1. The camp that 'cures' homosexuality

Comment #262527 by joshie on October 8, 2008 at 8:02 pm

What a waste of human happiness.

I can't help thinking that if I haven't renounced Evangelical Christianity in my late teens I'd be quequing up to join a boot camp just like that too. But fortunately when the question of my sexual orientation came up when I was 17, I was already contemplating the problem of evil. From there, it was only a little hop, skip and jump away towards atheism.

I think one of the remedies for the situation is for gays and lesbians to come out publicly, showing how they can be as happy, moral, well-adjusted and productive as heterosexuals and be role models to homosexual youths.

2. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #217862 by joshie on July 24, 2008 at 6:03 pm

I have been reading the posts. Puffing chest and showing feathers sounds more like you and al-rawandi.

'Smart ass' comment duly noted. Glad you clear that one up.

3. Islam subway ads cause stir in New York

Comment #217840 by joshie on July 24, 2008 at 5:37 pm

Comment 96 by the white pearl:

Women it is true occasionally decline into stereotypical embittered spinsterhood and/or religious mania, but on the whole they don't vent their frustrations by physically assaulting the men who have rejected them. In general, they seem more capable of channelling frustrated sexual energies into more constructive things like writing and art for example.


Actually they become lesbian. Some of these lesbians become butch. And they act out their sexual repression on other women

Actually the majority of butch lesbians (most of my friends and I am one of those butch lesbians) have never had sex with guys or been rejected by males, or sexually frustrated by them. And to upset the stereotyping further, my friends get along well with their male colleagues. I for one think that most men are decent. And before anyone can make a comment about me being a lesbian because I have not had any experience with the male organ, I have examined many, in all sizes and shapes, and they don't impress me much.

As for butches acting sexual repression towards other women, I reject that. I don't have hard evidence and statistics, but if comments based on TWP's anecdotes can go on here ("a clear-thinking oasis") unchallenged, then my anecdotes (as someone who belongs to this minority) should also be accepted and noted.

Now let's go back to bashing theists.

4. Crack annoyance squad wanted

Comment #204439 by joshie on July 5, 2008 at 1:33 am

Hi Laurie,

That's cool that you'll be there on the 19th. I'm thinking of making my own T-shirt that says something like
"God is all in your head"

there're lots more ideas for a T-shirt at
http://www.redbubble.com/agent-provocateur-t-shirts-with-messages/forums/102/topics/18745-t-shirt-challenge-world-youth-day?page=1

And yeh I'll be at the kiss-in too. I'll drag my partner along :-)

5. Crack annoyance squad wanted

Comment #203814 by joshie on July 3, 2008 at 5:08 pm

Any Sydney atheists attending the protest for the WYD? The No to Pope coalition is having march on Sat 19th July from Taylor square to Moore Park. I'm planning to be as legally annoying and inconveniencing as possible to the pilgrims. After all, they're a source of annoyance and inconvenience to me. Thanks to them, Sydney's looking like a police state in July.

6. Common New Atheist Fallacies

Comment #200467 by joshie on June 27, 2008 at 5:17 pm

This guy reminds me of Rabbi Boteach from a couple of months ago. And Prof Dawkins' remark: "Anybody who has something sensible or worthwhile to say should be able to say it calmly and soberly, relying on the words themselves to convey his meaning, without resorting to yelling" applies to this as well.

See how calm Christopher Hitchens is.

7. Mormons urged to back ban on same-sex marriage

Comment #199508 by joshie on June 25, 2008 at 9:36 pm

While we're on the subject of marriage, this got in yesterday, check this out:
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/programguide/stories/200806/s2285283.htm

...in which a senior muslim cleric and leader tried to sell polygamy to the Australian government. One of the arguments is:
"Why don't we recognise [polygamy] when it comes to consensual relationships amongst adults."

Try substituting 'polygamy' with 'gay marriage' and you can hear the howls over the Pacific probably.

