51. The art of the soluble

Comment #96298 by Arcturus on December 10, 2007 at 10:16 am

What a load of ...

Religion and the rule of parsimony?? What a joke! This is your God of the gaps, when you don't know, throw in the simplest explanation "God did it". Where does Lennox start using this explanation? Does he have a clear line beyond which "God"(whatever that might be?) is the simplest explanation? Does he know everything about this universe?

There so much more in the universe that "goes beyond what meets the eye". There is so much we don't know and don't understand. WHY then do we need to go beyond it? Let us first better understand THIS universe, then we'll see about the "beyond".

I feel that this piece shows the insecurity of religious people. They cannot conceive living in an universe where they don't understand everything. I am perfectly reconciled with the idea that there's so little we know, but in the same time I don't want to be deluded into believing fairy tales.

On the other hand, even scientific theories are wrong or inexact sometimes (well ... most of the time), but we don't cling desperately to one theory, we want to be open minded and discard wrong ones. Can the religious people do that?


There is nothing wrong in saying "WE DON'T KNOW".

52. Papal encyclical attacks atheism, lauds hope

Comment #92417 by Arcturus on November 30, 2007 at 1:04 pm

What's wrong with the word "ideology"? let's see the dictionary:

1. an orientation that characterizes the thinking of a group or nation [syn: political orientation]
2. imaginary or visionary theorization

or

1 : a systematic body of concepts especially about human life or culture
2 : a manner or the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture

So, by these definitions, atheism is an ideology. Each religion is an ideology. That does not mean that atheism is a religion.

53. Papal encyclical attacks atheism, lauds hope

Comment #92370 by Arcturus on November 30, 2007 at 11:06 am

"Benedict urges Christians to put their hope for the future in God and not in technology"

Well, that's one reason why I don't want to hear about Christians any more.

And from now on, I don't want to see any catholic using any technology. They should all retreat in caves and put their hopes in God. For sure it will give them a quick ticket to heaven.


If technology makes you lose your faith, then you have two options. That is, if you are not a hypocrite.
1) renounce faith and embrace the wonders of science and technology
2) keep your faith, but renounce any product of science and technology
Can you do that, Mr. Ratzinger?

54. Poll finds more Americans believe in devil than Darwin

Comment #92366 by Arcturus on November 30, 2007 at 10:57 am

Well ... with a minority of people understanding and accepting the theory of evolution, we can safely say that US of A is an ignorant country.

55. Boy dies of leukemia after refusing treatment for religious reasons

Comment #92046 by Arcturus on November 29, 2007 at 6:37 pm

Assisted suicide, knowing that the chance of survival is 70%? I wonder whether this story will come up in the news ... first page stuff, the folies of believing in God?

56. Banishing the Green-Eyed Monster

Comment #91849 by Arcturus on November 29, 2007 at 12:58 pm

Two quotes:

"This poor ersatz Martian is saying that sex is a way to be happy. Sex should be a means of happiness. Ben, the worst thing about sex is that we use it to hurt each other. It ought never to hurt; it should bring happiness, or at least pleasure.
"The code says, 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife.' The result? Reluctant chastity, bitterness, blows and sometimes murder, broken homes and twisted children — and furtive little passes degrading to woman and man. Is this Commandment ever obeyed? If a man swore on his own Bible that he refrained from coveting his neighbor's wife because the code forbade it, I would suspect either self-deception or subnormal sexuality. Any man virile enough to sire a child has coveted many women, whether he acts or not.


Jealousy is a disease, love is a healthy condition. The immature mind often mistakes one for the other, or assumes that the greater the love, the greater the jealousy — in fact, they are almost incompatible; one emotion hardly leaves room for the other.

from: Stranger in a strange land

Everybody should read this book ...

57. Pupil defends teacher in Muhammad teddy furore

Comment #91501 by Arcturus on November 28, 2007 at 1:15 pm

Aren't all the Mohammeds in the world an insult to the "prophet"?

This is utter nonsense ... the human race at it's worst.

58. This Friday: Debate between Dan Dennett and Dinesh D'Souza

Comment #91497 by Arcturus on November 28, 2007 at 1:02 pm

Interesting!

It will be an easy task for Dan to show what we all know: "God is a manmade invention".

