51. Rock of Ages, Ages of Rock

Comment #90606 by Greybishop on November 25, 2007 at 6:39 pm

I'm going to major in Creation Geology. I think I'll minor in Storkian Obstetrics.

While I was reading this, I realized that I need a roll cage for my eyes.

I guess I understand their problem, though. It's awfully difficult to accurately observe the world around you through the bible. It's a thick book! I find it easier to see the world when I'm not holding a thick book in front of my eyes.

52. Man-sized sea scorpion claw found

Comment #89672 by Greybishop on November 21, 2007 at 12:46 pm

I have only two thoughts about this, although one is subdivided.

1. Has Spielberg been contacted yet?

2. No WAY am I time travelling backwards 400 million years.

2a. If it should happen by accident, I am NOT packing a bathing suit.

53. Judgement Day: Intelligent Design on Trial

Comment #88647 by Greybishop on November 18, 2007 at 9:19 am

dan w. posted this quote:

"PASTOR RAY MUMMERT: Teaching the traditional evolutionary Darwinian concept that man evolved from lower forms of life, that's almost a slap in my face. That takes the dignity away from humanity as far as I'm concerned what gives dignity to man is that every one of us are made in the image of God. He is the creator. And he created the world with intention and with design. It upsets me deeply that now in our educational system we are indoctrinating our young people to think differently about humanity."

"Teaching the traditional creationist concept that man was created by God, that's a slap in my face. That takes the dignity away from humanity as far as I'm concerned. What gives dignity to man is that every one of us are evolved beings, with a grand and wondrous lineage that truly boggles the mind. There is no creator. Humanity struggled to consciousness and intelligence in a world without intention and without design. It upsets me deeply that now in our educational system you are suggesting that indoctrinating our young people to think differently about humanity is a noble idea. Evolution showcases the nobility of struggle. Creationism makes humanity out to be nothing more than a toy for a petulant and lonely child."

54. New Ape Fossils Found in Africa

Comment #88646 by Greybishop on November 18, 2007 at 9:12 am

I agree!

As with all good science, new evidence pushes some theories aside and strengthens others. It is truly wonderful to watch.

55. The Year of Living Biblically

Comment #84700 by Greybishop on November 3, 2007 at 8:35 am

That is not at all what I expected. I think I might have to buy a copy of his book.

One of my personal pet peeves with religion and religious folk in general is the notion of the faithful that they are living the Bible literally to the best of their ability. Having read the Bible a couple of times, I know that to be a lie, but it will be nice to have an accessible book to reference.

I'm not sure that this man has done himself a favour by doing this. It seems to me that he was better off BEFORE he did this, as he claims to have been agnostic and now is a "reverant agnostic", but it's his life and he's welcome to it. I loved his wife's reaction to the project. She deserves the year of foot massages!

56. Evolution to be taught in SA schools

Comment #82900 by Greybishop on October 28, 2007 at 7:56 am

In the United States a group of Christian parents instituted legal action in 2005 to challenge the implementation of teaching evolution at schools because they felt it undermined their notion of God.

57. Alex the Parrot

Comment #69990 by Greybishop on September 13, 2007 at 2:18 pm

In the CNN version of this story, it recounts Dr. Pepperberg's last conversation with Alex this way:

She recalls the bird said: "You be good. I love you." She responded, "I love you, too." The bird said, "You'll be in tomorrow," and she responded, "Yes, I'll be in tomorrow."

58. Review of Darwin's Angel: An Angelic Response to the God Delusion

Comment #67033 by Greybishop on September 1, 2007 at 12:24 pm

Missed those.
My bad for just skimming the comments here.

Still, it's odd to see the comment numbers go up, then down, then up again.

And I agree, if any of the comments should be fast-tracked, it'd be RD's...and Cornwell's if he had posted one.

59. Review of Darwin's Angel: An Angelic Response to the God Delusion

Comment #67030 by Greybishop on September 1, 2007 at 12:07 pm

And now back to 11, but no sign of Northern Bright's comment.

