1. Comment #33356 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on April 20, 2007 at 12:03 am

Carey is a LIAR. Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett are the most substantial philantropists that the world has ever seen.

When the catholic church can match the money these "atheists" have stumped up, then we can talk again.

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2. Comment #33367 by foxfire on April 20, 2007 at 12:49 am

I am in total awe. A "Lord Harrison" starts out the debate with "As this chamber and my workplace is daily transmogrified into a church, we non-churchgoers.."

US Senate members constantly remind themselves that the US Senate is "the greatest deliberative body in the world". My take is: if somebody uttered the word "transmogrified" during a normal floor "debate" (one or two Senators in the chamber waiting their turn for time in front of the CSPAN cameras, rest out campaigning or offering sound bytes on a cable news show) the room would blur as aids sought dictionaries.

I cannot get the CSPAN vision of Senator Brownback (a contender in the GOP 2008 Presidential race) and his charts during a presentation relating to the burning need for a "Defense of Marriage" amendment to the US Constitution, out of my mind.

Us "average Americans" really do need to get out more and experience the rest of the world. That way, we would be much more likely to not fall victim to our own bullshit.

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3. Comment #33381 by DavidJGrossman on April 20, 2007 at 1:26 am

"When the catholic church can match the money these "atheists" have stumped up, then we can talk again."

I'm sure that if they didn't have to spend all that money on child molestation lawsuit settlements, they'd be using it for philanthropic purposes.

- Dave

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4. Comment #33384 by Rtambree on April 20, 2007 at 1:36 am

3. Comment #33381 by DavidJGrossman

>I'm sure that if they didn't have to spend all that money on child molestation lawsuit settlements, they'd be using it for philanthropic purposes.

Good one, Dave.

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5. Comment #33409 by Carl S. Richardson on April 20, 2007 at 3:31 am

So we got to hear the views of an 'I shouldn't be there' Bishop who can't seem to say "I don't know". Carey who seems to think atheists are out to close all charities down and some women hyped up on emotion. What a great job they did...

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6. Comment #33432 by boblin on April 20, 2007 at 5:15 am

Here's the quote from Archbishop Sentamu:

"Religious and non-religious people need to recognise the absolute mystery of existance, and by mystery I don't mean the unexplained, but the question that persists beyond the possible explanation. Wittgenstein put it wonderfully when he said 'Not how the world is, is the mystical, but that it is'".

So God did it, and we're rats in god's maze. Presumably all the things that exist and can't ask 'why?' are teaching props, here solely for our benefit. They don't think the sun orbits the earth any more, but they think the whole universe revolves around man.

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7. Comment #33436 by Luthien on April 20, 2007 at 5:25 am

3. Comment #33381 by DavidJGrossman on April 20, 2007 at 1:26 am
avatar"When the catholic church can match the money these "atheists" have stumped up, then we can talk again."

I'm sure that if they didn't have to spend all that money on child molestation lawsuit settlements, they'd be using it for philanthropic purposes.

- Dave

Actually, it was found that in Ireland they were taking up "2nd collections" during mass, vaguely described as being "for the priests". There was an uproar when it was later found that this money was used to pay people off who had been abused!

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8. Comment #33438 by Yorker on April 20, 2007 at 5:31 am

2. Comment #33367 by foxfire

Well said foxfire, now your gaining an insight as to why many people see Americans as they do.

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9. Comment #33443 by Logicel on April 20, 2007 at 5:48 am

foxfire wrote, Us "average Americans" really do need to get out more and experience the rest of the world. That way, we would be much more likely to not fall victim to our own bullshit.
________

My prayers have been answered (:-)))))! And the world wide web has delivered the means by which they have been answered. There are many excellent audios, videos, and blogs which cover international viewpoints of which are now accessible to Americans. Please bookmark a representative list of links which you can email to your family, acquaintances, and friends as alternatives to Fox and CNN.

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10. Comment #33469 by Proud Okie Atheist on April 20, 2007 at 9:04 am

foxfire wrote: Us "average Americans" really do need to get out more and experience the rest of the world. That way, we would be much more likely to not fall victim to our own bullshit.
________

Logicel wrote: My prayers have been answered (:-)))))! And the world wide web has delivered the means by which they have been answered. There are many excellent audios, videos, and blogs which cover international viewpoints of which are now accessible to Americans. Please bookmark a representative list of links which you can email to your family, acquaintances, and friends as alternatives to Fox and CNN.
-----
You could not be more correct! After High School I was sent to Jamaica as an exchange student and lived in Kingston for several months. I was one of the very few whites in that city and it completely changed my worldview regarding what we call the Third World and how I related to black people. Subsequent to that, I joined the Air Force and went to pre-unification Germany (around the time of the La Belle Disco bombing in Berlin), Belgium, Holland, UK, Spain, Luxembourgh and France. While I was already atheist and a freethinker at age 18, living in all those nations and interacting with their people has been the most valuable and unique single experience I have ever had. It shapes my worldview to this day at age 42.

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11. Comment #33542 by Seti on April 20, 2007 at 2:21 pm

Was it just my imagination, or was his Grace of York talking utter twaddle? Perhaps he suffered in the editing...

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12. Comment #33589 by perkyjay on April 20, 2007 at 4:40 pm

Seti - I think you are bang on - as an ex-pat Yorkshireman, I'm certain that he was talking twaddle - I'm sure that the broadcast was not edited, at least none of the individual excerpts was edited.

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13. Comment #33728 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on April 21, 2007 at 12:17 pm

Virginia Tech being used and abused by the faithheads. : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9uNtvFSxYM

No comments, no video responses!!!

A few of us co-operated online to make the following response.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_z9WgV5jkQ

If you think it is a good one,
please help to promote it in whatever other fora you frequent.
We should not have to sit idly by, while this juvenile drivel is spouted as truth.

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14. Comment #33987 by crabsallover on April 23, 2007 at 1:23 am

A full transcript of the 2 hour House of Lords debate on 19th April, with key points highlighted:
http://waspofscience.blogspot.com/2007/04/religion-non-believers-house-of-lords.html

The National Secular Society contributed a briefing paper to Lord Harrison:

http://waspofscience.blogspot.com/2007/04/national-secular-society-position-in.html

A summary of each main speaker:
http://waspofscience.blogspot.com/search/label/House%20of%20Lords%20debate%20Religion%3A%20Non%20believers

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15. Comment #35165 by The Spaghetti Monster on April 26, 2007 at 12:48 pm

Comment #33356 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on April 20, 2007 at 12:03 am
"Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett are the most substantial philantropists that the world has ever seen.

When the catholic church can match the money these "atheists" have stumped up, then we can talk again."





Gates: "In terms of doing things I take a fairly scientific approach to why things happen and how they happen. I don't know if there's a God or not, but I think religious principles are quite valid."


Hmmmmm, something tells me that Gates "belief" that religious principles are quite valid will land him in the "severely delusional" camp. Plus he can't even acknowledge that he knows emphatically that there is no God. What's up with that?

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