1. Pundit Christopher Hitchens picks a fight in book, 'God is Not Great'

Comment #35991 by DistrictSelectman on April 29, 2007 at 7:08 pm

Mencken may or may not have been the penultimate social critic of this century -- and I agree with Bookman (comment 26): that comment torpedoes this guy's credibility -- but HL was definitely an asshole with few peers.

If anyone hasn't read Mencken, leaf through his Chrystomathy and it will cure you of any urge to quote him on the topic of atheism, or anything else.

2. Mormonism: A Racket Becomes a Religion

Comment #35615 by DistrictSelectman on April 27, 2007 at 9:47 pm

Lucy Harris smart smart smart

Martin Harris dumb

3. Thanks for the Facts. Now Sell Them.

Comment #32102 by DistrictSelectman on April 15, 2007 at 5:19 pm

My favorite comment from the Post's website:

Excuse me--The public cannot be expected to differentiate between his advocacy of evolution and his atheism--? Well, golly, duh, this member of the public gonna try real hard. This wooden-headed no-nuffink gonna see ifen she might can do. But hows she spose to unnerstand what e-vol-u-tion be and what a-the-ism be withouten the wiseness of yourn people whats rites yourn paper? Be given thanks to you and yourn fer putten usns in ours places.

By pegric | Apr 15, 2007 2:08:45 PM

4. We'd be better off without Religion

Comment #31435 by DistrictSelectman on April 12, 2007 at 5:02 pm

Grayling had me and then he lost me. Dawkins was very effective, but I think Hitchens was the most persuasive because he didn't get bogged down in "what Scripture says." Of course the fundies are the major problem in the world, but I think it's time for atheists to focus on the rhetoric of the moderate religious. The fundamentalists are looking for power and if they get more power from shouting nonsense than from facing reality, the most persuasive argument in the world is useless. The real moderates, however, are begging to be disabused of their superstition. Tell people like that rabbi, if you want to burn incense and keep kosher and put oil or ashes on your forehead, knock yourselves out, but just acknowledge that you aren't morally superior to atheists.

5. Militant atheists: too clever for their own good

Comment #30181 by DistrictSelectman on April 7, 2007 at 6:58 am

etny (#51): Bingo

6. Militant atheists: too clever for their own good

Comment #30165 by DistrictSelectman on April 7, 2007 at 5:53 am

While I strongly disagree with Mr. Moore, I hardly think his piece merits all the death fantasies it has evidently generated. The downfall of his argument is his refusal to address the atheist claim that atheists, by virtue of lower incarceration rates and higher intelligence, actually are morally superior. He simply ignores this and claims, in a very circular way, that the peasantry are more virtuous because they believe. Class comes up only because it's often a proxy for education.

7. Interview: Jerry Coyne

Comment #28779 by DistrictSelectman on March 30, 2007 at 6:50 pm

Those chuckleheads trying to tell Jerry Coyne that he was experiencing "natural revelation" were just too much. Too bad they lost Jerry's feed, because he was steamrolling that Paul Nelson stooge.

8. A hundred residents of a Russian village have refused to switch to new passports because they believe the documents' bar codes contain satanic symbols

Comment #27577 by DistrictSelectman on March 25, 2007 at 11:40 am

Here's one that's not an April Fool's joke:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/us/25mennonites.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

9. Religion

Comment #27319 by DistrictSelectman on March 24, 2007 at 12:16 am

Some more Hicks:
http://www.sacredcow.com/index.php?pg=comedy&sid=35

And this is one of Carlin's best (and very prescient, coming in 1999):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRFqjmsHzKg

10. Polish woman wins abortion case

Comment #27318 by DistrictSelectman on March 23, 2007 at 11:45 pm

Happily, I don't know anyone that would fit the moniker "DavidJMH". If you're an atheist, then what, may I ask, is your objection to abortion?

11. Debate between Alister McGrath and Peter Atkins

Comment #27316 by DistrictSelectman on March 23, 2007 at 11:34 pm

Thank you for allowing me to see this McGrath twit in the flesh. He truly is a circus barker appealing to the recently born sucker.

