1. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #241673 by bruce on September 3, 2008 at 1:16 am

The Iraq invasion is "God's Plan"? Whatever you say governor. Yes she is a religious conservative nutjob, which is exactly why she was pushed on McCain.

The one criticism of Sam's article I have is the line "McCain has so little respect for the presidency of the United States that he is willing to put the girl next door (soon, too, to be a grandma) into office beside him."

What does it matter whether she is a grandmother or not? Her daughter's pregnancy has no relevance on her ability to be the VP. Not that I think she has any business being the VP, but bringing up this argument stinks of sexism to me.

2. Anti-gay Okla. lawmaker attracts 1,000 backers

Comment #154711 by bruce on April 3, 2008 at 3:33 pm

"Anti-gay Okla. lawmaker attracts 1,000 backersbigots"

There, I fixed that headline for you.

3. Huckabee Stands by Christmas Campaign Ad

Comment #102679 by bruce on December 23, 2007 at 11:53 am

Forgive me, but I thought that was the point of the whole day

Oh yeah, because kids everywhere can't wait to wake up on Christmas morning and open their presents from Jesus. And if I recall correctly, Frosty the Snowman was actually one of the three Wise Men.

Sorry, but Christmas has been secularized. You guys tried to force your religious holiday on the rest of us and it got watered down to the point where it lost all of its original religious meaning. Now you want to cry and moan over how nobody remembers that its Jesus' supposed birthday anymore. Well, you should have thought of that before you tried to impose it on the rest of us. That's one of the reasons for having a separation of church and state. It not only protects the state, but it protects your precious religion from state/secular interference as well.

4. 'Christian God is not to blame'

Comment #102632 by bruce on December 23, 2007 at 10:38 am

the archbishop reminds Christians that the birth of Jesus is a symbol of helplessness and hope.

I agree. Jesus is powerless to help you but yet you still hope that he will. What a great marketing device. Convince people to give you their money and their minds and you don't have to provide anything in return except for hope. Wish I would have thought of it.

5. Survey finds most Americans believe Jesus born of virgin

Comment #102318 by bruce on December 22, 2007 at 10:39 am

Except for atheists and agnostics, of whom just 15 percent took the virgin birth story as historically true

I don't think you get to call yourself and atheist or agnostic if you think this is true. On the other hand, I know some self-proclaimed agnostics who are into the healing power of crystals and whatnot.

6. Borders Tags Atheist Book with 'O Come All Ye Faithless' Cards

Comment #100359 by bruce on December 18, 2007 at 2:20 pm

"Our customers are intelligent, curious people who enjoy exploring all types of books and music."

Did anyone else see this statement as a slight jab at the religious sheep out there?

I don't really see how this bashes Christians? It's just simple word play on an expression. It doesn't say "Oh come, kill all Christians" or anything negative like that. Oh yeah, I forgot, if it doesn't praise God then it is negative by default.

7. CBC News: Sunday - Richard Dawkins

Comment #100188 by bruce on December 18, 2007 at 11:19 am

I think Richard did an excellent job of handling this bufoon.

I think he could have done a better job with the Stalin argument though. The thing to remember here is that atheism isn't necessarily a philosophy on how to live your life like religion provides. Atheism merely means that you reject the supernatural. Thus, if you are an atheist, you have to develop an alternative philosophy. I think most of us would probably call ourselves (secular) humanists, which while it does not have a strict "bible" to live by does have general principles, of which political violence and repression is not one of them. Stalin was definitely not a humanist. I don't know if there is a perfect label for Stalin, but since "atheist" describes very little about his actual philosophy of life, it is not an appropriate label and thus can't be used to justify the whole Stalin argument to begin with. We're arguing apples and oranges here.

And as far as body counts go, it seems obvious to me that the technology of the 20th century drastically increased the ability to kill people. Thus, it is unfair to compare actual numbers since before the 20th century they just didn't have the means to kill on the massive scale that we do now.

As far as the altruism question goes, why should I be good to perfect strangers? Well, I like to think of it as what comes around goes around. In other words, if I do a good deed for someone I don't know, then they will hopefully be willing to do a good deed for someone they don't know and so on and so on and then one day one of those people in the chain will do a good deed for me. It's sort of like setting a good example. If everyone does it, then those who don't will stand out a whole lot more and can be dealt with accordingly. Thus, the incentive is to be nice if you want to get along in society. Of course there will always be some who just don't care and they can have their miserable lives for all I care.