59. Golden Compass author hits back

Comment #91231 by Arcturus on November 27, 2007 at 5:48 pm

So what's the deal here? Billy says that it's "pernicious" to sell a "watered down" version of the Golden Compass, which is the least "offensive" part of the trilogy. So, what is Pullman supposed to do? Start with the third part???

This guy really makes me sick. Every action that the christians take are offensive to infidels. Do you see any of us boycotting and making noise?

I've decided that this "holiday" season I'm boycotting any store that puts up a prop of Jesus. Even more, I'm willing to tell them that until they take it down, I'm not entering that store again. (I might starve to death cause everybody has the Jesus doll, but hey I'm really sick of this)

60. Taking Science on Faith

Comment #90788 by Arcturus on November 26, 2007 at 10:54 am

I wonder, if this is actually a good thing.

We keep on hearing that the religion critiqued by atheists is not really what they believe in (tell that to the Bible Belt).

I see that Davies' article tries to get together somehow religion and science. What if his intended audience was not the scientific community but the religious one. What if he is trying to pull up all the "crazies", to "enlighten" them. What if he is trying not to make religites not scary of the results of science?

I would surely prefer to see people that are religious but still "believe" in what science is telling us. That would be a huge step forward from today's situation.

Maybe I'm just dreaming ...

61. Taking Science on Faith

Comment #90582 by Arcturus on November 25, 2007 at 4:14 pm

Every human endeavor has it's share of "faith", inference, guess, hunches etc. I find it disturbing to read such things from a physicist. Especially the very last phrase.

What is he trying to prove? That science is similar to religion? Is he trying to live up to his Templeton prize?

I am profoundly disappointed that a fellow physicist thinks this way.

edit: check out the responses of various great guys: http://www.edge.org./discourse/science_faith.html

I'm mostly impressed with Lee Smolin's.

62. Are Scientists Playing God? It Depends on Your Religion

Comment #89429 by Arcturus on November 20, 2007 at 5:17 pm

Are scientists playing God? No, because there is no such thing.

What a non-sense question ...

One can say that every living thing plays God when it decides what to eat next, it decides what lives and what not. Isn't that what God is supposed to be doing? Doh!

The other problem I see, is with the definition of what is "natural". The way I see it, everything in the Universe is part of Nature, so we are part of Nature. How can a part of Nature do something against Nature? The definition of Nature as being everything but humans and human products, is imposed by the Judeo-Christian mindset and I think is wrong.

I think that the ethical question is whether our actions causes suffering, to other life forms, to future humans, etc. And not whether we intervene in "nature".

63. Judgement Day: Intelligent Design on Trial

Comment #88474 by Arcturus on November 17, 2007 at 12:49 am

Just saw it ... amazing. These people are very very deluded. PZ Myers has a suitable name for them: "demented fuckwits".

This Buckingham guy is so sleazy, how could he say those things at the end to the judge. And the death threats ... and Robertson's wrath ... how can this be real? It doesn't make any sense.

64. Secular Fundamentalists: There is no such thing...and the AAI conference doesn't make atheism a movement, either.

Comment #88256 by Arcturus on November 15, 2007 at 3:49 pm

"[resembling] an evangelical retreat weekend." :)

What kind of idiot makes this argument?

You can tell him what you think about his piece at:

http://surfeited.net/blog/out-of-africa-atheists.html

65. Why Science Will Triumph Only When Theory Becomes Law

Comment #88088 by Arcturus on November 14, 2007 at 3:15 pm

I told you so :) ... don't use words like materialism, evangelical atheism well ... theory now. When speaking to the average Joe, one has to start from scratch, and not assume that Joe has some understanding about what you speak. You need to define all the terms in the conversation before going on to more evolved stuff.


Speaking of Creatonism ... they are fools, and that's a FACT! If the bible says something, who is Radiometric dating to contradict what God is saying. I can totally understand the deist way of thinking, but the Young Earth Creationist ... man, they are total wackos.

66. Fox News Discussion on 'The Golden Compass'

Comment #86201 by Arcturus on November 8, 2007 at 4:42 pm

Talking about movies that challenge religion. Here's a new Sci-Fi movie: "The Man from Earth" http://imdb.com/title/tt0756683/. The whole movie set is a room, and it is a continuous discussion. At first I thought that it will be boring, but man did it surprise me. I strongly recommend it.