To be fair, at least the 11 commets that are posted are critical of the incredibly poor review.

60. Review of Darwin's Angel: An Angelic Response to the God Delusion

Comment #67027 by Greybishop on September 1, 2007 at 11:59 am

When I posted my comment on this review (I actually just commented about how poor the actual review was and stayed away from the reviewer's obvious bias against Dr. Dawkins) there were 9 posted comments. Then 10, 11 and at one point 12, including Northern Bright's comment. Then 11. Now 6. Neither Dr. Dawkin's comment nor any of the other comments by the posters from here (except for a brief moment when Northern Bright's comment showed up) have seen the light of day and now there are even fewer posted.

I wonder what gives?

61. CNN Request for 'I-Reports' on religion

Comment #65495 by Greybishop on August 24, 2007 at 1:20 pm

As I was reading these comments and playing CNN's God's Warriors on my computer, a lady came into my bookstore asking for Bible study books.

As usual, it took all the pressure that my jaw and teeth could put on my tongue not to direct her to the Fairy Tale section.

Further, I felt uncomfortable watching CNN's "Christian" warrior episode while she was in the store. How sad is that?

62. CNN Request for 'I-Reports' on religion

Comment #65459 by Greybishop on August 24, 2007 at 9:36 am

Oh, and if you hit the "photos" there are a total of 7. 6 are typical "prayer" or shrine scenes.

I personally like the Jedi guy...

63. CNN Request for 'I-Reports' on religion

Comment #65457 by Greybishop on August 24, 2007 at 9:32 am

I just finished reading the CNN "I-Report" that they just posted here:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/23/faith.reader.feedback/index.html

Stunningly, they posted 11 "atheist"-ish responses out of a total of 23.

Now, where are my smelling salts?

64. CNN Request for 'I-Reports' on religion

Comment #65213 by Greybishop on August 23, 2007 at 7:48 am

My humble contribution:

I am not a person of faith.

I don't think that religion is under attack, but I do think that atheist and secular viewpoints are getting more press today than they have in the past, making religion and religious figures nervous.

Given the incredible and unprovable claims that all religions make, it's no wonder that they feel that way.

When you build your house on sand, even a light rain makes you nervous.

65. Scarlet Letter Campaign Update: A Victory

Comment #62585 by Greybishop on August 10, 2007 at 7:47 am

Coretemprising:
On the site you found, one of their pastors quotes an "informal" theological law: "Poe's Law, which states that: elements of the gospel speak to different levels of spiritual concern in different cultures at different times."

Poe's Law on the internet states: "Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of Fundamentalism that SOMEONE won't mistake for the real thing."

66. Scarlet Letter Campaign Update: A Victory

Comment #62301 by Greybishop on August 9, 2007 at 8:04 am

Elfinabout -

You have seen the "Bible camp" video right? The one with the large insane lady screaming that Harry Potter would be put to death if he existed...

Never say "nobody is that insane". It's like a tv character saying "What could go wrong?" ;o)

67. Scarlet Letter Campaign Update: A Victory

Comment #62298 by Greybishop on August 9, 2007 at 8:00 am

I really, really, really hope that all those calling "Poe's Law" on this are right and that it IS satire. Reading through the bilge in the comments section, even if it is, it's attracting a lot of comments from believers who don't think it's a gag.

Either way, I need another shower.

68. Scarlet Letter Campaign Update: A Victory

Comment #62285 by Greybishop on August 9, 2007 at 7:38 am

Guy -
I read that. I also read the really disturbing "U.S.E" page, which basically says "Don't cry 'rape', cry 'U.S.E.'" which is the acronym for "Unplanned Sexual Event". Now, I really, really, really would like to believe that it's satire, but then I clicked on the gift store and found the t-shirts. A picture of a stork carrying a baby with the caption "I was USED, but now I'm blessed". If this is a satire site, it's the most elaborate I've ever seen.

