51. Polish woman wins abortion case

Comment #26594 by Fouad Boussetta on March 20, 2007 at 4:47 pm

Besides being shocked by this story, I also find myself surprised and disappointed: I did not know Poland was such a backward country.

52. God's dupes

Comment #25922 by Fouad Boussetta on March 15, 2007 at 4:54 pm

Sam is a hero!

53. A 'Sad First' in the History of the Congress

Comment #25721 by Fouad Boussetta on March 14, 2007 at 8:16 pm

*I'm starting to think that we non-believers should change our debating tactics with believers.

*They're just not amenable to a rational examination of their beliefs because they LIKE what they believe. It makes them FEEL GOOD. That's why they're so much under the spell of the confirmation bias.

*It is true that their "God" cannot be disproved, so what I find works better than logic to destabilize them in a conversation is a line like the following:
"You believe in "Jesus" and in God... Now the Buddhists don't believe in "Jesus" nor in "God". They believe in "Buddha" and "Rebirth" instead.
They can also be pretty religious like you and they're often enough rather nice people. How do you know they're not right and you're not wrong?"
Chances are your Christian interlocutor will be shocked and at a loss for words for a few seconds.

*Back to the Christian Seniors Association: I think it's really time for them to retire. Well... If they don't, hopefully Time will Retire them soon enough. Ha ha ha.

54. Richard Dawkins and the dangerous delusion of religion

Comment #25718 by Fouad Boussetta on March 14, 2007 at 7:46 pm

cheshirecat wrote: ""Just how dangerous can religion be in 21st century Britain?" I don't know but i'll bet it never gets anywhere near the problems that the communists caused us."

Well, I don't agree. I'm not especially fond of communism, but at least it never dealt in slavery and always treated men and women equally.

55. You can't trust science!

Comment #25053 by Fouad Boussetta on March 9, 2007 at 11:36 pm

That's just hilarious, ... and so true!
I just emailed this comic strip to everyone.
Thanks for the fun.

56. Conservapedia v Wikipedia

Comment #24598 by Fouad Boussetta on March 7, 2007 at 2:12 pm

What a nightmare!!!
What's next? Nazipedia?! Commiepedia?!

57. Was there ever dog that praised his fleas?

Comment #24090 by Fouad Boussetta on March 4, 2007 at 6:36 pm

***Answer to "the great teapot" (34.)***

You bought "The Dawkins Delusion"? Read it then!
Next time, read this type of book IN THE STORE,
without buying it, a few pages at a time: that way, you won't boost the sales figures for a dishonest enemy like McGrath. You just contributed to his purse, his glory, and his publicity!

If you really want to atone for your sins, you should buy another copy of "The God Delusion" and give it to a friend.

Go and sin no more.

58. Was there ever dog that praised his fleas?

Comment #24079 by Fouad Boussetta on March 4, 2007 at 5:04 pm

You're all wrong! Mickey Mouse is the One True God!!!

59. Faith

Comment #23077 by Fouad Boussetta on February 26, 2007 at 6:42 am

I actually find Richard Dawkins a little bit too polite: but well, he's English!

;)

I very strongly recommend reading French philosopher Michel Onfray's "Atheist Manifesto: The case against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam". He does a kind of psychoanalysis of the three monotheisms, and charts their birth and evolution. Excellent book. It was just recently released in English. Original title in French: "Traite d'atheologie". The very unfortunate title of the Canadian edition: "In Defense of Atheism".

Hedonist philosopher Onfray is a real superstar in France. He created a free University, is involved in politics, and is always in the media.

The link to a good review:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070217.BKATHE17/TPStory/Entertainment

A little note of interest about the French:
1/3 atheists, 1/3 agnostics, 1/3 believers. Good allies maybe.

60. The questions science cannot answer

Comment #21645 by Fouad Boussetta on February 10, 2007 at 10:04 am

What a cretin.

The only thing I can credit him with is persistence.

