1. 10 cc of atheism

Comment #128302 by OsakaGuy on February 16, 2008 at 6:00 pm

OK, I decided to make the effort and google around. Here's the recap of the episode:

http://www.houseisright.com/2008/02/05/house-episode-412-dont-ever-change-recap/

2. 10 cc of atheism

Comment #124549 by OsakaGuy on February 9, 2008 at 7:21 pm

So what happens?

3. Apologetic billboard replaces atheistic sign

Comment #123153 by OsakaGuy on February 6, 2008 at 2:12 pm

Chilcote, a Christian, said she was personally hurt by the deception of the sponsor, who allegedly led her to believe the sign was presented by a local church.

4. Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don't Add Up

Comment #109694 by OsakaGuy on January 9, 2008 at 1:59 pm

Check out his talk from the Beyond Belief 2 conference:

http://thesciencenetwork.org/BeyondBelief2/watch/paulos.php

It's about 30 minutes and he reads an excerpt from the book.

(The other talks there are very good too! Check out Peter Atkins for some hard core materialist awesomeness.)

5. The Problem with Atheism

Comment #75699 by OsakaGuy on October 3, 2007 at 11:16 am

I really don't know if Sam is right or not. Society is so complex and judging how a label will affect a group in that society is very hard. We have seen a lot about atheism in the media recently, but has it really diffused out into the general public? I'm not even sure the majority of Americans even know what atheism is or have ever heard of Harris, Dawkins, and the rest.

Personally I still like to use the label "atheist" just because it stimulates discussion. I like to use it in a seemingly contradictory way though. I usually say "I'm an atheist who loves god," which really flummoxes the listener! I mean I do love the idea of a god who punishes the bad guys who seem to get away with a lot in this world, sends dead children to a heavenly paradise and hopefully gives some answers to questions on life the universe and everything. Sounds good! (Note I certainly don't love the idea of a bizarre Yahweh-Jesus god model which celebrates human sacrifice and rewards blind faith.) I particularly like the god idea in John Shirley's secular "rapture" book, The Other End for example.

However, liking an idea doesn't make it true. My free and open mind can entertain all kinds of ideas, but the rational part filters those ideas based on real evidence. That is the education I want to give people when I say I'm an "atheist who loves god."

6. Scientists Feel Miscast in Film on Life's Origin

Comment #74359 by OsakaGuy on September 28, 2007 at 8:30 am

I already mentioned it in the forums, but if you had the hard-copy of the NY Times there was a picture for this article captioned "Richard Dawkins" except it was Peter Atkins! (another fine scientist so I doubt either would be offended.)

7. Electrons to Enlightenment 4: Debating Darwin

Comment #61552 by OsakaGuy on August 5, 2007 at 5:46 pm

I appreciate you guys listening to this stuff first and giving your reviews so I don't have to waste my time. Thanks!

8. CNN Debate on Koran in Toilet

Comment #60581 by OsakaGuy on August 2, 2007 at 10:25 am

Every time on these news channels it's the same "sorry, we are out of time" cutting everyone off. How can they expect any significant discussion to be had with such a limited time format? What a waste.

9. The Flea Circus Invites a Newcomer!

Comment #60558 by OsakaGuy on August 2, 2007 at 8:36 am

To Wee Flea-

As a side comment regarding your criticism of the atheist members of this forum being rude and crude, I have to say: Welcome to the Internet! You can't possibly expect any open forum on the Internet to contain nothing but kind hearted reasonable folks. There will always be a aggressive and crude minority. It seems atheist forums often have religious visitors who come in and say, "These posts are so offensive and rude, all of you atheists are assholes!" But please realize such posts are a minority!

Also it is certainly not unique to atheist web sites. I have seen plenty of rude comments made by Christians on their own forums. You can't escape this fact of the Internet. Every group is going to have a bell curve distribution of politeness.

And you have to admit your first post on this thread stereotyped the entire atheist group here with sarcastic remarks about our "rationality and open-mindedness". Such comments are not exactly the model of polite discourse.

I'm not going to say all atheists are kind folk, but the same goes for any group. Don't expect to have a clear civil debate on any non-moderated web forum. It's impossible! If that is what you are looking for, there are moderated forums out there.

10. Don't eat at the Outback Steakhouse on Route 3...

Comment #59106 by OsakaGuy on July 27, 2007 at 10:44 am

Wow, that was annoying.

I agree with Corylus' comment above.

11. 4 page German spread on The God Delusion

Comment #52525 by OsakaGuy on June 27, 2007 at 7:41 am

Hey, is there going to be a Japanese version?? Please! m(_ _)m

(If anyone knows any good atheist books in Japanese, translated or not, let me know!)

12. Christopher Hitchens on Religion

Comment #48535 by OsakaGuy on June 8, 2007 at 9:50 am

cacahahacaca, you rock! Thanks!

13. Christians and Atheists to Debate Existence of God in First-Ever 'NIGHTLINE FACE OFF'

Comment #37904 by OsakaGuy on May 6, 2007 at 7:46 am

Hi folks, I tried to post my report here, but maybe it was too long. So I put it in the forum:

http://www.richarddawkins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14055

14. Christians and Atheists to Debate Existence of God in First-Ever 'NIGHTLINE FACE OFF'

Comment #37344 by OsakaGuy on May 4, 2007 at 6:17 am

I'll be attending this debate in person with at least 50 other NYC atheists. I'll let you know how it went tomorrow night.

15. Flea Circus!

Comment #33124 by OsakaGuy on April 19, 2007 at 11:15 am

Regarding Lord_Satorious's comment way up there at #12 the agnostic (atheist? both?) biblical scholar Robert Price wrote a book in response to The Purpose Drive Life called The Reason Driven Life. I haven't read it yet, but I heard it was good.

http://www.amazon.com/Reason-Driven-Life-What-Earth/dp/1591024765/

16. Einstein & Faith

Comment #31551 by OsakaGuy on April 13, 2007 at 8:13 am

Greywizard, you made an excellent comment. I also like the term "naturalist" very much. Then we can call religious people "anaturalists"!

17. T. rex tissue shows they are related to chickens

Comment #31448 by OsakaGuy on April 12, 2007 at 5:46 pm

I really don't get how soft tissue could survive for millions of years in a fossilized bone. Could someone with more expertise in this area explain how that could happen?

18. Einstein & Faith

Comment #31446 by OsakaGuy on April 12, 2007 at 5:42 pm

It sounds like Einstein is the closest thing to a pure agnostic that I have ever heard of, if in fact we can trust his denial of being an atheist. However I have a feeling he might rate himself as a "6" on the Dawkins scale a belief, or at least no less than a "5". I'm sure the word "atheist" had much more negative connotations at the time of that interview than it does now. OK, maybe that is hoping for too much, but in my little reality tunnel of various online secular forums the word "atheist" has been carefully defined as anyone who isn't a theist. Can we say Einstein was a theist? I don't think so.