1. Happy Birthday, Richard Dawkins!

Comment #150289 by Faith Collapsing on March 26, 2008 at 4:54 pm

You are one of the main reasons I've lost my faith in God...

Thank You! Happy Birthday, Richard! I hope I can achieve a 100th in my lifetime of what you've done in the past 3 years!

2. Writer Arthur C Clarke dies at 90

Comment #146857 by Faith Collapsing on March 19, 2008 at 1:46 pm

Arthur C. Clarke was one hell of a guy. If there is any person that introduced me to skepticism, it would have to be him. His programs on the paranormal helped me develop critical thinking skills. I hope that some of us can carry his legacy.

And as a note, I read his book Childhood's End. I'd have to say it was quite a chilling book. I've been dying to read Rendezvous with Rama. Perhaps this is a sign I should do so.

3. Add another flea to the list...

Comment #133593 by Faith Collapsing on February 26, 2008 at 12:14 pm

"Aikman also takes on one of the most controversial questions of our time: Can American liberties survive in the absence of widespread belief in God on the part of the nations people?"

Here's my answer to this question... YES! IN FACT, THEY WILL FLOURISH! There are no stupid questions, but there are answered questions asked by stupid people.

4. Borders Tags Atheist Book with 'O Come All Ye Faithless' Cards

Comment #100756 by Faith Collapsing on December 19, 2007 at 9:34 am

More proof that the most tyrannical are often the most easily emotionally "hurt".

5. This Week's Flea

Comment #100534 by Faith Collapsing on December 18, 2007 at 8:41 pm

I have to say, the color of the cover is nicer than that of the book it tries to resemble. It looks less like someone ate a lot of mustard and threw up on some alphabet soup.

6. This Is Not a Test

Comment #100181 by Faith Collapsing on December 18, 2007 at 10:59 am

I can't help but be sickened by Huckabee. He's the exact kind of bible-belt good ol' boy style that's plagued the region of America that I live in for far too long. What really makes me want to puke is his new campaign ad, where he smarmily states that he wants to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and not attack anyone. What pious sanctimony! He doesn't care about wishing anyone a Merry Christmas at all, he just wants to pander to the Religious Reich.

Sorry, I can see right through it.

7. In honour of Dan Dennett

Comment #76819 by Faith Collapsing on October 7, 2007 at 11:24 am

A well-deserved congratulations to Dan Dennett! He is indeed one of the most important intellectuals of our time. I recently read his book Breaking the Spell, and found it to be well-thought-out and well explained. Darwin's Dangerous idea is now among the books on my "must read soon" list. Dawkins is right saying that Dennett is a great explainer. It seems from his writing that Dennett does not merely stay in the Ivory Tower, but realizes that there are plenty of important and intelligent people outside of it as well. Bravo to Dr. Dennett! A Philosophy major myself, I couldn't be more proud!

8. A meeting of unlike minds

Comment #43847 by Faith Collapsing on May 23, 2007 at 12:47 am

I actually attended the event. It was actually very fun, despite the crowded place. I missed the first half of the whole thing because the church was already twice its capacity.

Perhaps among one of my favorite parts of the debate was when he and Dr. English were asked what they were thankful for. His response, after about 10 seconds of silence and laughter from the audience, was to say he was thankful for his "Sexual Charisma". Dr. English got seriously demolished in the debate, and I find it ridiculous about how our local newspaper the Raleigh News & Observer, reviewed it saying that Dr. English "held his own". Hardly! And I have to say the question "why don't you just give it up?" was quite a memorable moment, even though I sensed a degree of unjustified hostility in the man's question. I found the event to be very entertaining and insightful, despite the lack of standing room and the poor acousics on the speakers. My friend asking him if he wanted a drink was quite an amusing moment during the book-signing. I particularly liked his answer saying he wished she had offered him earlier. Later that night, Anderson Cooper heard the Hitch spill forth his dislike for Mr. Falwell's "Legacy".

On a related note, the people running the book store that hosted the event claimed that the debate would be available online at the Unitarian church's website at uufr.org, but I have yet to see anything about them.

9. The Paradoxical Hatred of Christopher Hitchens

Comment #42857 by Faith Collapsing on May 20, 2007 at 2:37 am

Mr. Limbaugh's comments on Hitchen's opinions of the late Jerry Falwell have a certain tone I've noticed from Conservative pundits and their Christian supporters. They seem to think that because they have a common ground with individuals on the other parts of the ideological spectrum that this ultimately means that they are somehow going to "convert". I think Mr. Hitchens has made it clear he will not rub shoulders with the Religious Right, and will continue to be a staunch secularist, which he believes aided him into supporting war with Saddam's regime and protecting the country from a return to religious extremism.

It would have been nice if Mr. Limbaugh would have bothered to realize that Hitchens does not dislike Christians, Muslims, and practitioners of many other faiths. Someone who compares a person's judgement of another's character to be an indictment of an entire group of people is a sad one indeed, much like those who idiotically assume that if you say "Islamic Fascists", that must mean you hate Muslims as well. It's that way of thinking that brought in part of the world's bootlicking of the Muslim fascist types that were demanding the head of innocents for drawing a cartoon.

If Mr. Limbaugh actually did some research into Christopher Hitchens, it would have been much to his benefit and perhaps he would learn something as opposed to spewing forth a litany of stupid questions that can easily be answered by visiting Wikipedia.

10. Here Comes the Fourth Musketeer.

Comment #41693 by Faith Collapsing on May 16, 2007 at 3:33 pm

krogercomplete, I agree with what you just posted. Everytime I find some discussion forum or blog mentioning Mr. Hitchens, no matter what the subject may be, the usual parade of people screaming about his stance on Iraq come in to say such witticisms as "popinjay" and "Galloway owned him" and other such nonsense. I disagree with Mr. Hitchens on a great many things, but I always find his input to be lively and well thought-out. I tire of people who, whether religious or not, act like inquisitors asking for the head of a heretic whenever anything involving him gets brought up.

11. Here Comes the Fourth Musketeer.

Comment #41344 by Faith Collapsing on May 16, 2007 at 1:07 am

I just met Mr. Hitchens at the Universalist church at Wade Avenue in Raleigh. He completely owned the poor guy that he was debating against. If he comes to your area, you owe it to yourself to see this brilliant man. I couldn't help but feel proud that the things he said about Jerry Falwell on Anderson Cooper were said in the area I live in.