1. New Zealand man sells his soul to 'Hell'

Comment #203752 by aprilmb on July 3, 2008 at 1:45 pm

Oops! I forgot that the selling of god is already THE major industry in the world.

2. New Zealand man sells his soul to 'Hell'

Comment #203747 by aprilmb on July 3, 2008 at 1:31 pm

Re: Comment #203632 by evolver23 on July 3, 2008 at 9:16 am
Brilliant. I'm going to start a business selling deeds to invisible things that don't exist. Maybe I'll call it Invisiworld...

Great idea, but if you really want to sell invisible things that don't exist let's sell god. That ought to fetch a good price.

3. Intelligent people 'less likely to believe in God'

Comment #192983 by aprilmb on June 14, 2008 at 11:36 am

rod-the-farmer:

I think it is more EDUCATION that pushes people towards disbelief in god.

Not sure I agree with you entirely. Education helps but that doesn't explain why children (myself included) start questioning the logic of faith relatively early in life. I was definitely dubious about it before I heard of evolution. Also when I was in school science for girls was not only not emphasized, it was actually discouraged. You know, along the lines of: what do you need science for, get married and don't worry your pretty head about such stuff. By the time I found science fascinating, I was a full-fledged atheist. Of course Darwin and evolution were taught in school, and religion then was not on the collision course with evolution like it is now. But still. Education expands intelligence but if you're not intelligent to begin with, no amount of education will make you intelligent.

4. Logical Proof of the Existence of a Divine Creator, Why Atheism is Not Logically Sound

Comment #190625 by aprilmb on June 9, 2008 at 9:52 am

Diacanu:

You're right of course. Two lines of this nonsense and my brain turned to mush.

5. Logical Proof of the Existence of a Divine Creator, Why Atheism is Not Logically Sound

Comment #190608 by aprilmb on June 9, 2008 at 9:37 am

Oh, man! Couldn't get past the first couple of lines of this BS. But when I saw the end it all becames clear - it's nothing but free advertising. It's an old ploy that you can get past some lazy editors - write an article, no matter what idiocy. It fills the paper and you get to put your name, address, business description and contact information at the end Of course it doesn't preclude the fact that this guy probably believes this crap, but that's immaterial. Unfortunately, there are tons of people who will hold this up as, pardon me, gospel because it was in the paper.
Who the heck would use this guy's services to create a successful business? Don't you actually need logic to be effective?

6. Mark Steyn vs. the 'Sock Puppets'

Comment #185728 by aprilmb on May 28, 2008 at 11:28 am

hexhunter: How did this get through their house of lords and commons anyway? Are they ALL religious???

They're not necessarily religious but being politicians they don't dare say so, or go against any religious groups. They'd be voted out by the righteous.
It's a never ending battle between reason and protecting everybody's rights - real or imagined. Nobody looks at themselves. If you don't like me it's because I'm orange with purple polka dots, not because I'm a jerk. So I'm going to drag you through the HRC and ruin you.

7. Mark Steyn vs. the 'Sock Puppets'

Comment #185704 by aprilmb on May 28, 2008 at 10:25 am

We Canadians have a reputation for being "nice" to the point that the world thinks we're wimpy and can be walked over. I'm trying to change that. Canada has its own problems with HRC, language police, multiculturalism organizations constantly pushing their own agendas. This thing with Mark Steyn and HRC is very troubling, and frankly I'm very worried about the future of my country. But if anyone thinks this is just about Canada, I suggest you open your eyes and stop being smug about it.

8. Mark Steyn vs. the 'Sock Puppets'

Comment #185684 by aprilmb on May 28, 2008 at 9:55 am

al-rawandi are you related to Ann Coulter?

9. Gimme that Old-Time Irreligion

Comment #181688 by aprilmb on May 17, 2008 at 11:52 pm

An important question remains: Why has atheism and skepticism toward religion suddenly emerged as a question of great current interest, at least among the literate, in the past few years? Clearly something has happened to break atheists of their tendency to nurture their disbelief privately and to keep their opinions to themselves.

