1. 'Spiritual' dentist fined $10,000

Comment #180165 by Lucas on May 14, 2008 at 10:06 am

I had one of my most mystical experiences ever at the dentist's office one time. It involved a whole hell of a lot of nitrus oxide and a cheesy poster of a polar bear stapled to the ceiling. I became that polar bear, man. It was wild.

2. The Neural Buddhists

Comment #180150 by Lucas on May 14, 2008 at 9:24 am

David Brooks is almost always wrong. I do not respect him very much. And while there is much to argue with in this article, his most basic, general point strikes me as right on. He's got the details all jumbled up and clearly comes from a limited perspective, but I think there is indeed room for a type of 'mystical atheism.' Okay, so twenty of you just spat flames, I know. Your instincts are good, because if I heard that term from anyone other than myself or Sam Harris, I'd think it was New Age bullshit too. I'm quite familiar with Deepak Chopra and his ilk, and the various attempts to merge spirituality with pseudo-science. It's crap. BUT, what I mean is something else entirely, and while I'm not sure I mean anything close to what David Brooks means to say, he does seem to have picked up on something that may be related.

Now, exactly what do I mean by 'mystical atheism'? Well, it's hard to parse out; I've only been thinking about it for a few days. It does not in any way, even in a very loose New Age way, suggest the existence of the supernatural. Nor does it intend to suggest, as Brooks does, that changes in brain chemistry amount to anything other than physical processes. But the hardline atheism we tend to talk around here is unnecessarily strict and closed. The term has come to mean, at least to our detractors, something close minded and unwilling to recognize the mystery of the unknown and the human experience of the numinous. Of course, what we don't know could be anything, and I encourage imaginative ideas about what might be out there (or in there, or in-between there), but without lazily falling into superstition. There is indeed a numinous feeling attainable by humans, and this is most definitely attained by the proper coaxing of the brain, with mediation, LSD, or whatever. So what I hope to mean by 'mystical atheism' is a clear recognition of the falsehood of all religion and superstition merged with an acceptance of mystery and transcendental experience. I think. I would also add that from my understanding of mysticism, most mystics, openly or not, tend not to believe literally in whatever mythical structure they use for their mystical practices. The highest and most practiced Taoists, Kabbalists, and Sufis, know darn well there is no god or gods. That's the difference between mystics and priests (to put it very, perhaps overly, simply).

I'm just floating this out there for a test run to see what you all think.

3. Childish superstition: Einstein's letter makes view of religion relatively clear

Comment #179551 by Lucas on May 13, 2008 at 11:45 am

RD - Do you think you could buy this letter and have it scanned and posted here?


Colwyn - The two creation accounts were written by two different people, or groups of people, at different times. (This is why we need more education in the history of religion.) That's why you get no answer from theists; as far as they're concerned, God wrote it.

4. Atheists are nice people who will roast in hell, says Cardinal

Comment #177803 by Lucas on May 9, 2008 at 6:02 pm

So he'll just let us go to hell and not bother us until then? Awesome. That is a perfectly fair compromise. That should be our new slogan: We're going to hell anyway, just ignore us.

Don Quix - There is a beer volcano, so I'm told. And a stripper factory.

5. My Response to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #177678 by Lucas on May 9, 2008 at 1:16 pm

John Galt - Exactly how much power God and Satan have has always been a logical problem for believers. If God is omnipotent, why is there suffering? Can't he just make it stop? Or is Satan the source of the suffering? Isn't God more powerful than Satan? This is only the tip of the iceberg. It gets worse. I do not encourage you to read much of the biblical exegesis on this point, as it is mind-numbingly stupid, but it's out there, and if you wish, go for it.

I would, however, take a look at the Gnostic Gospels, in particular the Gospel of John (I think, its been awhile). You'll find that in 1st century Egypt many Christians believed in a complex pantheon of various gods, angels, demons, powers, and principalities. If I remember correctly, God created Satan - and some others, Sophia (Wisdom), at least - and then Satan created the earth. So, yeah.

6. My Response to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #177669 by Lucas on May 9, 2008 at 1:03 pm

fides - Yeah, you make good points. But there is something very annoying about people who paint a giant target on their back, always face that target towards everyone, outline it in highlighter, and then get pissed when someone offends them. "Never tell anyone your weaknesses. They will use them against you," said some famous badass who I can't remember. I mean, I've got soft spots, but I'm not about to announce them, much less constantly remind everyone of them. It's deliberate victimhood.

