51. Ah, the fervour in returning to my flock

Comment #54426 by drive1 on July 7, 2007 at 3:03 am

Atheism was the religion of my childhood. I suffered for my beliefs. When my parents finally enrolled me in Sunday School because all the other children were doing it, I was sent to the remedial group and faced the humiliation of colouring in pictures of Jesus with children younger than me because I didn't know enough about the Bible. Later on as a primary schooler, I suffered persecution

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/opinion/a-fundamental-wrong-in-letting-some-marry/2007/03/30/1174761750887.html

Before you know it, fundamentalist parents will be insisting preschool children read storybooks about the fundamentalist lifestyle in order to better understand it. There will be colouring books directed at four-year-olds showing Jesus turning water into wine and walking on water, as if it were gospel.

What hope does a child indoctrinated with this sort of propaganda have of growing up to be normal? Can you really tell me they will not be more likely to grow up fundamentalist themselves?

52. Messiah

Comment #52440 by drive1 on June 27, 2007 at 3:18 am

Derren frequently uses visual and verbal 'plants' to lead people in a certain direction. The most fascinating, to me, is the planted verbal direction. Notice, when he's talking direct to the camera, that his speech is clear and flowing. When he's doing his act, he is hesitant, stumbling over words occasionally. It seems natural, but is actually quite brilliant. Often what appears to be a change of thought as he's talking, or a slurred word, or an out-of-place colloquialism, is heard as garbage or noise when you hear it, and is filtered out so you can make sense of what he's saying (notice how quickly he speaks sometimes). But when his words are filed away in your brain, they're re-interpreted.

This video is heavilly edited, so we don't see the preparation of his subjects. Also keep in mind his extraordinary memory feats, which are fully explained in his book.

As for the pictures trick, the key will have been is the conversations we didn't see. For instance I'll bet during normal conversation before the filming started, he'll have spotted a fruit bowl in the office and directed the lady's attention to a banana in the bowl (subtly, of course .. probably just my moving towards it, or by picking up a photo on the same desk and replacing it next to the bowl). Then when calling out to her to do that drawing, he probably called something like "let's see if this one bears fruit" or something like that. The lady is starting with no pre-conceived ideas .. the choice of possible designs she could draw is enormous .. how to choose? Well, Derren gave her a nice little nudge.

53. Debate between Richard Dawkins and Robert Winston

Comment #45650 by drive1 on May 28, 2007 at 4:47 pm

by Paul Creber "Infrequent visitors to this site should be aware that "Wee Flea" (above) is none other than David Robertson, which means that he is using a pseudonym here to promote his own book. Some might consider this questionable ethics on the part of a minister of the church - or indeed anybody."

54. Dental healer finds share of faithful believers

Comment #44133 by drive1 on May 23, 2007 at 11:31 am

Sturiano, the Parrish resident, was sure something had taken place in his mouth.

55. Christopher Hitchens on Religion

Comment #39821 by drive1 on May 12, 2007 at 3:36 am

@32 minutes in, where the woman caller invokes the 'god of the gaps' argument, Hitchens' put down is just fantastic.

He's got to watch his debating style a bit, though .. he often talks over other people. Done occasionally it gives the impression of authority. Done too frequently, and it can sound somewhat arrogant.

What was particularly refreshing was how deferrential the two religious guests were towards him. Both readily conceded problems with organised religion. A positive step.

56. Cardinal: homosexuality a form of prostitution

Comment #38967 by drive1 on May 9, 2007 at 4:38 pm

They seem to be fixated on bottoms .. what comes out and what goes on. I blame god for exposing his nether parts to Moses. Tolerant bunch, ain't they?

57. E.O. Wilson Accepts his 2007 TED Prize

Comment #30525 by drive1 on April 8, 2007 at 11:47 am

So much fascinating detail. Statistic after statistic of how little we know, but also how fast we're getting up to speed. A wonderful speech, from which I learned a heck of a lot.

58. Did John Paul II perform a miracle? Am I Mother Teresa?

Comment #30522 by drive1 on April 8, 2007 at 10:45 am

Interesting article in today's Sunday Telegraph (UK). The resident doctor mentioned this supposed 'Parkinson's Disease' and said that there's a common condition that presents itself in a similar way to Parkinson's; hand tremor, very small, distorted writing. Apparently this other condition spontaneously clears up, without medical (or supernatural) intervention in about 10% of cases. You might have heard of it .. it's commonly known as writer's cramp! Yay! They'll be handing out Sainthoods for curing tennis elbow next.

