301. Blind Faiths

Comment #110631 by Enlightenme.. on January 11, 2008 at 4:40 pm

"We should have given them Germany."

But We gave them Palestine. Is that what you mean?

302. Russia prohibits denial of Santa

Comment #110307 by Enlightenme.. on January 11, 2008 at 12:49 am

^ Here, Here.
In spades. When trying to self-analyse why I first became a doubter, the 'Father Christmas Delusion' definitely is part of the list, especially the bit about wishing it were true doesn't help.

Maybe it has larger sociological historic effect in Xtianity than recognised.

303. The Group Delusion

Comment #110222 by Enlightenme.. on January 10, 2008 at 4:37 pm

^ Blake C,
Kidding, right?
RD is the king of putting what he can into laymans terms, and especially at great risk of being ostracized as 'pop' when he started out.
Ever grateful he learnt the art in the age of elite intellectual cliquery.

304. The Group Delusion

Comment #110202 by Enlightenme.. on January 10, 2008 at 4:01 pm

Ha!
Yes, he was probably trying to take the mick with that 'altruistic gene' thing from the off I reckon!

305. The Group Delusion

Comment #110191 by Enlightenme.. on January 10, 2008 at 3:45 pm

Go easy on him RD
Selfish gene beat Sociobiology ;)

306. The Group Delusion

Comment #110173 by Enlightenme.. on January 10, 2008 at 3:14 pm

^ Damien, that sounds like a why is there still apples and oranges question.

307. Blind Faiths

Comment #110132 by Enlightenme.. on January 10, 2008 at 2:29 pm

"I think Fanusi is trying to say that no matter what, the underlying religion is violent and any behavior otherwise is the abnormality"


Al - It's like a billion kalashnikov's* basically, they're inanimate but deadly to have around - I'm not talking the Qu'ran, I'm talking all holy texts, the safety catch is too easy to undo.

*Simile to detonator, nuclear trigger

308. Blind Faiths

Comment #110107 by Enlightenme.. on January 10, 2008 at 1:47 pm

And what have Ay-rabs ever done for us anyway ([c] R. Kilroy-silk) ..I mean apart from saving a millenia of knowledge of the classical epochs and Hindustan from the science-fearing Xtian despots, such as medicine, astronomy, mathematics, the revolutionary zero-concept along with adding algebra, the first concept of light, the universe and everything as discrete particles, and gothic arches!

309. Blind Faiths

Comment #110089 by Enlightenme.. on January 10, 2008 at 1:22 pm

women imams - wow, ..seriously.

Maybe in another hundred years or so the next schism within one house of Islam will be over one sides acceptance of gay Imamship (-Joke)

310. Blind Faiths

Comment #110059 by Enlightenme.. on January 10, 2008 at 12:32 pm

Comment #110034 by al-rawandi on January 10, 2008:

"So to prove causation (total) you would have to show that the absence of Islam would mean that the Middle East and South and South East Asia would be a calm and passive place. You treat religion as an abstract idea, it is simply the product of a culture, the religion reflects the violence inherent in the culture."

It is relatively simple to disprove what you see as Fanusi's position by pointing to the numerous majority Islamic politys that are, for good or ill relatively benign; Turkey, Indonesia, numerous oil-rich arab states, some North african states, even, (though with grave freedom problems - for some good reason) the main birthplace of Qtubism - Egypt.

Little hope left for Pakistan I fear, quite possibly the next domino to fall to theocratic revolution, and that is unlikely to be as (relatively) bloodless as Iran, more likely Talibanistic.

311. Blind Faiths

Comment #110042 by Enlightenme.. on January 10, 2008 at 11:21 am

Comment #110025 by Peacebeuponme on January 10,

"We? You mean some British people from a while back.
Its like anybody under 80 saying "we won the war". "


..Or that we're responsible for the fucking Balfour declaration*...
innit?

*Draughted about the time my maternal great-great grandfather died in the bloodbath of Ypres.

312. Blind Faiths

Comment #110040 by Enlightenme.. on January 10, 2008 at 11:16 am

Comment #109977 by al-rawandi on January 10, 2008



I am half a mick myself...

Saying British colonialism, with all its violence, was good for the people, is like saying the Muslim invasion of Europe was good because it brought knowledge (Greek philosophy etc...).

313. Blind Faiths

Comment #109777 by Enlightenme.. on January 9, 2008 at 4:51 pm

What did the Brits ever do for us eh? I mean apart from the roads, the schools, the hospitals, the railways, the political system, the East India company (oops.. strike that) forcing us to speak Roman...

