1. Science can't explain the big bang - there is still scope for a creator
Comment #314904 by BicycleRepairMan on January 7, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Although science can state a great deal about what followed after the big bang, it cannot in fact explain how "something" (the energy of the universe compressed into a volume the size of a golf ball) arose from nothing beforehand.
This yawning logical gap leaves open the possibility that something else may be going on.
2. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions - 28th Dec 2008
Comment #311771 by BicycleRepairMan on January 4, 2009 at 6:37 am
I, for one, wholeheartedly disagree with Dawkins on the "unfit parents" issue.
I do ofcourse not want children to be brought up by bad parents, but this is a matter of choice for mothers as well, its not just that there would be cases in the "gray area" , but here EVERY SINGLE CASE is a gray area, it is NOT the same as taking children from provingly unfit parents, precicely because the baby hasnt been born yet. The mother might stop drinking/taking drugs when she gets pregnant, she might stop, then start up again mid-term, she might become a caring parent, she might not, the is NO WAY TO TELL, when people have children, most of them change, one way or another, it might stop an addiction, it might start one.
And what about control?
What if some drug-abusing girl gets pregnant and she KNOWS the state will force an abortion, What if she decides, for this reason, to keep it a secret until its too late? is that better for the child? Will she drug herself even more in despair?
Children who are taken from their parents because they've been abused or mistreated for years is a completely different thing, because the crime has already been committed. We dont go around arresting people who might become murderers or rapists, before they've done anything. If we did, there might be less murder and rape, but it wouldnt be fair.
Comment #308693 by BicycleRepairMan on December 30, 2008 at 8:53 am
"That one was made up in photoshop, and has caught me out (as well as the BBC)"
I was actually aware that the islam-poster was fake, the real one said "Behead those who insult islam" Which really comes down to the same thing, since the "insult" people "should be beheaded" for, usually is calling Islam a violent religion.
As for the slogan I made up by replacing Islam with atheism, I merely did that to illustrate my point; That there's a difference between disagreeing, and fighting your opponents right to disagree. If people wanna go around saying all atheists are worthless scumbags, that they have no morality or that they are the spawn of Satan, then that is actually their right, the way I see it, I will of course argue against it, I'll call them wrong, ignorant and silly, but I wont expect the right to be exempt from these insults or opinions, however wrong or misguided they might be.
Comment #308410 by BicycleRepairMan on December 30, 2008 at 1:01 am
I dont like the sound of this word. I know there are cases of atheists being treated very unfair, simply for their lack of faith, which is sad, but this word, as mentioned above strikes me as too close to "Islamophobia" which shouldnt really be a word at all. People have a right to disagree with us and a right -no- a duty to express those disagreements.
Our job is to answer such criticism and perhaps even more importantly, simply being the antithesis of their pre-concieved ideas. The opposition to false beliefs is always a worthy cause, but to fight the very expression of them is the complete opposite, sometimes its a gray area, but I believe we must remain firmly on the side of freedom of speech, I dont want to end up seeing "behead those who say atheism is violent" written on posters.
5. Three Godless Christmas shows
Comment #303744 by BicycleRepairMan on December 19, 2008 at 8:30 am
I'll throw in a suggestion: Something from The Ancestor's tale, More specifically the part where , i think its in the first chapter where you see evolution from the elephants perspective, where every previous ancestor (and every other animal) had "unfinished" or "insufficient" trunks. I love that bit. Its both funny, and it makes an excellent and important point.
6. H. M., an Unforgettable Amnesiac, Dies at 82
Comment #299299 by BicycleRepairMan on December 9, 2008 at 11:25 am
I first though it might be this guy, but his name turned out to be named Clive wearing, suffering from something similar:
Extreme Amnesia - Less than 30 seconds memory
7. £35,000 of taxpayers' cash given to 'atheist bus' group
Comment #291740 by BicycleRepairMan on November 26, 2008 at 5:38 pm
This is just Good, all the way, the campaign gets all the attention, and the atheists dont pay a dime. Don't get me wrong, it is fundamentally wrong, but it is after all a private company, but this non-campaign perhaps will fuel the debate: should public displays be regulated by private interests under the bliss of federal interests, and if so, can they decide willy-nilly whats acceptable? can it be seen as a covert way of letting the authorities get away with censoring unwanted statements?
