1. CFI-UN Hamid Karzai Letter

Comment #201952 by hughlomas on June 30, 2008 at 1:12 pm

I wrote a letter to my senator a few weeks ago regarding this issue. I don't have the original text that I sent but here is the response:

Dear Mr. Lomas:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the arrest and prosecution of Sayed Periz Kambakhsh in Afghanistan. I appreciate hearing from you, and I regret the delay in my response.

Since removing the Taliban from power in 2001, the United States has consistently engaged Afghanistan’s government and society to promote respect for civil liberties as enshrined in their constitution. Nevertheless, much work remains to be done as evidenced by the case of Mr. Kambakhsh.

As you may know, Mr. Kambakhsh was arrested in October 2007. He was subsequently charged with blasphemy and sentenced to death for downloading information from the internet that was critical of the treatment of women in Islam. Mr. Kambakhsh remains detained and his case continues to go through the appeals process under Afghan law. On May 25, 2008, he appeared for a second time before an appeal court in Kabul, but that hearing was adjourned.

I share your concerns about Mr. Kambaksh’s situation and am pleased that Sec. Rice has raised his case with the Afghan government. I understand that President Karzai has reassured Mr. Kambaksh that he will be freed at the end of the judicial process, and there are reports that Mr. Kambaksh has been issued a passport. I am hopeful that continued U.S. engagement at all levels will help strengthen respect for human rights in what remains a complex and highly religious society. Rest assured that I will continue to monitor this matter as the Senate addresses our nation’s policy in Afghanistan.

Again, I appreciate hearing from you. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any additional questions or comments. For more information about issues and activities important to Florida, please sign up for my weekly newsletter at http://martinez.senate.gov.

Sincerely,

Mel Martinez
United States Senator

2. Should Galileo's tomb be opened for DNA tests?

Comment #141401 by hughlomas on March 10, 2008 at 11:03 am

Even if the finger has tissue remaining for DNA testing, it wouldn't help identify the woman's remains that are in the tomb, now would it?

3. Richard Dawkins' US Tour begins this week

Comment #138313 by hughlomas on March 4, 2008 at 7:29 am

Please come to Florida.

4. Huckabee Wants A 'Faith-based' Constitution

Comment #112173 by hughlomas on January 16, 2008 at 1:53 pm

Aww man, it's a shame Ron Paul won't even get the Republican candidacy, let alone become US president; you guys - well, us guys too! - need a pres who's a TRUE supporter of the US constitution, including its secular nature.
Question: if the US constitution became religios woudl Chris Hitchens renounce his citizenship? He's always going on about the secularness of the document, and how that is its greatest element and all...
-BryanAJPerry

Ron Paul is not a pro-secularist. Here are some choice quotes:

The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers. On the contrary, our Founders' political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs. Certainly the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, both replete with references to God, would be aghast at the federal government's hostility to religion.


The Founding Fathers envisioned a robustly Christian yet religiously tolerant America, with churches serving as vital institutions that would eclipse the state in importance.


- Personal statement by Ron Paul - http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2003/tst122903.htm

I'd like to point out that contrary to his statement, the Constitution is devoid of any reference to a supreme being of any type. The Declaration of Independence is not a document of law. It is disappointing that he is running on a pro-Constitution platform and then proclaims that the Constitution is "replete" with references to the christian god.
He also believes that abortion is murder. http://www.ontheissues.org/TX/Ron_Paul_Abortion.htm





An earlier poster also made a glib snipe at Obama, insinuating that he was a closet muslim or some other absurdity. Obama does profess that he is a Christian, however I would contrast his statements with Ron Paul's statements above before considering who to support.

But I am a strong believer in the separation of church and state, and I think that we've got to translate… By the way, I support it not just for the state but also for the church, because that maintains our religious independence and that's why we have such a thriving religious life.
- Barack Obama CNN / Youtube democratic debates

and

Well, I think that if people want to know my opinion I will tell them, I think, evolution is more grounded, in my experience, at least, than angels.
- Barack Obama http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/10/30/061030on_onlineonly04?printable=true

I'm sure that Mr. Paul is sincere in his ideas and well-intentioned, but I can not support such a stance.

5. Sam Harris debate with Rabbi David Wolpe

Comment #107374 by hughlomas on January 4, 2008 at 12:39 pm

Yahweh (or any other supreme being(s)) could be verified by revealing themselves in an undeniably supernatural event, objectively observable by humanity. This has, as of yet, not happened, in the same way that we have not found a teapot around the sun. Yahweh can be verified, the teapot can be verified.

The important part is that any god cannot be falsified, and neither can the teapot.

The analogy holds.

6. Interview with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #93664 by hughlomas on December 3, 2007 at 9:23 pm

That was a surprisingly fair handed interview.

7. For the glory of God

Comment #88451 by hughlomas on November 16, 2007 at 5:57 pm

and Émile Zola declaring the perfection of civilization will be at hand when "the last stone from the last church falls on the last priest!"

This quote is strongly reminiscent of the quote below, made a century earlier:

"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest." -Denis Diderot

8. Cheney and Obama: It's Not Genetic

Comment #80703 by hughlomas on October 22, 2007 at 5:20 pm

everyone is related to everyone else by some degree

9. Cheney and Obama: It's Not Genetic

Comment #80670 by hughlomas on October 22, 2007 at 3:06 pm

Obama may be cultivating support with religion, support which he will need to have any chance at winning, but his statements portray him as a secularist.

10. Welsh Hindus fight to save Shambo the sacred bull

Comment #58912 by hughlomas on July 26, 2007 at 4:38 pm

Their religious beliefs are deluded, but yours are not?

11. Among the Disbelievers

Comment #40565 by hughlomas on May 14, 2007 at 1:40 pm

How about this gem:

"Roughly 2,500 years separate the Book of Isaiah, in which Yahweh first declares, "I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no god [44:6]," and Einstein's quest for a unified field theory explaining everything from subatomic structure to the Big Bang. Everything else has changed, but the universalism behind such an endeavor has remained remarkably constant. Dawkins blames religion for stifling human curiosity. But were he a bit more curious about the phenomenon he is supposedly investigating, he would realize that it has done as much over the long haul to stimulate it."

The author blithely equates an explanation, i.e. "God is responsible for all things", with a source for curiosity.

The Book of Isaiah was presenting an explanation, which, correct me if I am wrong, would have the purpose of satisfying inquiry, not stimulating it.

Religion claims to have all the answers already, why would it be interested in an "endeavor to stimulate inquiry"?

It's ironic that the author provided an example of intellectual opiate for such a case.

12. Hamas 'Mickey Mouse' calls for Muslim domination on kids' show

Comment #38973 by hughlomas on May 9, 2007 at 4:51 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWIFhKYiMqU

I didn't see a link to the video in question in the article, so here it is.

13. NEXT MONDAY: Bill O'Reilly interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #34278 by hughlomas on April 23, 2007 at 5:41 pm

the_blur has an uncanny ability to predict O'Reilly!

"He will accuse you of being a communist and a stalinist as well as in league with the Nazis and pol pot (possibly in the same breath, that is how big a windbag this man is)."
-the_blur