1. Faith in Britain today

Comment #177405 by TheTrueScotsman on May 9, 2008 at 3:33 am

I could only read the fist few paras, Is the rest in Gibberish too?

With great humility, I feel that I stand...

2. Thy will be done

Comment #154241 by TheTrueScotsman on April 3, 2008 at 1:14 am

I think my problem with allowing prayer is the officialness of the act.

By an elected body participating in it, it automatically becomes an exclusive act. "We are praying to OUR God this week" so the implication is that any decision made is relevant only to the electorate which share those beliefs and not the community as whole (although not necessarily exclusive) and therefore a purely secular affirmation overcomes this, leaving any decision to a political choice not a religious one.

3. Thy will be done

Comment #154235 by TheTrueScotsman on April 3, 2008 at 12:41 am

Surely rather than calling on a deity, councillors and other elected officials should contemplate the reason they are there. Perhaps a brief statement by a presiding officer along the lines of:

"I call on the members of this body to affirm that they will carry out their duty as elected representatives of the people and will ensure that the decisions they reach will be for the benefit of their constituents and the community as a whole and will be made without fear or favour." - "I do so affirm."

After all they are elected by the people to represent the people, not a deity. WTF has it got to do with him/her/it?

It seems to me to call on a deity to pray one does one's duty is merely abrogating responsibility. If an official fails can she simply say she lacked faith? No. She is accountable to the people for her actions and therefore any communal "prayer" should simply be an affirmation of her responsibilities in her role.

If she feels the need to pray to a deity, this can be done in her own time and it should not be an official act.

4. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #143083 by TheTrueScotsman on March 13, 2008 at 12:25 pm

I know al-rawandi, so was I. :-)

Tube is a great Scots insult.

5. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #143074 by TheTrueScotsman on March 13, 2008 at 12:14 pm

You mean to tell me it wasn't the checkered man-skirts?

6. Bishop accuses gays of 'conspiracy' against the Catholic Church

Comment #143064 by TheTrueScotsman on March 13, 2008 at 12:03 pm

I just saw this man on the local news tonight being interviewed about his comments and the reaction to them.

His reaction? "Don't shoot the messenger!" He claimed the moral rules were not "Mine but his" (pointing upwards) and its was his job as a christian to "defend Christian Morality" (smug grin).

Seems an easy cop out so he can't be held responsible for his stated opinions.

"Hey, I think all people with black skin are worthless and should be discriminated against but don't blame me, the guy in the upstairs flat assured me that's the case and employs me to say it"!

He makes me ashamed to be Scottish sometimes, thank goodness I got out of the Scottish Catholics whilst I still had a brain.

7. Richard Dawkins' US Tour begins this week

Comment #138103 by TheTrueScotsman on March 4, 2008 at 12:08 am

Teratornis

...a British idiom such as "whip-around"

8. A natural phenomenon

Comment #137472 by TheTrueScotsman on March 3, 2008 at 12:49 am

I watched the episode on Snakes last night. As one who is feart of these much maligned creatures and who would normally turn the TV over instantly they came on, I forced myself to watch.

Attenboroughs enthusiasm as ever won me over and I am so glad I watched it. Seeing a python swallow a deer whole and the revelation it did not need to eat again for a year was incredible.

The show made me think of why so many humans find snakes repulsive and scary but not lizards or worms. Perhaps it was the one creature our ancestors rightly feared in the savannah or jungle. The one creature that could sneak up on an unaware Homo and in an instant kill with one bite.

I read somewhere that other apes have a similar overwhelming fear of snakes, anyone know if this is the case?

9. Exorcism undergoes a revival across Europe

Comment #126372 by TheTrueScotsman on February 13, 2008 at 4:51 am

The God Warrior woman was part of a wife-swap reality TV show. She exchanged with a new-age guru into alternative therapies etc.

Reg Finlay "The Infidel Guy" took part in one of these too. He had a lot to say about the editing process. http://www.infidelguy.com/article48.html

Quote ...overpower others with a stench.

Can I expect them knocking on my door after one too many curries then.

Farting for Satan!

10. A Letter From Hell

Comment #116370 by TheTrueScotsman on January 26, 2008 at 10:46 am

I loved the "Wish You Were Here" line.

Has Alice Cooper been told? That's the name of a song off the wonderful "Alice Cooper Goes to Hell" album. He might want to sue.

Also, How could Josh complain about feeling his heart beat faster, surely he is a spiritual being now? Come to think of it, how does he feel pain? I'm a wee bit confused...

11. Britain cannot put its faith in religiously divided schools

Comment #113527 by TheTrueScotsman on January 20, 2008 at 12:01 am

Here Here!

12. Ethical storm as scientist becomes first man to clone HIMSELF

Comment #113525 by TheTrueScotsman on January 19, 2008 at 11:52 pm

Interesting ethical debates to be had here. It comes down to the question - at what stage in he reproductive process can an embryo be classed as a person?

13. Fish out of water: Your Inner Fish

Comment #111227 by TheTrueScotsman on January 14, 2008 at 5:08 am

Kakashi_monkey:

"Humans would have far fewer problems if we lived naturally, by having simple dwellings a being hunter-gatherers"

Not sure if I'd agree with this. It would of course depend on your definition of problems, but by almost any definition of health we have been improving dramatically over the past 100 years. I doubt that any pre-historical society could have achieved the levels of survival and longevity science has wrung out of nature.

Of course the very fact we have such bounty brings different problems but these are recognisable and solvable. A percentage of adults with knee problems in later life is surely not as bad as 1 in 4 infant mortality or a life expectation to the late 30's.

14. What We Believe: Atheism

Comment #104309 by TheTrueScotsman on December 28, 2007 at 10:03 am

Bet that fits the description of many of us.

15. Way of the Master Radio talks about Dawkins' Christmas Comments

Comment #100588 by TheTrueScotsman on December 19, 2007 at 12:27 am

I hate to tell you guys but Comfort and Cameron are idolised by many in the US Heartland. I have an aquaintance (well it is a fundie I have regular contact with, he does a podcast with some friends and I've got to know them reasonably well) in the Mid-West who mentioned that their church had been showing these idiots' videos as part of a 6 week course, and the congragation of the Lutheran mega-church were lapping them up!

We might laugh at their stupidity and simplicity but they get their message across to a US public which seems to be becoming more and more credulous and where the scientific, realistic outlook is being increasingly marginilised. On a recent trip over there I went to Zion National Park in Utah (fantastic place) and the official tour guides always used words like "Scientists say that these rocks are X millions of years old" or "It is claimed that glaciers carved...etc" Never wrong, just being rather circumspect and something I can't imagine being said in Europe.

I get the impression that, to mainstream Americans, certain sciences have become something "they" do; something the mainstream benefits from but would really like to do without. One can simply make a choice who or what to believe.

My aquaintance is a public school teacher and he mentioned recently he had to cover for an absent biology teacher for a few hours. He said (something like) "I read some of their textbooks, you really should see what BS they are teaching the kids these days". I queried him to ask why he, A TEACHER for goodness sake, could not use the basic critical thinking he uses in his history classes on his strict Bible literalism. He maintained that he encouraged his students to be critical thinkers and not just accept the scientific conscensus but to look beyond the scientists narrow claims.

16. Voyager 2 probe reaches solar system boundary

Comment #98781 by TheTrueScotsman on December 14, 2007 at 9:53 am

I wonder if the NASA scientists will be listening when one of the Voyager's make a loud ...THUNK!


The next noise they'll hear will be a big beardy bloke going "Aaawww Shit!"