Let's look at three examples. African Americans don't like the "N" word, rightly so. They are offended if someone who is not black uses it in their presence, rightly so. I'm white, and I'M offended if I ever hear that. How many people use the "N" word to the faces of black folks? Very, very few. Why? Well, we could say because racism is gone, or we could be honest and say they would get their asses kicked, by the black person and everyone around them. Freedom of speech; freedom of come uppance; all good. Jews don't like Hitler, rightly so. They are offended if someone mentions him in their presence, rightly so. How many people bring up Hitler with the Jews? A few. Why? Because, while they will probably not get their asses kicked, they will be shunned and ostracized by anyone who hears of it. Muslims don't like cartoon of Muhammed. Rightly so? They kill people when they draw cartoons of Muhammed. Rightly so? Almost no one draws cartoons of Muhammed and mails them directly to Muslim extremists. Why? They may very well blow up your hometown or hunt you down and kill you. Do you see my point? There are different levels of offense, with different levels of righteousness, and different levels of response. Shall we then curb our speech based on how much violence we may get in retaliation? Well, I suppose, but that's not a precedent I'd want to set. If you use the "N" word, you're an idiot, a racist, and a asshole. If you mention Hitler to Jews, you're just an asshole. If you draw Muhammed, you're... a cartoonist?

"If consequences dictate your course of action, I should play God and just shoot you myself." - Tool

7. My Response to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #177555 by Lucas on May 9, 2008 at 9:43 am

Ian - I agree with your points, good of you to make them, but like screeching, bad punctuation and grammar doesn't help one's argument much. Take more care. You actually forgot a verb here and there, and ended questions with periods.

Almost all 120 posts so far were agreeable, so I won't say anything specific to any one of them. I will say that I am unimpressed with anyone using Hitler as a rhetorical tactic, and am disappointed in Richard. But his point was solid. It was an astute comment, and I know it was purposefully provocative, but I think the tactic is below him; I do not agree with some here who suggest it is okay to lower ourselves to the level of debate of our ignorant opponents. Yes, they throw the Hitler crap at us all the time, but we cannot criticize them for it and then do it. I know it feels good to sling the crap back, but we lose out. That said, fuck the hypersensitivity of Jews to the mention of the name Hitler, for so many reasons. 1) He killed more than just Jews, so they should really stop laying exclusive claim to the horrors of the Holocaust, 2) Many, many other genocidal acts have occurred, before and since, including the extermination of Palestinians by Israeli settlers, 3) This sympathy card has been played far too many times, and we should no longer tolerate it. I don't want to be so callous as to say, "Get over it!" I have spoken personally to survivors of the Holocaust. I would not insult or disrespect them in any way, for any reason. But I am fucking sick and tired of Israelis, rabbis, and other pieces of shit pulling out the Holocaust as their get-out-of-anything card. They disgrace the survivors, the dead, and their memory by doing so.

All that aside, I'm all for using whatever weapons we have against the believers. If Jews don't like to be reminded of Hitler, I want to paint little mustaches on every Palestinian child they kill. If Muslims don't like cartoons of their prophet, I want a feature length fully animated movie of his life.If Christians are afraid of satan, I want pentagrams on every surface.

Okay, I just had a vision of a 20-foot animatronic Muhammed with a Hitler mustache and a pentagram carved into its forehead. With glowing red eyes. Heh. Equal opportunity offense.

8. Museums teach society lacking in science literacy

Comment #174109 by Lucas on May 1, 2008 at 4:36 pm

Hypoluxa - Just so you know, I'll be seeing Al and the boys (minus both Paul's, very sad) tonight in NYC. If you want a report, be at 39th and Woodstock tomorrow at 3pm. I'm flying over right after the show. Free beer (and metal). Look for a cowboy hat. (For the rest of you, look up what this dude's name means, and it will all be clear. Sorry to not be making a relevant comment. Dewar's is powerful stuff.)

9. Museums teach society lacking in science literacy

Comment #173734 by Lucas on May 1, 2008 at 7:30 am

I worked at OMSI in Portland, OR for about a year, though sadly, only in the Science Store. I must say it did feel good to see the kids out there learning science, and I used to smoke out back with a biologist who ran some of the bio exhibits. He was always so psyched about making new stuff for the kids to learn from. My only criticism, which I think is widely applicable, is that some of the museum was a little too low-brow, aimed at toddlers, such that 12-yr-olds were bored. It was, and is, too much like a children's museum. Which have their purposes, no doubt, but I often felt like the most science those kids were learning was from the books and games and models and toys I was selling their parents to take home. It was particularly satisfying when parents came in at X-mas and spent $200 on science-learning gifts. How's that for subversion of religious holidays?

