51. Atheists arise: Dawkins spreads the A-word among America's unbelievers

Comment #75208 by Crazymalc on October 2, 2007 at 3:52 am

Come to Korea Prof. Dawkins! I'll buy you some shabu-shabu!

The religious right here is outta control. 1 in 20 people in Seoul go to one church, called the Full Yoido Gospel Church. (About 40% of Koreans are Christians.)

Yoido fully endorse this book as the literal word of God:

http://www.crazymalc.co.nz/2007/Sep/16Sep/16Sep.htm

which I think - see abovee review - is incredibly damamging for a host of reason.

Malcolm

52. Polygamist Leader Convicted in Utah

Comment #73722 by Crazymalc on September 26, 2007 at 1:24 am

This is sad on so many levels.

One can't help but feel sorry for the poor, poor little girl.

53. There Go The Dinosaurs

Comment #73714 by Crazymalc on September 26, 2007 at 12:23 am

Comment #73689 by MattInOz

In a debate like this, I find myself for the first time actually speechless, as if I have had any "platform of common ground" ,if you will removed from the arena of discourse and am left floundering as to what terms I could possibly couch ideas within such that they breach his filters of indoctrination.

I was once admonished by the flea for this - its a pyramid selling scheme

I',m not proud of this and its probably one of the lowest points in my life

54. There Go The Dinosaurs

Comment #73685 by Crazymalc on September 25, 2007 at 8:40 pm

Comment #73682 by mdowe

The relative intensity of childhood indoctrination is likely part of the reason. The power of childhood indoctrination to warp a mind is rather astonishing. I count myself very fortunate that mine was mild enough that I shook it off before puberty.

55. There Go The Dinosaurs

Comment #73680 by Crazymalc on September 25, 2007 at 8:17 pm

Lil_Xunzian,
You may be right. His friend might have gone insane.

I think though that answers like "He's crazy" or "She's stoopid" are lazy answers.

What makes it that people belief such farfetched ideas? What was the first cause?

This is why I like the aforementioned Dennett book so much. He gives ideas about how modern day religion can evolve - with small immediately beneficial results - from adopting the intentional stance to things like clouds and rocks.

56. There Go The Dinosaurs

Comment #73676 by Crazymalc on September 25, 2007 at 7:46 pm

MattInOz,
I've been thinking similar thoughts to you.

I am from New Zealand, but am currently an English teacher here in Korea. I've been checking out the Yoido Full Gospel Church here and its associated Prayer Mountain.

Yoido is officially recognized as the world largest Christian church with a membership of around 800,000. About 3,000 are added every day.

Yoido is a fundamentalist church and have some pretty whacked out doctrines.

Not trying to sound vain, but I am clever guy. I studied Electrical Engineering at uni. Even so though, I am plainly not more intelligent than the aforementioned 800,000.

So, why do I see through the shallow facade, and 800,000 do not?

I'm starting to get an inkling of an answer by reading Dan Dennett's Breaking the Spell book. In it, he gives a preliminary outline of how religion evolves out of simple folk beliefs.

I would recommend you give it a read.

57. There Go The Dinosaurs

Comment #73668 by Crazymalc on September 25, 2007 at 7:23 pm

Bastard Sinners!

I would of loved to have seen a big dino. like T-Rex.

I've only seen the small ones, like the Tuatara of New Zealand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuatara

58. Keeping the faith at school

Comment #73482 by Crazymalc on September 25, 2007 at 4:36 am

"But there was that flood in Peterborough!" notes a boy.

Give that kid a cookie. Good thinking young man.

59. Talking Action Figure Jesus

Comment #73345 by Crazymalc on September 24, 2007 at 7:47 pm

Made everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.

Bob Dylan - It's all right Ma, I'm only bleedin'

60. Critical Analysis of Case for a Creator

Comment #72572 by Crazymalc on September 21, 2007 at 5:48 pm

Robert S, Klaatu, tieInterceptor and any others I might have missed:

Thanks for the links to books and so on.