67. Suffering, Evil and the Existence of God

Comment #86191 by Arcturus on November 8, 2007 at 4:02 pm

Quine, of course it's just a word/definition. I've seen people using "physicalism" though.

Funny thing, you never know how words will be used. Let me tell you a really funny story, which tells you loads about what we are dealing with. I attended once a physics conference "American Physical Society Meeting", and at the border of Canada and US the officer asked me "so, what are you doing there, wrestling?".

We should be more careful with the words that we use, they will eventually turn against us if we misuse them.

68. Suffering, Evil and the Existence of God

Comment #86181 by Arcturus on November 8, 2007 at 3:04 pm

Celestial Teapot, I see that you did not care about my revolt against the word "materialism" :)

Why? why?

ps: I sometimes have weird moments, when I imagine everything around me being an illusion, and think of solid things as begin nothing but empty space filled with atoms. It's like that moment in Matrix when Neo sees the "code". Am I the only one?

69. Fox News Discussion on 'The Golden Compass'

Comment #85861 by Arcturus on November 7, 2007 at 10:51 am

HAHAHAHA!!!!! SOOOOO FUNNNYYYY!!! Catholics are afraid that a movie will reach out to kids! HILARIOUS! After all the indoctrination that is going on. The most hypocritical thing I've heard in ages!

What is their problem? Are they afraid that they cannot keep on feeding their lies? If you are confident in your parenting skills, and you spend some time with your kids, for sure you can discuss this movie with them, and rationalize what it says. If your position is so good, you should not be afraid of discussing new ideas.

You know the saying:"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". I guess they are afraid and too comfortable with their indoctrination process.

PS: please stop using the word "evangelism" near "atheism". The first meaning of evangelism is "to spread the gospel", and we know what "gospel" means. Why not "atheist enlightenment"?

70. Suffering, Evil and the Existence of God

Comment #85846 by Arcturus on November 7, 2007 at 10:13 am

I find the concept of "materialism" to be so outdated. Why do people still use it? Haven't they heard about physics, about quantum physics? There is no such thing as matter, it's only a concept, an illusion. Everything is energy, fields, forces.

Stop using this word - materialism!

71. Response to Theodore Dalrymple

Comment #85561 by Arcturus on November 6, 2007 at 7:15 am

Keith,

I'm sorry. I didn't know english does not have "consecvent". I'm not a native english speaker, I'm Romanian. I see what you are saying, english should have "consecvent". The word I intended to put there was "consistent".

Funny enough, the word that is missing from romaninan is "delusion". We have "illusion" but "delusion" has a completely different meaning - "disillusion". What a pity.

72. Response to Theodore Dalrymple

Comment #85390 by Arcturus on November 5, 2007 at 5:08 pm

Darlymple's medicine argument is completely bogus. If you want to have a relevant example, imagine medicine practiced today and shamanism. For sure there might have been some benefits of shamanism milenia ago, but imagine it was practiced today alongside medicine ... there's your comparison!

If we were consecvent in discarding wrong and outdated ideas and practices, religion is where humanity has failed miserably.

73. Tests of faith over 'The Golden Compass'

Comment #83557 by Arcturus on October 30, 2007 at 12:16 pm

Jeez .. what a bunch of idiots these people in the Catholic League. They are afraid of a fantasy book.

They might be afraid that kids start thinking, and don't act like christian zombies. Now this is what should be called child abuse ...

74. Sam Harris at AAI 07

Comment #82189 by Arcturus on October 25, 2007 at 8:26 pm

I like Sam much more after seeing this. He has some very good points. Also, what he said in response to Daniel sounds very reasonable.

Good job Sam!

75. '55 'Origin of Life' Paper Is Retracted

Comment #82183 by Arcturus on October 25, 2007 at 7:55 pm

Why wasn't he challenged? People make lots of mistakes, but one expects the scientific community to challenge wrong ideas.

There is so much "crap" out there. Most of it is not retracted, it always stays around with us.

Congrats for Dr. Jacobson to take this step.

76. Italy's Padre Pio 'faked his stigmata with acid'

Comment #82179 by Arcturus on October 25, 2007 at 7:45 pm

Forgione? How ironic that he changed his name :))

77. Help Counter the New Atheist Crusade to 'Evangelize' America!

Comment #79486 by Arcturus on October 17, 2007 at 12:04 pm

That's right, we don't EVANGELIZE we ENLIGHTEN ... and bring out closeted BRIGHTS!