314. Blind Faiths

Comment #109768 by Enlightenme.. on January 9, 2008 at 4:33 pm

^ So the main problem with that post is the blockquote is it?
I f'kin split my sides at that al-rawandi,

Your little round up of 20th C history from the victimised point of view is .. mindboggling !

If there's one part I'd like to hear your view on, I suppose I'd start with how better we imperialist Brits should have handled our extraction from India - you can try it from the mindset of the guilty party first if you like, and try to imagine that you're just as dumb as we were about post-conflict Iraq, or post-colonial Rhodesia, like we can't anticipate what's about to come.

After you've done that, could you then remind us what 'part and parcel of decolonizition' was mostly our (the brits) fault?

..and why Mahatma Ghandi virtually starved himself to death?

315. Blind Faiths

Comment #109709 by Enlightenme.. on January 9, 2008 at 2:37 pm

Fanusi, you're misunderstanding my sentence completely, I was closing my post with a jest in a vain (to you) attempt to point out that the word Jihad can have entirely different meanings, both in itself, or in the hands of a sufi 'spiritualist' or a hamas vigilante.

It could be taken to mean similes of all three, strive - like, study to improve your mind - crusade, purify (in a neo-con 'family values' kinda way or a n*zi 'purify the blood' kinda way)

But now, in a stunning correlate of Bush bastardizing the once harmless western understanding of crusade except in one specific political context where a speechwriter should NEVER go, even when you're 911 'd, the sole ownership of the very important and central conceptual word Jihad is being pwned by...
the Jihadists

I don't suppose you have a lot of time for the ugly phrase hearts & minds, but we are well down the road to losing this battle in this war, and, in case you missed it, the explosion of the information age could well be our one & only opportunity we're rapidly squandering.

316. Blind Faiths

Comment #109395 by Enlightenme.. on January 9, 2008 at 1:50 am

But in fact the only thing the jihadists excel at is killing other Muslims.

317. What We Believe: Atheism

Comment #108874 by Enlightenme.. on January 7, 2008 at 6:54 pm

^ hey Goldy, that takes me back to those 4-minute warning good old days!

318. What We Believe: Atheism

Comment #108871 by Enlightenme.. on January 7, 2008 at 6:49 pm

^ apologies Dr Benway for taking your thing the wrong way, but I enjoyed the thought experiment someone turned it into.

By the by, that's my pet psych theory on what motivates a religious-minded suicide bomber (as opposed to a band of brothers, a hatred, or an infamy motivated one) - that is - it is the ultimate pascal's wager to end this veil of tears with, with the added attraction that it would then ensure they meet the standard *at that time*, and with no later chance of fucking it up for their miserable soul.

319. What We Believe: Atheism

Comment #108854 by Enlightenme.. on January 7, 2008 at 6:25 pm

In the life raft;

I think generally the immortal young would be terrified and become irrational, the over-40's would be calm, rational, accepting of their fate.

The convinced atheists would be melancholic at first at how little they had amounted to, then drift more settled into sleep philosophically thanking providence to have given them life at all, & sucking up as much of the best of each others memories as they can.

The agnostics & theists would die in dread torment at a possible wasted life in foolish pascal's wager, or that they are going to go get their asses burned, not a one of the true believers would think they meet the standard. They would hang on the longest I believe.

320. Did mozzies, not a meteor, do for the dinosaurs?

Comment #108676 by Enlightenme.. on January 7, 2008 at 12:11 pm

^ Hey, interesting couple of links there Bluebird, cheers.

I like this bit;
"The big, glory-hog dinosaurs never mastered flight." (?!!)

BCWC;
"Hi all, latest raiding link ..."
Looking forward to checking this stuff out.. please [providence] give me more time!

...but, whilst I'd look forward for some raiders coming our way to engage in debate, experience suggests we should brace for disapointment!

321. Wisdom From The Founding Rationalists

Comment #108417 by Enlightenme.. on January 6, 2008 at 8:01 pm

I think Scandinavian & European countries tend to top the 'Quality of life' index, I imagine what would most displease the people who wrote that 'all human beings are created equal/have inalienable rights' &c would be the huge amount of inequality, especially in the Anglosphere. I'd like to have the US's freedom of speech, seperation of church & state in the UK, but I wouldn't want to live in the states lest I should require healthcare.

322. Russia prohibits denial of Santa

Comment #108310 by Enlightenme.. on January 6, 2008 at 1:01 pm

I remember worrying that my parents would find out the truth about father christmas - that is - my knowing the secret, the news on the grapevine was that when they find out you know the secret, you stop getting things like bikes, and start getting crappy books & stuff !