61. 'Everyone Is Afraid to Criticize Islam': Interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Comment #20837 by Fouad Boussetta on February 6, 2007 at 6:06 pm

"They call Jews and Christians inferior, and we say they're just exercising their freedom of speech. When will the Europeans realize that the Islamists don't allow their critics the same right?"

Exactly.

62. Tolerating intolerance is still this country's besetting sin

Comment #20683 by Fouad Boussetta on February 5, 2007 at 6:03 pm

The basic idea is: you have a group of very motivated religious go-getters on one side, and another group of lazy, mellow, comfortable secular chaps on the other side.

The latter group may now be in control and have pleasant feelings of superiority, but in case of conflict, who do you think will be winning?

I think it's time to start worrying.

63. Tolerating intolerance is still this country's besetting sin

Comment #20679 by Fouad Boussetta on February 5, 2007 at 5:24 pm

Ole wrote about Bruce Bawer's "While Europe Slept": "Does he give any sources in his book?
Can you trust the statistics he gives? I saw one comment about the book that made me not want to read it: No footnotes, no endnotes, no bibliography--moreover, Bawer routinely paints the secular Baathist Saddam Hussein as part of the Islamist movement. Is this true?"

*Yes, he gives all his sources.
*Yes, you can trust the statistics as much as statistics can be trusted at all.
*There are footnotes.
*There is no bibliography because there is no need for one: Bruce Bawer is describing the actions of
the radical islamists of Europe (where he lives)
and the (mostly anemic) responses of the governments of said countries.
*I am not aware of the last item.

Bruce Bawer seems pretty objective to me.
The very numerous reviews on amazon.com are also overwhelmingly positive (not that it proves anything, of course).

Anyway, Ole, I would again suggest you at least read (for free) his "Tolerating intolerance" article (found on brucebawer.com).

64. Tolerating intolerance is still this country's besetting sin

Comment #20588 by Fouad Boussetta on February 4, 2007 at 4:00 pm

Luthien wrote: "There is only one way to break the extremist's hold, and that is to educate and protect women, and make sure that children get an education instead of religious brainwashing."

I agree: education is key.

Now the problem is: how do we deal with the existence of the religious schools, where the fundamentalist parents like to send their kids?

65. Tolerating intolerance is still this country's besetting sin

Comment #20585 by Fouad Boussetta on February 4, 2007 at 3:07 pm

"Tolerating intolerance" is the name of a very interesting article that Bruce Bawer wrote about exactly this problem, a few years ago. He is an American who at the time lived in Amsterdam (and now lives in Norway, I believe). You can find the article and many others on brucebawer.com.

Better yet, read his recently released book, "While Europe Slept": it's excellent and very enlightening.

Of course, one must not become paranoid or prejudiced, but there are serious reasons to be concerned and to exact preventative measures, or else really bad things could happen!

66. In defense of atheism

Comment #19251 by Fouad Boussetta on January 26, 2007 at 12:13 am

Exactly.

67. Arguing for Atheism

Comment #19242 by Fouad Boussetta on January 25, 2007 at 6:21 pm

Russell Blackford wrote: "Religion has been treated as beyond robust criticism for too long. (It's not like the favour is returned. How much does the pope go out of his way not to annoy homosexuals, say, or all of those of us with metaphysical naturalist viewpoints, or all the other categories that are demonised in his theology?)"

Absolutely. Religious people don't want their religion to be criticized and judged, but their religion criticizes and judges everything and everyone!

Incredible.

68. The Bright Revolution

Comment #19057 by Fouad Boussetta on January 24, 2007 at 2:54 pm

I really think you must have a pretty low emotional intelligence to call yourself a "Bright"... {Sorry.} There are so many other tags out there that you can use and that sound good!

P.S.: Just for laughs {:P}, check out apatheticagnostic.com: "We don't know, and we don't care."

69. Noam Chomsky Interview on Faith

Comment #18451 by Fouad Boussetta on January 21, 2007 at 12:51 am

http://www.chomsky.info

70. Christian Shrine Needs Two Exits, Israel Says

Comment #17820 by Fouad Boussetta on January 16, 2007 at 6:55 pm

Mel Z wrote:

""If there was a fire inside the church near the door, people inside would have no way of escaping,"

And this is bad because?....."