Appreciate it.

61. Yes, it's a Hobbit. The debate that has divided science is solved at last (sort of)

Comment #72571 by Crazymalc on September 21, 2007 at 5:44 pm

This is a bad day for science.

Yes, this fills in a gap in the fossil record but - unfortunatley - creates two more gaps

Yet more ammuition for the creationists I'm afraid.

62. Critical Analysis of Case for a Creator

Comment #72278 by Crazymalc on September 20, 2007 at 4:10 pm

Things I like about evolution:
1. It's simple to understand.

Given the primordial soup, it's easy to see how decent with modification leads to complex life.

Things I don't like about cosmology:
1. It raises a lot of "what the?" type answers, like:


"There is no moment of time in the big bang."

I just plain old don't get or understand statements like that.

My gap in scientific understanding starts from the Big Bang and ends with the primordial soup. (A tad overstated obviously, but you get the idea).

So, my question is: Can anyone point me to some good books that do a good job of explaining that gap and phrases like "there is no moment of time in the big bang".

Thank you kindly.

63. A Table for One

Comment #70853 by Crazymalc on September 17, 2007 at 4:48 am

I've only seen Colbert twice. This one and the one with Michael Behe. (we don't get much English stuff here in Korea).

I've like what I've seen though. He asks very good questions with a healthy dose of humour.

Very good!

64. Airline sacrifices goats to appease sky god

Comment #70838 by Crazymalc on September 17, 2007 at 4:00 am

Ha!

No, but they didn't have a "Shit, we were wrong" message ready to go if a whole bunch of naked Christians started floating by.

65. Do you have to read up on leprechology before disbelieving in them?

Comment #70836 by Crazymalc on September 17, 2007 at 3:58 am

"Jesus was an atheist". Ha. Good one!

I remember taking the time to explain to someone that no, Jesus wasn't a Christian. Jesus was a Jew.

66. Airline sacrifices goats to appease sky god

Comment #70828 by Crazymalc on September 17, 2007 at 3:21 am

KIDding? *groan*

This reminds of flying on Brunei Airlines.

At the start of every flight they play a prerecorded Muslim prayer. Now if Allah actually did care about just a pre-recorded not-from-the-heart prayer, then playing the prayer a million times would be advisable. If he didn't, then why bother playing it?

Methinks it was more for the passangers than for Allah.

The nifty inflight system also has a little arrow that always points to Mecca, just incase you wanted to prostrate yourself in the aisle.

67. The Dawkins debate

Comment #70501 by Crazymalc on September 15, 2007 at 6:28 pm

Meh. There is just too much in here. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel to pull it apart.

"If his work in biology is as poorly researched, I fear for the standards of British science."

This comment is right on the mark though. "The Selfish Gene", "The Blind Watchmaker", "The Ancestors' Tale", .... are all poorly reasearched crap that show how poor British Science really is.

Err... Wait...

68. 'Jane Doe' Testifies as Trial of Polygamist Leader Begins

Comment #70152 by Crazymalc on September 14, 2007 at 8:07 am

That poor, poor kid.

69. Censoring Sir David

Comment #69766 by Crazymalc on September 12, 2007 at 4:22 pm

Very sad.
Truth be damned.

70. Griffin's 'offensive' Emmy speech to be censored

Comment #69555 by Crazymalc on September 11, 2007 at 5:27 pm

Oh, and those you fear free speech are quick to label speech they don't agree with as "Hate Speech"

c.f with Leviticus 20:13

"If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."

71. Griffin's 'offensive' Emmy speech to be censored

Comment #69553 by Crazymalc on September 11, 2007 at 5:18 pm

You go girl!

72. The Atheists Interviews

Comment #69526 by Crazymalc on September 11, 2007 at 3:46 pm

Re: The Agnostism
I agree, that we can't be 100% certain that there is no God, just like we can't be 100% sure that there is no invisible teapot.

This makes us all tecnically agnostic towards both God and the teapot.