78. A Face-Off Over Faith

Comment #76015 by Arcturus on October 4, 2007 at 10:28 am

Very nice debate, although the format is really frustrating. Lennox has the final word for each segment. Maybe less theses and more back and forth would have been better.

You can really feel that John Lennox is a completely different level compared to the usual religious debater. I can understand why Richard agreed to debate John.

I think this was a very important debate, and crystalized some ideeas. The debate about religion and science was the most rewarding.

79. Critical Analysis of Case for a Creator

Comment #72270 by Arcturus on September 20, 2007 at 3:39 pm

He set out to find about science by talking to ID-ers? Now that's funny ...

Oh, but when you hear them, you'd rather prefer the ladies from "the view".

The argument that they are making is on the same lines with: "Newton was wrong about gravity, so there is no gravity".

80. God Talk on 'The View'

Comment #71851 by Arcturus on September 19, 2007 at 7:08 pm

I definetly hope Stephen Colbert makes loads of fun of these lunatics.

And people complaining about The God Delusion on the basis of "but this is not what we believe in", seem to be ignorant of what's lurking out there. I'm sure it's not only in the US, but all over the globe. It's just that we have higher expectations with americans because they are supposed to be "the greatest country in the world".

But hey, these ladies need to open some other books other than "The Bible". They need to get some education, that's what diferentiates us from the other animals. Just perpetuating the species is not enough, as Bill Maher talking about having babies very nicely puts it: "What's so special about it? Even dogs can do it".

81. Religious education

Comment #71301 by Arcturus on September 18, 2007 at 10:17 am

pewkatchoo, you got it!

It's none other than the genius Zappa, "dumb all over" :). Too bad he's not among us anymore, he would have been an important voice these days.

82. Religious education

Comment #71295 by Arcturus on September 18, 2007 at 9:59 am

gcdavis, here's another nice song :). Anybody recognizes?


Whoever we are
Wherever were from
We shoulda noticed by now
Our behavior is dumb
And if our chances
Expect to improve
Its gonna take a lot more
Than tryin to remove
The other race
Or the other whatever
From the face
Of the planet altogether

They call it the earth
Which is a dumb kinda name
But they named it right
cause we behave the same...
We are dumb all over
Dumb all over,
Yes we are
Dumb all over,
Near n far
Dumb all over,
Black n white
People, we is not wrapped tight

Nurds on the left
Nurds on the right
Religous fanatics
On the air every night
Sayin the bible
Tells the story
Makes the details
Sound real gory
bout what to do
If the geeks over there
Dont believe in the book
We got over here

....

Hey, we cant really be dumb
If were just following gods orders
Hey, lets get serious...
God knows what hes doin
He wrote this book here
An the book says:
He made us all to be just like him,
So...
If were dumb...
Then God is dumb...
(an maybe even a little ugly on the side)

83. Youtube hater, I respect your right to free speech.

Comment #70535 by Arcturus on September 15, 2007 at 11:34 pm

I don't know what's going on here, but this lady seems ridiculous. Atheists are addicted to smoking?

Because she sees one of them smoking, it means we all are. Interesting way to think ...

Anyways, I only hope that the Rational Squad keep it rational and civil. They should take the example of Richard Dawkins and his very polite way of deconstructing the crazies.

84. Censoring Sir David

Comment #69772 by Arcturus on September 12, 2007 at 5:01 pm

A similar feat for EO would be editing "The root of all evil" and showing it to christians, muslims and jews.

I think it's a disgrace for BBC to accept having their footage mangled like this. (maybe they are in financial trouble :))

85. Censoring Sir David

Comment #69745 by Arcturus on September 12, 2007 at 2:10 pm

What a bunch of losers, editing the best nature documentaries ever made.

ps: this reminds me of this clip :)
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=1527015701504510860

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

Comment #69570 by Arcturus on September 11, 2007 at 6:26 pm

I guess if she would have said: "Suck it Jahwe, Jesus, Mohammed, Zeus, Jupiter, Bacchus, Thor, Vishnu, Budha, Spaghetti Monster, Pink Unicorn, etc." it would have been fine with Phil.

