1. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc. were atheists, and they were terrible! Answer that!

Comment #81725 by uzi on October 25, 2007 at 5:21 am

It's often overlooked that Hitler, Stalin, and Mao each ate carrots during their lifetimes. Perhaps this crispy biennial root vegitable is really the common link of evil between them.

2. Public Debate on Complexity and Evolution

Comment #61201 by uzi on August 4, 2007 at 6:12 am

RD spends a little time talking about the development of (and precursors to) the wing on his "Growing up in the Universe" DVD. The talks are aimed at children, and it aren't especially deep, but still remain interesting. Surely he has talked about this elsewhere too, though I can't say exactly where. It seems like a safe guess that he would cover it in some depth in at least one of his books.

3. The Fastest-Growing Religion

Comment #42387 by uzi on May 18, 2007 at 6:28 am

ScottishGeologist: I believe it. There is something special when you're at one with a rock. For example, if you're not at one with it, you're falling.

GodlessHeathen: if natural evolution (nature) didn't create us, then surely with a name like you have you don't believe in some supernatural miracle creation? So how did we get here if it wasn't god and it wasn't evolution?

BillySands: Absolutely. I got a used VHS copy for $2 at Hollywood Video. That movie helped convince me that Alpine climbing probably isn't something I would like to do. I like to climb in shorts. :)

4. The Fastest-Growing Religion

Comment #42352 by uzi on May 18, 2007 at 5:28 am

What's wrong with "worshipping nature"? It is what created us afterall, and it is not supernatural. While religion is full of horrible things and ideas very worthy of much ridicule, there seems a tendency to forget the need for some sort of spirituality just for inner peace and tranquility. Getting in touch with nature is a very good way to achieve that, without making outlandish claims about supernatural intervention, without believing anything without evidence. It just feels good.

That is one of the many reasons I enjoy rock climbing so much. It is every bit a "religous" experience for me as what so many churchgoers proclaim (pretend?) to experience on sundays. Thus, a rockwall is my church, and I get in touch with nature that way. It is a test of faith to climb, it's a moment of a living meditation (where nothing else in the world exists), it is calming, flowing, and requires focus, strength, breathing, relaxation, balance, creativity, and determination. When done, I am left with a sense of awe.

That is true spirituality to me.

5. Fortune-telling no longer in the cards in Philly

Comment #39211 by uzi on May 10, 2007 at 7:13 am

If it is illegal to predict the future for profit by observing the stars, then it should not be legal to inform the public when comets are near, when an eclipse may happen, when we will have a meteor shower, and so on, because astronomy inadvertantly falls into their definition, as posted in comment 15.)

While I generally support getting rid of the ridiculous (like this), targeting this is clearly attacking the wrong--nearly trivial--problem. People are being told the future of their souls in churches everywhere, based on something no more reliable than those tarot cards.

6. The New Atheists loathe religion far too much to plausibly challenge it

Comment #38486 by uzi on May 8, 2007 at 10:00 am

We relish free-thinking, and should tolerate any belief people may think is reasonable. However, what if the belief isn't just a fact ("the world is flat") but that the belief involves action, such as "I believe that I ABSOLUTELY *MUST* KILL AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE, BEFORE THE END OF THIS WEEK".)

Now we're getting into examples where beliefs really are dangerous, and the question is valid. Especially if the threat of their action is true.

I think that the question that Sam asks is poignent because there perhaps are *some* beliefs that are too dangerous to truly hold. There may not be many such beliefs, but there may be some that qualify.

7. Those fanatical atheists

Comment #38219 by uzi on May 7, 2007 at 8:56 am

During his lifetime, Hitler ate carrots. Stalin, too, liked the taste of carrots. This devastating revelation cannot be ignored forever. Eatng carrots causes mass murderous tendencies.

This relationship can make predictions: If you have killed (or authorized/ordered the deaths of) people, you most assuredly have eaten carrots.

8. How multiculturalism is betraying women

Comment #36838 by uzi on May 2, 2007 at 1:31 pm

I'm tempted to think the judge is discriminating against these women not for being women, but for being one of "them" -- a muslim.

Too bad the Muslim women are the victims in that society. As posiedon said, "you've made your bed now lie in it" may be the judge's position, but the women didn't make THIS particular bed!

9. Two idiots get a forum

Comment #35698 by uzi on April 28, 2007 at 11:35 am

The best part about the bananna argument is that they seem so naive as to think that the bananna he holds is a naturally occurring fruit.

Natural banannas were about as big as a finger, and through artificial selection of early farmers (who continually kept plants yielding larger fruits, and discarded those with smaller fruits) created the bananna we see today.

In short, the bananna that is the "atheists' nightmare" is in fact a product of evolution.

10. The Empty Wager

Comment #33086 by uzi on April 19, 2007 at 6:09 am

If we could cheat death and prevent old age, that would be the end of human evolution. If we're arrogent enough to think we're as good as we can possibly get, and that evolution has an end-of-the-road marker and--holy shit--we've arrived! Then perhaps we would want to live forever.

Without death there will be no room for the next generation, no room for change, meaning no adaptation to the new challenges posted by the otherwise changing world. I think that would ultimately lead to mass starvation on a global scale, or some deadly disease against which we are totally unprepared to ward off.

Sucks to die, but it is a part of life. Enjoy the time you have, and don't squander it.

11. Atheism isn't the final word

Comment #32314 by uzi on April 16, 2007 at 8:56 pm

In a nutshell, he claims that without the bible (I mean "The Bible"), there would be no morals. (That leaves me wondering, how did the Buddhists manage to pull it off?) Furthermore, people would feel bad if they were just an "accident" of nature [weak appeal to emotion]. Yawn. What an uninspired article.

