1. Faith schools may be Blair's most damaging legacy

Comment #241894 by GodMyArse on September 3, 2008 at 7:29 am

I'm a member of a small secular organisation actively campaigning in a very small way in my own area where two schools are going to be merged into one and, as one is already a church school, the enlarged campus will be a church school. We are trying simply to raise people's awareness of this issue and get them asking questions about their own kids' educations but the apathy in this country is depressing. Also our county council has basically said we are not allowed to make representations to the public consultation meetings! Can the Yanks please invade and install a democracy, please?

2. Review interview: Richard Dawkins

Comment #224603 by GodMyArse on August 5, 2008 at 8:00 am

Having enjoyed the first episode of this series last night I was amused to notice that after the credits rolled and some adverts had been shown at the end, Channel 4 decided it was the perfect moment to play a trailer for a program titled 'Make Me a Christian'. It seems they have taken a group of people with unhappy lives due to various self-inflicted reasons (one guy seems to have anger issues and a young lady drinks and screws a bit too much or something) and placed them in the care of an evangelical preacher who wants to show them how big J can help them find happiness. 10/10 for timing Channel 4! Why do religious people always think that their religion can solve every problem? In my experience solving a problem solves a problem. Religion simply papers over cracks.

3. Sydney brothels say Pope's visit will give business a leg-up

Comment #219017 by GodMyArse on July 26, 2008 at 4:34 am

I hope they publish the official stats after it's over, I'd love to be able to quote an accurate percentage rise in turnover and customer numbers when debating 'moral decline' with faith-heads. Not that I think there is anything inherently immoral about brothels/sex workers, but they, of course, do and to see them wriggle a bit when trying to rationalise the correlation...

4. The BBC announces a major season marking the life and work of Charles Darwin

Comment #207662 by GodMyArse on July 10, 2008 at 5:00 am

Can't wait for this. I only yesterday rang my daughter's school's Head to ask what he was planning to mark these anniversaries, as we live only 20 miles from Darwin's place of birth (Shrewsbury, Shropshire in case you wondered). But I strongly suspect, and have done for some time, that the guy is a freakin cretinist and he virtually confirmed this by stating that even though the school isn't a church school they always like to give the children every side of a story so they can make up their own minds in life, and Evolution is another way of 'looking at creation' whether you're xtian, muslim or whatever. I am now very pissed off. This is 'teach the controversy' in the UK and we don't have any first amendment with which to fight back. A head teacher in this country can put any spin on any subject and imply whatever he likes as long as he disguises it as 'fair and balanced'. I think he plans to suggest quietly that there is 'no proof' of Evolution and other 'theories' are out there. Sorry for the long post about my own personal situation. If anyone's still reading have you got any suggestions?

5. As the world becomes smaller, the need to understand each other's faith grows

Comment #192891 by GodMyArse on June 14, 2008 at 6:32 am

What an empty article. It simply seems to be advocating using faith in one of the traditional ways: to manipulate the masses and anaesthetise us against the forces controlling our lives. I have to admit I didn't make it all the way through as it is mostly stating the bleeding obvious, don't kill each other etc. This guy hasn't changed at all. For all his fancy words his speeches etc never amount to much more than trying to avert any awkward questions by saying nothing much.

6. Mail-boat record 'proves Darwin stole his original ideas from a Welsh scientist'

Comment #185555 by GodMyArse on May 28, 2008 at 4:15 am

Surely if Darwin stole evolution form Wallace there would be evidence of disagreement and animosity between the two men. If not then Wallace does not seem to have felt cheated at the time, so why invent controversy? Every documentary seems to have to have an 'angle' nowadays, to sound exciting, rather than just being informative about an interesting subject. It sounds to me like there were two men who came up with similar theories at a similar time and even shared knowledge and ideas. One of these men has been better remembered possibly because he presented his theory in a more accessible/coherent way or had more publicity at the right time, and that's just the way it worked out.

7. 16% of US science teachers are creationists

Comment #182998 by GodMyArse on May 21, 2008 at 7:50 am

Just can't get over the fact that these 'teachers' see their jobs as imparting their opinion to the children rather than the actual syllabus. How is this even possible? And yes, if disciplinary action was to be taken against these law-breakers the well-funded religious supporters would cry persecution of religion, whereas there are documented cases of it happening the other way round and nothing is done to support the victim. They are winning ground on this issue by lies, intimidation, perversion of freedom laws and down-right dirty tricks. Is it really as bad in the US as it looks from over the pond? If so it scares me.

8. These dim-wits believe in anything but God

Comment #182072 by GodMyArse on May 19, 2008 at 7:34 am

I feel there is nothing to fear from kids being taught about all the different religions out there, as I'm sure most of us are agreed, it can only lead to them cancelling each other out. What I would like to see stopped immediately is the act of worhip legally expected in every British school, every day. That is state indoctrination. Including Humanism and/or atheism would be incredibly valuable to their education, but it would be a very brave government to introduce it overtly as it would inevitably become the single issue obsessed about by every type of media forever more and no political party would sacrifice itself for this issue.