10. Religion a figment of human imagination

Comment #171638 by Lucas on April 28, 2008 at 4:32 pm

This is all totally right on. It seems a bit obvious to me, but I'm happy to get some anthropologists on my side. There is indeed a point at which we were physiologically able to imagine, though I think the slow evolution of this occurrence is missed when you think of it as a sudden, single event. I have a theory about what I call 'powerful fictions', but I'll spare you all. It goes along quite nicely with the article above.

Mitchell - You're correct to stress language, and the mental abilities of animals are often underestimated, but I would be careful also of overestimating them. Most creatures on earth are significantly less mentally developed; that is a fact. A few, like whales and dolphins and chimps and elephants, may be awful close to what we can do. "Good luck, and thanks for all the fish!" and all that, sure. But this article is not really about animals. It's about humans, and most likely different groups of humans that evolved at slightly different rates, allowing some to produce art and imaginative stories, as well as lie, con, and grift, at an earlier time. Who do you think won out? Who do you think took advantage of who? It may be that we have since been divided very generally in to the tellers and the listeners. Those of us here interested in the origin of religion should be paying very close attention to this period of human development. Again, I'll mention the bi-cameral mind thing. There may be a link here.

11. Science leads to killing people

Comment #170970 by Lucas on April 28, 2008 at 7:40 am

Wow, what crap. But Stein is not the first celebrity to go bat shit with this stuff. Ever see Kirk Cameron, or MC Hammer, or Chuck Norris, or... Mr. T? I mean, the first two are lame, but those second two are awesome! And yet I've seen them on TV saying the same kind of shit Stein just did. Let's spread our disgust around equally.

(I love you Mr. T. I'm sorry.)

12. Soldier Sues Army, Saying His Atheism Led to Threats

Comment #170592 by Lucas on April 27, 2008 at 8:51 pm

Comment #62 - DamnDirtyApe - Yes, you're on to something there. Rumsfeld and Richard Perle, and a few others, I think, were thinking along those lines, so I heard. There may be no evidence for that though, could just be crackpot, but it does make some sense.

Everybody check out these guys:
www.atheistfoxholes.org/speeches.php

The speeches they have transcribed here are great. I've quoted them in research papers.

My best friend was in a submarine many years ago, and his bunkmate (the dude who used the same bunk while my buddy was awake) found some horror stories (werewolves and cannibals, etc.) and some death metal lyrics (about satan, torture, etc.) in my friend's stuff. He showed them to the chaplain. The chaplain sent my friend to shore for psychiatric evaluation, so he decided he'd had enough of the Navy and pretending to be a baby-eating satanist. He was honorably discharged, to his great joy.

My other buddy was a captain in Iraq round about 2004 or so, and the thing he hated most was the dumb ass evangelicals under his command. You should hear him curse those guys. He's an outspoken man of great size and volume, and, just the opposite of the major in this article, he berated them endlessly whenever they brought up Jesus or God. But then, I'm sure he berated them endlessly about all manner of things.

Some of you have brought up the Air Force. There is a point here worth investigating. Colorado is an interesting state, somewhat starkly half atheist/half fundamentalist Christian. Guess where the Air Force base is? I'm hoping to do some research there, and the Air Force aspect is something I'll have to make a point of looking into. I'd love to hear from anyone here who may have Air Force experience. Also, if anyone has seen A Guy Named Joe with Spencer Tracy... heh. Heaven is the Air Force. God is a general. The pilots are angels.

13. Gunk in T. Rex Fossil Confirms Dino-Bird Lineage

Comment #169261 by Lucas on April 25, 2008 at 4:48 pm

Mould, too. Yes. And lots of other creatures. Apes are just pretty close comparatively.

The creationists problem is not the inability to grasp all this if they were well educated on the subject. It is that their religion codifies an ancient human psychological need: to think of ourselves as above or better than all the other creatures. This may in fact have some evolutionary basis, in that it may have been a psychological necessity so that we could justify killing and eating other creatures (all of this, of course, once we'd developed enough to give a shit.)

14. Mount Vernon schools to hire investigator in Bible case

Comment #169253 by Lucas on April 25, 2008 at 4:43 pm

I'm with ebugogo. This guy must submit to the children he branded branding him with pentagrams. I'll do it myself if they'd rather not smell his flesh.

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

Comment #169231 by Lucas on April 25, 2008 at 4:26 pm

So then, we could have massive nuclear holocaust, leave a couple thousand alive, and bounce back? Well, things are looking up!

Bonzai - You forget us spacefaring folk will also be cloning ourselves, extending our lives and/or becoming cyborgs.

mikethebike - Fully agree, that's what's needed. Will they fund it? No.