69. Scarlet Letter Campaign Update: A Victory

Comment #62274 by Greybishop on August 9, 2007 at 7:24 am

Russell Blackford -
I followed the link, assuming it was satire and looking for more. I started by going to the home page, which was flagged with something like "Teaching your children that atheism and Satanism are the same thing" and then I read about 3 dozen of the comments below the article in question.

Despite the fact that I found most of it absolutely hilarious, it does appear to be real.

70. Scarlet Letter Campaign Update: A Victory

Comment #62267 by Greybishop on August 9, 2007 at 7:08 am

I was going to call "Poe's Law" on this, but then I followed the link to the website. After a nice long hot shower to scrub the idiocy off, I came back to post.

I'm Canadian, and had no idea who Brownback was or that he was running for president. I assume he's one of the three clods that admitted he denies evolution at the debates?

I didn't dive deeply enough into the intellectual sewage to figure out if the website is actually run by Brownback or just endorsing him, since I could only take a few paragraphs of "Satanism and atheism are the same thing" before the bile in my throat reached toxic levels. If anyone out there has the stomach to sift throught the site for that info, I would be interested in knowing.

71. Come Out!

Comment #59713 by Greybishop on July 30, 2007 at 11:09 am

Amazing what a design on a piece of cloth can do to polarize people.

Imagine what would happen if we put it on a flag instead of a t-shirt.

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

Comment #59276 by Greybishop on July 28, 2007 at 5:05 pm

artemisa -
I hope you didn't think I was being critical. Given how far my interpretation strayed from your intent, I think you can see what I was getting at.

As far as your sentiment as you state it, again, I wholeheartedly agree.

Of course, I can't stand most of my relatives...
;o)

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

Comment #59243 by Greybishop on July 28, 2007 at 1:59 pm

artemisa -
I agree with your sentiment, but I'd phrase it a bit differently. I think that I understand exactly what you mean, but I'd be leary of the faith-head who hears it and says "Aha! Atheist dogma!"

I'd go with:

"Belief in religion divides, while reason, logic and science open a path to the potential of humanity one day achieving global prosperity, enlightenment and unity."

I don't know that evolution has any special power to unite. Many believers in various religions, including some of evolution's greatest advocates, claim to believe in evolution as well. I also don't think it's fair to assert that those who embrace evolution and reject religion are necessarily going to lead us to unity.

Even here on this site there are many, many disagreements and if we postulate a world of nothing but non-believers I don't think that anyone would expect that world to be perfectly peaceful or united.

Evolution (and the acceptance of reason and science that implies) has a whole lot better chance of uniting the globe than ANY religion ever will. However even if, by some amazing global "conversion", every single person stopped believing in religion, there would still be bad people, bad government and bad judgement to contend with.

Of course, there's a very strong likelyhood that many of those people in the video DON'T believe in evolution, but that doesn't automatically make evolution a more unifying idea. It just means that divisive religious ideas are not compatable with good science and the fundies are at least honest enough not to try to squeeze science's round peg into religion's square recepticle.

Just my two cents.

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

Comment #59206 by Greybishop on July 28, 2007 at 9:17 am

I see stuff like this and I can only shake my head.
The three people in the group that he kept going back to...amazing. To talk about Satan like he was a real guy and not crack even a smirk!

Best part? The old guy saying something like "If you haven't seen the 'Left Behind' series, it's really scary!"

I couldn't agree with you more, pops!

Kirk Cameron's acting is REALLY scary.

75. Richler defends atheism

Comment #59162 by Greybishop on July 27, 2007 at 5:17 pm

Sorry to ThomasB -
I must've missed your handle at the top of your article!

I too applaud your restraint! I got considerably more verbose.

76. Richler defends atheism

Comment #59154 by Greybishop on July 27, 2007 at 4:07 pm

More great combos:

Oh my Mama-Pacha Baal!

Oh my Me Thor Bumba!

77. Richler defends atheism

Comment #59149 by Greybishop on July 27, 2007 at 3:40 pm

There's also:

Oh my Ra!

and

Oh my Knut!

Leading to the inevitable Oh my Ra Knut!