8. Single-Celled Giant Upends Early Evolution
Comment #287918 by BicycleRepairMan on November 21, 2008 at 1:12 am
Then, within ten million years an unprecedented blossoming of life swarmed across the planet, filling every niche with hard-bodied, complex creatures.
"It wasn't a gradual development of complexity," Matz said. "Instead these things suddenly seemed to burst out of a magic box."
9. Ricky Gervais and The Archbishop Of Canterbury
Comment #264478 by BicycleRepairMan on October 14, 2008 at 1:33 pm
"Belief in Santa doesnt generate a moral code.."
Neither does belief in God, it seems to be innate.
"..it doesnt generate art, it doesnt generate imagination"
Well, thats not entirely true, there are movies, pictures, poems, songs, hymns, paintings, dances and all sorts of shit about santa, perhaps they arent anything fancy or "serious" like some of the god-inspired arts, but thats probably because noone over the age of 5 takes Santa seriously.
Nonetheless Mr.Williams, none of these 3 "arguments" are really arguments at all, even if they were all true, it wouldnt actually elevate the "Case for God" over the "Case for Santa". The two are still on EVEN GROUNDS. I know you dont think so, but nothing you, or any of your fellow believers have ever said, has ever been convincing enough for me to take God out of the Santa-category of things I dont believe in.
10. Why I left Young-earth Creationism
Comment #258955 by BicycleRepairMan on October 2, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I think the word everyone is looking for, is "doublethink". When I read "nineteen eighty-four", this kind of mental state was the first thing on my mind, the willingness to bend, deny and square undeniable fact to comply with the absurd. Sure, young earth creationist do it, but moderate "modern" Christians are almost weirder, because while creationists can often be excused on the basis of ignorance, moderates are actually, like Morton, aware of the crystal clear, undeniable evidence, yet they perform all this mental gymnastic not to loose the old mythology they are brought up to believe in.
11. God, Evolution and Charles Darwin
Comment #249571 by BicycleRepairMan on September 18, 2008 at 9:56 am
To the author: Then hear this, from a godless militant:
I dont give a shit what my "Icon" said.
We look up to Darwin for his brilliant discovery of evolution and its mechanism, not for what he has said on various occasions. Darwin, for instance, thought that whales were closely related to bears. He was wrong. So what? No sane person would agree with Darwin on that subject today.. Thats because we've had 150 years of science between us. And 150 years of religious bullying based on EMPTY arguments.
12. Eoin Colfer to write sixth Hitchhiker's Guide book
Comment #249517 by BicycleRepairMan on September 18, 2008 at 8:23 am
As an avid DA and HHG fan, I honestly dont see the point of this..To me HHG is Douglas Adams' world, his characters, his plot, his words, I'm sure Colfer is a terrific author and all, and I hope he does a great job, but I think I'd feel the same way if Adams was continuing Colfer's original stories, I just dont get it.
13. Opening minds
Comment #242858 by BicycleRepairMan on September 4, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Hear! hear!
As much as I admire Dawkins, I am in full agreeing with Sue Blackmore on this. A parable I use is that you can teach a child to say "3 plus 5 equals 8" but unless you teach them the old apples-in-the-basket example, you dont have any understanding, any old idiot can repeat a sentence , understanding the core principle is another matter.
By the way, like Mrs.Blackmore, I only fully understood the consept after reading "The Selfish Gene"
14. Priest Antonio Rungi wants beauty contest - for nuns
Comment #236710 by BicycleRepairMan on August 25, 2008 at 6:24 am
Ah, the wonders of the sexually repressed mind. As someone pointed out, its a nice classy step up from raping altar boys.
15. The God Delusion
Comment #229354 by BicycleRepairMan on August 13, 2008 at 12:06 pm
As Stephen Colbert put it(About the GD hardback); "This book started of GREAT, I can see my face on the cover"
But seriously, You know its a loosing argument when the reviewer attacks the goddamn* cover.
*oh yeah, pun intended
16. Richard Dawkins, the naive professor
Comment #225929 by BicycleRepairMan on August 7, 2008 at 2:03 pm
THERE IS A GAP, QUICK!, PUT GOD IN IT!!
