1. The Return of Religion

Comment #212002 by ubermensch on July 16, 2008 at 1:01 pm

Straw man time - has anyone actually heard Richard Dawkins (or Harris, Dennett or Hitchens) shout or even be strident. Even the books by this quartet do not 'shout'. They make a legitimate argument, not necessarily against religion itself, but against the influence which 'we' (society) allows religion to have in our affairs. In the UK we have bishops (only anglican ones) in the house of lords; religious 'experts' consulted on any moral issue; and the bane of multi-culturalism - which too often is a misnomer for allowing another set of religious beliefs to add further confusion to our lives. Their basic argument is that what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes (or churches) is up to them - but leave the rest of us out of it.
The one element of stridency which Dawkins might be guilty of is concerning the 'child abuse' - society allowing each new generation to be indoctrinated in whatever looney ideas their parents possess - and we are now giving millions of pounds of taxpayers money to extend that indoctrination into our schools.

2. Fury at funeral songs ban

Comment #211988 by ubermensch on July 16, 2008 at 12:48 pm

why does god need a microphone?

3. Churchgoing on its knees as Christianity falls out of favour

Comment #177437 by ubermensch on May 9, 2008 at 5:11 am

The article assumes that 'christian' children will 'lose' their faith, whilst 'muslim' and 'hindu' children will retain theirs. In reality, as these immigrant communities become 4th, 5th and 6th generation, I believe that the dropout rate will begin to match that of christianity.

4. Faith in Britain today

Comment #177429 by ubermensch on May 9, 2008 at 4:51 am

I think he also mentioned that god was 'beyond the comprehension of man', or words to that effect - isn't that an admission that he's wasting his time? It's like claiming to be an accountant, and then saying that you don't understand numbers.

5. The Pagan Christ

Comment #103358 by ubermensch on December 25, 2007 at 9:11 am

One of the most complete reference sites for this subject is 'The Jesus Puzzle', which cross-links to a lot of other information, both for and agiant the argument. I would recommend it, if you interested in this debate. After reading the site, I would say that if there was a character living at this time, and to whom the gospel stories were attributed, then much of the gospel story is indeed re-spun Egyptian and other middle eastern myths and allegories.
http://jesuspuzzle.humanists.net/

6. Atheism's Wrong Turn

Comment #93551 by ubermensch on December 3, 2007 at 1:01 pm

posted on The New Republic (assuming that it is accepted)
Absolute Rubbish
The 'new atheists' have achieved prominence to a significant extent because the world is waking up, especially after 9/11, to the threat posed by religious fundamentalism in a world made smaller by globalisation and communication. Not only is Bin Laden inspired by the words of a 1,400 year old text, but Bush and Blair both claim divine inspiration for their war in Iraq.
The new atheists are trying to re-establish the enlightenment which gave us the United States constitution over 200 years ago, with a clear statement of separation of church and state - true secularism - with no favours given or asked for. Can anyone imagine a constitution written today being as 'modern' or enlightened as the one given to our lucky cousins across the pond?
Here in the UK we have an established church, with the head of state also head of the church. We have bishops sitting in our second legislative chamber. In parts of the UK, (Northern Ireland and Glascow), we have religious sectarianism blighting the lives of children still - mainly as a result of religious indoctrination, so that 2 communities, antagonistic towards each other, are created where there should only be one. To compound our problem, we now have government (taxpayer) money being channeled into education to support sectarian schools, and as a result some schools are now being governed by people who openly profess belief in creationism.
We are going backwards, both here and in the US, and all Dennett, Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens are highlighting are the dangers of that route. Religion is OK for consenting adults, behind closed doors, but the rest of us should not have our lives interfered with.

7. Banishing the Green-Eyed Monster

Comment #91878 by ubermensch on November 29, 2007 at 1:44 pm

Dawkins is confusing 2 arguments here. One is the question of sexual mores, and the other is of trust. If the 2 parties in a relationship have each agreed that their relationship is 'open', then I don't see a problem if one or both have multiple partners. However, if one partner has a 'extra-marital' relationship without disclosing this to the other partner, and whilst pretending that all is well with their relationship, then trust is broken, just as it would be if one party gambled away the family silver. I agree that Clinton's sexual escapades were no business of the press or the public - but they were the business of his wife. Assuming that she was unaware of his relationship(s), she had every right to feel betrayed, and cheated against.

8. Face to faith

Comment #83310 by ubermensch on October 29, 2007 at 3:36 pm

I always smile when I read articles such as this, for they make me think of Douglas Adams and his puddle analogy.
".. imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in, an interesting hole I find myself in, fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!'"
I believe that this is the sense of awe that Mr Vernon is describing. I prefer the sense of awe that Mr Dawkins describes.

9. John Templeton's Universe

Comment #79116 by ubermensch on October 16, 2007 at 7:43 am

In response to Jitan and epeeist, we do have a billionaire backer - he's called Charles Simonyi, and he sponsors a chair at Oxford. (I assume that he is on 'our' side of the fence). Perhaps we need someone who can afford a whole set of furniture!