1. The Other Darwin

Comment #232988 by RightWingAtheist on August 19, 2008 at 1:55 am

"Evolution Revolution???"

A museum named for Lancelot Link's band???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh6sSExynS4

2. The Boundaries of Belief

Comment #205107 by RightWingAtheist on July 6, 2008 at 3:05 pm

It seems extremely likely that some people, if only 8% of 15% of the population, think "atheist" means no religion, and therefore also applies to deists (though they probably don't know that word).

3. The Boundaries of Belief

Comment #205105 by RightWingAtheist on July 6, 2008 at 3:02 pm

Creator said:
"Isn't lack of belief in the Biblical God a poor way to identify atheists?"

I think these surveys stated that they were for people who were either Christians or Atheists.

4. Richard Dawkins Public Lecture - Liverpool 08

Comment #197870 by RightWingAtheist on June 22, 2008 at 7:53 pm

LaTomate :

The obama video is thrilling, but what he says is a really easy argument to make. It feels so relieving to hear a politician say anything against theocracy, but he isn't holding himself to much. Is it really so revolutionary for him to speak out against murdering children?

Don't forget that Obama is still a Christian who goes to a "rock and roll church" as Hitchens calls it. He can go there for 20 years, and leftist atheists will dismiss it as political posturing, but when he says we should report child murder to the police, in ONE short video, suddenly he's the first secularist ever?

5. What Happens When a School Board of Religious Zealots Will 'Lie for Jesus'?

Comment #197425 by RightWingAtheist on June 22, 2008 at 3:03 am

Someone DOES have to stand up for Jesus. His feet must be f#cking killing him.


I suppose, if someone asked if I have been saved, I would ask "From what?" If they say "Hell", I would certainly say that I don't believe "hell" exists.

6. Stephen Hawking: ministers' £80m error puts science at risk

Comment #193446 by RightWingAtheist on June 15, 2008 at 3:55 pm

esuther:

It's just ironic as it stands. That's the only point. Obviously I am not criticizing Hawking, because he didn't say it.

7. Stephen Hawking: ministers' £80m error puts science at risk

Comment #193388 by RightWingAtheist on June 15, 2008 at 1:57 pm

"PROFESSOR Hawking does not like titles."

What an odd statement.

8. Character Attacks: How to Properly Apply the Ad Hominem

Comment #188888 by RightWingAtheist on June 4, 2008 at 11:35 pm

Szymanowski:

I have never agreed with what I believe to be an arbitrary ban on splitting infinitives.

9. Physicist Claims First Real Demonstration of Cold Fusion

Comment #188301 by RightWingAtheist on June 3, 2008 at 8:11 pm

Not being a physicist, I am failing to understand why "cold fusion" will be beneficial over normal fusion as claimed.

On another topic, anyone who believes rumors about "big oil" conspiracies to smother miracle energy sources, with no evidence whatsoever, is NOT "skeptical". Believing rumors with no evidence is actually called "gullible".

10. Character Attacks: How to Properly Apply the Ad Hominem

Comment #188297 by RightWingAtheist on June 3, 2008 at 7:54 pm

They really should have hired Hitchens to write on this subject.

I think the author is wrong about Tom Cruise. I don't assume he makes bad movies because he is a scientologist.

I assume his movies will be bad because he is a bad actor who signs on for idiotic scripts.

When I consider Scientology, and all of his related babblings, I don't want to see his movies because I think he is an ASSHOLE.

11. Ben Stein 1, Yoko Ono 0 in 'Expelled' copyright spat

Comment #188293 by RightWingAtheist on June 3, 2008 at 7:32 pm

I can't be 100% sure without seeing the movie, but it doesn't sound much like the movie is criticizing the song. It sounds like they just used it as background music for their criticism of science. The judge seems to have been stretching for an argument in favor of the movie.

12. Random Acts of Evolution

Comment #187817 by RightWingAtheist on June 2, 2008 at 6:39 pm

Ridley says more DNA makes the entire cell larger overall. It also tends to make the animal's brain smaller, due to slowed cellular reproduction when growing the brain.

13. Random Acts of Evolution

Comment #187223 by RightWingAtheist on June 1, 2008 at 2:25 pm

esuther:

Matt Ridley talks about "junk" DNA at the 30th anniversary gathering for The Selfish Gene.

http://richarddawkins.net/audio/SelfishGene30.mp3
(Ridley starts at about 32:00, but don't skip over Dennett!)

You can probably find more detailed information elsewhere, but I immediately thought that if you didn't already know about our upside-down genome, you must have missed out on this wonderful little event for Dawkins.