95% now. Ha ha we win.

16. Student's 'Be Happy, Not Gay' t-shirt ok

Comment #168588 by Lucas on April 25, 2008 at 8:16 am

I'm a big fan of wearing whatever slogan you wish on your t-shirt, although unfortunately I think this instance exposes a double standard. I can't remember exactly, but there have been many cases where kids have not been able to wear shirts that were far less bigoted. Anybody care to look those up? I have to get to work.


And like I've said before, I'm all for free speech, but it ends where my fist begins -- the Die Hard 2 example -- so I just hope there is someone in that school with the inclination to beat the shit out of that twerp.

17. Lynchings in Congo as penis theft panic hits capital

Comment #167594 by Lucas on April 24, 2008 at 7:29 am

Nighttripper - No, King Missile. See the link provided above for the video.

emmet and irate - Spot on indeed. Africa was a turning point for me. I was trained as a sociologist and anthropologist and historian of religion; we are not to interfere or discourage, merely observe and catalogue. I came away from the place with a bit more salt. Just as the Scottish missionaries had saved them from paganism before me, it seemed that I or someone else should try to save them from both their own tribal religion and the white man's religion that had been forced upon them. The syncritism was fascinating. I almost felt a need to be like an atheist missionary, educating with science, combating superstition. But that rubs me wrong somehow. Who am I to decide what is best for them to believe? Who am I to crush their dreams of salvation while they starve to death and die of AIDS?

18. Lynchings in Congo as penis theft panic hits capital

Comment #166974 by Lucas on April 23, 2008 at 2:20 pm

Can't believe it took me to say this, but...

De-TACH-able PE-nis, da da dun dun, da da dun dun (etc.)

Am I the only one that remembers that song?

More seriously, when I lived in Africa I had a very long talk with my two friends Mack and Mavuto, natives, about the witch that fell out of the sky naked and cursed the village. Without being too mean, I tried to explain to them why this clearly had not happened. When they claimed to be eyewitnesses, I asked them for a description of the witch and the night in question. They, of course, had no details. My mission there was to convince them that condoms would stop them from getting AIDS (Mack and Mavuto were engaged in this effort as well), and this was almost impossible, as their religious folk had told them condoms would make them impotent, or, indeed, their penises would fall off. I got nowhere by trying to explain the AIDS virus to people who have never been told what blood or cells are. These folks, my adopted people, were not stupid. They were simply uneducated, and had been duped by only slightly smarter priests, of both the Catholic and native variety. I don't know which is worse. It seems that in that country, maybe converting to Christianity was a step up, because at least the Christian Africans thought rape and murder were bad things to do, unlike most others.

19. Responses to 'Gods and Earthlings' by Richard Dawkins

Comment #166005 by Lucas on April 22, 2008 at 4:53 pm

Steve, you're taking a hard line, but you're essentially right. Stryer, you're essentially right as well. I think you guys are talking about different kinds of discussions, though, in different contexts.

I'll use myself as an example. Like I said, I'm no scientist, but I read or watch whatever the scientists put into a form my humanities-educated brain can understand. Many of my friends are scientists. I love positing ideas to them based on my lay understanding so that they can explain what's wrong with it. I don't pretend to have a detailed grasp of physics or biology, but I get the basics and have been educated on these subjects both formally and informally.

All of this allows me to make fairly good guesses about stuff like the structure of the cosmos, but I will of course always defer to the experts. I would never dare tell a physicist he was wrong unless I'd worked the problem out for myself using the same science.

So there are different catgories here. Yes, Steve, people with no science knowledge, or even those with some but not a lot like me, should not really be involved in serious discussions about objective reality. But less serious ones, like on this site, sure. We can all speculate, and we are free to ignore the speculations of those who are clearly unknowledgable.

I guess I would also just add that ya ain't gotta be a scientist, but its awful dumb to ignore and refute what they say. I for one am counting on those guys in labs and planetariums to provide me with a cyborg body and faster-than-light spaceship so that I may explore the universe (or multiverse) forever. Keep at it fellas! And ladies! (When I say guys, I mean gals, too.)

20. Responses to 'Gods and Earthlings' by Richard Dawkins

Comment #165925 by Lucas on April 22, 2008 at 3:38 pm

That one could derive comments such as these from the article RD wrote is simply amazing. Some people you just can't reach, no matter how simple you make it.

In my view, based on considerable lay and academic, but not professional, study of astrophysics and the cosmos, the universe is most likely both finite and infinite, both eternal and bound by time. It all kind of depends on what you mean by universe.

