1. Cathedral seminar to equip clerics to deal with Dawkins

Comment #253129 by Bernard Baptiste on September 24, 2008 at 5:42 am

89. Comment #253106 by Paula Kirby

I think this says it all really. I really can't see what evidence they can provide which will tackle any of Richard's excellently argued points.

It seems to me anything less than an appearance from the man in the sky himself - subject to tests and verification, naturally - can adequately support the vacuous reactions and anti evidence stances taken by these deluding people.

I guess when you're drunk on the fumes from your death breath beliefs it's hard to sober up to the reality of evidence based thinking.

Spot on comment from Paula, though. It captures nicely the lunacy of the theist stance and the frustrations we feel trying to engage with their empty arguments.

I'm convinced they think we mean it all personally and can't separate a rational argument from a personal opinion.

2. Charlie Brooker's screen burn

Comment #228034 by Bernard Baptiste on August 11, 2008 at 10:27 am

22. Comment #227885 by irate_atheist

Hopefully people watching this show will realise what a crock of shit religion is. Hopefully it will dissuade some from going anywhere near any of the fucknuts

If only this would happen. I fear it won't, though. The real loony tunes have such a strong emotional relationship with this nonsense that they will just sit there spurring those disgraceful evangelists on and further strengthen the tie between themselves and their imaginary friend.

I felt for the biker though. He was the only one that seemed halfway alive. I was completely taken aback when the biker was accused of having deep seated issues which prevented him from seeing the truth in, well, a pack of lies.

I felt sick watching those silly c**ts giving any form of respect to that silly cult and allowing these dangerous people access to their private feelings, thoughts and wishes.

As for the evangelists, well I'm simply ashamed and disgusted these people feel the need to impose, interfere and meddle with these people in the absence of the kind of respect they themselves demand.

If the biker has deep seated issues then so do I. No-one anywhere talks rubbish to me and expect me to respect it. No-one makes me feel dirty and worthless simply because he's got a bee in his bonnet about some ridiculous half-arsed fairy tale.

I have to ask why a group of previously happy, if a little naughty, group of people would allow themselves and their lives to be treated with such alarming disrespect.

3. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya

Comment #225237 by Bernard Baptiste on August 6, 2008 at 11:07 am

2747. Comment #225220 by Joe Morreale

HARUN YAHYA HAS REFUTED EVOLUTION AND IT IS TIME TO HUMILIATE IN PUBLIC THAT MUPPET DAWKINS WHO HAS ALWAYS BEEN HIDING BEHIND THE SECULAR ESTABLISHMENT.

Do we really need such ill-considered - plain wrong in fact - nonsense putrifying our site?

I admit I have tried to follow Mr Morreale's arguments and cannot make head nor tail of them in the light of evidence and rational thought.

I can't believe for one second that:

We are confident that the days are soon to come when people will laugh, asking themselves "How could we ever believe this theory?"

is anything other than frightened, empty and simple buffoonery. Mr Morreale please say something which resembles reality, if you can.

Josh, I think this intellectual dwarf has made himself clear

4. Interview with Paula Kirby on 'The Right Hook'

Comment #225087 by Bernard Baptiste on August 6, 2008 at 7:20 am

52. Comment #225053 by Lammie

To me the best part was the way she explained that you do not have to have religion in your life to have a meaningful life.

Indeed. And it was a shame that the interview was cut short just as Paula was about to launch into a devastating attack on the religious position based on her gift for clarity, reasonableness and good old fashioned commonsense.

Paula's major contribution for me is that she speaks in a tongue anyone who understands English can understand and appreciate. Her points are difficult to rebut or refute because they are simply true.

Naturally, she doesn't need me to tell her how capable she is at getting to the point and making the point clearly.

Nice one, Paula

5. Council ban on atheist websites

Comment #221905 by Bernard Baptiste on July 30, 2008 at 9:31 am

Comment #221735 by J.C. Samuelson
Comment #221786 by irate_atheist

I go with this. Admin should be ensuring everyone is focussed only on the business of the day during the business day. Some companies allow surfing as a perk or to relieve boredom in some roles.

I use the internet at Birmingham central library on occasions and can access all the atheist sites. All the sites usually banned are inaccessible. I haven't tried these sites, but a friend told me that they are banned.

I can't see why the same policy cannot be generalised to council workers. No need for all of this nonsense when commonsense can be used.