It probably has to do with fundamentalists' headlong rush to kill each other. And we're probably not willing to die for something somebody imagines and tries to force everyone else to believe.
It's no longer enough to keep our opinions to ourselves and let everyone run roughshod over us. We need to speak up or be run over by the horde of fairy tales believers.

10. Richard Dawkins interviewed by John Humphrys on Cardinal Murphy O'Connor

Comment #178158 by aprilmb on May 10, 2008 at 4:15 pm

Well, now I understand - when Stalin was shooting peasants in the fields from a train or pursuing his other murderous activities - that was reason! When Hitler was murdering millions of human beings - that was reason! When Cardinal O'Connor opens his mouth - that is...........
Keep going, Cardinal O'Connor - with one interview you can convert more people to atheism than a thousand books written by a thousand atheists. Well done!

11. Muslim Rebel Sisters: At Odds With Islam and Each Other

Comment #174744 by aprilmb on May 3, 2008 at 11:49 am

Re: # 17 by bobby23459
Please take the time to watch this film:
'Islam: What the West Needs to Know'

Thank you for the link. Just watched it and will do so again to understand it better. It's definitely a must-see documentary for any of us living our self-satisfied lives.

Re: #23.by Dinah
The three major monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) have traditionally used their imaginary (male) god and misogynistic writings supposedly inspired by him to oppress women.

I would argue that it's not just the three major abrahamic religions. Seems like all, maybe most, religions, cultures, regions seem to have the same aim - to oppress women. Nowhere in the world are women respected as equals. That, of course, is necessary. Firstly, because the best way to propagate a belief is to have many adherents to that belief, which makes having tons of (preferably male) offspring so vital. Some years ago UN published a study that the more educated the woman, the fewer children she has. Just allowing women to learn to read, drops the birth rate significantly. This, according to the study, only applied to women. Basic education didn't have a significant effect on men in the area of propagation. Secondly, because if women are allowed to run amok no man could/would ever be hundred percent sure that he actually fathered the children he has. That alone is a direct threat to most men as it would be to anyone. Thirdly, because the gods said so!

Re: #46 by Fanusi Khiyal
Anyway, the basic point is this: Islam can't be reformed, it can only be destroyed.

How?
Although I agree wholeheartedly with your comment #60. We are no longer enlightened, we are so very self-centered and localized. And that's what all have in common.

12. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #172569 by aprilmb on April 29, 2008 at 6:30 pm

Steve Zara
Also, there is nothing intrinsic to atheism that requires you to promote it. There are no gods or spirits who have a message to be spread in order to save souls.

Spot on!

The thing is Stalin was religion. I remember when he died all the church bells rang (oh, the irony), people were wailing in the streets because 'our father' had died. I was just a small child but the images of that day are as clear today as they were then. That was in Poland and those same people who cried in the streets for Stalin, slavishly followed the 'Polish' pope several decades later.

13. Investigating Atheism

Comment #168216 by aprilmb on April 24, 2008 at 6:57 pm

I also have a problem with 'new atheists.' If you've been an atheist for, say, 40 years are you an 'old atheist?' Or does it describe newly "converted" atheists? And is there a difference between old and new? If atheism defines lack of belief - what adjectives do you need to describe that non-belief?

14. Sex for diploma offer caught on tape

Comment #164552 by aprilmb on April 20, 2008 at 12:06 pm

The 'buying' of a high school diploma, with whatever kind of payment, is the most troubling part of this story. Surely, immoral behaviour is not exclusively reserved for Christians. Being religious didn't make him do this or, obviously, dissuade him from doing it. And it proves nothing about religion - pro or con. Letting children out into the world with a diploma they didn't earn, and without the knowledge earning of that diploma requires and which may lead them to reason, logic and science, is the frightening part.

On the other hand, I'm petty enough to go 'YEAH' when another one, of any religious persuasion, bites the dust. Problem is that only atheists, and proponents of other religions (always knew those Christians were up to no good) see the hypocrisy. The believers will view this as a temporary fall from grace, and the imaginary friend forgives anything, doesn't he?

15. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #150259 by aprilmb on March 26, 2008 at 4:10 pm

Happy Birthday, Mr. Dawkins
And thank you for an island of sanity in a sea of superstition and dearth of common sense.