissenting groups offered choice in reflecting your moral position, quite as much as your views on the niceties of the Trinity.

It also shouldn't be forgotten that through the industrial revolution a great proportion of the industrialists, scientists and thinkers (often one and the same) possessed, or adopted, Dissenting or Non-conformist views. Many of these entrepreneurs implemented enlightened work practises involving the provision of homes and education, realizing the quid pro quo needed to enhance productivity. The result was a spectacular win-win that made Britain a Global Superpower for nearly a century.

Humanism became possible in any substantial way not because of the rightness of Hume's arguments but because a general zeitgeist of dissention from dogma and authority was clearly and visibly successful and that no moral vacuum occurred. Further the path to dissention would not have been possible were the core ideas not available in the Christian Dogma itself. It should be no surprise that Christian thinking should have picked up some of the Axial Age ideas and embedded them. The fact that those ideas were potentially self-destructive to the Dogma itself might explain why Popes were paranoid about any form of dissention whatsoever. Pull the wrong thread out and the whole lot falls to pieces.

Atheism is amoral. However, my choice to identify as an atheist (having counted myself an agnostic before) was entirely for reasons to do with pursuing a MORE moral life. It is a statement of where I DO NOT get my morals from. Obedience in moral matters is merely obedience and fits no one in making the daily, nuanced moral judgments that modern life calls for.

EDITED to remove a "not"

291. Richard Dawkins Responds to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #181628 by phil rimmer on May 17, 2008 at 5:45 pm

clearlymindless

Atheist people with sick mind are able to do anything since they have no fear of God and Judgement day.

All the police and judges will be pissed off that sick minded atheists have no fear of them.

Sick minded religites however feel that they can act as judge and jury, knowing as they do, the true mind of god. The punishments they inflict upon "possessed" children, for instance, are perhaps the purest form of evil I know.

Only fundamentalist religites get to feel that they are above the petty laws of this world.

292. The amazing intelligence of crows

Comment #181622 by phil rimmer on May 17, 2008 at 5:22 pm

Quine,

The wiki entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_(parrot)

is a good quick intro to Alex.

293. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #181603 by phil rimmer on May 17, 2008 at 4:05 pm

Do you by any chance think that the vast majority of scientists who consider evolution by natural selection to be fact have been deluded by the devil and have the number 666 stamped on their foreheads?

Ahem. 616 actually (Some monk or other screwed up it seems. Christians don't have a good record with maths.)

294. These dim-wits believe in anything but God

Comment #181597 by phil rimmer on May 17, 2008 at 3:50 pm

My sceptical son seems to be doing extremely well in RE at the moment. His main passion is writing fiction, at which he excels. To get him started on this path I taught him the Tom Lehrer Theory of research,

"Plagiarize, plagiarize,
No, don't shade your eyes..." etc.

Now every lesson is grist to his mill with RE being top. His stories do have more than their fair share of megalomaniacs, however.

295. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #181590 by phil rimmer on May 17, 2008 at 3:29 pm

txpiper.

Read some of the books/links suggested! To not even know the standard explanations for these questions and still challenge with third party nonsense is decidedly trollish.

Perhaps you'd like to explain how anything that supports fidelity in replication actually improves outlook for supposed evolutionary development by way of mutations

Mutation rates can be too low or too high to ensure species survival. Too low and a new environmental challenge may not be adequately dealt with by a problem solving mutation in time. Too high and infant mortality rates become unsustainable, even though the environmental challenge is met with ease. There is every likelihood that the mutation rate is itself subject selection and may therefore become optimized.

296. Richard Dawkins Interview on TVOntario

Comment #181579 by phil rimmer on May 17, 2008 at 2:46 pm

PJG

Being caught on CCTV doesn't result in eternal torment... most of the time it doesn't even result in a slapped wrist. Let's face it, Hell fire and damnation, if you believe in it, is likely to deter bad behaviour more effectively than an ASBO -

You're right. So lets shift the branding round a bit. Its Your mum you're going to disappoint. You have to imagine the adverts. There she is, holding the lace to one side, peering at the screen, her kindly face framed with bunched white hair, her eyes, huge behind the glasses, filled with tears. Her lips tremble as she whispers "No, darling, please don't....Don't throw your life away!" Cut to the scene she's watching. You drunkenly finish the bottle of lager and throw it, narrowly missing the passing Nun carrying a stray kitten. It smashes, and your sobbing mum suddenly clutches her heart, where your mortal blow has just landed.

Depending on the time of night and the particular yobs targeted, you have several endings, all over the same image of the little old lady slumping to the floor clutching her chest-

1.(kindly voice): "Remember, every Guardian may be someone's mother."

2.(Harsh cockney voice): "Watch it! Or the Old Lady gets it!"

3. (Pious voice): "Must she die for your sins?"

There, much more personal and flexible than a religion!

297. Richard Dawkins Interview on TVOntario

Comment #181561 by phil rimmer on May 17, 2008 at 1:19 pm

If anyone needs to be watched to make sure they behave well, then "not being watched" doesn't suddenly turn them into mature, empathic, rational and altruistic people. If religious people say they need God to watch them and make them behave in an acceptable manner, then maybe we do need religion - sadly.

Problem solved in the UK where we have more cameras watching us than anywhere else on the planet. That should halt any moral slippage. The reasonable argument that there are not enough moral guardians to watch all the screens connected to these cameras is being dealt with by a new government initiative called "Lace Curtain".

Lace Curtain seeks to co-opt the great moral force languishing in Britain's Old People's homes, to whit, Little Old Ladies. The provision of free monitor screens in each "Guardian's" room plus the use of clever software and interface devices (twitch sensitive curtains over the screens, combined with tap sensing and voice recognition of key phrases like, "'Ere, just stop that young man!") should provide a naturally graded alarm system to suitably alert the authorities to the actions of miscreants.

The associate ad campaign "Mother is still Watching" should put a stop to future moral lassitude and should prove far more effective than Our Father or Big Brother ever could be.

:-)

298. Richard Dawkins Responds to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #181542 by phil rimmer on May 17, 2008 at 11:44 am

RD

I therefore reproduce the whole article by Roger Friedman here, without comment.

Ouch! 'Nuff said...

299. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #181531 by phil rimmer on May 17, 2008 at 11:09 am

Tx

The actual error rate is more in the region of one in a million to one in a billion.

Yeah. Often! Or rather often enough.

300. These dim-wits believe in anything but God

Comment #181508 by phil rimmer on May 17, 2008 at 10:25 am

Henri

Solution: Rename & alter, 'Religious Studies' to 'Elementary Philosophy & Religion'.

Spot on!

I have proposed elsewhere that churches should see it as bad form to for children (of primary school age, through to 13 or so, for instance) to be made to join in with their services. Such children should be offered a simultaneous Sunday-school-type session of philosophy and comparative religion (inevitably with an added sprinkling of love and niceness). I think more enlightened churches may see the moral superiority of this approach, (the informed faith of its new young adult congregation being preferable to the mindless indoctrination of the kids at the rabble rousing church down the road.)

Slowly does it.