9. Are Darwin's Theories Fact or Faith Issues?

Comment #122863 by GodMyArse on February 6, 2008 at 8:29 am

Woah, how biased is that station? Apart from the ID guy being obviously pre-homo-sapiens they really helped him out by seeming to have his voice faded up a lot louder than PZ and backing him up on the "stop insulting me!" (cries) issue. These damn faith heads, its impossible to debate with them as they misinterpret everything, especially confusing 'criticism' and 'insult' THE WHOLE DAMN TIME! PZ calmly stating that Simmons was ignorant of the fossil record was criticism not an insult. Saying Simmons is a fucking shithead is an insult. But true.

10. Sentenced to death: Afghan who dared to read about women's rights

Comment #120620 by GodMyArse on February 2, 2008 at 6:19 am

We Westerners always assume that democracy solves the problem of radicalism, fanaticism, opression, brutality and every other threat to normal freedoms taken for granted in a liberal democracy. What we fail to appreciate, time and again, is that in some parts of the world, given the chance, people just vote for brutal, oppresive, fanatical, radical tyrants or those who are influenced by them. In Afghanistan I fear we have spent lives and years replacing the Taliban with... the Taliban MKII. And now we can't complain because we put the thing together. We always underestimate the power of religion in some parts of the world and tribalism in others. This is the result.

11. Richard Dawkins on The Big Debate

Comment #119031 by GodMyArse on January 31, 2008 at 9:23 am

Good point Last Man. Several cases of 'honour' killings in the UK in recent years testify to that.

Enough 'good' muslims have imported the sharia and implement it, despite it being totally against the law of the host country, to make it a big (and growing) problem. They obviously believe that a higher power supercedes human law. And to them they are acting morally according to god's will.

12. Richard Dawkins on The Big Debate

Comment #119008 by GodMyArse on January 31, 2008 at 9:04 am

I'm gonna enroll my kids at one of those Tory schools. There they can deepen their understanding of Tory policy and aims (they are, of course, Tory children) and grow up in an environment where Tory principles are reinforced at all times in order to give them a well-developed political and economic compass. Other political ideologies will be mentioned and discussed (there is so much conservatism can learn from eco-anarchists, after all), but I think the Tory Party is the one, true party. Education should at no time be un-biased or encouraging of free thought and opinion.

13. Richard Dawkins on The Big Debate

Comment #118912 by GodMyArse on January 31, 2008 at 6:45 am

Philster61, yeah, and it really pisses me off when they interrupt a panellist to 'take some views from the audience'. Then the prick in the audience turns out to be the most ignorant, bigotted, know-nothing they could find and they get more air-time than the experts. I hate this modern media obsession with 'our' views, even on some news programs like BBC Breakfast. Pointless and mis-informed.

14. Richard Dawkins on The Big Debate

Comment #118873 by GodMyArse on January 31, 2008 at 5:25 am

Poor Dawkins, having to argue the same points and explain what he has explained a hundred times before! Non-believers are accused of repetition all the time by faith-heads (ironic or what?) but they never listen and never justify their positions, which is why the debate rarely moves out of the preliminary stages, in my view. When will we be able, as a species, to stop wasting so much time on discussing who's imaginary friend is best at educating children and which dogma least fucks with freedom? Don't they see the contradiction of stating that people of every faith can learn from all others? Why, then, do they dogmatically profess belief in their own? They can't be both right and wrong at the same time, it's just suspension of incredulity, as usual. A great example of humans' ability to hold 2 opposing views at once.

15. Belief in Belief

Comment #117610 by GodMyArse on January 29, 2008 at 8:24 am

Hitch is such a legend. And those videos were terrific, thanks Andr3w, really enjoyed them. Trouble is, whenever I try to get other people to watch things like this I get accused of preaching! How can we engage believers and apathetic non-believers without coming across as being as bad as religious evangelists? Wish I had an answer because we have a powerful enough argument but if people won't listen...

16. Heath Ledger Death: Baptist Group To Protest At Memorial

Comment #115983 by GodMyArse on January 25, 2008 at 7:44 am

It would be cool if a mardi-gras was organised to drown out the hate-abuse of the WBC at the picket, but, of course, only the religious are insensitive and arrogant enough to consider interfering and attention seeking at someone's fueral.

17. Heath Ledger Death: Baptist Group To Protest At Memorial

Comment #115969 by GodMyArse on January 25, 2008 at 6:53 am

If only there really was a hell these pricks could go to. How does a grieving family cope when they see things like this around? I hope they don't get anywhere near the funeral and are denied the publicity of disrupting it.

18. A Letter From Hell

Comment #115956 by GodMyArse on January 25, 2008 at 6:04 am

I registered with this GodTube s(h)ite (using the same name as here) just to post my opinion of the video and the type of person who would promote it to kids, but after my comment went up I have been unable to gain access to see what response it got. Have they barred me? Didn't know that was possible. Seems a little unfair. It's almost as if they don't want any negative criticism. Don't xtian fundamentalists believe in freedom of speech? I'm a first-time poster on here, by the way. You guys crack me up so much, thought it was time I joined in!