Someone on this site, said the following - which I think sums it up nicely:

I'm 99% sure that there is no God. I'm 100% sure that he/she/it is not worth worshipping.

73. Young Muslims begin dangerous fight for the right to abandon faith

Comment #69377 by Crazymalc on September 11, 2007 at 3:07 am

Good luck and God speed.

Err...

Maybe just good luck

74. Interview with Francis Collins

Comment #68834 by Crazymalc on September 8, 2007 at 10:30 pm

I think his point about morality is a good one.

The gene perspective is a good one in describing alruism within ones own kin.

I am not aware of any good gene explanations of morality between distant relatives. That is not to say that there isn't one.

I think Mr. Collins is worshipping the gaps. "Why is their altruism between distant relatives? Hmmm... gene theory doesn't explain it. Therefore God."

I can't find Prof. Dawkins quote, but I am sure he says somewhere that we should delight in the unknown. Lets try and work out why their is altrusism between distant relatives and not delight in the intellecual cowardice of "God did it"

75. Creationism raised as Ont. election issue

Comment #68311 by Crazymalc on September 6, 2007 at 7:19 pm

This further emphasises to me why Dan Dennett is onto such a winning idea of compulsory religious education.

In "Religion Class" (not "Faith Class") every aspect of every religion is taught. These would get more and more indepth as the kids age. Start with basic tennants of Christianity, Judaism et. all. This would demisifty each of the religions, and allow the kids to see the outrageous claims each of them make. I think the kids would come to the conclusion that all religions are just as absurd and we're better off without them.

And let's obviously not teach religion in Science classrooms.

76. The Mix Tape of the Gods

Comment #67923 by Crazymalc on September 5, 2007 at 7:16 am

Meh. This person has it all wrong.

The real mix tape of God can be found through the singing of Choo Thomas' Holy Spirit songs.

Check it out here (the associated video is also worth a watch).

http://www.choothomas.com/resources.html

Laugh about it, if you like but there is a seriousnes to it as well.

Choo Thomas and her stageringly dumb book "Heaven is so real" is officaly endorsed by the largest church in Korea (the world?) - The Yoido Full Gospel Church with a congregation of 750,000. HISR is the literal world of Christ and is God's final word to his creation and Judgement Day is just around the corner.

In the book Cho documents her 17 trips to heaven with Christ and two trips to hell.

Scary and funny all at the same time.

77. India to charge writer Nasreen with 'hurting Muslim feelings'

Comment #67533 by Crazymalc on September 3, 2007 at 6:04 pm

You hurt our feelings, therefore we behead you.

*shakes head in disbelief*

Reminds me of the furor over those Mohammed cartoons in Denmark. You drew a picture and we'll riot causing much damage and the loss of 12 (?) lives

78. What do these atheists understand of religion?

Comment #67340 by Crazymalc on September 3, 2007 at 4:55 am

This galneeds to read "Unweaving the Rainbow". In that book Prof. Dawkins makes the point that understaning the beauty of a rainbow (or a moon in water) only adds to the awe, it does not diminish it. We can enjoy the beauty of the rainbow in and of itseld. And we can understand the beauty of the science when we explain it.

Understanding the science only adds to the beauty.

And she needs to read the books he is quoting as well. Dawkins does not claim that the labeling of babies as Christian etc. is worse than paedophilia.

"It was only the atheists who seemed absolutely certain."

Only certain given the current evidence. Bring me some evidence and I will change my mind.

This stands in stark contrast to faith, which will not change its mind given any evidence.

Remember what Sam Harris said:
Ask yourself, when even the doubts of experts are thought to confirm a doctrine, what could possibly disconfirm it?


Ack, the more I read of this article the worse it becomes:

"The hysterical imagery is objectionable. But much worse is the dishonesty. Militant atheists have never accepted that evil comes out of their camp as well as ours, and good does too. Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot and Mao were driven to genocide not by religion but cold, cruel power. None of these men feared God."