8. U.S. Congress Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith

Comment #97977 by bruce on December 12, 2007 at 11:54 pm

If a law is made that violates the seperation, then the supreme court will declare it unconstitutional.

Actually, the Supreme Court gets to define just what is a violation of Separation and what isn't. With the current makeup on the court, that Wall of Separation will most likely be lowered. If Bush gets any more appointments to the Court, I'm guessing that the old Wall will be lowered quite dramatically. There are several Supremes who can't quite find a Wall in the Constitution. It's more like a speed bump to them, designed to slow you down just a little but it won't stop you. You think Bush is destructive now as president. His legacy on the Supreme Court will probably last for the next 15-20 years, taking this fine country down with it.

9. Bill O'Reilly Interviews Lori Lipman Brown

Comment #95613 by bruce on December 8, 2007 at 7:16 pm

Bill O'Slimy wouldn't get upset if the tables were turned??? And this is the same guy who "whines" about the so-called war on Christmas every year. He's in the majority and he's already whining. He'd probably be a suicide bomber if he were in the minority.

10. Papal encyclical attacks atheism, lauds hope

Comment #92316 by bruce on November 30, 2007 at 9:21 am

"It is no accident that this idea has led to the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice," the Pope said. Such a concept was grounded in "intrinsic falsity".

Take a look at the most progressive and free countries in the world today and most of them have a secular form of government. I think that is no accident either.

11. Poll finds more Americans believe in devil than Darwin

Comment #92313 by bruce on November 30, 2007 at 9:13 am

USA! USA! #1! #1!

OK, I keed.

Seriously, I have a co-worker who pulled his daughter out of public school and went the home school route recently. Bet you can't guess why?

Yep, they're born-agains and didn't like what the school was teaching in science class. I hope the poor girl can overcome her miseducation someday (and possibly the religious brainwashing too).

12. What the New Atheists Don't See

Comment #84261 by bruce on November 1, 2007 at 3:14 pm

God bided his time, but got Bradlaugh in the end.

Yeah, because nobody ever dies.

13. The Religious Right's New Tactics for Invading Public Schools

Comment #77517 by bruce on October 9, 2007 at 1:24 pm

These people sure are attention whores. Why do they insist on having to make everyone else listen to their religious blabbering? Is saying a quiet prayer by yourself not good enough for God? Do you have to make a public nuisance out of yourself and insist that everyone else hear you before God will be satisfied? I'm convinced that it is not prayer that these people are concerned with but rather access to minds for brainwashing.

14. VOTE on the 'Faith smackdown': Richard Dawkins vs Francis Collins

Comment #71653 by bruce on September 19, 2007 at 12:18 pm

I actually feel a little sorry for Collins because this is one of those "no contest" things that really shouldn't even be fought in the first place because one of the contestants is so weak that it isn't a fair fight. But I guess if you write a book spouting off about such nonsense then you probably deserve what you get.

15. Another view

Comment #66215 by bruce on August 29, 2007 at 11:06 am

This guy calls himself a doctor??? Where did he get his certificate, out of a Cracker Jack box?

16. Arrogance, dogma and why science - not faith - is the new enemy of reason

Comment #61781 by bruce on August 6, 2007 at 9:35 pm

The Bible provides a picture of a rational Creator

Yah, when he's not PMSing (sorry for the stereotyping gals).

17. Interview with Michael Behe

Comment #61048 by bruce on August 3, 2007 at 12:25 pm

OMFG, that mousetrap analogy is just ridiculous. Maybe someone needs to clue Behe into the fact that mousetraps don't biologically reproduce, they are designed because they are inanimate objects incapable of evolving in the first place. I guess the abstinence only education in our public schools is contributing to even more ignorance than I originally feared. Although, to be fair, I can see how he would get confused seeing as he is basically a puppet for creationists.

18. CNN Debate on Koran in Toilet

Comment #60276 by bruce on August 1, 2007 at 12:53 pm

I don't care how much time they devote to a subject, I can never get much out of these TV debates. The hosts are the worst, they never ask decent questions.