59. Prophets of the new atheism

Comment #30416 by drive1 on April 8, 2007 at 2:53 am

"Dawkins does not grapple with the latest arguments for intelligent design as formulated by their chief proponents. Harris is similarly preoccupied by ID".

That's either badly written, or self-contradictory. In any event what, exactly, are these "latest arguments" for ID? They were conspicuously absent from the Dover trial, where every ID theory presented was thoroughly discredited.

We live in interesting times. A lot of noses have been tweaked and they don't like it.

60. Militant atheists: too clever for their own good

Comment #30137 by drive1 on April 7, 2007 at 3:17 am

I'm sure Charles Moore will have enjoyed reading his Telegraph today, since there are several religious articles in today's edition, including a pathetic editorial comment. However, it is an article on page 14 that contrasts rather nicely with his own piece.

It's a poll on the 'the top 5 favourite quotes from "the Good Book"'. No 1 is Proverbs 3v5,6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding." No comment necessary, really.

@mmurray: I generally enjoy reading the Telegraph. It often covers scientific issues, has some pretty good staff writers and an excellent crossword. It is also anti Blair / Brown / Bush. Having said that, editions like today's do make me wonder why I waste £1.40 on it. Ah well, a paper that reflects all of my biases is not going to be good for me in the long run.

61. The Most Hated Family in America

Comment #29708 by drive1 on April 4, 2007 at 9:05 am

Some thoughts:
* I was surprised they drove everywhere, given god's problem with iron chariots.
* When a pretty young woman talks about 'sin' and 'fornicating', it makes me feel kinda tingly. Do I need help?
* A world without lesbians?! Are they mad?
* Grumpy Grampy said that god had deceived GWB. Could this be true? That naughty sky imp .. he's such a trickster.

62. Postmodernism Disrobed

Comment #29536 by drive1 on April 3, 2007 at 10:33 am

@ september "dawkins little bit here is folkknowledge of an undergraduate level, that he tries to pass off as more than just that so that all you silly little boys and girls can say, wow postmodernism is garbage, go science!"

The Prof's chair is in the 'Public Understanding of Science' and the strap-line for this very site is 'A Clear-Thinking Oasis'. By necessity his writing is clear and couched in understandable language, so that 'silly little boys' like me can learn and better ourselves. I'm sensible enough to realise that simplification of an idea can distort meaning, but I also appreciate that over-elaboration can obscure.

Now, it may be that PostModernism is expressed in language James Joyce would have appreciated because it's too nuanced and complex to be described in simpler language. But when a champion of plain language and clarity of thought says 'No it isn't', I sit up and take notice.

You've posted several times with what I assume are rebuttals, but all I've learned from your posts is that you've got a chip on your shoulder, and you can't type properly. You tell me .. which source of information would you prefer in my position?

63. Postmodernism Disrobed

Comment #29106 by drive1 on April 1, 2007 at 4:10 pm

Honestly .. sex, sex, sex .. that's all these post-modernists ever think about. That and, of course, multireferential, multi-dimensional machinic catalysis.

64. Is this another Sokal Hoax?

Comment #28984 by drive1 on April 1, 2007 at 3:06 am

It's not an April Fool's joke .. someone linked to this article a couple of weeks ago from the Religion forum (IIRC). I managed a whole paragraph then. I managed two paragraphs this time. Still inpenetratable.

65. In the Beginning

Comment #28768 by drive1 on March 30, 2007 at 5:24 pm

Some of the comments in this thread seem to be reviewing a completely different broadcast to the one I just listened to. The interviewer was polite with Ham, but disagreed with every 'scientific' point he made. She gave him sufficient air-time to shoot himself in the foot and, from that range, Ham never misses. I actually think this type of non-confrontational interviewing technique is particularly useful for getting the fundies to open up .. give 'em enough rope.

As for Paul Davies .. he seems to be trying to find a way to approach the science / theology debate from a different angle. We all know how frustrating it can be communicating with YEC's and the like .. seems to me, Davies is trying to do something worthwhile. He, Gribbin, Asimov and Sagan are the great 'popular' science writers of the past 50 years imvho, and if he can use that skill to get a few fundies to pull their fingers out of their ears, then all power to his elbow.