What a load of nonsense.You, mam, is willfully stepping on to a new heap of coal drenched in gasoline, expecting it not to catch fire when we light it up this time around. The point, as Richard kept going on about in the show, is that the main, "good" argument for a god in the first place, was that very complex things, like biological life, demands an explanation. Darwin gave us that explanation. Your desperate need to square silly beliefs with reality is, to say the least, extremely unimpressive.
Until you find some hard, POSITIVE evidence for your assumption, please do yourself a favour and just shut up about it, you are only making things worse for yourself.
Comment #225579 by BicycleRepairMan on August 7, 2008 at 3:19 am
Language has the same effect, and in another, as yet unpublished study Mr Fincher and Dr Thornhill found a similar relationship there too.
Comment #215952 by BicycleRepairMan on July 22, 2008 at 2:42 pm
59, No way. Bill Maher tapped that ball of insanity? Ew to both of them.
Not according to Maher, but he does have some strange things to say about the loony:
MAHER: People ask me about Ann Coulter constantly and cannot understand how two people who don't agree on everything can be friends. I remind you, James Carville and Mary Matalin are married and have children together.
KING: Why do you like her?
MAHER: We are kindred spirits in certain ways. One, there are very few people I think, out there speaking out who are not afraid to get booed and we share that. Another one who I would put in that category is Chris Rock. Chris Rock will say things to a black audience that they will boo, but I've never heard anybody else say it like that. And Ann Coulter does the same thing.
She is not afraid to say something that will make people boo, and we need more of that. People are such panderers. They're such babies about that. They want to reinforce people's prejudices. I certainly don't agree with everything she is, but I admire that. And the older you get, at least for me, the more I adore the quality of acceptance in people. And Ann and I understand that about each other. We have a great time, we're not dating. People want to always put the sex factor in everything. No, it's not about that. It's about acceptance. It's about OK, I don't agree with everything you say, you don't agree with everything I believe, but we accept each other. Isn't that what (UNINTELLIGIBLE) about?
Comment #215742 by BicycleRepairMan on July 22, 2008 at 9:40 am
Buckle.of.the.Belt: Welcome, and if you liked this article, I really, really recommend reading "The Ancestor's Tale" It is full of little stories like this from evolution. You can find it on the right column on this page ----------->
Comment #215736 by BicycleRepairMan on July 22, 2008 at 9:35 am
Losing the eyes is not a step backwards, its just natural selection, it is "costly" to produce perfect eyes, and in a pitch black cave there is no environment that punishes those with less-than-perfect eyesight, therefore "losing" their eyes is actually a form of progress, rather than a loss.
21. Antony Flew reviews the Index of The God Delusion
Comment #214475 by BicycleRepairMan on July 20, 2008 at 1:59 pm
The more I read about/by Flew, the more confused I get. Dawkins spends quite a lot of time explaining the differences between theists, deist and pantheists as far as I can remember.
Comment #212410 by BicycleRepairMan on July 17, 2008 at 7:18 am
I wanted to stop at the first "evangelical atheist" but I kept reading until I had read that phrase what, 15 times? I didnt count.
It is strange how he uses the phrase over and over, as if he is trying to annoy someone like me, because if Dawkins, Hitchens, Dennett and Harris ARE evangelical, there wouldnt be anything evangelical missing, would there?
The short of this argument is that theres this non-scientific question to be asked about consciousness (and perhaps purpose too), and therefore we cant discard the old desert dogmas, well, apart from the glaring gaps in that reasoning, WHY must that question be asked? I suspect a natural, gradual crane* of an explanation for consciousness, and If I'm right, there IS NO QUESTION THERE to ask in the first place, it would be akin to a body of water asking why the glass is shaped to fit its body perfectly.. You are simply asking the wrong question!
*read Daniel Dennett
23. Let's Get Rid of Darwinism
Comment #212394 by BicycleRepairMan on July 17, 2008 at 6:54 am
Yay for "The Ancestor's Tale" plug, I think it is Dawkins best book, and its a book that everyone (EVERYONE!) should take the time to read. It is amazing, and I'd love to see a "Cosmos"-like TV series about it :)
24. Host Desecration is Old Anti-Semitic Nonsense
Comment #210258 by BicycleRepairMan on July 14, 2008 at 7:09 am
"old anti-Semitic nonsense" As opposed to the regular catholic nonsense?