8. The Flea Delusion

Comment #199407 by joshie on June 25, 2008 at 5:55 pm

Richard Morgan,

I've read your blogspot.

You sound like someone who's 'searching' and would latch onto concepts (and religions) based on your emotional reaction to it. You described being a Mormon, a new age-ist, a re-incarnationist, etc etc. Perhaps atheism for you is just another one? Your past atheism was not founded on rationality and that's why the next person (who happened to be a christian) to tug at your emotional heartstrings actually succeeded.

Be brave and courageous, embrace what your reason tells you and reject the myth of the nonexistent God who 'first loved us' because that's a lump of emotional, unevidenced bollocks, despite its warm snuggly feeling. Live life with intellectual honesty!

9. Gay brains structured like those of the opposite sex

Comment #194371 by joshie on June 16, 2008 at 4:53 pm

Esuther,
you mentioned a few gray areas of human sexuality:

"For example: would you attribute homosexuality or heterosexuality to the following persons:

A married woman who has lesbian fantasies while having orgasmic (i.e. unfaked) sex with her husband.

A married man who has a 'happy' marriage but goes to a gay bar once a month for a blow job

A woman who has passive sex with another woman using a dildo

A man who has passive sex with his wife using a dildo

A man who makes a career of the military/the clergy and whose primary sex is masturbation.

Boys/girls who grow up in sexually divided societies who marry but have intense friendships and occasional sex with their own genders (as in rigid Arab societies).

Abused women (or women who have been genitally mutilated) who never have a chance to have good sex with their husbands and look to women for love.

A priest/nun who really IS chaste but who has erotic dreams about the Holy Ghost.

There are probably more 'gray area' sexualities, but I think you get my drift."


i think i get your drift, but can't help wondering if these examples can be classified as behaviour for sexual gratification (fetish??), whereas homosexuality for some gay people is a consistent pattern of sexual preference/behaviour, which gender they seek for emotional/sexual intimacy, or even their identity. afterall, my 'gayness' is not only defined as what gives me an orgasm.

granted that a lot of people are unsure of what their sexuality is, and i guess a sample size of 20 or 25 is fairly small, but i'm willing to bet that these people probably have enough self-knowledge to brand themselves one way or another. or towards one end of the spectrum or the other.

10. George W Bush meets Pope amid claims he might convert to Catholicism

Comment #193497 by joshie on June 15, 2008 at 5:44 pm

If George W really converts to Catholicism because the Pope visited and impressed him then that just shows how ignorant he is. What about the centuries of theological difference between Protestants and Catholics? This smacks of following the cult of personality.

11. Town moves against Islamic school

Comment #185019 by joshie on May 26, 2008 at 5:32 pm

I live in a quaint picturesque country town called Bowral just 70 km down the Hume highway from Camden, so I guess you can call me a local.
What's more, I'm a relatively recent migrant from an intolerant Muslim country (Indonesia) to this egalitarian society.

This is a beautiful part of New South Wales, too beautiful to be spoilt with the introduction of a non-integrating, undemocratic, misogynist, oftentimes violent value system such as Islam. I don't think having these concerns would qualify me as a racist or xenophobe.

I sincerely hope the council turns down the proposal.

12. Faith in Britain today

Comment #177461 by joshie on May 9, 2008 at 6:11 am

i forced myself to read this through and now my neuronal networks are disintegrating to pink candyfloss...

what a waste of time.

13. Faith in Britain today

Comment #177155 by joshie on May 8, 2008 at 4:57 pm

"Have you ever met anyone who believes what Richard Dawkins doesn't believe in? I usually find that the God that is being rejected by such people is a God I don't believe in either. I simply don't recognise my faith in what is presented by these critics as Christian faith."

By saying so the good Cardinal is denouncing the God of the Old Testament. Is this God the same as the one in the New Testament or not?

