1. CBC News: Sunday - Richard Dawkins

Comment #100695 by Murray Keedis on December 19, 2007 at 6:13 am

Solomon was his tiresome self. He could have done some research beforehand and actually had a debate with Richard. Instead, he looked like a first-year university student who took one course on religion and thinks he's an authority.

I saw Solomon interview Margaret Atwood - she does not suffer fools - and again, Solomon was ill-prepared. I thought at one point she was going to slap him.

Wozza, I'm pleased you would have given Richard a harder time. Then we would have at least had a debate. But what was wrong with the lust analogy? Did it make you blush? Are you one of those godbots who thinks sex is dirty and for procreative purposes only?

Dawkins receives the accolades he does because he is eloquent, thoughtful and an excellent spokesman for atheism. But I can tell you, unlike being part of a religion, we atheists can disagree with each other, challenge each other and not face excommunication (or death...)

2. The empty myths peddled by evangelists of unbelief

Comment #97494 by Murray Keedis on December 12, 2007 at 7:36 am

Again with the "militant atheist" phrase.

Just so people like Gray and Donohue aren't made to be liars when they speciously make this horrendous and wildly inaccurate comment, I'm going to start punching them in the face every time they say "militant atheist".

3. 'Boycott Worked': Compass Flops - Opening Weekend $26 Million; Narnia $63 Million

Comment #97489 by Murray Keedis on December 12, 2007 at 7:31 am

Donohue proves that the Catholic Church still hates free speech. He'd prefer us to shut up and keep to ourselves.

And what's a "militant atheist"? Merely being outspoken now qualifies for militancy? By that ridiculous standard, Donohue is a militant Catholic. What a tragic use of the word.

Finally, I'd be interested to see a list of the scientific endeavours promoted by the Catholic Church. I'm ignoring "goodwill" and "human rights" for the time being as these are rather subjective notions.

4. Bill O'Reilly Interviews Lori Lipman Brown

Comment #96213 by Murray Keedis on December 10, 2007 at 7:06 am

I would love never to see Falafel Bill's name in print or his blotchy, angry visage on TV or his petulant, hate-mongering voice on radio. He is one angry dude; which is odd because he's part of the establishment - white, Christian, Anglo.

How many times has he experienced being in a position that to speak out would label him a "whiner"? And think of all those "whiners" in recent American history: Rosa Parks and MLK? Whiners. Muhammad Ali? Whiner. Those who finally took down Sen. McCarthy? Whiners. Vietnam War protesters? Whiners. Those who impeached Nixon? Whiners. Those who continue to fight for equality and civil rights? Whiners.

Roll back about 160 years, Bill O'Reilly would have been another drunken "mick" - part of an Irish invasion that wasn't warmly welcomed. When the Irish, new to America, wanted to be treated with respect, I wonder if they were called whiners. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_American

Bill O'Reilly is certainly a master debater. Scream, rant, tell people to "shut up", cut of mics, interrupt, threaten dissenters with Fox "security" - all tactics that prove he's an insecure, pea-brained, proto-human at best and a Ted-Haggard-lovin'-Rush-Limbaugh-worshipin'-GW-Bush-lickspittle-unthinkin'-drone-of-the-state at worst. Not much separates Bill from his media-censoring counterparts in the parts of the world, such as Iran, that keep Bill awake at night (when he's not calling female employees and sexually harassing them).

History will either forget this small, rage-monkey or he'll be remembered as leading the vanguard of everything that was wrong with America and the West in the late-20th, early 21st centuries.

5. Mitt Romney's Faith In America address (as prepared for delivery)

Comment #95003 by Murray Keedis on December 7, 2007 at 6:30 am

I don't think Mitt has much of a chance, but the Dems and Reps are fielding some silly, silly people.

And our PM in Canada is an evangelical godbot. At least many of us scratch our heads and feel annoyed when the PM ends his speeches with "god bless Canada". Or, we feel that way for now. It used to be that one's political campaign was doomed if faith was professed on the campaign trail.

6. The Pagan Christ

Comment #94997 by Murray Keedis on December 7, 2007 at 6:21 am

Monoape, the CBC stands for the "Canadian Broadcasting Corporation". This was aired on a mainsream channel in a primetime slot.

Harpur's book, "The Pagan Christ", was also a best-seller in Canada. The booked generated (and continues to generate) a fair amount of debate regarding the (non) existence of Christ and Christianity's co-opting of other religious traditions, festivals and icons. A fascinating read.

Harpur, incidentally, is not an atheist. He's a former Anglican minister who is disgusted by the literal treatment of the Bible.

7. Sean Hannity with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #54872 by Murray Keedis on July 9, 2007 at 7:52 am

As I've said before, I think Hitch is an excellent spokesman for atheism. Articulate, gets to the point and refuses to be shouted down by pious nutcases and blustering, red-faced theo-cons.

It's not about appealing to the religious folk. And perhaps his polemical style will turn away a few fence-sitters, but I think it's important that we have a voice. Hitch, by being his impish self, and Dawkins, Dennett and Harris, have helped to give the rest of us courage to speak our minds in the face of respect for religion and loathing for atheism.