The difference between me and the folks above is that I base my theories on, to the best of my understanding, the actual, scientifically observable data. I make no claim to absolute truth or knowledge of reality, just a good solid guess that is ever-changing. Add a little sci-fi imagination, and there are all kinds of possibilities that are far more probable than any God of any kind. There's more likely a Galactus.

21. Pope's Views on Science Invoke Spirited Debate

Comment #165484 by Lucas on April 21, 2008 at 2:04 pm

Yikes, Darth Ratzinger is right. The guy actually kind of looks like Emperor Palpatine, especially the face he makes when he's torturing young Luke with lighting bolts. Man that's creepy.

22. Resentment Over Darwin Evolves Into a Documentary

Comment #165465 by Lucas on April 21, 2008 at 1:47 pm

Let me reiterate what someone else pointed out before: Ben Stein also was/is a supporter of Nixon and Kissinger. He really considers Kissinger to be a hero. He is bat-shit crazy. Does he actually believe all this crap? Yes. He is bat-shit crazy.

And I, for one, am done with this subject. It's over. We've beat it to death here. They've already managed to get far more attention than they deserve from us. They are pathetic and have no hope of winning this debate, so one final chuckle, and we should drop it. I won't be clicking on any more articles on this site that tell me more stupid shit about these morons. We've made a mountain out of a mole hill, and I'm prepared to bury it.

23. Mecca should become core to measure time zones: scholars

Comment #165458 by Lucas on April 21, 2008 at 1:41 pm

Okay, hey, move a line of measurement from one arbitrary place to another arbitrary place, fine. Who friggin' cares? But, if you do that, I expect to have access to this new "center of the world." I want to touch the Kaba with my own hands. I can go to Greenwich anytime, so if you move the line, I have to be able to visit that place too. Sound like a fair deal my petty psychopathic friends?

24. Evolution exhibit shows why nobody's perfect

Comment #165446 by Lucas on April 21, 2008 at 1:35 pm

Well, if the number of people that go to this exhibit trumps the number that go to that blasted creation museum, I guess that means we're winning.

25. Yoko Ono, Filmmakers Caught in 'Expelled' Flap

Comment #162672 by Lucas on April 17, 2008 at 7:59 am

1 - This guy Boyce is a prick and a bad journalist. Kudos for his retraction? NO. Shame on him for jumping to conclusions. It's odd, because many days ago we discussed this issue here and we all assumed they had used the song without permission, NOT that Yoko had sold out and colluded with these dipshits. Which leads us to...

2 - Can we stop the Yoko hate, yet? Finally? Fellas? If you love John, and I do, then show him some respect and stop demonizing the woman he loved. I know some of you are still all butt-hurt about the Beatles, but it has been a long time, and honestly, the best thing John ever did was leave that hack Paul behind. And speaking of hacks...

3 - I have little respect for the Killers, who are most likely soulless hacks. However, I don't know that for sure, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they probably have no freaking idea about any of this. Do you think they have any say over the licensing of their songs? No. Their record company does. That's what they get for signing on. Them's the brakes.

26. Victims: Pope Benedict Protects Accused Pedophile Bishops

Comment #161813 by Lucas on April 15, 2008 at 5:58 pm

CraigB - Those were my words exactly. The assumption seems to be that they are pedophiles before they are priests, whereas I've always assumed repressed sexuality might have something to do with it. Does celibacy warp one's sense of sexual taboo? Hmm.

27. British schools are falling for the pseudoscience of Brain Gym. Why fill kids' heads with nonsense?

Comment #160841 by Lucas on April 14, 2008 at 1:09 pm

TonyA - Right. Point taken. Duh. Still though, it'd be nice if it didn't say "by Guardian".

28. British schools are falling for the pseudoscience of Brain Gym. Why fill kids' heads with nonsense?

Comment #160659 by Lucas on April 14, 2008 at 8:59 am

Does it say the author's name somewhere in the article, or do you guys just know it? I looked for it, but it only refers to Charlie at the end. Often there seems to be no author listed in articles here, and I think that should change. It's just nice to know who I'm reading.

Tyler - The Wii can be exercise; try doing the boxing game for an hour, nonstop, actually standing and boxing instead of just flicking the controller from the couch, with weighted wristbands.

Sadly, in the US our schools have almost done away with PE entirely, and thus, doing Brain Gym would actually probably get our fat, stupid little kids in better shape, both physically and mentally. For real.

29. Reviews of Expelled

Comment #158197 by Lucas on April 10, 2008 at 7:45 am

"In the US, agnostics/atheists/secularists/scientists are a tiny band of underfunded eccentrics in comparison to the mind-boggling financial power of the Christian Right."