She says that "...evil comes out of [The Athiest's] camp..." and then says their motives were "..cold cruel power". That just plain old doesn't make sense. How was their Atheism a motive? You may as well blame on their moustaches with this sort of arguing.

"Fundamentalist atheists want to replace old religions with their own"
Nope. I'm with John Lennon. NO religion is a good thing

79. Christopher Hitchens and Bill Donohue on Mother Teresa

Comment #66350 by Crazymalc on August 29, 2007 at 6:40 pm

"An Englishman has to be quiet when an Irishman talks."

"Do you want to take it outside?!"

And they accuse Hitchens of being arrogant...

What a horrible small minded little man

80. Richard Dawkins at the Edinburgh Book Festival

Comment #65612 by Crazymalc on August 25, 2007 at 5:52 am

Come over to Korea Prof. Dawkins!

And bring Daniel Dennett with you!

81. Rational Atheism

Comment #64874 by Crazymalc on August 22, 2007 at 6:44 am

I think a good place to start is to define yourself in the positive as a Secular Humanist as defined by Wiki as

" [a] philosophy that upholds reason, ethics, and justice, and specifically rejects the supernatural and the spiritual as warrants of moral reflection and decision-making."

Atheism then flows from that.

As Sam Harris points out in Letter to a Christian Nation, even the word "atheist" is a little shaky. If the evidence is so overwhelming, then why do we need a word for it? We don't need a word for people who don't beleive that Elvis is alive (apreslyterian?), so why one for God?

The best conscious raising idea I have heard is from Daniel Dennett: Make religion education compulsory in school. Have every student learn about all the major religions. I think when children see the silliness in all of the religions they're likely to reject all of them.

Good thinking Mr. Dennett.

The Christian Right and others will probably protest and insist that only Christianity be taught. To which an obvious reply is: "Oh, you don't think the truth of your religion can stand up to these other obviously ludricrous one?"

82. A Matter of Faith

Comment #64744 by Crazymalc on August 21, 2007 at 3:28 pm

Having read about Madalyn Murray-O'Hair, i might back up a little from uber-cool and say "fascinating character" instead.

83. A Matter of Faith

Comment #64743 by Crazymalc on August 21, 2007 at 3:23 pm

Julia Sweeney is cool.

I'd never heard of Madalyn Murray-O'Hair before. She seems uber-cool. I'd like to learn more about her.

Oh, and chuck in the normal comments about weak journalism and same-old same-old shaky arguments from the religious right.

84. PZ Myers sued for a negative review in a blog post

Comment #64650 by Crazymalc on August 21, 2007 at 6:17 am

Not sure which is the stoopidest law suit is.

This one, or this $65m suit over lost pants:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/12/AR2007061201667.html

Let's hope the phrase "Breathtaking inanity" will be used for both cases

85. Atheists and believers have got religion wrong

Comment #63613 by Crazymalc on August 15, 2007 at 4:59 am

This guy is funny. I like him.

"The trouble with genocide is it's too soft. It takes no account of lizards."

"From the Spanish Inquisition to Cliff Richard they've got to make a lot of excuses."

86. Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris: The Unholy Trinity ... Thank God.

Comment #63518 by Crazymalc on August 14, 2007 at 4:16 pm

Guess I was expected capitalization at least.

Thanks sane1

87. Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris: The Unholy Trinity ... Thank God.

Comment #63514 by Crazymalc on August 14, 2007 at 4:10 pm

" I doubt much would ever be heard from the unholy trinity or the POF."

I'm one of them!

What the heck is POF? Can't find it here or on the original site. Either I'm going blind, or people should are assuming that everyone knows their cute little TLA's (three letter acronyms).

88. These preachers of hate must be exposed

Comment #63382 by Crazymalc on August 14, 2007 at 3:44 am

Here Here! (or is it Hear Hear?)

Very brave and courageous article.