78. Richler defends atheism

Comment #59147 by Greybishop on July 27, 2007 at 3:26 pm

Thanks to Stargate SG-1, I got a bunch!

Oh my Hathor!

Oh my Apophis!

Oh my Baal! (And that one works on a bunch of levels...even as a plural!)

Oh my Loki!

Oh my Thor!

And you can do combinations! Oh my Thor Baal!

79. Richler defends atheism

Comment #59144 by Greybishop on July 27, 2007 at 2:49 pm

JoyOfLife -
It could be a game.
Every time you would normally say "Oh my 'God'", you could substitute a different deity. Given the sheer volume of mythological gods created in the history of humanity, one could probably go years without repeating one...

80. Richler defends atheism

Comment #59142 by Greybishop on July 27, 2007 at 2:40 pm

To (probably for the thousandth time on this site)paraphrase Sam Harris and others, why do we need a word at all? There's no special word for people who don't believe in astrology.

81. Richler defends atheism

Comment #59103 by Greybishop on July 27, 2007 at 10:22 am

Thanks monoape!

I have posted (it's waaay long) my exchange with her at the forums under "Picking Apart Piety".

As I state in the article, I didn't acquit myself as well as I might have liked, but it was an interesting exchange.

Thanks to Beachbum for the inspired choice of title.

82. Richler defends atheism

Comment #59088 by Greybishop on July 27, 2007 at 9:00 am

I like "Picking Apart Piety"! I'd ditch the "smear" and use "PAP" in this way:

Pap
(Noun)
1. soft food for infants or invalids, as bread soaked in water or milk.
2. an idea, talk, book, or the like, lacking substance or real value.

83. Richler defends atheism

Comment #58878 by Greybishop on July 26, 2007 at 1:52 pm

I wouldn't expect that she did.

I'm looking forward to checking my e-mail when I get home to see if she responded a third time.

Like most believers, Ms. Kay comes across as being very surprised that we have suddenly become so uppity. She longs for the good old days when atheists kept their mouths shut about their lack of faith and nobody challenged anyone else's beliefs. I'm pretty sure that she was wearing ruby slippers back then...

Would anyone other than Smith be interested in reading Ms. Kay's arguements? I don't want to clog up the board with it if no one is interested. Perhaps I could post it off site or in the forums?

I was actually really jazzed that she responded the first time, despite the fact that she was pretty much the typical angry theist in her response. It was at least a real attempt to respond (very selectively) to some of my points. I spent a while crafting my response to her response and ended up writing a pretty long piece. I got back a single paragraph. Sigh.

84. Richler defends atheism

Comment #58861 by Greybishop on July 26, 2007 at 12:51 pm

Smith -
I can post it, but you're going to need a roll cage for your eyeballs.

I'd hate to be accused of taking her out of context, so perhaps it would be appropriate to post the whole exchange?

85. Richler defends atheism

Comment #58847 by Greybishop on July 26, 2007 at 11:50 am

Make that "fruitlessly".

So much for a great entrance.

86. Richler defends atheism

Comment #58846 by Greybishop on July 26, 2007 at 11:49 am

Long time lurker, first time poster.

monoape -
I too just engaged Ms. Kay in an e-mail exchange.

My favourite (note the Canadian spelling) part of her response was her assertion that "Faith and reason are totally compatible."

Um...no.

In the article she mentions "Secular faith" and "Anti-religious faith" and I have asked for (and have not received) definitions of these concepts, as they completely baffle me.

Richler's response touches on a couple of the points I used in my e-mail with her, and his celebrity status makes him more difficult for her to dismiss than I.

She reminded me that there were intellectual giants who were men of faith in whose shadow I am not fit to stand. I suggested that she wouldn't have called my intellect into question had I monosyllabically agreed with her postition. Stunningly, she had no response to that.

I did my best to engage her in honest and open debate, but after one long e-mail, her second response degenerated into nothing more than "Atheists annoy us and should stop rocking the boat since they have it so good."

So much for that. I just thought that folks around here might like to know that a few of us (fruitfully, it seems) did try...