19. The US map of faith

Comment #55651 by bruce on July 11, 2007 at 9:56 pm

if you guys legalize prostitution, then Portland will be, like, Amsterdam?

krogercomplete is right about the strip clubs and from what I hear the city turns a blind eye toward the sex workers as long as they keep it relatively discrete and off the streets. And the pressure is on to legalize gambling within the city, so we may soon become the Sin City of the world :-)

Not sure what pumping your own gas has to do with personal rights and I much prefer to pay a higher income tax than get nickled and dimed every time I buy something. Besides, sales taxes aren't very progressive. And you can definitely get a gun if you need one.

20. The US map of faith

Comment #55585 by bruce on July 11, 2007 at 3:23 pm

I moved from Virginia to Portland, Oregon in my Toyota Yaris and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have lived here 8 months and only seen one street preacher!

And I bet you he got heckled and laughed at at least as much as any one took him seriously. By the way, welcome to Rose City.

As krogercomplete pointed out, we still have our share of churches here in Oregon, in fact there have been a couple big ones completed in the past couple of years out here in the burbs where I live. And I'm guessing that I probably have a few neighbors who go to them, but they never mention it. Religion around here is for the most part a private thing, people don't feel the need to make public displays of their faith.

Now, I must admit that Oregon is not perfect, there is one thing that shames me as an Oregonian. A few years ago, just enough of the voters were fooled into voting for an anti-gay marriage ballot measure that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. It was spearheaded by a local Religious Right group that every once in a while tries to pass anti-gay measures. We've always fended them off in the past but this time a small majority was able to push it through. But I really do think that soon we will come around and reverse that decision. In general, we Oregonians don't like to be dicked around by religious special interest groups. After all, we are the only state that allows doctor-assisted suicide and we have medical marijuana. And our governor just signed a Civil Unions bill a couple of months ago.

My guess is that we have both gay marriage and legalized marijuana within the next ten years. Hopefully that will be enough to drive the remaining fundies out and we can have a real freethinking homeland.

21. The US map of faith

Comment #55555 by bruce on July 11, 2007 at 2:11 pm

As this map shows and as I've been telling people for years, Oregon is one of the most irreligious states in the country, and my county (Washington) is as light yellow as can be. You want to live in a place with mild climate year round (except for the past few days where it has been over 100 degrees), nice green forests, no sales tax and little to no religious influence, then Oregon is the place to be.

Dang, I've said too much, now y'all will be moving here real soon. Our state motto is "Oregon, it's a nice place to VISIT", especially if you are from California :-)

22. Supreme Court nixes suit over faith-based plan

Comment #51891 by bruce on June 25, 2007 at 1:38 pm

With the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, President Bush says he wants to level the playing field. Religious charities and secular charities should compete for government money on an equal footing.

What a completely dishonest statement. Religious charities can already compete with secular charities on an even playing field, and in fact, many already do. What certain religious charities want is to be able to discriminate against classes of people and also to push their religious views on the people they are helping all with the aid of government funding. Hence, the faith-based initiative is not meant to even the playing field but rather is meant to open the door to federally funded religious discrimination and indoctrination. It is the religious organizations who want special treatment because they don't want to have to compete on equal footing.

23. Teaching assistant quit in protest at Harry Potter

Comment #48658 by bruce on June 8, 2007 at 4:57 pm

I just don't know how Christians are able to survive all this discrimination. Maybe some day they will have enough political power to vote fellow Christians into office and help them push through their religious agenda. It must suck to be a religious minority. Christian, the new Black.

24. Gay flamingos pick up chick

Comment #44763 by bruce on May 25, 2007 at 9:02 am

I'm sure with a little religious therapy we can straighten those birds out. If we don't do something soon their adopted chick will catch the gay as well!

25. Comic in US 'hate speech' row

Comment #44757 by bruce on May 25, 2007 at 8:59 am

If that's hate speech then I probably deserve the death penalty.

26. Among the Disbelievers

Comment #40736 by bruce on May 14, 2007 at 8:31 pm

But while united in their resolve to throw the bum out--God, that is--the antireligious forces appear to have given little thought to what to replace Him with should He go.

I have never really understood this position. Do people who believe in a god really look to their god to fill every waking moment of their life with meaning? Of course not (except for the truly insane fundies). I bet you that the average Christian spends very little time each day thinking about their god, yet they still manage to get by just fine. And all atheists manage to live without a god as well. So really, there is very little that needs replacing.

