51. Some US Muslims say suicide attacks OK

Comment #44166 by perkyjay on May 23, 2007 at 2:05 pm

Incidentally Bonzai, there are two Steve Jones. The 'good' guy is the British atheist from London University ,author of "Darwin's Ghosts", and the other one is from Brigham Young University, a physicist and the 9/11 conspiracy theorist.

52. Would the World Be Safer Without Religion?

Comment #43476 by perkyjay on May 21, 2007 at 3:34 pm

#43263 - Derwent: Thanks for being a nitpicker about the English language. Winston Churchill is reputed to have said that "a preposition is a word that one should never end a sentence with".

53. Catholic Church Reconsiders Limbo

Comment #43441 by perkyjay on May 21, 2007 at 12:51 pm

When Vatican II wound up in 1965 I was still a relatively young atheist. The joke I remember coming out of that Ecumenical Congress, as it was officially known, related to the pronouncement that The Vatican had no objection to priests fraternizing with nuns,"provided that they didn't get into the habit".

54. The Paradoxical Hatred of Christopher Hitchens

Comment #43071 by perkyjay on May 20, 2007 at 12:42 pm

Two quotations from another age:
"The evil that men do lives after them; the good oft lies interred with their bones" Shakespeare - Julius Caesar.
"Men never do evil so cheerfully and completely as when they do it from religious conviction" Pascal - Pensees

55. Christopher Hitchens is Not Great

Comment #41161 by perkyjay on May 15, 2007 at 3:01 pm

There was a parallel in Hollywood, years ago, for people who write critiques of The God Delusion, God is not great,Letter to a Christian Nation etc.etc. The writers,(Dawkins et al) are seen in the same way as Jesse James, Wyatt Earp etc. were viewed by budding gunfighters, who couldn't wait to get a notch in their gun for offing a notable
opponent. The only problem is that the people who write critiques of works on atheism are only firing blanks.

56. Christopher Hitchens is Not Great

Comment #41160 by perkyjay on May 15, 2007 at 3:01 pm

There was a parallel in Hollywood, years ago, for people who write critiques of The God Delusion, God is not great,Letter to a Christian Nation etc.etc. The writers,(Dawkins et al) are seen in the way as Jesse James, Wyatt Earp etc. were viewed by budding gunfighters, who couldn't wait to get a notch in their gun for offing a notable
opponent. The only problem is that the people who write critiques of works on atheism are only firing blanks.

57. Television evangelist Falwell dies at 73

Comment #41106 by perkyjay on May 15, 2007 at 1:51 pm

Well - at least now he'll know, or rather won't know, which is a great pity, that what he's been preaching for the last 54 years was one big crock of manure. Neither he, nor any of his ilk, elicits one gram of sympathy in me .

58. Ted Haggard Is Completely Heterosexual

Comment #39933 by perkyjay on May 12, 2007 at 10:32 am

Comment#39913 - LAWRENCE WINCH-FURNESS:I'm certain that Richard Dawkins felt enormous private schadenfreude in Haggard's fall from grace, but he's too polite to go public with it.

59. Apocalypse Of The Honeybees

Comment #39650 by perkyjay on May 11, 2007 at 12:48 pm

We live in The West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada and we've noticed for the first time since moving here seven years ago a very large number of small bees,known as mining bees, which actually nest underground. My pear trees and all the other trees on my lot, quince, lilac and apple,are lierally covered in these diminutive critters, which are going about their work of cross-pollination with great vigour. There seems to be no absence of regular honey bees
either. The mining bees are of the family Andrenidae and measure about 5mm in length. They are very docile and we can work around them without fear of getting stung. Just thought you'd like to know.

60. World's most prominent atheist takes on the Biblical God (and other topics)

Comment #39455 by perkyjay on May 10, 2007 at 5:38 pm

Cromwell was certainly not an atheist - it was always my impression that he was a very strict Quaker.

61. Interview with Richard Dawkins

Comment #38510 by perkyjay on May 8, 2007 at 12:25 pm

I was impressed and relieved that Stroumboulopoulos didn't even attempt to "do a number" on RD. I have never watched his show for two reasons:1)- it's past my bed-time, and 2) I always thought S. was just too full of himself to
interview Richard. I was wrong about S. and I'm sorry I missed the actual telecast - but the video was good and at least I got my "beauty sleep".

62. Author of the Year Ad

Comment #37421 by perkyjay on May 4, 2007 at 12:19 pm

To Shaker 2007; What in the name of all that is unholy is wrong with the photograph ?

To Richard: My congratulations from Nakusp, British Columbia.