323. Sam Harris debate with Rabbi David Wolpe

Comment #107829 by Enlightenme.. on January 5, 2008 at 12:53 pm

Only read up to comment 100 so far so I apologise if someone's said this already.
What I don't get is, when Sam counters the Rabbi about the 'values vacuum' in humananist-based societies by pointing out the values vacuum in religion, he concentrates on catholicism?

Of course the Rabbi nods his head, rather like the funny moment earlier when he said 'I hope you're not expecting me to defend the virgin birth of Jesus' (!!)

I would have rather heard his response to Sam's usual pointing out a 'values vacuum' inherent in Israel's going along with the Zionist belief that Jews should have domain over a certain bit of land.

To my mind this subject not even being raised in front of a Jewish audience by Sam was very puzzling.

324. Islam's Silent Moderates

Comment #105521 by Enlightenme.. on December 31, 2007 at 9:12 pm

Goldy,
Re: comment #55, may I ask what you mean by 'shit-stirring'
It appears to me after following the link, to be pretty straightforward public-interest reporting..

325. Jumbo shrimp, creationist astronomy

Comment #102060 by Enlightenme.. on December 21, 2007 at 1:46 pm

My favourite bit;
"Growing a large distant gas giant like Saturn or Jupiter poses an insurmountable problem for evolutionists"
oh, and that bit about multiple impacts should 'cancel out' spinning!!

what complete fukwits.

326. U.S. Congress Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith

Comment #101774 by Enlightenme.. on December 21, 2007 at 12:48 am

Janchan:

Or was it the time when American Protestant majority had their beginnings when an English king made up his own Anglican church when the pope refused to divorce him from a wife that never gave him a son? That was one of the weirdest moments in history.

327. Merry Mithras 2007

Comment #97821 by Enlightenme.. on December 12, 2007 at 5:19 pm

Great to see a bit of QI on here, Steven Fry is definitely a hero of mine (along with Brand and O'Brien) We Brit's are lucky to have quality programmes from 'Auntie Beeb' like this.

328. Interview with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #93738 by Enlightenme.. on December 4, 2007 at 4:19 am

Thought I'd check for spelling of Muhammadanism;

www.muhammadanism.org/bush/default.htm

^ it's a hoot !

329. Interview with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #93735 by Enlightenme.. on December 4, 2007 at 3:51 am

I especially like Chris's little dig at the neo-idolatry of Muhammadanism, "a pet can't disgrace the name of Mohammad, but a human can, what if he's called Atta for example?"
..classic.

330. Downward, Christian soldier

Comment #84329 by Enlightenme.. on November 1, 2007 at 6:29 pm

Brother John:

...give me a chance to show you both that(1) I hate (probably most of) the things you hate...

331. Make Richard Dawkins a Knight

Comment #83410 by Enlightenme.. on October 30, 2007 at 1:07 am

As I've said before, and another poster here has said, what stands out like a sore thumb is that RD hasn't been knighted by now.

Richard, would you in fact like to sit alongside Sir David's brother in the upper house?

332. Does fundamentalist religion cause the rejection of evolution? or is it the other way around?

Comment #82963 by Enlightenme.. on October 28, 2007 at 11:16 am

I think the main thing that assists us to intuit Darwin's theory post-facto is the later knowledge that fits, not the least of which is Atomic theory explaining how the Sun can burn for aeons. Before this knowledge came, there was a big problem with Darwinism, some scientists pointing out that the Sun's mass as 'burning coal equivalent' could only give some tens of millenia.

333. A new website addition: Debate Points

Comment #81581 by Enlightenme.. on October 24, 2007 at 11:30 pm

"...and have well structured retorts already made for common theist arguments."

We could program our very own 'pale blue' to wheel out and take on McGrath.

It will eventually spit out the conclusion: 42

334. Christopher Hitchens at AAI 07

Comment #80143 by Enlightenme.. on October 20, 2007 at 7:26 am

Sheesh why is this so hard.

[1] Proposition; God made all men.
Name something good...
You can't, see [1]

Hitch's 'punchline' always rings pyrrhic when I hear it delivered.

335. Christopher Hitchens at AAI 07

Comment #80122 by Enlightenme.. on October 20, 2007 at 5:05 am

^ Windweaver,
I don't suppose I can call you on Godwin's law since we aren't actually engaged in a debate!

anyway, the operative word is 'mullah' (ie not muslim) geddit?

336. Christopher Hitchens at AAI 07

Comment #80114 by Enlightenme.. on October 20, 2007 at 4:12 am

It's a long time since I was at sunday school - so please correct me if I'm wrong here; I thought this is what the good samaritan tale was partly about - a man made by God who acts good simply because he's made by God - not because he's a believer, nor has any knowledge of God, only knowledge of good and evil (from sin of Adam (!)).