27. Anderson Cooper interviews Christopher Hitchens

Comment #39446 by bruce on May 10, 2007 at 4:55 pm

I definitely like him better when he is coherent and not drunk.

28. Atheist offers to send letters post-Rapture

Comment #38868 by bruce on May 9, 2007 at 11:11 am

I think another good idea would be a post-rapture pet sitting service. Unless I'm wrong, I don't think our furry friends are going to heaven with us, so somebody has to feed and water them.

29. The God disunion: there is a place for faith in science, insists Winston

Comment #34818 by bruce on April 25, 2007 at 11:15 am

The God disunion: there is a place for faith in science

Agreed, in the very back of the room sitting quietly and taking notes.

30. 'The Day They Kicked God out of the Schools' & Rebuttal

Comment #34203 by bruce on April 23, 2007 at 1:55 pm

I just have one question for Christians: How do you kick God out of schools??? I thought he was everywhere and knew everything.

31. Where Is Atheism When Bad Things Happen?

Comment #33273 by bruce on April 19, 2007 at 7:20 pm

To no one's surprise, Dawkins has not been invited to speak to the grieving Virginia Tech community.

I'm confused. Nothing against Richard, I know he is a very eloquent speaker, but why would VT invite Richard Dawkins to speak to the grieving community??? Wouldn't they rather have people who are familiar and influential within the community?

What this tells me is that if it's difficult to know where God is when bad things happen, it is even more difficult for atheism to deal with the problem of evil.

Wow, this guy really picked a bad example to try and bash atheists and materialism. It looks like the guy had had mental problems for a while and didn't get adequate treatment. Plus, because there were no background checks, he was able to legally purchase guns even with his past history. That's a pretty easy explanation for this problem of evil. I don't see where the difficulty is?

What a complete douchebag.

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

Comment #33246 by bruce on April 19, 2007 at 5:10 pm

Just as many scientists won't debate creationists because it may give creationism a sense of legitimacy, I think Dawkins should avoid Fox News for the same reason. Sure I'll watch it, but I'm not expecting much from O'Lielly. Of course Dawkins can hold his own, but I'm guessing that this is not going to be live and they will edit the segment to make that asshat of a human being look like he got the best of you.

Have fun. You are now entering the Spin Zone.

33. God, sex, drugs and politics

Comment #22510 by bruce on February 19, 2007 at 3:39 pm

But there is another explanation: that he had the courage to make a politically difficult but sound policy decision.

Well, I guess there is always a chance that a politician will do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, regardless of the fallout. But I don't think I'm alone if I think this is a political move to distance himself from some of the real big wackos (he's still a wacko, he just wants to be seen as "wacko light").

Sorry, you don't get my praise for finally going against the flock one time when you've made a whole career out of herding sheep.

34. 'Friends of God' Documentary

Comment #19888 by bruce on January 30, 2007 at 1:20 pm

Hey, let's try to find a silver lining here. Every society needs its mindless authority obeying grunts to do its dirty work. I figure by the time these kids graduate from high school, President Jeb Bush will be able to use them as cannon fodder in Gulf War III.

35. Blasphemy Challenge on FOX

Comment #19780 by bruce on January 29, 2007 at 10:38 pm

That wasn't an interview, that was a sermon. Why does he keep asking Brian why he is so angry? Brian didn't seem angry to me. The only angry person I saw in that video was the host. And the story about the kids playing basketball, did that even have a point?

Why is it that when a Christian insists that you must accept Jesus as your savior in order to go to heaven, they are merely expressing their fundamental right to their own religious beliefs, but when an atheist denies that Jesus and God exist, they are attacking Christians? Aren't Christians in essence attacking every other religion that doesn't accept Jesus by claiming that they are the only true way to heaven?

36. Secret Life of Brian

Comment #16661 by bruce on January 8, 2007 at 12:22 am

I've always loved Monty Python and Life of Brian is definitely one of my favorites. But after seeing this documentary, I have a new found respect for the Python guys.

37. A Modest Proposal for a Truce on Religion

Comment #11149 by Bruce on December 3, 2006 at 11:27 am

"Moreover, for all the slaughters in the name of religion over the centuries, there is another side of the ledger. Every time I travel in the poorest parts of Africa, I see missionary hospitals that are the only source of assistance to desperate people."