Also, around 45':
"I came here for an argument!"
"No you didn't!"

Hilarious.

12. Debate between Alister McGrath and Peter Atkins

Comment #27315 by DistrictSelectman on March 23, 2007 at 10:55 pm

Resolved, that the girl giving the introduction needs to cover up that belly!

13. The Moral Necessity of Atheism

Comment #27314 by DistrictSelectman on March 23, 2007 at 10:39 pm

Now I love him, now I hate him, but he never fails to inspire me to drink.

14. Polish woman wins abortion case

Comment #26846 by DistrictSelectman on March 22, 2007 at 12:35 am

"This woman and this woman alone is responsible for her blindness by being so irresponsible as to have sex."

Are you 104 years old or something? What the hell is the matter with you?

15. Britain Proposes Allowing Schools to Forbid Full-Face Muslim Veils

Comment #26844 by DistrictSelectman on March 22, 2007 at 12:21 am

I'd like to think that, if I were a 15-year-old English lad right now, I'd show up for school tomorrow with a big piece of copper pipe insulation hanging out of my fly, declaring that it is my right, as a believer in the Flying Spaghetti Monster to draw attention to my noodly appendage.

16. When They Came for the Homosexuals...

Comment #25736 by DistrictSelectman on March 14, 2007 at 10:16 pm

Chris, don't let's forget about the Muslim "right" (is there a left?).

17. Why there are almost no genuine atheists

Comment #24576 by DistrictSelectman on March 7, 2007 at 11:34 am

FYI: "Steve" is this guy: http://www.sandiego.edu/usdlaw/faculty/facprofiles/smithsd.php

18. Atheists Take On Religion

Comment #24122 by DistrictSelectman on March 4, 2007 at 11:27 pm

Hmm, so 14% of Americans are atheists but only 2% are atheists with balls. Sack up, you red staters!

Is ABC now using the Fox News model? Jesus Christ in a whorehouse, can we please get Jim Lehrer on the story?

19. William Crawley meets Richard Dawkins

Comment #23325 by DistrictSelectman on February 27, 2007 at 8:26 pm

That had to be the most challenging and fair interview of Dawkins to date. And I think Dawkins got a little off message because Crawley didn't give him the same prompts that the other hacks consistently lob at him. In particular, I think Dawkins did an inadequate job of explaining why he is on this particular crusade. It appeared to me that Crawley cowed him into backing off, e.g., the use of the word "delusion."

A good number of religious people are delusional. Many more may be merely superstitious or metaphysically romantic, but their reliance on faith insulates the delusional and corrupts pragmatic policy. One way of straightening this mess out is to delegitimize dogmatic faith. That's the argument, but Dawkins got off that message early and he never, to my mind, got back on the rails. Still, that last line was pretty sharp!

20. William Crawley meets Richard Dawkins

Comment #23320 by DistrictSelectman on February 27, 2007 at 7:40 pm

I, too, was put off by the claim that labeling children is child abuse, not the teaching. As I recall, Dawkins has stated it the other way around in the past, i.e., teaching children to fear hell is child abuse, while labeling them is merely nonsensical. After all, it is hardly abuse to call a child a capitalist or an existentialist if the kid doesn't know what those terms mean.

I think this line of argument has to proceed on a case-by-case basis. Some kids probably are fairly disturbed by threats of hell, but most are more curious if their doggy will meet them in heaven. It detracts from the force of Dawkins's argument to lump the latter in with the former.

21. Root of All Evil? Discussion

Comment #20479 by DistrictSelectman on February 2, 2007 at 11:13 pm

Hilarious, if you ask me. The only moderate who was worth listening to was the Muslim woman early on who never got to talk again. The rest of the time was divided between the fundies, who couldn't decide whether to conquer government or each other; Dawkins, de Sousa (great job), and the guy who had to shout down Porky Pig to get a word in; and the moderates, who quickly found themselves marginalized by standing for absolutely nothing. As far as that moderate/relativist/god-is-love blather goes, to quote Stephen Colbert, "That's not gonna sell any books."

That piece succeeded in showing two strong positions -- one rational, the other harebrained -- and the risible irrelevance of the middle ground. Too funny.