1. Comment #37617 by Dbl_Bass_Atheist on May 5, 2007 at 11:28 am

Another superior effort, Brian. As usual, you are spot-on! "Racketeering – Religioneering". Perfect!

By the way, anybody ever seen the "Creationist Car"? Check this out… this guy's TRULY nuts.

http://flickr.com/photos/amywatts/103235388/

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2. Comment #37622 by Friend Giskard on May 5, 2007 at 11:36 am

In the Wikipedia entry for "Protection racket":

see also Jizya

This is appropriate. Yes, one of the world's major religions was founded by a gangster who ran a protection racket.

My only quibble with the vid is that I would question whether it was 300 years of science that (partially) eliminated slavery. Human rights movements are not particularly scientific. (Not that I know much about it.)

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3. Comment #37626 by phil rimmer on May 5, 2007 at 11:42 am

Henceforth all gods are to be called Fat Tony. Brilliant!

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4. Comment #37635 by wolf1168 on May 5, 2007 at 12:01 pm

Love IT!

So concise. So simple, yet so true.

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5. Comment #37638 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on May 5, 2007 at 12:06 pm

Actually, in the interests of full disclosure. I poach an awful lot of the stuff I do, and splice it together. Some of it from YOU. So please, the whole Fat tony thing I have plagarised lock stock and barrel from these guys.

http://www.earthsgreatestlawsuit.org/

It's so good though:-)

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6. Comment #37684 by Azven on May 5, 2007 at 1:06 pm

Oooh... Ooooh...

I saw my avatar! Am I famous???

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7. Comment #37686 by HappyPrimate on May 5, 2007 at 1:13 pm

Really like the video. I watched it on YouTube, rated it, favored it and commented. Hope it gets lots of views.
Thanks Brian.

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8. Comment #37694 by Azven on May 5, 2007 at 1:22 pm

Friend Giskard, I agree that science didn't stop the practice of slavery; nevertheless, technology eliminates slavery for all of us in the 1st world everyday.

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9. Comment #37707 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on May 5, 2007 at 1:52 pm

Friend Giskard, I agree that science didn't stop the practice of slavery; nevertheless, technology eliminates slavery for all of us in the 1st world everyday.

Exactly my point:-)

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10. Comment #37728 by Azven on May 5, 2007 at 2:39 pm

If a mind-reading robot (F Giskard) can miss that point then you can bet a Creationist will.

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11. Comment #37731 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on May 5, 2007 at 2:43 pm

10. Comment #37728 by Azven on May 5, 2007 at 2:39 pm

If a mind-reading robot (F Giskard) can miss that point then you can bet a Creationist will.

That is unhappily, also a good point:-(

With luck, moderates should make the required leap.

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12. Comment #37741 by Nails on May 5, 2007 at 3:06 pm

Here's my take on religion, my killer for fundie arguments (you know, when you've done with teasing them and can't be bothered to hear the same answer again...)

If God made everything, and God is omnipotent/omniscient etc, then he created Penicillium notatum and knows that it makes a powerful antibiotic.
So why didn't he tell anyone?
How many people; loyal, good religious people have died because he decided to keep this to himself?
And this is your loving, caring God?


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13. Comment #37760 by Donald on May 5, 2007 at 4:14 pm

I'm impressed by the fact that you are doing something constructive Brian. Posting here is well and good, but posting videos on youtube is better. Well done.

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14. Comment #37768 by kaiserkriss on May 5, 2007 at 4:29 pm

Great Job Brian, However didn't I read some time in the last year that Judas was actually a "hero", and the whole betrayal thing was just a set up "to help save mankind from himself"?

I especially like the comparison between religion and racketeering. So sadly true. Society has put the shackles onto the old medieval "robber barons", yet still refuses to reign in religious racketeering. jcw

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15. Comment #37771 by Flagellant on May 5, 2007 at 4:35 pm

Nails (#37741) makes two points that are worth following up. Firstly, Voltaire's argument that God cannot be both all-loving and all-powerful with respect to evil: either he is all-loving and impotent or all-powerful and malevolent. Various forms of sophistry are used by the religiosi (e.g. it's all to test us) but the point is a strong one.

The second thing is that God, in his revealed word(s) has never told us anything that science later discovered by rational enquiry. So he's a bit of a shitbag, eh? Or perhaps even an ignorant shitbag...

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16. Comment #37778 by MelM on May 5, 2007 at 4:43 pm

Nice video! What CD is the music from?

I did not know that chattel slavery still existed. Here's a link I found recently.
http://www.iabolish.org/index.html

Actually, slavery seems to have been mostly killed by the Enlightenment. Point for our side I think.

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17. Comment #37812 by Ohnhai on May 5, 2007 at 7:47 pm

Technical criticicm.

A LOT of the text is hard to read. A lot of pale text on pale backgrounds. Try using a dark drop shaddow on the light text. Content is worth nothing if you cant read it.