25. [UPDATED] Venomous Snakes, Slippery Eels and Harun Yahya
Comment #205552 by BicycleRepairMan on July 7, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Written especially for RichardDawkins.net
26. Churches' secret talks to stop gay surge
Comment #205399 by BicycleRepairMan on July 7, 2008 at 8:23 am
First they ingore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win, then you get to laugh at them.
Ignorantly cowardly, superstitious bunch of child-abusing loonies, every last one of them
Comment #199408 by BicycleRepairMan on June 25, 2008 at 5:57 pm
the actual text was(strong warning to the weak-minded):
JESUS IS A CUNT
(http://stores.musictoday.com/store/bands/638/product_medium/BGCTCF15.jpg)
Setting aside the historical inaccuracy, (Jesus, if he existed, WAS a cunt, if anything, he is DEAD) The whole slogan may be offensive to some, but that doesn't keep it from being at least partially true, after all, Jesus' message is basically that you have to accept him and his blood sacrifice to be the only redeeming factor in yours and everybody else's life. sounds pretty much like a CUNT to me.
28. Bright Chunks At Phoenix Lander's Mars Site Must Have Been Ice
Comment #196710 by BicycleRepairMan on June 20, 2008 at 11:09 am
That picture is awesome, it looks like a regular dug hole, but its dug on another fuckin WORLD!, thats amazing. We dug a hole on a world noone has ever been too.
29. Couple charged in Norway over genital mutilation of daughters
Comment #190111 by BicycleRepairMan on June 8, 2008 at 11:58 am
What do you expect, Norway, when you have an immigration policy of allowing people with a twelfth century mindset concerning the treatment of women to be welcomed into your country? Islam is not compatible with a modern liberal Western democracy. Take off the politically correct lenses and see things for how they really are.
30. Is religion a threat to rationality and science?
Comment #166240 by BicycleRepairMan on April 23, 2008 at 3:21 am
No clearer evidence that man created god in his/herimage!
31. Is religion a threat to rationality and science?
Comment #166191 by BicycleRepairMan on April 23, 2008 at 1:37 am
..he seems unable to treat the beliefs and feelings of believers seriously.
...the book of Job.
32. Victims: Pope Benedict Protects Accused Pedophile Bishops
Comment #161557 by BicycleRepairMan on April 15, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Also see Bill Maher ripping the pope a new one, watch till the end, one of the best rants ever:
http://www.videosift.com/video/Bill-Maher-New-Rules-April-11-2008
33. Who wants to kill the elderly?
Comment #153392 by BicycleRepairMan on April 1, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Janus: I think all religious myths are, well.. myths, but that doesnt mean I condemn them, or the people believing in them. I dont see why you would equal the two.
Condemnation implies a very strong negative stance ie: "I condemn murder" I dont simply "disagree" with murder, or think its "a bad idea" I condemn it. theres a huge difference. There are some ideas in the christian faith that I feel more strongly against than others, but I wouldnt go so far as to condemn any and all christianity, or its myths.
Comment #151575 by BicycleRepairMan on March 29, 2008 at 2:22 am
PZ Myers, biologist, atheist, blogger and the holder of the Chair For the Public Humiliation of Creationists at The University of Minnesota
35. Discussion on PZ Myers being expelled from Expelled
Comment #148046 by BicycleRepairMan on March 21, 2008 at 9:52 pm
The motor protein's walking gave me chills
I do have a couple of gripes, though. One is an understandable shortcut: the cell is far too uncluttered, and events proceed in too directed a mannerâ€"there ought to be much more stochastic noise at the molecular level. We're seeing chemistry in action, after all.
36. Atheists claim censorship by billboard company
Comment #146358 by BicycleRepairMan on March 19, 2008 at 1:59 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8abqbk8ex9E
How to Reach 100,000 People for Under $1.00
37. Selling science to the masses
Comment #144415 by BicycleRepairMan on March 16, 2008 at 3:06 am
Three words: Your Inner Fish.
That book is how you can sell science, watch Neil Shubin's interview on The Colbert Report:
(http://www.videosift.com/video/Your-Inner-Fish-Neil-Shubin-on-The-Colbert-Report)
Its wonderful. Shubin manages to put the science in context, and to answer those questions we often think of as naive or strange with a straightforward answer.. This is a great approach.