Ha ha ha, that's hilarious!

71. The end of one law for all?

Comment #17819 by Fouad Boussetta on January 16, 2007 at 6:51 pm

"I had obtained a divorce in the secular courts - but my husband refused to divorce me Islamically. In English law I was seen as a single woman but by Islamic law I was still married to him. I'm a practising Muslim and I wanted to do the right things in the eyes of God. It was very important I obtained an Islamic divorce."

[Sigh]...People are so stupid.

72. William Crawley, BBC Belfast, names Richard Dawkins as Person of the Year 2006

Comment #15555 by Fouad Boussetta on January 1, 2007 at 9:18 am

Richard Dawkins El Akbar! :)

73. Not Yet The Majority But No Longer Silent

Comment #15515 by Fouad Boussetta on December 31, 2006 at 11:47 pm

I'm Free.

Free from religion, superstition, mind viruses, brainwashing, delusion, self-deception, wishful thinking, etc..,

I like this tag, Free.
I think I'll be using it, proudly, on some occasions. ;)

Happy 2007!

74. Not Yet The Majority But No Longer Silent

Comment #15460 by Fouad Boussetta on December 31, 2006 at 2:11 pm

*As much as I respect Dennett, I could not disagree more with his promotion of the "bright" tag. I think his comparison of the "gay" tag with the "bright" tag is unfair: it's like comparing apples and oranges! I would rather be thought "glum and gloomy" than "dim"! "Bright" is insulting the way "gay" never was!
*Almost any other tag or description is better than this: rationalist, freethinker, etc...
*In any case, who needs a tag? One can simply retort to a believer that his claims are far from obvious and leave it at that.
*By the way, what bothers me is that there really are many non-believers out there who actually think they're much "brighter" than the believing folk. Not so: lots of believers are not ignorant at all, they're just wishful thinkers! They believe because they WANT to believe, because it makes them FEEL GOOD.
*To sum up, "bright" IS a pretentious word, and it will do nothing more than antagonize. Drop it presto!

75. A Christmas thunderbolt for the arch-enemy of religion

Comment #14806 by Fouad Boussetta on December 25, 2006 at 9:50 am

Religion passes judgment on anything that moves.
Yet to judge it is "arrogant".
That really kills me.
"Judge not lest you be judged"!

76. 10 myths - and 10 truths - about atheism

Comment #14728 by Fouad Boussetta on December 24, 2006 at 7:24 pm

I am happy this piece appears in a large circulation paper. Although the points raised are pretty obvious
to non-believers, not so for a LOT of the believers. Hopefully many of the latter will read Sam's article
and correct somewhat their very negative appraisal of the former.

77. I love the commercialisation of Christmas

Comment #14701 by Fouad Boussetta on December 24, 2006 at 2:22 pm

*We wish you a Godless Christmas,
*We wish you a Merry Solstice,
*We wish you a Merry Christmas,
*And a Happy New Year! :)

(Sung by myself, my wife, and our atheist cat.)

78. The Blasphemy Challenge

Comment #13846 by Fouad Boussetta on December 19, 2006 at 5:51 pm

Yeah,sure, whatever: I deny the Holy Spirit.
More importantly, I deny the Ugly Spirit, the Mean Spirit, and the Stupid Spirit. [Big Grin]

79. Richard Dawkins: You Ask The Questions Special

Comment #11585 by Fouad Boussetta on December 5, 2006 at 5:16 pm

I just want to say that apart from being so
very smart, Richard Dawkins is also so very funny.

Always a pleasure to read him. :)

80. Religions don't deserve special treatment

Comment #5832 by Fouad Boussetta on November 11, 2006 at 10:20 am

*Excellent piece: it really sums it all up.
*Not only religions don't deserve special treatment, but it it actually UNWISE to extend them favours, because they will NOT reciprocate, and you only stand to LOSE.
As a friend of mine wittily commented: "You kindly offer your hand, but they will take your whole arm".