6. Richard Dawkins slaps creationists into the primordial soup

Comment #213842 by Bernard Baptiste on July 19, 2008 at 3:22 am

Comment #213837 by Haymoon

I think he used the term simply to convey a contempt for people who believe and perpetrate Big Brother's ridiculousness.

I tried to watch it once and lasted 10 minutes before angrily turning the telly off. If friends or family are watching it I now tactfully go out for a walk.

Comment #213839 by Matt7895

I think there was a little bit of a movement to have this happen for Richard on this site.

One thing is sure have reproductions of Richard's sanity placed anywhere public decisions have to be made.

7. The Return of Religion

Comment #213235 by Bernard Baptiste on July 18, 2008 at 10:19 am

(In my best R. Lee Ermey voice): You gotta be fuckin shittin me, Richard! Billy Joel is god?!

Second that. He's the only guy I actually forked out money to see for years when he playerd in Manchester a couple of years ago.

I second diacanu's usual to the point post about RM's infantile but I'm sure sincere romantic liaison with sky daddy. Pity he had to soil King Billy's - who is also an avowed atheist - second greatest love song by associating it absurdedly with his fairy godfather.

8. An Irishman's Diary

Comment #209403 by Bernard Baptiste on July 12, 2008 at 6:07 am

Nice Test Raiko:

You scored 93% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 87% Expert!

9. PLEASE WRITE IN SUPPORT OF PZ MYERS

Comment #208613 by Bernard Baptiste on July 11, 2008 at 4:38 am

Done by email and will send snail mail later. I won't write it out here because it probably has all already been said before by others here.

Nice to see so many cats herded into properly effective action against an absurd affront to PZ's write to publicly criticise 'strange' practices.

Frightening!

10. Degrees of religion

Comment #206405 by Bernard Baptiste on July 8, 2008 at 10:44 am

This seems to me to be a nothing article. She seems have a murky emotional attachment to her invisible friend and even admits to not being a particularly good Muslim. So what?

As long as a person's actions do not harm anyone and stay within the range of their moral barometer, I think they deserve respect.

I think everyone on the planet deserves a respect of sorts. I'm not sure what the "range of their moral barometer" means. I can't see how you can reconcile not hurting anyone and staying within a moral barometer which may include responding to a jihad because someone has criticised Mohammed.

As a writer who happens to be Muslim, I have publicly denounced the attacks partly to articulate my genuine disgust but mainly to respond to the clamour of voices demanding louder condemnation from moderate Muslims.

I'm surprised she can't see the need for cultural muslims finding their feet in the west to perhaps more rigorously question their faith and not only say these attacks are wrong but also 'do' stuff to enable the rest of us to believe they agree these attacks are wrong.

There is a need for these transitional muslims to maybe distance themselves totally from their more fundamental co-believers lest we assume cultural muslims are cowardly fundies who are willing to protect and support their.

I can't believe that the immoral atheist would tolerate for one second any attack of the magnitude of 7/11, 7/7 by a group of Richarddawkins.net contributors.

Maybe its just me, but I can't help but feel obviously cultural muslims, like cultural christian, cultural sikhs et al. are simply too smug, lazy or frightened to simply rigorously question their beliefs, or are committed to Islam in a way not yet articulated.

Tolerance is a mark of emotional maturity and should be practiced, though it often isn't, by everyone irrespective of faith or faithlessness.

No, I don't see what she is trying to achieve with this.

11. Harper says new mosque shows 'the true and benevolent face of Islam'

Comment #205327 by Bernard Baptiste on July 7, 2008 at 5:25 am

Come out, come out wherever you are. Formerly known as Prufrock - I always knew there was something not quite right about Richard Morgan - and as a pleasant spell as Incredulous, and I still have to work too hard, it is now time for me to unreservedly graduate as an unashamed atheist.

However we define God, it is wrong to kill in his name," Harper said.

So it we stop trying to define God, especially in Abrahamic terms, then maybe we remove at least one completely insane reason to kill at all. I personally believe the best way to stop defining God is to simply accept he most probably isn't there.

And will someone please tell me how a mere building represents the true and benevolent face of anything?

If this is true why is so much of the koran and a couple of the hadiths so damn violent and/or threatening for those who chose not to believe in it or accept its tenets as having any particular value?

Maybe if the muslim faith was true and benevolent I wouldn't be so concerned by its spread.