Discipline - Wow are you wrong about that! Take a look at the ARIS survey. Or Mark Silk's books on religion and public life. Or maybe the USA Today map I've posted several times. Do a little math. Funding aside, the number of non-believers in the US is far, far larger than Evangelical Christians. Yes, they've managed to gather more money and political influence recently, but the latter is waning big time and the former, well: How many of these folks do you think are rich? Have you been to a megachurch? Non-believers do not lack numbers or money; just organization and focus. To some degree, we are all engaged in addressing that here.

30. Anti-evolution bill clears another hurdle

Comment #157558 by Lucas on April 9, 2008 at 9:04 am

As Jim said, "The west is the best." I live in the NE too, but the NW is the best part of the US. Especially for non-believers. Look at the stats.

http://www.usatoday.com/graphics/news/gra/gnoreligion/flash.htm

There are only about 5 or 6 states that I have never been to, and Florida is one of them. Most of the rest share a border with Florida. I really have no intention of ever going there. Some of the other states are worth going to, but I just don't see the draw in Florida. Disneyland? Rich old Jews from Long Island? Girls Gone Wild? Bah...

31. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #157534 by Lucas on April 9, 2008 at 8:35 am

It would be awesome if someone asked Mr. Obama what he thought about this, see if he'll reveal his true colors. The man is a pretend Baptist in Chicago; he must know of Ms. Davis. Can anyone out there get close enough to ask him how he feels about this woman's tirade? Will he properly defend freedom of religion and speech and denounce her, or stick with his black Baptist schtick? I mean, the guy is only half black and half Baptist. His mom was a white atheist.

Concerning Ms. Davis, there should be regulations in place that immediately remove people from positions of power when they do things like this. Period. No more public office. You cannot overtly admit (scream) to the world that you are prejudiced against a large group of your constituents. What would happen if someone said that about Baptists? Or blacks?

32. Cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov tries suicide after realising he was wrong about doomsday

Comment #154746 by Lucas on April 3, 2008 at 4:41 pm

Richard Morgan - Is there a more appropriate response to something like this than sarcasm and derision? I'm not bearing any teeth here, I'm just not sure what you would envision as being a more humane response. This story is indeed funny. On a serious note, yes, this kind of cult behavior has a long history, and is the product of all kinds of social pressures, and likely, chemical imbalances in the brain. In one sense, I do truly feel sorry for these folks, but in another, their gullibility is laughable and it is our right, as humans, to make fun of anything we want. Nothing is so sacred as to be immune to sarcasm. Of course, this can often take a juvenile form, and that is often unenlightening. But please, if you are going to criticize, have something of substance to say for yourself. No disrespect, I'm just sayin'.

33. Cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov tries suicide after realising he was wrong about doomsday

Comment #154740 by Lucas on April 3, 2008 at 4:32 pm

Oh, if only more religious leaders were equipped with a stump and a log. As long as they do it to themselves, we're all in the clear, right?

34. Vote on freedom of expression marks the end of Universal Human Rights

Comment #152952 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 6:57 pm

Never objected to hate speech, my friend. No way. Hate all you want. Everyone can shit talk all they want, just as long as they don't whine about the consequences. I would never tell a skinhead he couldn't yell the N word in Harlem, but I'd also never tell the boys on the corner they couldn't stomp his face in for it. I'm a steady believer in comeuppance. You should get that, Duffman.

35. Vote on freedom of expression marks the end of Universal Human Rights

Comment #152942 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 6:32 pm

Something I heard once, somewhere: Never reveal your weaknesses. It's like some boxing maxim or something, like if you are being obvious about defending your left kidney or whatever, your opponent will notice and target that soft spot. I mean, of course the idea is broader and a lot older than boxing, that was just the analogy that came to mind.

So, certain particularly sensitive Muslims (notice the qualifiers everybody?) are really hurt just by words alone. Okay. That's easy. My words are weapons now? Cool, I'll never run out of ammo.

36. Vote on freedom of expression marks the end of Universal Human Rights

Comment #152930 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 6:11 pm

Might I suggest a massive mailing campaign to all those OIC member nations? Maybe a little cartoon or something? Seriously, I kind of feel like provoking them. What's the worst that could happen? They'd get all mad and kill some folks, then get stomped out of existence? Hey, no broken eggs, no omelette.