Edit:
Ridley does address frogs having more DNA than humans, to answer that question.

14. Car dealership advert tells atheists to 'shut up'

Comment #185465 by RightWingAtheist on May 27, 2008 at 9:39 pm

When you drive a Ford, you NEED to have god on your side. Fix, Or Refer to Deity.

(best I could come up with)

15. The Mind-Altering Role of Incense in Religion

Comment #184982 by RightWingAtheist on May 26, 2008 at 4:03 pm

The "alter boy" is the one they molest if the first one says he has a headache.

16. The amazing intelligence of crows

Comment #181317 by RightWingAtheist on May 16, 2008 at 10:49 pm

No final stage of having the crows scavenge the city for loose change?

17. Pelosi, Reid shunning Ten Commandments?

Comment #181312 by RightWingAtheist on May 16, 2008 at 10:21 pm

steveroot said:
"How were these goat milkers supposed to know ..."

This sounds a little tribalistic to me. In the future, please address your comments to ALL makers of dairy products.

18. Justice In The Brain: Equity And Efficiency Are Encoded Differently

Comment #178109 by RightWingAtheist on May 10, 2008 at 2:08 pm

(My first comment crashed, so I hope this isn't a duplicate.)

82abhilash:

We do end up having to answer communist questions in the case of feeding children, because adults ARE making choices for them, doing central planning as you say.

The real problem is that the question seems ridiculous. Do they have a good explanation as to WHY this crazy situation exists? The real-world answer is that we need to figure out exactly how we screwed the process up so badly as to create this problem.

If the question is supposed to represent people's economic morality, it's also unrealistic. Plundering from one person, supposedly for the good of everyone else, usually results in less total resources in the long term, not more.

19. Top billing for platypus at end of evolution tree

Comment #177811 by RightWingAtheist on May 9, 2008 at 6:31 pm

Much better than the neutered version.

Of course, we already KNEW that the Platypus was the best animal ever. But it's nice to see the science to back that up.

20. My Response to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #177287 by RightWingAtheist on May 8, 2008 at 9:24 pm

belcanto78 asked
>> isn't the very comparison to
>> Hitler "poisoning the well"?

The well was already full of night soil

21. Churchgoing on its knees as Christianity falls out of favour

Comment #177285 by RightWingAtheist on May 8, 2008 at 9:18 pm

dragonfirematrix asked
>> "Why is Islam increasing?"

I think a lot of it is immigration.

22. My Response to Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

Comment #177251 by RightWingAtheist on May 8, 2008 at 8:31 pm

If Boteach can't hold himself in a formal debate without trying to win with anger, I think a Hitler reference is fair. That did seem to be a major part of Hitler's strategy. Boteach's character is exactly what Dawkins was objecting to, so yes, it was "ad hominem".

Hitchens also had to deal with Boteach's powderkeg personality. It went something like this...

Hitchens: The Jewish 'chosen people' claim was religious elitism, and added to hatred against them.
Boteach: The British Empire was elitist, and nobody hated them for it.
Hitchens: Lots of people hated the British.
Boteach: HOW DARE YOU COMPARE THAT TO THE HOLOCAUST!!!!!

23. Shaw TV Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #175105 by RightWingAtheist on May 4, 2008 at 12:33 pm

I can't get it to play or download either.

Fortunately, someone posted this to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxd39SzIi5Y

24. Sexpelled: No Intercourse Allowed

Comment #163018 by RightWingAtheist on April 17, 2008 at 8:33 pm

It's an old controversy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwo8qxUit00

25. Evolution Of New Species Slows Down As Number Of Competitors Increases

Comment #151882 by RightWingAtheist on March 29, 2008 at 3:58 pm

Andrew Stich said "how does it not imply that evolution is slowing down if less and less "species" are forming?"

Maybe they are referring to less diversification, while still allowing for succession within a single niche-focused species. There is still competition among members of the species, as well as predator vs. prey pressures.

But I do have a nagging feeling that there must be some kind of reduction, as the premise seems [to me] to be that we are comparing pre- and post-adaptation.

26. Expelled Overview

Comment #149532 by RightWingAtheist on March 25, 2008 at 9:02 pm

Ben Stein is not actually of complete low intelligence. Previously, he would best be described as ironic--a goofy actor who is in fact very well educated (in fields other than science).

I think this is a better example how how the popular form of child abuse known as "Sunday school" can turn otherwise smart and decent people into lying idiots.

27. I don't believe in atheists

Comment #144067 by RightWingAtheist on March 15, 2008 at 2:21 am

It's OK Charly Wilder...WE believe in YOU.