38. Ban anti-Catholic books in schools, says bishop
Comment #143209 by BicycleRepairMan on March 13, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Diacanu: I dont know if you read my comment, but I'm happy to see you concur :)
39. Ban anti-Catholic books in schools, says bishop
Comment #143013 by BicycleRepairMan on March 13, 2008 at 11:02 am
Dear Reverend, I have listened to your arguments, and I've struggled to come up with the appropriately respectful answer it surely deserves, so far I've only come up with a few words, but I ask that you take them into consideration for any future statements you may consider making:
Blow it out your ass.
40. Seven new deadly sins: are you guilty?
Comment #141398 by BicycleRepairMan on March 10, 2008 at 10:57 am
It was a shame that Dawkins only went for the fundamentalist strawmen in TGD, he should have gone after sophisticated theology such as this.
41. When blasphemy bit the dust
Comment #140594 by BicycleRepairMan on March 8, 2008 at 12:56 am
Jehova, Jehova, Jehova!
42. Survey shows Non-Religious Outnumber Those of Every Single Faith (But One)
Comment #137919 by BicycleRepairMan on March 3, 2008 at 3:26 pm
What the HELL is this article talking about?
http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
23% are Catholics, but Christians make up 78% of the country, 51% of which are Protestants 26% of which are Evangelicals, which means they alone outnumber both the Catholics and "non-religious"
Talk about crappy research for an article..
The true number would be 10.2% Secular,atheist or agnostics and 5.8% "religious unaffiliated"
Christian at 78,6% and "other religions" at 4,7%
EDIT:I shamefully had to correct some of my own errors, but I stand by my claim that this article is misleading.
Comment #133736 by BicycleRepairMan on February 26, 2008 at 4:08 pm
The Ancestors Tale is simply crying out to be the next major 13 part series for BBC2.
Yes!! That would be so great. The Ancestor's Tale is one of the best books I've ever read, if you havent already, just buy it!! you wont regret it.
http://www.richarddawkins.net/firstChapter,3
44. Evidence can't shake your faith if your faith excludes it as evidence
Comment #132659 by BicycleRepairMan on February 25, 2008 at 5:03 am
Suppose an angel of the Lord were to appear before Dawkins, even as he was delivering another lecture on the delusion that God exists. Would such an experience change Dawkins' views?
45. Don't blame Islam for terrorism, expert says
Comment #131723 by BicycleRepairMan on February 23, 2008 at 4:24 am
The same "secular leader" that had "God Is Great" in his own handwriting inscribed on the flag? The "Secular leader" whose last words were "there is no god but god, and mohammed..."?
46. Bill Moyers Interviews Susan Jacoby
Comment #129005 by BicycleRepairMan on February 18, 2008 at 1:23 pm
What was the point in talking about language? Troops vs. Soldiers, and that thing about folks. Is this really a problem? Sounds more like a conspiracy theory
47. Bill Moyers Interviews Susan Jacoby
Comment #129002 by BicycleRepairMan on February 18, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Mitchell Gilks:
If you listen to what she actually says, you are way off, she is not saying everyone should be professors, but we should be able to find Saudi Arabia on the map. What she is advocating is a decently educated public, basic stuff you should have learned before highschool, really. Dont tell me you think its "too academic" to be able to find the country youre fighting a war with on the map.
48. Study: Religion colors Americans' views of nanotechnology
Comment #128447 by BicycleRepairMan on February 17, 2008 at 2:59 am
This is a matter of ignorance, no more. I mean, what was the question? "Is nanotechnology morally acceptable?" People will answer "No" on that just in case, its a strange word they havent heard of, and apparantly, since someone is asking, there could be moral qualms involved. I'll go for "No".
I object to the conclusion that this is a matter of religion, people do not get their sense of right and wrong from religion, its based upon knowledge. Education is the way to fix this, of course, as we see in the creationism debate religion can be corrosive to education, so in that sense its part of the problem.
49. Feb 12th: Happy Darwin Day!
Comment #125936 by BicycleRepairMan on February 12, 2008 at 9:42 am
Ah, good, its sometimes hard to tell when someone is joking, besides, the jesus-fish reference wasnt really clear enough IMO, and since I'm the "artist" on this half-assed crap of a manipulation, I have no idea if its clear what my idea was.
50. Feb 12th: Happy Darwin Day!
Comment #125883 by BicycleRepairMan on February 12, 2008 at 8:15 am
Richard,
Can you explain to me why the Tiktaalik fossil has that "two tailed" look about it?