12. Even non-believers must recognise the moral necessity of Christianity

Comment #30674 by uzi on April 9, 2007 at 9:48 am

A thought that crossed my mind this morning: Evolution shows that we need religion to protect ourselves from extremists.

When we try to eradicate a disease and achieve 99.9% effectiveness, we end up cultivating a drug-resistent strain that becomes a super-bug, by wiping out all of its weaker competition. Case in point: antibiotic resistant drugs, pesticide-resistant insects, and super virii.

It's given that the more extreme one is in his (religious) beliefs, the less likely he will abandon them. I think, therefore, that the most dangerous religious people are the very last ones to give it up. Anything that we can do to reduce but not eliminate religion will simply reduce the moderates, and end up contributing to a relative growth in the base of extremists. They will face less recruitment competition they by others.

Pessimistically, I would consider it a great victory to merely have moderates simply admit they were wrong, but it would be a miracle (an act of god?) for them to actually try and stop their more extreme friends and neighbors, beginning a process of erosion from the inside. Sadly, I just don't see how this could possibly happen.

13. Growing Up in the Universe: 2-Disc DVD Set

Comment #29234 by uzi on April 2, 2007 at 7:04 am

Great! Order submitted.

14. Peanut Butter, The Atheist's Nightmare!

Comment #28317 by uzi on March 28, 2007 at 5:58 pm

Damn, talk about lousy timing. I had just finished my watermelon-based proof that there is no God, and then I ran across this banana video. They took all my arguments and twisted them around.

Hey, isn't the sidekick guy in the banana skit Kirk Cameren?

15. Does God answer prayer? ASU research says 'yes'

Comment #25954 by uzi on March 15, 2007 at 7:55 pm

Here would be an interesting study: offer Christians a new (possibly risky) Ebola vaccine, explaining that it has NOT been scientifically shown to be safe, and in fact had not been tested at all. Be sure to emphasize, however, that the researchers who designed it had strenuously prayed for it to be safe and felt a strong personal conviction that it would be.

I wonder how many volunteers one would get...

16. For the God Question, a Biological Perspective

Comment #25604 by uzi on March 14, 2007 at 9:38 am

"Why is this so hard for believers to understand?"

When people have strong emotional investments, they frequently do not wish to understand. It is not comfortable for one to have his world-view crumble out from beneith his feet.

Some people have never heard the truth, and quite literally don't know any better.

Some people are easily convinced of anything (I hesitate to use the world gullible) and believe "God is real" because someone said so, period. They don't need facts, they just need that feeling it's true and thus it must be.

Then there are those who do know the truth, in the back of their minds at least, but don't want to accept or admit it. For whatever reason, they justify the self-deceit by prefering comfort in a fantasy over a truth that they don't like. I think these are the ones most likely to abandon their religion once they learn that life still has meaning without God.

Finally, there are those who do not believe, but derive power, wealth, social standing, or other benefits by pretending to believe.

Am I leaving anyone out? Probably. But I think the vast majority of believers fall into one of the above categories.

17. Understanding Genetics - Daniel Dennett Interview

Comment #25161 by uzi on March 10, 2007 at 2:48 pm

Thanks for posting these. I enjoyed listening to them all.

18. An apology to Peter Kay

Comment #25121 by uzi on March 10, 2007 at 8:54 am

What a classy response. If I were in such a situation there would have been clear anger and venom. As an American, I haven't learned the gift of British subtlety, but admire it when I see it. Though soft and gentle, he still packs a punch.

19. Conservapedia v Wikipedia

Comment #24716 by uzi on March 8, 2007 at 7:21 am

Read the article on Global Warming. It's worth a chuckle. In reference to the scientists backing the idea:

...
Therefore, their work can not be considered unbiased, though no more than any scientist in any other field. Also, these scientists are mostly liberal athiests, untroubled by the hubris that man can destroy the Earth which God gave him.

20. Meet the Relatives. They're Full of Surprises.

Comment #21726 by uzi on February 10, 2007 at 7:38 pm

Evolution adds value to the what it means to be alive. It gives us an unending connection to billions of years of cosmic formation. It bridges the gaps between all forms of life, unites us, and most assuredly humbles us for what we are.

How much lower could one feel than to be the result of a powerful being's whim, created as a puppet to stroke his apparently fragile ego? How much meaning is there to dedicating one's live to try earning a forgiveness for some egregious crime allegedly committed by an ancient ancestor? If an eternal curse was placed upon all mankind simply for eating some fruit, then what hope would anyone ever have of actually receiving the coveted "grace" offered to us, apparently the eternal carrot-on-a-stick?

I love live too much to live in the shadow of my potential, wallowing in the wretchedness and unworthiness that Christianity insists I possess. I simply reject that the premise that the best life is lived by fearing [punishment of?] god.

A "sudden" existence deprives us connection to the world, making our situation not natural but a contrived juxtaposition of unrelated rivals. It undermines the beauty of science, and encourages a celebration of ignorance. It diminishes the respect and esteem we should inherently hold for all living creatures with whom we share our genetics.

I value life too much to subject it to religion.

21. Some stars and planets in scale

Comment #19008 by uzi on January 24, 2007 at 10:05 am

One thing that continues to amaze me is the energy emitted by our sun. 93 million miles away, sending its energy through cold space and yet it still can burn us. Yet, most heat sources on Earth cannot be felt even a few feet away.