1. Should We Rid The Mind of God? A Debate

Comment #198408 by blasphemer on June 23, 2008 at 7:43 pm

Why do I torture myself listening to another McGrath debate!?
Atkins is so right when he points out that McGrath just wants there to be a god to provide meaning and comfort for his life. McGrath provides the evidence for this himself in his discourse.

2. The Flea Delusion

Comment #197661 by blasphemer on June 22, 2008 at 12:52 pm

If writing flea books is this easy I might just have a go myself. Got to be an easier way to make money than academia surely?

Writing books isn't the way to get rich, unless you are fortunate enough to write a blockbuster. My father-in-law wrote, along with another author, the book "Quantum Enigma, physics encounters consciousness." The book is meant to be a popular book which discusses the apparent paradoxes of the quantum realm. Both authors are professors of Physics at UC Santa Cruz. The book got an interesting mixture of reviews and a decent amount of press but my father-in-law has seen little proceeds from sales.

3. Teacher tortures, kills boy

Comment #186926 by blasphemer on May 31, 2008 at 8:33 pm

Anyone who has watched "Jesus Camp" knows that Muslims don't hold a monopoly of the systematic abuse of their children in the name of religion, but I've yet to read about anything similar in any western country.

Well, if you count exorcisms as similar, then we have a similar kind of insanity here in the U.S. too. Not too long ago there were reported a few incidents of children being tortured to death while the dedicated believers tried to cast out the demons.

Beyond this, it is sickening that the most vulnerable in society are preyed upon by religious ideologues and "taught" absolutely nothing of practical value.

4. Humans nearly wiped out 70,000 years ago, study says

Comment #168565 by blasphemer on April 25, 2008 at 7:55 am

j.mills wrote:

Why doesn't Hollywood realise that good science makes better movies than bad science?

Because it takes more creativity to try to really imagine what our ancestors were actually like and what they actually did than to come up with nonsense.

Consider for example the recent movie 10,000 BC. This could have been a truly visionary movie about the state of some part of the world at that time with characters that experienced realistic struggles. Instead they turned it into a comic book movie.

Producers have no huevos and we end up with uninspiring garbage at the theaters.

5. Hitchens vs. Hitchens

Comment #157245 by blasphemer on April 8, 2008 at 7:03 pm

Regarding the old Stalin atheist argument it occurred to me that if you wanted absolute power and authority, you would do well either to recruit long-established authoritarian institutions like the church to your side or, if they were unwilling to go along, to destroy them; you don't want a competing dogma to the new dogma you're trying to establish.

Isn't this exactly what the god of the old testament did? Didn't he order his followers to destroy all other gods, largely be destroying all the worshipers of those gods?

If you're looking for a totalitarian model, don't look to Stalin and Mao, look to the original inspiration for those demigods, the original bad-a$$ god of the old testament.

6. Richard Dawkins and Alister McGrath

Comment #149776 by blasphemer on March 26, 2008 at 8:14 am

Listening to this (I'm only about 30% through) remind me of the old hamburger commercial:

Where's the beef, McGrath?

His arguments are without meat.

Smoke and mirrors come to mind too.

7. Cutting Edge: Baby Bible Bashers

Comment #129959 by blasphemer on February 19, 2008 at 8:15 pm

The only thing that father of the "little man of god" sees is dollar signs. Disgusting exploitation.

8. Interview with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #93624 by blasphemer on December 3, 2007 at 6:41 pm

Nice interview but couldn't really tell if the interviewers were being sincere or slightly condescending and disingenuous.

I've heard from a friend that the book is already available on audible.com (though I haven't verified this for myself yet.) If so, I'll have another heathen book to listen to on my way to work :-)

9. What do these atheists understand of religion?

Comment #73358 by blasphemer on September 24, 2007 at 9:20 pm

Not to detract from the thread (too much), but there is some evidence that the pyramids weren't built by slave labor but by paid laborers. This doesn't detract from the fact that they were paid by a man with a highly inflated ego.

Besides, even if great constructions were "inspired" by beliefs in man-made fairy tales, does that enhance them or point out the follies of mankind?

As far as appreciating my (one and only) life, I often marvel that I exist in this amazing universe and have the capacity to appreciate and understand some small part of it. To think that many of the atoms in my body were born of exploding stars connects me to the cosmos in a way that no theology can.

10. Against the grain: There are questions that science cannot answer

Comment #71920 by blasphemer on September 20, 2007 at 12:12 am

My first thought reading this drivel was that this person has no knowledge of evolution or of Richard Dawkins. Incredible inanity.

11. Charles Brooker's screen burn

Comment #62983 by blasphemer on August 12, 2007 at 7:02 pm

Seems to me darwin2 is trolling and caught lots of fish, including me.

12. Using the 'Beauties of Physics' to Conquer Science Illiteracy

Comment #57242 by blasphemer on July 18, 2007 at 4:21 pm

I teach Mathematics at a local 2-year (community) college. Not long ago while in my early 40's I decided to work for an M.S. in Physics both because I've always enjoyed the subject and wanted to enhance my understanding of it and also so that I could teach Physics in addition to Mathematics at my school.

I completed all the coursework with high grades (usually A's) by being able to do well on exams. Even though I did very well on exams, I can honestly say that I never really felt like I truly "mastered" the material or had a profound understanding of it from my point of view.

These courses tend to move through the material so quickly that time for rumination on it is minimal.

As a teacher I've found that the best way to really get a deep sense of a subject is to teach it to others many times. I really feel I have a good understanding of elementary Calculus but I continue struggling with my comprehension of Physics. This struggle is enjoyable for me since I like trying to understand the principles of Physics as they relate to the world about us.

13. Town Hall Seattle: God Is Not Great

Comment #57210 by blasphemer on July 18, 2007 at 2:48 pm

I enjoyed this, as usual, but hoped for more in response to the question about what social outlet could replace church-going were religion to lose popularity.

Even though many church-goers may not adhere to the strict tenets of their religion, I think many "belong" to a church for the social interaction it provides. It seems today that their are fewer and fewer social outlets for a lot of people and many may feel disenfranchised from the community. Churches provide a welcoming place for such individuals and this might be the appeal for many people to belong to such institutions.

If their were more secular organizations that provided the same social experiences people might feel more comfortable about leaving their religion.

I listen regularly to "The Atheist Experience" and "Non-prophets" podcasts put out by members of The Atheist Community of Austin. This organization does provide this type of social support through many local activities and events. I wish I lived closer to Austin so that I could partake in them myself.