So I have to agree with Riley, much as I admire The Hitch, he needs to drop this conceit because of its fallaciousness.

I certainly get pissed off hearing McGrath claiming a 10,000 to one superiority of good acts to Xtian genocidal campaigns, as much as the next man, but Hitch shouldn't be allowed to get away with hypocrisy either - we need to hold him to a morally superior standard, don't we !

337. Debate between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox

Comment #79546 by Enlightenme.. on October 17, 2007 at 4:30 pm

The most exotic redefinition I have come across is that "number" too means a class of physical processes that take place in the brain..

338. Debate between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox

Comment #79000 by Enlightenme.. on October 15, 2007 at 6:54 pm

390. Comment #78684 by Dianelos Georgoudis on October 14, 2007

Word games mean nothing.

339. Debate between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox

Comment #77634 by Enlightenme.. on October 10, 2007 at 12:42 am

186. Comment #76643 by Richard Dawkins on October 6, 2007

146. Comment #76558 by Bonzai on October 6, 2007 at 8:53 am
117. Comment #76488 by Richard Dawkins

Sorry Richard, I got the idea that you picked Lennox as your adversary from some blog which commented on the debate. I should have known better to double check my source.

I wasn't reproaching you, but I would really like to track down the source of the information, so that I can correct it. Or, if you know where you saw it and are able to log on to that other blog, is it possible for you to correct it there? I'm about to take off for an 8-hour flight to England.
Many thanks
Richard

340. Dawkins - what can't he be blamed for?

Comment #77629 by Enlightenme.. on October 9, 2007 at 11:45 pm

Comment #75107 by Shuggy on October 1

I maintain that the consoling satisfaction of doing something, anything, together in a group, is one of the main things that keeps religions going.

341. Atheists arise: Dawkins spreads the A-word among America's unbelievers

Comment #77627 by Enlightenme.. on October 9, 2007 at 11:26 pm

"When you think about how fantastically successful the Jewish lobby has been, though, in fact, they are less numerous I am told - religious Jews anyway - than atheists and [yet they] more or less monopolise American foreign policy as far as many people can see. So if atheists could achieve a small fraction of that influence, the world would be a better place."

342. I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer

Comment #76597 by Enlightenme.. on October 6, 2007 at 11:56 am

It's all a bit scary really, this sort of power wouldn't mix too well with end-timer belief.

The Andromeda strain was on telly last week (one of my favourites)

Perhaps this is the reason we can't hear any other civilisations out there - the last parameter of the Drake 'equation' is only around 200 years or so.

343. I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer

Comment #76560 by Enlightenme.. on October 6, 2007 at 9:07 am

I thought insulin manufacture had been using this technique for years already?

344. Debate between Richard Dawkins and John Lennox

Comment #76556 by Enlightenme.. on October 6, 2007 at 8:41 am

I always look forward to the moment in these debates when Dawkins completely loses it & his voice goes up an octave to 'exasperated'.

Today's breaking point was 'How is a belief in the cosmos going to incite me to murder?'

I got the biggest laugh at the end though, when one of the radio guys called RD a flat-earther!
You have to give credit for that one.

345. Fossils Reveal Clues on Human Ancestor

Comment #74833 by Enlightenme.. on September 30, 2007 at 6:41 pm

'Traditions' are for overturning.

346. Critical Analysis of Case for a Creator

Comment #74831 by Enlightenme.. on September 30, 2007 at 6:31 pm

28. Comment #72532 by stephenray

"Science can say 'nyaah, rubbish, statistically as likely as a change in the melting point of ice'."

I'll take that statement with a pinch of salt.
;)

347. Faith schools should not be tax-funded, and here's why

Comment #73492 by Enlightenme.. on September 25, 2007 at 5:15 am

^
Maybe it was because you demoted Professor Dawkins to Dr. ;)

348. Scientists should unite against threat from religion

Comment #72979 by Enlightenme.. on September 23, 2007 at 5:04 pm

"Thankfully, humans are not animals.[sic] We can choose to repress our instincts. I'm still a virgin."

Is it just me, or should Bizarro be using 'suppress' here?

Though on further reflection, I think repressed is probably correct.

349. God Bless Me, It's a Best-Seller!

Comment #71949 by Enlightenme.. on September 20, 2007 at 1:28 am

Thankyou Riley,

God probably does not exist, but if he did, then he made us, and our innate morality.

Is this clear people?

350. The Fleas Are Multiplying!

Comment #68665 by Enlightenme.. on September 8, 2007 at 3:26 am

This should be the last for a while, as my cat has started sleeping on the floor in the living room.
I'll give you a shout when he starts jumping onto the kitchen cupboards again.