66. The Fifth Flea!

Comment #28240 by drive1 on March 28, 2007 at 1:23 pm

@epeeist: John Donne. Poacher turned Gamekeeper. I always thought his early secular poems superior to the religious stuff he churned out in later life.
[/pendantry]

67. Episcopal Church Rejects Demand for a 2nd Leadership

Comment #26933 by drive1 on March 22, 2007 at 11:21 am

Amazing how one inerrant text can be open to so many interpretations.

God pops down the shops for a carton of ambrosia .. he's only gone for a couple of millennia .. gets back, and the kids have been fighting again and wrecked the house. This always happens when he leaves Ghost in charge. You'd think he'd learn.

68. Saving believers: Former Christian finds calling to preach the good news of atheism

Comment #26654 by drive1 on March 21, 2007 at 1:58 am

Ooo .. the bear story is a corker! I'd forgotten it: 2 Kings 2:23-24:

"And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them".

Nice one, god!

69. Christian soldier takes up arms as hustings near

Comment #26511 by drive1 on March 20, 2007 at 2:02 am

"The Scottish Christian Party is led by the Rev George Hargreaves, a Londoner of Afro-Caribbean origin and former pop song lyricist... the CPA, sees George Hargreaves as an unwelcome southern import. "I can't stress enough that we have nothing in common with these people," according to Teresa Smith, former Labour constituency chair".

Ah, the tolerance and high-level discourse displayed in this parochial tiff is most enlightening. Remind me again .. how many gods and inerrant sacred texts do these parties believe in?

70. Lonely Atheists of the Global Village

Comment #26303 by drive1 on March 18, 2007 at 3:18 pm

Novak shakes his head in wonderment at why there is a recent spate of atheistic books, and why D,D & H are so forthright and strident. Why oh why, he asks in effect, are they calling a spade a spade? Then, as with all these types of reviews, he answers his own question without realising it : "Christianity manages somehow to be highly attractive to approximately one-third of the population of the world (just over two billion persons), and is still today the fastest growing of all religions."

I ask "why oh why won't the penny drop?"

71. In Lice, Clues to Human Origin and Attire

Comment #25256 by drive1 on March 11, 2007 at 10:38 am

"Samples of gorilla lice were obtained by members of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, which provides free health care to gorillas in the wild."

I know it's a serious article, but this sentence caught my imagination. How long before gorillas are offered private health care .. at a very reasonable premium, natch? Apply for your no-obligation quote, now! No salesman will call. Sorry.
Oook!

72. Out There

Comment #25255 by drive1 on March 11, 2007 at 10:31 am

Agreed .. fantastic article. A bit scarey too, though .. if there's no paradigm shift in our understanding in the near future, we all know who'll muscle in on the gap. The stakes are high, indeed.

73. My critics are wrong to call me dogmatic

Comment #21936 by drive1 on February 12, 2007 at 12:20 am

Bullseye!

74. The questions science cannot answer

Comment #21586 by drive1 on February 10, 2007 at 2:40 am

"..(we all) base our lives on at least some fundamental beliefs that we know we cannot prove, but nevertheless believe to be reliable and significant. We all need to examine our beliefs.."

Reliable and significant, eh? I'll grant you the 'significant' bit .. people do all sorts of things in the real world as a result of their beliefs. But 'reliable'? Why, that almost sounds scientific! I wonder what kinds of experiments Prof McGrath will devise to test this 'reliability'? We do, after all, "need to examine our beliefs".

75. Ruth Kelly, her hard-line church and a devout PM wrestling with his conscience

Comment #18529 by drive1 on January 21, 2007 at 3:14 pm

@Veronique: some interesting stats from the C of E here: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/info/funding/index.html#where

In general I agree with Russell. One of the great divisive tricks of this current government (aided and abetted by many parts of the media) has been to cultivate a witless 'black or white' approach to any issue. We could be discussing ID Cards, immigration, benefit dependency, war, gay rights .. they line us all up into two camps .. for or against .. do a quick head-count, and then pass knee-jerk legislation which will get them approving editorials in the next day's papers (well, some of them).

But what is being ignored is a far more important principle .. freedom of speech. You remember how it goes .. I might not like what you're saying, but I defend to the death your right to say it. Bigots, fascists, sexists, Big Brother contestants, politicians, Creationists .. I find you beneath contempt, but I would never, NEVER dream of gagging you. Our weapon against you is education.

oops sorry .. turned a bit preachy there.