Chris Barnes wrote a song once that said:

I'm not afraid to speak my own mind
I don't use the first amendment to hide behind
I'm guaranteed that freedom, I'm born with that right
And for that I'm ready to fight

I like that one. I need no law to give me any right to free speech. Yes, I understand that WE all kind of need some document to sign and agree upon, but saying whatever you want is not a right or privilege or freedom to be given or taken by anyone. It is to be exercised and defended on your own. I will say or draw or film anything I damn well please. I have no fear of reprisal. Bring it.

37. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152919 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 5:50 pm

I promised, no more US politics, but Toad, if you're out there, I took the test and ended up in the quadrant of the compass with Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Ralph Nader, and Dennis Kucinich. I'm really not peaceful at all, and am more inclined to support Tibetan rioting than Gandhi's approach, so something is wrong with this little test. And the Dalai Lama is a religious leader, c'mon. However, I'm pleased to be with Nader, a guy I once hated and blamed for helping Bush win. The graph of presidential candidates also is telling: all the Republican candidates are more fascist/right than McCain, and all the Democratic candidates are more libertarian/left than Obama or Clinton. Yay for the center. They're all the same. We're screwed.

...and I'm out.

38. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152880 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 5:01 pm

Al - Okay. We're closer than I thought then. Just sounded like you were going too far right there for a minute. So, it sort of sounds like you see things pretty much the way I do, so are you at the S? Cause if you are, I guess I was being a little unfair to Hillary: Obama is right freaking next to her. They both are opposite me right now. Tell me you've not been swept into the Obama thing. I hope he wins, really, I'll vote for him, but he's a centrist corporate shill just like the others, and a fake-believing one at that. My dream ticket was Kucinich/Paul, or Paul/Kucinich, either way. Anyway, this is getting way of topic, so no more US politics (sorry to all those who couldn't care less).

39. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152868 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 4:52 pm

Toad, that looks fun. I'll try it. I think it's even more complicated, though. I mean, a circle is better than a line, but a sphere is better than a circle. So, maybe the political spectrum could be plotted on more like a sphere, or, if possible, more than three dimensions. Hmm. I'm sure political scientists have done many such things.

40. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152858 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 4:42 pm

Wow, that's a lot of posts. Okay.

Steve, yes to everything you've said.

Nairb, pretty much no to everything you've said, but your heart seems to be in the right place. Just don't let it end up at the end of a pike.

Al-Rawandi, most of the time, I totally agree with you, but then, along with Falcon, you veer off into some weird right-wing shit. I agree with both of you so often and admire you both for your brass balls, but the Iraq/Bush/Oil stuff... dang guys. C'mon. Control of the world's oil has been the main motivation for most countries foreign policy in the past 75 years. We DID built permanent military bases in Iraq. I get this, I'm over it, I called it from the beginning. I'm about as tired of lefties whining about it as I am of righties defending it.

I think what I'm seeing here can be best described as such: there is no one more useless than a soft-hearted liberal, nor anyone more counter-productive than a hawkish conservative. I've been trying to define my position for a long time, and in reading all your posts, I'm convinced of a ring-like continuum. Take you're typical left-----right scale of politics, then bend both ends to meet each other into a circle. That puts liberals on the W point of our compass, conservatives on the E, centrists like Joe Lieberman or Hillary Clinton at N, and me, at S. I guess that means that I believe that extremely leftist ideals and morals must be enforced with almost fascistic insistence. I am directly opposite of middle-of-the-road corporate whores who embody the worst of the left and right. Somewhere between me and the W lies Steve, and somewhere between the W and N lies poor Nairb. Rawandi and Falcon are to my right, closer to the E.

So, as not to repeat anything already posted, just kind of guess where I stand on Muslims.

And Al-Rawandi, did you say you were in California? Might a suggest a bonghit? It might make you sound like less of a dick about being right. Just chill out, man. Your astute comments are absorbed by your tone a bit.

41. Anti-Quran Film Fitna Pulled From Web Due to 'Threats'

Comment #152506 by Lucas on March 31, 2008 at 7:08 am

tieInterceptor - Sorry to nitpick, but actually it is not the same "S" three times on that photoshopped sign. The "S" in "say" and "Islam" is the same, both from the original "Islam", but the "S" in "is" is from the original "insult." Look at the size of the top half and the length of the tail.

Yeah, I edit text for a living, so I can tell between Verdana and Arial, etc. And I read a lot of comic books, and I consider it lazy for artists to use computerized fonts, so I often check like letters against each other to make sure they are hand-lettered. I know, I'm crazy.

As for the actual argument going on here, I really don't know what to say that hasn't been said. I will say I tend to agree with FightingFalcon most of the time.