He's talking nonsense. First of all, the single most important charity helping Africans -- by far -- is the Bill Gates Foundation, and Bill Gates is on record as an atheist. Second, apart from any missionary hospitals, there are also hospitals and other services provided by secular charities such as Medicins Sans Frontieres and Oxfam, which, collectively, are more important than the religious charities. Third, charity aside, what help poor Africans the most are remittances (from Africans working abroad) and investment (most of which comes from China right now -- an officially atheist country with a largely irreligious population). Nothing to do with religion.

Bill Gates is the most munificient philanthropist in history, and, as already noted, an atheist. Previous record holder for vastness of charity giving, Andrew Carnegie, was also an atheist. The lie that we need religion for the sake of charity is just that -- a lie. Indeed, what religion tends to do is hijack people's natural philanthrophic inclinations, and divert the money and effort that ought to be be helping in the alleviation of suffering into useless activity.

38. Lunging, Flailing, Mispunching

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39. Home-schooling special: Preach your children well

Comment #8402 by BRuce on November 21, 2006 at 6:08 am

Blaine,
No offense, but exactly how do you have any idea what it is I believe? You don't. Did I say anyone was a christian? I did not. But you, unfortunately, like most of the posters coming from Dawkins site, assume that if someone doesn't accept your atheistic view, it must be because they are one thing or the other, and not because they could possibly be intelligent people who view the evidence and draw a different conclusion that you.

40. Home-schooling special: Preach your children well

Comment #6421 by Bruce on November 14, 2006 at 6:34 am

Wow, there sure are a lot of brilliant scientists on this site. You must all be way more intelligent than Copernicus, Galileo, Planck, Kelvin, Mendel, Faraday, Boyle, Kepler, Newton, Einstein... Only a... What was that again?... "Stupid, ignorant, or insane person" could believe in a God.

41. THANK GOODNESS!

Comment #4731 by Bruce on November 5, 2006 at 4:08 pm

Get Well Soon (and maybe change your diet to improve your health naturally without all that mechanical intervention!)

42. KPFA Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #3607 by Bruce on October 30, 2006 at 4:07 pm

Although I've heard the phrase a million times by now, Dawkins saying "touched by his noodly appendage" made me laugh.

43. Researchers Crusade against American Fundamentalists

Comment #3348 by Bruce on October 27, 2006 at 4:01 pm

OK, I'm going to hear Richard tonight in Portland. I'll be sure not to ask for a hug :-)

44. God knows why faith is thriving

Comment #3061 by Bruce on October 25, 2006 at 9:56 am

"The real difference is that in the past, children were valued as gifts from God, and now they are viewed by many people as instruments of self-gratification."

No, the real difference is that more women now have the ability to control their reproduction and thus can't be forced into perpetual mommy slavery if they would rather do something else.

"It seems perplexing why nature would breed a group of people who see no purpose to life or the universe"

Why is it that religious people have a hard time differentiating between "purpose" and "meaning". You don't need a purpose in order to find meaning. In fact, I'd say that purpose often is detrimental to meaning. If your purpose is merely to do whatever it is you think God commands you to do in order to be rewarded in the next life, then this life practically becomes meaningless.

I think out of all the negative reviewers you have posted so far, this guy may be the dumbest.

45. Misplacing science, displacing God: the fallacies of Dawkinism

Comment #1637 by Bruce on October 14, 2006 at 6:58 pm

God is not a matter of blind faith and any intelligent reader would expect Dawkins to show some attention to detail in assessing the relative probabilities of belief and unbelief, instead of his usual populist swashbuckling rhetorical exaggerations.

Wrong! Any intelligent reader would know that blind faith is the foundation of religion. The burden of proof is on the believer, not Dawkins.

As a matter of fact, an atheist shoulders a far heavier burden of proof than one who believes that there must some kind of explanation for the fact that there is the universe rather than nothing at all.

Didn't you read what I just posted above?

But the act of faith itself - responding to God as loving Creator - is a leap over reason's edge. This does not make it irrational, any more than falling in love is irrational.

Leap over reason's edge == irrational.

Too bad there's no safety net to catch you.

46. The Need to Believe

Comment #1025 by Bruce on October 9, 2006 at 12:05 am

Rod Liddle’s programme on atheism will be shown on Channel 4 later this year

This guy uses lame arguments such as "atheism is a religion" and "atheism killed more people than Christianity ever did" and he is doing a programme on atheism later this year? Yeah, I'm sure that will be real informative.