63. Christians and Atheists to Debate Existence of God in First-Ever 'NIGHTLINE FACE OFF'

Comment #37179 by perkyjay on May 3, 2007 at 3:22 pm

Re: 13736 by Van Youngman: The excuse that your student gave sounds suspiciously similar to the classic "the dog ate my homework". Whether or not you accept it is entirely your decision, but I would be suspicious of it. Can you lend her your copy of TGD and extend the deadline for her ?

64. Christians and Atheists to Debate Existence of God in First-Ever 'NIGHTLINE FACE OFF'

Comment #37176 by perkyjay on May 3, 2007 at 3:08 pm

Do we really care how this "debate" works out. It's only a blip on the screen of a major epic. Even if the christians win hands down, truth is on the side of the atheists - that cannot change or be changed by one debate. I think the atheist cause is gaining ground by leaps and bounds and one must accept that our cause cannot win every skirmish, and this is really all it is - a minor skirmish.

65. Richard Dawkins in the Time 100

Comment #37085 by perkyjay on May 3, 2007 at 11:01 am

My word - aren't we all bitchy today ? Did somebody urinate on our Cornflakes. What Michael Behe said was not actually that bad, and he is, after all, a proponent of ID. Come on guys - how about a bit of that charity, which is not only restricted to christians.

66. We aim to misbehave

Comment #35261 by perkyjay on April 26, 2007 at 6:29 pm

#35223:AaronSF - Thanks for Dr.Laura's URL. I retired to a very remote part of British Columbia
some years ago and we rarely leave this village,a)
because it's very beautiful, and b) because it has almost everything anybody needs to survive. I was a city dweller until my retirement about 16 years ago, and now I'm as happy as a clam, and just about as active!

67. We aim to misbehave

Comment #35210 by perkyjay on April 26, 2007 at 3:16 pm

Re:#35204 by Aaron SF: Who is Dr.Laura ? - I don't get out much - but depending on whether she holds feminists in high or low regard it could be a compliment, or if in low regard it could refer to the condition that visitors to Mexico sometimes acquire, which is Turista, not very pleasant - just a thought !

68. We aim to misbehave

Comment #35152 by perkyjay on April 26, 2007 at 11:37 am

The suffragettes in England were far from dispassionate. One of Mrs.Pankhurst's cohorts threw herself in front of the King's horse in The Derby at Epsom Downs racecourse, killing herself, the horse and the jockey. The horse was owned by Edward VII or George V, and since it was slightly before my time, I'm sorry I can't remember.

69. A debate on people who profess no religion

Comment #33589 by perkyjay on April 20, 2007 at 4:40 pm

Seti - I think you are bang on - as an ex-pat Yorkshireman, I'm certain that he was talking twaddle - I'm sure that the broadcast was not edited, at least none of the individual excerpts was edited.

70. Doctors Opposing Circumcision: An Appeal for Misha

Comment #32548 by perkyjay on April 17, 2007 at 10:58 am

None of my five sons and none of my six grandsons has been circumsized. I regard circumcision as gross mutilation of the most barbaric kind. I grew up in the UK and at school the circumcised boys were the Roundheads, referring to Oliver Cromwell's troops and the boys who had been 'unmolested' were the Cavaliers, referring to the King's forces.

71. Understanding Genetics - Daniel Dennett Interview

Comment #25279 by perkyjay on March 11, 2007 at 4:21 pm

I've been known as an atheist for 63 years - I'm now approaching 79 - I'm afraid if I started calling myself a sifter, people would think I was suffering from dementia or something equally dreadful, like religion. It would take too long to explain.

72. An apology to Peter Kay

Comment #25126 by perkyjay on March 10, 2007 at 9:11 am

An apology was the only decent thing to do. It may
seem strange to some of the commenters here, but making an apology should never be seen as a sign of weakness. I always remember the definition of a true Englishman - someone who apologises before, during and after sex.

73. Response to Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris

Comment #25010 by perkyjay on March 9, 2007 at 4:49 pm

I forgot to mention that the Premier of Alberta who introduced Eugenics into Alberta was an evangelical, known as Bible Bill Aberhart, by virtue of his weekly Sunday morning bible hour on CFCN - The Voice of the Prairies.

74. Response to Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris

Comment #24992 by perkyjay on March 9, 2007 at 3:35 pm

Eugenics, the sterilization of undesirable groups in society, was an established policy of The Government of Alberta(Canada) in the 30s, several years before the National Socialist Party in Germany, aka The Nazi Party even contemplated The Final Solution, aka The Extermination of the Jews.This man was intellectually ineffectual - a complete lightweight and no competition for either Dr.Dawkins or Sam Harris

75. Darwin's God

Comment #24083 by perkyjay on March 4, 2007 at 5:33 pm

Yorker: Yours is an excellent idea. Statistics Canada estimates that 15% of our population are atheists, mostly in the upper socio-economic scale. I'm a pensioner but would be happy to pledge $15Canadian every month towards the "fighting fund".