What I could read however was good and... Love the music. (been years since I seen Twin Peeks)

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18. Comment #37821 by Veronique on May 5, 2007 at 10:00 pm

Brian,

Good to see you back. I have posted PMs to you that still sit in my outbox. Turn on your messaging notification, pleeeeeeeeeease.

I got worried when you pulled some of your youtube vids (it said account closed) and you hadn't posted for six days on the Virginia Tech vid that you did. I even left a message on your blog.

So glad you're back! Good vid. I agree with Ohnhai that part of it is hard to read. And maybe too much text. I don't know. Loved the music though.

Cheers
V

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19. Comment #37825 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on May 5, 2007 at 10:48 pm

Thanks for all the suggestions. It's always a trade off, time, available (and relevant) backgrounds, length of the music piece versus what you want to say.

Veronique, this is where I am on youtube : http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=TheModestAgnostic

The music is a from Twin Peaks "Dance of Dream man".

If anyone is interested in pooling efforts to revamp any of the videos I've done for relaunch please pick up with me on YT. I'd like to get a group of regular contributors together and the more the merrier:-)

Thanks again for the support, advice and to Josh and RD for giving me these boosts. Launching a YT video from a major site like RD is a big deal!!

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20. Comment #37827 by Paradigm on May 5, 2007 at 11:01 pm

Nails-
"If God made everything, and God is omnipotent/omniscient etc, then he created Penicillium notatum and knows that it makes a powerful antibiotic.
So why didn't he tell anyone?
How many people; loyal, good religious people have died because he decided to keep this to himself?
And this is your loving, caring God?"

You mean the same guy who created yersinia pestis?

Other Comments by Paradigm

21. Comment #37837 by Veronique on May 6, 2007 at 12:42 am

Thanks Brian

Just looked at the youtube site. Great collation. Did you turn on messaging notification on this site? Need some info in the nest few weeks.

Regards
V

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22. Comment #37849 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on May 6, 2007 at 2:15 am

Just looked at the youtube site. Great collation. Did you turn on messaging notification on this site? Need some info in the nest few weeks.


I think so. Are you subscribed to themodestagnostic?

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23. Comment #37852 by Mikado on May 6, 2007 at 2:47 am

If anyone here ever wondered why David Crockett died at the Alamo, you should have a look here:

http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/slenchek/slslavery.html

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24. Comment #37925 by devolved on May 6, 2007 at 10:06 am

Another man says, "I am the messenger of God. God is very powerful. He has the power of life and death. God rewards obedience and loyalty. God says you should give some of your money to Him. If you do this, good things will happen to you. You will be protected, now and in the future, by the power of God. No harm will come to you, or your loved ones. I am the servant of God. I will collect your gift to God once a week, on His behalf."

The weakness of this argument is that it fails to distinguish between what a man may say and what God says. Anyone who opens a Bible and reads the words of Jesus will quickly find that he taught his followers that they would receive exactly the same treatment as he got; namely opposition, abuse, persecution and worse.

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25. Comment #37935 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on May 6, 2007 at 10:38 am

The weakness of this argument is that it fails to distinguish between what a man may say and what God says. Anyone who opens a Bible and reads the words of Jesus will quickly find that he taught his followers that they would receive exactly the same treatment as he got; namely opposition, abuse, persecution and worse.

So the bible says "If you behave like an intolerant know it all bigot, without any substantial reason, people will disagree with you, perhaps violently." It's hardly surprising is it? Wow!! Didn't see that one coming!! Next they'll be saying a kick in the balls is unwelcome.

Besides, the worst a Christian can expect now days is a little vigorous verbal abuse, mere robust argument, it's hardly persecution is it? Good grief get over your self inflicted victimhood. It's pathetic.

As regards the "Word of Dog",there is hardly a line in the Buybull, that isn't open to 17 radically different interpretations, 19 and two thirds on alternate Thursdays, between 11:00 and 15:00, except if it's the first Thursday of the month. Unless you are a menstruating woman, then you can't even touch it!

To hold this hodge podge document up as clear in any particular detail is to ignore the thousands of christian sects that exist, all different strains of the same original pathogen, varying broadly in virulence and communicability.

Why? Because an artifical frankensteins monster of literature like the Buybull is inevitably a turgid and impenetrably confusing tome, and it shows.

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26. Comment #38013 by Nails on May 6, 2007 at 4:49 pm

20. Comment #37827 by Paradigm on May 5, 2007 at 11:01 pm

You mean the same guy who created yersinia pestis?

Yes, that be him.
Nasty little bugger, glad we havn't met.
And I guess he created Ancylostoma duodenale, Vibrio cholerae and Saccharomyces cerevisiae as well, yet he appears to disapprove of our use of the latter. Or at least the drinking of the products.

But as we humans are so perfect he not tell us about the vast array of natural remedies he created.
Not even a little sniff to ease the burden of childbirth, dear lord?
Sadist.

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27. Comment #38021 by Veronique on May 6, 2007 at 5:28 pm

22. Comment #37849 by briancoughlanworldcitizen

What on earth is themodestagnostic?

