1. It can be right to discriminate against the religious

Comment #202347 by HeyBishop on July 1, 2008 at 11:07 am

I agree with every word in this article.

2. Losing Our Spines to Save Our Necks

Comment #175350 by HeyBishop on May 5, 2008 at 9:42 am

This article reads like a science fiction story. It all sounds too fantastic to be real.

3. School bars same-sex partners at formals

Comment #161483 by HeyBishop on April 15, 2008 at 10:40 am

"If you believe what the Bible says, that's how you should behave or act. It boils down to what you believe"

I guess these schools ought to stone their students who want to bring a same-sex partner... You know, to set a proper - moral- example.

4. Richard Dawkins' secular army must be stopped. God is behind some of our greatest art

Comment #160304 by HeyBishop on April 13, 2008 at 11:13 pm

Dawkins and his army are hardly trying to bury religion from existence. Dawkins has said on many occasions that children should be taught ABOUT religion. The author of this article got one thing right; religion has been quite important to the arts, and it will continue to be so. It really would be a crime to forget religion. These are points that no one in Dawkins' army would deny. Ultimately this article has no value. It didn't tell anyone anything new, other than the fact that the good doctor will be meeting The Doctor. How cool will that be!?

5. Out of the Blue

Comment #140742 by HeyBishop on March 8, 2008 at 1:24 pm

Skynet

6. Survey shows Non-Religious Outnumber Those of Every Single Faith (But One)

Comment #137726 by HeyBishop on March 3, 2008 at 12:06 pm

I'd like to know the actual wording of this survey, because as it reads here, "none of the above" does not simply equal "unaffiliated". Anyone whose religion wasn't on the list would have to select "none of the above" as their answer. Was Jedi on the list? Well then I guess they'll have to pick "none of the above". This article says nothing of an "other" option to choose.

Though technically I would have to define myself as an atheist, but I don't really like using that word (I'm in the Sam Harris camp on this one). As such, I think I'd be more comfortable choosing "none of the above".

As a result, I'm going to have to join hungarianelephant with an enthusiastic "So What". This survey doesn't really tell me anything.

7. Leaving the Faith

Comment #136554 by HeyBishop on March 1, 2008 at 11:58 am

Oh my - I could spend all day visiting BigThink.

Fantastic stuff. Thanks for sharing.

8. Cutting Edge: Baby Bible Bashers

Comment #129196 by HeyBishop on February 18, 2008 at 9:03 pm

I don't think I'll be able to watch this. The opening teaser was enough to make me sick.

9. Pleas for condemned Saudi 'witch'

Comment #126877 by HeyBishop on February 14, 2008 at 11:52 am

Witchcraft? Witchcraft!?

I had to check the date to make sure this wasn't April Fools Day, because this artical reads like a joke.

It's the 21st century for crying out loud.

I'm furious, and yet there is nothing I can do.

10. The New Atheist Movement

Comment #123307 by HeyBishop on February 6, 2008 at 11:21 pm

Comedy! Sheer comedy!

I actually laughed out loud at this video. So funny.

11. 'Irrational Atheist' trounces God-deniers

Comment #117454 by HeyBishop on January 28, 2008 at 9:32 pm

Too many Christians forget that their basic assumptions are not shared by the atheist with whom they're talking. Christians always want to quote the Bible to try to prove a point, but to the atheist, that's no more meaningful than reading Shakespeare at them. And Christians often want to talk about the way God makes them feel, forgetting that the atheist's feelings are equally relevant.

12. New atheists or new anti-dogmatists?

Comment #117069 by HeyBishop on January 28, 2008 at 7:47 am

This would be my first time commenting here on richarddawkins.net, for which I have been a long time lurker.

I have gotten into a lot of trouble in the past for my vocal dislike for "religion". I guess you could say I used to quietly let things pass by, but I've started openly debating these issues in recent years. I'm new to debating, and I'm not terribly good at yet. My main fault I think is my vocabulary.

I know how I feel about the world, and I've been very ridged about my feelings concerning religion. But recently I've been contemplating if that is really what upsets me, am I being unfair towards religion? I have felt as though I'm targeting my anger in the wrong direction.
It was just a week or so ago that I realized in fact perhaps the more appropriate word is "dogma", or "dogmatism". Today, along comes this article. This article expresses my feelings almost to the letter. It says just what I've been trying to say and far more effectively and eloquently.

You see, as I stated before, my biggest problem thwarting my personal crusade against dogmatism is semantics. Because I've been bitching about religion all this time.

Some of my friends, mostly fellow atheists, often point out my misuse of the word religion "when what you really mean is faith", or vice versa. When they point out my miswording, their correction doesn't quite sit right either. Usually I just let it pass.

The words "religion" and "dogma" are synonymous in day-to-day language despite their different meaning. It isn't chance that these words get tossed around and confused, as O'Donnell points out most dogmas have been nearly irradiated from our lives here in the 21st century (Fascisim, Nazism, etc.). For the most part, religion's all that's left. So that's where I've been directing my anger and outrage, just as Dawkins and company have been too.
I wonder why we've gravitated to the using the word "religion" when we mean "dogma"? Is it simply because we learnt that word first in life? The media's use of the word? Or because it is the opposite of atheist, which we've all been dubbed, or dub ourselves?
Perhaps this question doesn't matter in the long run. Just an interesting thought.

More importantly, I'm going to change my Facebook profile from "atheist" to "antidogmist".