76. The Dawkins Confusion: Naturalism ad absurdum

Comment #23600 by perkyjay on March 1, 2007 at 4:38 pm

I would characterise it, quite simply, as philosophical gobbledygook. Notre Dame has gone down several notches in my estimation since reading this.

77. Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins

Comment #21075 by perkyjay on February 7, 2007 at 2:01 pm

#8:Tycho the Dog: I think that you'll find that all the traitors, Burgess,Maclean,Blount et al, were all Cambridge men. They were, reputedly, influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein, who spent many years in Cambridge before he died there in April 1959. Sorry, but I have connections with Oxford and wanted to preserve its reputation.

78. Root of All Evil? Discussion

Comment #20448 by perkyjay on February 2, 2007 at 3:19 pm

It should be noted that Charles McVety is a mentor of Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, at least until we can vote him out, of Canada.

79. Atheists in Jail

Comment #19862 by perkyjay on January 30, 2007 at 10:28 am

Richard Morgan - comment no:19785: I couldn't decide whether your comment was a take-off of The Goon Show or the sketches from Monty Python , but I found it hilarious - thanks for making an old man laugh out loud.

80. He Calls Himself God

Comment #19740 by perkyjay on January 29, 2007 at 5:22 pm

I have long held the opinion that Jesus, if he in fact existed, was a charlatan and a stereotype of the perfect "middle eastern" confidence trickster.

81. Durham Council Votes To Continue Saying Lord's Prayer

Comment #19450 by perkyjay on January 27, 2007 at 9:20 am

I too am pleased that, like jeepyjay, it was not Durham,UK. I went to Durham University in the late 40s and although the university was awash in godbotherers, there was still a healthy secular contingent of ex-army types. When I read the headline, my old heart missed a beat, but it was a false alarm, thank the gods.

82. Federal Way schools restrict Gore film

Comment #17410 by perkyjay on January 13, 2007 at 11:37 am

Re #19 - Vadjong: If Al Gore intends to run again in 2008, as much as I would prefer that he came clean and told the truth about his beliefs, he is pretty well obliged by the system prevailing in the US to DISSEMBLE. We all know that an atheist doesn't stand a cat in hell's chance of being elected to political office in the US.

83. How Old is the Grand Canyon? Park Service Won't Say

Comment #15315 by perkyjay on December 30, 2006 at 10:16 am

The nutters are everywhere. In Canada we have a federal Minister of Public Security, Stockwell Day, who subscribes to this nonsensical idea of The Flood and the fact that dinosaurs and humans existed at the same time, ie: within the last 6000 years. Good grief - a Minister of The Crown yet. But the Prime Minister is known as Bush-lite, so what can we expect.

84. 7 monks injured in clash over monastery

Comment #14572 by perkyjay on December 23, 2006 at 10:33 am

Re: #14317 by Bushyakker: On a purely semantic note, shouldn't the word "bugger" be either buggee or buggeree - passive in preference to active - just a thought.

85. 7 monks injured in clash over monastery

Comment #14452 by perkyjay on December 22, 2006 at 1:46 pm

I just re-visited this page and noticed comment #1. If the name of the monk in this comment were to be converted to a Spoonerism, it just might have more impact, in the light of some comments made recently.

86. 7 monks injured in clash over monastery

Comment #14211 by perkyjay on December 21, 2006 at 1:49 pm

Being an ex-pat Yorkshireman, living in the wilderness of interior British Columbia, all this talk of yorkers,sheep,Scots and The Welsh makes me very nostalgic for the old sod,( ie: the land of my birth - nothing else).I love all the good-natured banter that we infidels can indulge in. I wonder why the xtians so mistakenly characterise us as angry. I've even been pitied because the xtian community thinks of me as lonely - no way am I lonely.

87. Book a Day

Comment #11863 by perkyjay on December 7, 2006 at 8:20 pm

I live in Nakusp, British Columbia. If Professor Dawkins ever did visit Vancouver I would go there for the sole purpose of seeing and hearing him, even though it would mean a trip of 8 hours in each direction. There is no airport from which we could fly - in fact Vancouver is the closest convenient airport. I have recently donated all of Dr. Dawkins' books, as well as a few by other writers, to the local library, and some are already in circulation !