42. 'We Make Our Own Heaven'

Comment #151376 by Lucas on March 28, 2008 at 3:14 pm

This is beautiful. I was raised this way as well, but not so deliberately. I do specifically remember my father telling me (after I told him I was pretty sure God didn't exist at the age of 12) that I would have to make the decision on my own once I felt I had enough information, but that I should wait until I was older. He was right, and so was I. I guess I took his advice pretty seriously given I eventually got my degrees in religion.

My mother is a primary school teacher and I've been advising her for years on how to provide the kids with a rounded education on world religion. She teaches at a Montessori school, so while initially a Catholic based organization, she has great freedom in what and how she teaches. She's taken no flack from her bosses, but guess what! Yep, some midwest parents aren't too keen on their kids being taught Buddhism is as valid as Christianity. She basically tells them where to stick it and continues on. There are 12-yr-olds in her class who know more about human evolution than I do.

43. Saudi Arabia Leader Calls for Interfaith Dialogue

Comment #150240 by Lucas on March 26, 2008 at 3:49 pm

Oh yeah, Abdullah, why don't you say that to my face? I would piss on your precious Ka'ba stone if you'd let me anywhere near it.

(Sorry, all. Guess I'm feeling a little salty today.)

I've been waiting for this day. I said years ago that the day the Muslim's decided to be cool and band together with the Christians and Jews would be a day of joy, for it marks a level of desperation that indicates that our victory is not far off. The will take solace in each other until they are gone from this planet. They can only afford to fight amongst themselves as long as we're not a threat.

44. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #150230 by Lucas on March 26, 2008 at 3:38 pm

Spinoza - I'll grant that (back in post #5), but I think willfully abandoning your child to die is worth punishment. I'm not a fan of corporal punishment, at least when it is carried out the way that the US does it, and I would rather there was no death penalty at all written into the law. However, it's times like these that I wish some vigilante was around to take care of these things. Legally, these parents should be forced to forfeit their children and stand trial for manslaughter, and not the involuntary type. They should not see green grass ever again. Morally, they should forfeit their lives. Argue if you want, but I stand by the idea that some actions are so heinous that they warrant severe punishment.

45. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #149726 by Lucas on March 26, 2008 at 7:28 am

Child abuse, pure and simple. These people should be hanged. They're lucky as hell that I'm so far away from Wisconsin. There is no more acute example than this that rationality and science are better tools than belief.

46. The death-of-god debate

Comment #148944 by Lucas on March 24, 2008 at 5:41 pm

What's not to love about a holiday celebrating the Zombie Jesus? I mean, it's such a beautiful image, all the folks hanging around the cave, hearing a muffled "Unnnghhh!!!" rolling back the rock, only to face a swarm of flies and a brain-hungry messiah. No wonder Magdalene had to swiftly get him and the kids on a boat to France. He was trying to eat everybody!

47. EXPELLED!

Comment #147730 by Lucas on March 21, 2008 at 6:57 am

Wow, I think I actually did just laugh as hard as PZ. Almost spat coffee on my computer. Who knew Richard had such ninja skills?

48. The Secular Conscience

Comment #146999 by Lucas on March 19, 2008 at 4:29 pm

Hear hear, FightingFalcon. Everything you said times ten.

Henri - I think you're a bit confused. Read this book, then tell us if you still think the same way.

49. Sci-fi guru Clarke to have secular funeral

Comment #146994 by Lucas on March 19, 2008 at 4:22 pm

Stafford and Enlightenme - "There may be some evolutionary element attached to religion." - Ah, so the elephant in this room rears its head once again... Will we run with it this time, or put it back in its box?

rod - I would have to say, actually, you have absolutely no control over your own funeral, just because once your dead, whoever's alive can do whatever they want with your body, y'know? We can only hope that we leave some family or friends behind who will do what we'd like, or some law in place that suggests our wishes be followed. But there sure aren't any guarantees. I made a pact with my best friend many years ago, and neither he or I have laid out the specifics in any legal document, but we trust each other to know what to do, or at least what not to do. Of course, whoever outlives the other will have to figure out something else.

Arthur, you were the best. Thank you for everything.

50. Jesus saves

Comment #146543 by Lucas on March 19, 2008 at 7:22 am

Yeah, read this one already, right? Maybe I said this then, but I'll say it again. Obviously, to some extent, its both nature and nurture. Why they try to argue one or the other exclusively is beyond me. And yes, Animavore, (you eat souls?!) they should do one on non-believers. I'm on it. Give me a year or two. But I can say right now, I won't be suprised if I find that people don't believe because of both their genetically inherent cognitive capabilities AND their environment growing up. How that will pan out exactly, I don't know.