You will need to go to your RD profile and tick the box that will alert you, via email, whenever you have a PM from anyone on this site. That should do it.

Cheers
V

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28. Comment #38055 by catchy_nick on May 6, 2007 at 9:49 pm

You satan worshipping, lying, cock sucking atheists have gotten it all wrong!! He doesnt want mindless robots worshipping him. Whats the point of that? God wants us to love him by our own free will and choice with no pressure. He wants us to come to him freely, get it? You morons! Just like if a man rapes a woman at gun point and says, "I want you to make love to me by your own choice and free will, Oh, by the way, if you dont, Ill blow your brains out". Why cant you infidels understand the simple fact that God is the ultimate rapist, and he loves you very much.

-"Once again science has failed in the face of overwhelming religious evidence!! - Rev. Lovejoy (Simpsons)"

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29. Comment #38072 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on May 6, 2007 at 10:52 pm

27. Comment #38021 by Veronique on May 6, 2007 at 5:28 pm

Themodestagnostic is my youtube handle. Never mind me, I'm confused:-) I'll set that messaging flag up now.

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30. Comment #38073 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on May 6, 2007 at 10:57 pm

OK, I give up. Where can I edit my profile?

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31. Comment #38333 by Veronique on May 7, 2007 at 4:25 pm

briancoughlanworldcitizen

On the menu bar at the top of the page, click on forum
In the forum page click on profile

In your profile page, scroll to Preferences

Turn on the button that gives a preference to be notified of any message that is posted to a forum topic you are interested in and have posted to. That's the 3rd preference (I think). The 4th preference is to be notified whenever someone (like me) sends you a private message. Turn on the button for that preference to get messages from others.

The notifications are sent to your email address with a link to the message. You have an inbox, outbox, sentbox and save &/or delete option in your messaging section on this site. When you click the preference button for PMs, you will receive an email telling you that you have mail. My messages to you will leave my outbox and be transferred to your inbox.

Then you can send me a message if you like. I'll be notified by email and get to your message. It took me a while to understand that my messages stay in my outbox unless you have that preference button turned on. It's only then that the transfer to your inbox can take place.

Good luck
V

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32. Comment #38335 by Veronique on May 7, 2007 at 4:34 pm

Brian

Have just worked out how to subscribe to themodestagnostic. Thanks.

Cheers
V

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33. Comment #38376 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on May 7, 2007 at 11:12 pm

Hey thanks for that. I'm now the proud owner of an amusing avatar:-)

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34. Comment #38382 by Veronique on May 7, 2007 at 11:46 pm

You most certainly are. I love it. How did you do that? How did you type words on there and get the picture to change?

No wonder I need some help from you!!

Well done
V

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35. Comment #38394 by Logicel on May 8, 2007 at 1:13 am

I selected an avatar from the list this site provides, and only the word avatar appears in the upper left corner of my comments (I have now deleted that). How can I make the actual avatar appear?

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36. Comment #38479 by The Spaghetti Monster on May 8, 2007 at 9:09 am

What the…..?

Mr. World Citizen (yeah, the moniker alone should tip you off…. let me guess….. you're all for globalization…. right goofy?) is an amateur hack. He will spend hours upon hours wrestling with his own uncertainty; as evident by his brilliant youtube uploads.

So what motivates people like Brian to engage in the battle of controlled thought? Ya know; the people who conjecture at random, what they do not know, and then believe blindly in their own conjectures, or in those of others, who know no more than themselves……. And they call those who choose to believe in a God delusional……. That's pretty funny.

I think it's quite reasonable to believe in things that one neither sees, touches, nor measures, because manifestly the infinite exists, and one can say not only I believe, but I know that an infinity of things exist which are beyond my reach. How about you goofy…… do you believe the universe is infinite….. if so, prove it… lest you be forever labeled as 'delusional'…….




"A universe with a God would look quite different from a universe without one. A physics, a biology where there is a God is bound to look different."
Richard Dawkins

Really……? Hmmmmm, let's compare the 'with a God' universe to the 'without a God' universe…….. let me know when you're ready….. no doubt the 'differences' will make for interesting observation………

I won't hold my breath.



Sips latte….

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37. Comment #38482 by briancoughlanworldcitizen on May 8, 2007 at 9:20 am

34. Comment #38382 by Veronique on May 7, 2007 at 11:46 pm

You most certainly are. I love it. How did you do that? How did you type words on there and get the picture to change?

The avatar is .gif file, its a series of pictures that rotate through endlessly. I got it from this site here : http://avatars.jurko.net/18/

In the profile there is a section to upload an avatar, I used that. Let me know how you get on:-)

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38. Comment #38780 by Philip1978 on May 9, 2007 at 7:16 am

Brian, yet again I salute you sir for an informative video plus the music is cool!

Have you ever considered having a mock video battle with that Dennett loving nemesis of yours to see who can produce the best arguments for adding Sagan or Dennett to the musketeer list?!!

Bravo again, I really enjoy what you have been doing, cheers!
Philip

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