1. How to reconcile Richard Dawkins?

Comment #172236 by Milton on April 29, 2008 at 11:22 am

Oh no! Not the Stalin/Hitler/Mao argument again. Atheism is totally void of moral content. Not believing in god or other supernatural things does not involve any pointers on how to act at all.

Let's take an example. Being white has no moral content either.

Have white people committed evil deeds towards black people because they where black?
Yes.
Was it because they where white?
No.
Why? Because being white does not give you any moral conviction.
Does that mean white people are evil or that being white somehow makes you evil?
No.
Lack of pigmentation does not make you evil. It has no bearing whatsoever on your moral preferences.

I can't believe this one keeps coming up. We need someone to make a convincing (but not too long) statement about this as a flyer or visiting card to be passed around to everyone in the audience of a debate and to the media before answering any questions. This issue must die!

2. Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss

Comment #161260 by Milton on April 15, 2008 at 4:37 am

I was thinking about one thing they talked about in the Q&A. The issue about bringing more science and scientific thinking into popular culture. The first think that came to my mind where it already exists is tv-shows and books about crime investigation.

All sorts of stuff like CSI and shows about court trials are very popular. People like looking for clues and the investigation of evidence.

Is there something to be learned from that kind of entertainment when trying to promote scientific thinking in a wider sense?

3. Debate between Richard Dawkins and Madeline Bunting

Comment #126919 by Milton on February 14, 2008 at 1:47 pm

I think when arguing about labeling children it's more convincing to compare religion to political movements.
"You don't say a democratic child or a republican child" Marxist works nice too!

Furthermore I'd like to add that a child should have the right to label itself anything. It maybe goes without saying, though.

4. The Out Campaign

Comment #59772 by Milton on July 30, 2007 at 3:34 pm

How about FIND OUT? The more you learn about how the world works the less likely you are to find a need for belief in the supernatural. Could also mean 'find out' more about how many atheists there actually are.

5. Ricky Gervais on Atheism

Comment #26368 by Milton on March 19, 2007 at 12:23 am

reggiedixon> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T22Dl43nQvE
You probably mean this one?

6. Foreword for the UK edition of 'Letter to a Christian Nation'

Comment #22293 by Milton on February 14, 2007 at 12:17 am

I read "Letter to..." as a snack while I was still reading "End of Faith".
It's really straight to the point, powerful and very funny.
I'm from Sweden where we are pretty much blessed from religious madness, so some of those I've recommended "The God Delusion" and "End of Faith" to have wondered why I care so much. They say things like:
"Religion is going to die soon anyway. Why spend so much energy on a battle that is already won?"

But it's very easy to persuade someone to read "Letter to..." since it's so small.

I want to thank Richard and Sam for showing me that I'm not alone in being frustrated about faith and the lack of reason it carries with it. You've been my personal heroes for the last six months or more.

7. Some stars and planets in scale

Comment #18570 by Milton on January 21, 2007 at 5:59 pm

There seems to be a zero missing on Arcturus.