How can we argue in his terms when he can always appeal to 'faith' and pick and choose which bits of the Bible he believes in?

This guy is creating God in his image. Pure and simple.

14. Faith healing church parents charged over toddler's death

Comment #158663 by joshie on April 10, 2008 at 10:28 pm

dune 010,

as i said in my post, the fetus' right to exist has to be balanced against the women's right to her body. this issue is central to the argument of abortion (for or against). i, being a woman, am strongly opposed to pro-lifers, whose position is that all fetuses have a right to life regardless of what the women's circumstances are. i don't think we can talk about abortion (or contraception) without ever mentioning women's rights. i don't espouse radical feminism, but i'm happy to go this far in terms of women's rights.

yes, i value potential in a human foetus (yes, in the womb). obviously there're degrees of fulfilling that potential. the 11 week old fetus hasn't got the same 'value' compared to a seven month gestation. this is why i said:

"i haven't touched the question of a clear line between a fetus of nonviable age vs a fetus of viable age. i wonder if the discussion would change if there is a way of growing fetuses independent of their mother's wombs so as to take that issue out of the equation. i suspect it would"

a pig, on the other hand, has no potential to become a human being. this might sound obvious, but i thought it was worth raising. afterall, you did mention it in your post.

15. Faith healing church parents charged over toddler's death

Comment #154117 by joshie on April 2, 2008 at 5:31 pm

corruptmemory,

thanks for your post, i appreciate that my moral intuition is not grounded on anything but my own experience/psyche/emotional response/whatever, and that it can be wrong. however i still have enough confidence in my own reasoning not to follow whichever eloquent philosopher to come my way just because they happen to echo my own internal thoughts. for example, i delight in schopenhauer's antagonism and rancour towards his fellow humans, and intuitively (perhaps as result of being exposed to so much human stupidity in my past) i find myself repeating his words in my mind. but i know that his ideas were just opinions, and are quite dangerous if they were to be pursued to the their logical end.


Dune010,

what about the fact that a human baby has the potential to develop into a being that is capable of memory, logical reasoning, having wishes/dreams for the future, artistical appreciation, and emotional attachment to other humans? in short, into a being just like yourself (or myself for that matter)? i think that's a clear line between a human baby and a pig.
but yes, i haven't touched the question of a clear line between a fetus of nonviable age vs a fetus of viable age. i wonder if the discussion would change if there is a way of growing fetuses independent of their mother's wombs so as to take that issue out of the equation. i suspect it would.

16. Faith healing church parents charged over toddler's death

Comment #153717 by joshie on April 1, 2008 at 11:28 pm

SweatyPalmSunday,

i think you're asking a valid question and don't deserve to be shot down by the people here for asking it. i don't know if you've read Peter Singer's book on these topics; he's famous for being utilitarian but i think he's got good points to say regardless of what flavour of ethics you subscribe to. he treated the question you ask seriously and attempted to answer it.

the 'legal' age for abortion of a fetus is about 5 months or 22 weeks gestation or thereabouts. i always think because that's the gestational age that a fetus can survive outside its mother's body in a newborn intensive care unit (correct me if i'm wrong). prior to that age the fetus' right to exist has to be balanced with the mother's autonomy of her own body. and most people would say that the mother's right overrules that of the fetus.

there is something morally repugnant about infanticide. i know the ancient greeks practiced it but my blood runs cold everytime i hear about it. i may not be able to come up with a rational argument against it, but my moral sense is clamouring.

17. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help

Comment #153024 by joshie on March 31, 2008 at 10:23 pm

absolutely horrid story....

i was having a good day until reading this and now i'm just covered in sheer despair for the stupidity of some members of the human race.

it's hard to resist slipping into that familiar pool of pessimism. the universe doesn't care if a defenceless 11 year old girl died, it didn't even blink to mark her passing.

it's hard to maintain your own humanity in the face of these ugly facts. or am i just taking this a tad too personally?