Let's hope there are no death threats

89. Interview with Richard Dawkins about 'The Enemies of Reason'

Comment #63001 by Crazymalc on August 12, 2007 at 8:29 pm

From the clip: "It's been proven to me against my rationality."

Huh?

90. Interview with Richard Dawkins about 'The Enemies of Reason'

Comment #63000 by Crazymalc on August 12, 2007 at 8:22 pm

Janus: "...for the FSM's sake"

Ha! Very good!

91. 'Delusion' Revisits Faith Vs. Reason Debate

Comment #62999 by Crazymalc on August 12, 2007 at 8:20 pm

It will be interesting to see how well it is received here (I am currently living in South Korea).

I don't like the word "Scientism". Makes it sound too much like a faith or a belief.

It would be good it it found its way into North Korea, though I somehow doubt that it will

92. Richard Dawkins, TV evangelist

Comment #62822 by Crazymalc on August 11, 2007 at 5:49 pm

"This can obviously be interpreted, in part, as a reaction to the perceived threat of Islam"

This was the furtherest thing from my mind when I embraced Atheism. The inherrent logic and life affirming message were far more telling factors.

93. Scarlet Letter Campaign Update: A Victory

Comment #62266 by Crazymalc on August 9, 2007 at 6:59 am

Wow. This guys raises some great points. I never knew eviloution was evil. No more rational thought for me. I'm joining the crusade against evilution.

94. Arrogance, dogma and why science - not faith - is the new enemy of reason

Comment #61775 by Crazymalc on August 6, 2007 at 9:12 pm

Must try harder.

Try reading "The Ancestor's Tale" for a blow by blow account of how life arose.

95. Does the Bible have a place in public schools?

Comment #61763 by Crazymalc on August 6, 2007 at 7:48 pm

I am going to say "Yes", as long as the other major religious texts are studied as well. Not only that, but there should be a study of the religions themself. And it should be compulsory.

I'm not being sarcastic. It is way to "Break the Spell" as Dan Dennett puts it. See the following link for a video of Dennett's thoughts on the matter.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/speakers/view/id/92

I assume he also mentions this in his book "Breaking the Spell". Which I am dying to get a hold of. Kinda hard here in Korea. Might have to Amazon it.

96. Interview with Michael Behe

Comment #61112 by Crazymalc on August 3, 2007 at 5:18 pm

"So you're saying you're Darwin's Einstein?" was the best comment of all.

Very funny and very clever at the same time. Because that is in fact what Behe is suggesting. Darwin et. all are fundamentally wrong.

97. They let anybody onto the faculty at Oxford nowadays

Comment #60757 by Crazymalc on August 2, 2007 at 7:45 pm

Wow. Nice work.

I've never seen the alternative creed before. Very good.

This type of thinking was one step on my path to Atheism. I caught myself as one stage saying, "Hey wait a minute... A snake in a garden testing a whatsit, a dude on a cross fixing in, seven headed dragrons with three eyes eating the earth... Hmmmm."

Here (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/86) is a talk from a lady who went through a similar stage and catching herself with her absurd beliefs

98. Interview with Richard Dawkins on 'The Selfish Gene'

Comment #60674 by Crazymalc on August 2, 2007 at 4:28 pm

He must be stoked to be talking about Science again and not so much about the whole god thing

99. Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour

Comment #59292 by Crazymalc on July 28, 2007 at 6:07 pm

Is is just me, or did that guy seem a little Michael Moore-ish?

Scary stuff.

100. Fears Grow Over 'Mega Mosque'

Comment #56723 by Crazymalc on July 17, 2007 at 3:56 am

Meh. This is kinda complicated. I dunno if I agree with the idea that you can't build a mosque as a place of worship. This is stomping on people's rights to freedom of religion.

If it is, of course, a base for terrorism then hell yes ban it.

I doubt very many people at all would oppose a church being built.

I personally would not like to see it built, just like I hate places like the Crystal Catherdral with a passion. But people have the right to spend money on their religion if they want.

I guess the reason this is what Hitchens et. all mean when the say religion poisons everything