8. Bush Vetoes Measure on Stem Cell Research

Comment #51330 by Murray Keedis on June 22, 2007 at 11:29 am

So, a blastocyst is now the tiniest of human beings? I'm sure it won't be long before atoms, if issued from people, become known as human beings.
With respect to Shrub, never mind Iraq. His record as the governor most enthralled with executing state prisoners is well-known. If Bush truly believes that "all human life is sacred", why does state sanctioned murder switch him on?

9. Bill O'Reilly and Kirk Cameron on Atheism

Comment #51304 by Murray Keedis on June 22, 2007 at 8:49 am

Loved the edits to this video. Someone should utilize a measure of evil genius and play this clip on Faux News.

O'Reilly once made me seethe. Now, I find him good for a few laughs. I'm betting it won't be long before he gets "Haggard" again (ie, preaching one way of living while secretly living another.) Odin's Beard, the man was an "anchor" on "Hard Copy", chasing hookers with hidden cameras and sifting through Michael Jackson's garbage. And now he hosts a show that would wither and die without it being an all-spin zone (when he's not sexually harassing co-workers)

Robert Maynard, as usual, your post is a beautiful thing.

Actually, reading through many of the posts on RD Net, I think we atheists are a riot. Far from being angry, humour appears to be our forte.

10. Republican candidates range from ignorant to dishonest, part 2

Comment #48520 by Murray Keedis on June 8, 2007 at 8:40 am

Jon Stewart has a wonderful way of making us feel everything is going to be alright, because at least we can laugh at rampant and unyielding stupidity.

In Canada, one's political career was in ashes if one invoked religion. When Stockwell Day, leader of the uber-right-wing Alliance Party (now the Conservatives and Canada's "new" government) said that he believed that the Earth was 6,000 years old, he was destroyed in the media. He's now a cabinet minister in Canada's minority Tory government.

The Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has taken to ending his speeches with "god bless Canada". He's surrounded himself with evangelicals, holds court with religious fanatics and is personally opposed to same-sex marriage, abortion rights and stem cell research - hard-fought victories that distinguish us from our brothers and sisters to the south (sorry Americans, no offence intended).

For some interesting reading on the infiltration of the religious right in Canada's government, check out this article in the Walrus:
http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2006.10-politics-stephen-harper-and-the-theocons/

11. Don't Know Much Biology

Comment #48256 by Murray Keedis on June 7, 2007 at 7:49 am

A puny, runt of a museum recently opened in Canada's red-neck province, Alberta. Founded and funded by a chap who toils in oil, this 900 square foot building celebrates the "science" of creationism. It's nowhere near as grand and wearying as the Kentucky Museum of Egregious Lies (or whatever the Hades that edifice to fundamentalist creationist-mongering is called) but it's still bizarre to see a monument of monumental error erected by a man who makes a living off remains of ancient life.

In an article in Canada's national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, a tea-shoppe owner was quoted, offering profound scientific wisdom and analysis, saying that the Earth couldn't be over 4 billion years old – it just couldn't be. No word, other than her absolute and blind abidance in the Word, why she thinks this is so.

This is a wonderful article by Prof. Coyne and I hope to see more scientists coming forward with this brilliant and thoughtful line of reasoning.

I just started reading "The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science" by Natalie Angier. Horrified by rampant illiteracy in science, Angier wrote this book with the hopes of getting people to become acquainted with science and shelf superstitions and unenlightened "opinion". As one scientist said: "Unfortunately, people often regard science…as a matter of opinion. I do or don't like George Bush, I do or don't believe in evolution. It doesn't matter why I don't believe in evolution, it doesn't matter what the evidence is, I just don't believe in it."

12. What I Think About Evolution

Comment #46691 by Murray Keedis on June 1, 2007 at 6:30 am

Kansas and Kentucky have earned the title "Most Backward States in the Union". When the Kansas school board was busy mounting a case to add intelligent design (it's neither "intelligent" nor "design". Discuss) to the science curriculum, I recall reading a Time magazine column penned by Stephen Jay Gould (may Apollo praise him) noting that Kansas students should not be permitted entry to any institution of higher learning because they were now ill-equipped.
Brownback says many narrow-minded things but he certainly knows how to play to his room temperature IQ electorate.
The Flintstones, Senator Sam, was not a documentary.
PS: Luthien, I love your avatar. I must get that printed on a shirt!

13. Hitchens on Falwell, Part 2

Comment #43742 by Murray Keedis on May 22, 2007 at 12:08 pm

We don't get Faux News in Canada (at least through regular cable). And if we did I'd never watch it. Loathsome bullies such Hannity and O'Reilly make this "news" station a global joke. But Hitch, oh Hitch how I love thee. You manage to subdue the most blustery, red-faced oppressors with your eloquence and your brilliantly conveyed messages.
The times I've caught Faux, snippets on YouTube usually, I've seen otherwise venerable guests jabbed by O'Reilly's elbows and drenched with Hannity's fury-induced spittle.
But you sir, never lose your temper. You put these intellectual midgets in their sputtering places.
As with Professor Dawkins, for whom I have nothing but respect for this soft-spoken genius, Hitch is a magnificent spokesman for us atheists.
Forward!