Her comment was spot on though, because I never heard anyone thanking Mohammed at those events. They usually thank Jesus because American is mostly christian. I never hear anydoby thank Jesus when something bad happens. He's supposed to be omnipotent.

This brings me to a conundrum I had. There is the ontological argument (God is perfect in his existence). But if 2 perfect gods exist then that is more perefect than one existing, even more the perfection is the existence of an infinite number of perfect gods.

I guess the monotheists have got it all wrong :)

87. We need a more intelligent religion debate

Comment #68495 by Arcturus on September 7, 2007 at 10:03 am

Mr. Hobson needs a dictionary to remember the definition of religion, it has everything to do with supernatural "beings". Don't try to make it broader and then hide under this big umbrella. He might call this "intelectual cowardice".

88. The smallest signs of retreat

Comment #68492 by Arcturus on September 7, 2007 at 9:52 am

Bunting accepts that religion is nothing but myth. That's what we are saying, too.

Why doesn't she debate the fundies, and convince them about this issue?

Once she settles this, then we can talk about living our lives according to myths and which are good or bad.

89. Fruit fly parasite's gene invasion raises questions over evolution

Comment #66747 by Arcturus on August 31, 2007 at 7:56 am

Very interesting, the tree of life is not a tree anymore, but something more complicated.

90. Fallen Pastor Seeks Aid to Pursue Studies

Comment #65907 by Arcturus on August 27, 2007 at 10:09 am

Money? For this guy? F. off!

It would be a very immoral thing to do, with so many "real" poor people around, people needing basic housing and healthcare.

I wouldn't spend a penny. Get a job, get a loan ...

91. A hole lot of nothing found by astronomers

Comment #65576 by Arcturus on August 25, 2007 at 12:17 am

Must be a very flat floor, should be taken as an etalon for flatness.

And don't forget than even the emptiest void is a soup of quantum fluctuations. "Nothing" doens't mean anything in this universe.

92. Enemies of Reason

Comment #65466 by Arcturus on August 24, 2007 at 10:15 am

Excellent documentaries! Thanks!

There is one disturbing issue, the placebo effect. Most of the health care systems don't care about that. I remember back in my home country (somewhere in eastern Europe), the hospitals were really bad, overcrowded and very unconfortable. Even if you go there for a sickness that needs treatment, you might come out very depressed and mentally ill. Most of the people preferred to go home as soon as possible, in an "healthy" environment.

So I guess that there is always something we can improve on, not only medical procedures and drugs, but also work a bit on the "placebo" effect.

93. Poll: Which religion do you associate with?

Comment #64915 by Arcturus on August 22, 2007 at 11:03 am

72% ... 15133

Now Larry King should fashion his show for an atheist audience. Get at it, old man!

Doesn't mean much, maybe just that the latest atheist awareness rising has managed to form a well connected online community where news travel at the speed of light.

I just remembered from last year that there is this israeli software http://giyus.org/ , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megaphone_desktop_tool that alerts you and guides you to vote online in polls related to their issues. After you see this, you'll never trust an online poll again.

94. Bill Maher Making New Documentary Movie, 'Religulous'

Comment #64302 by Arcturus on August 19, 2007 at 1:00 pm

There will also be a 3 part piece on CNN (Amanpour) called God's Warriors exposing the crazy fundies from all 3 Abrahamic religions.

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/gods.warriors/

Hope it will be good.

95. Won't anyone stand up for God?

Comment #54566 by Arcturus on July 7, 2007 at 8:21 pm

Just a frustrating anonymous article ... seems to contradict itself at almost every argument.

Poor god, what a defence he has mustered ...

96. Rushdie knighted in honours list

Comment #50524 by Arcturus on June 18, 2007 at 3:03 pm

"This is an occasion for the (world's) 1.5 billion Muslims to look at the seriousness of this decision," Mohammed Ijaz ul-Haq, religious affairs minister, said in parliament.

"The West is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism. If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so unless the British government apologises and withdraws the 'sir' title," ul-Haq said.

-----------------------------
With such positions, they really enforce the idea that they are extremist terrorists. "We are definetely not terrorists but we will explode to kill you. There is no greater act of terrorism than writing a book about us and the being honored as a knigth."

97. Rushdie knighted in honours list

Comment #50468 by Arcturus on June 18, 2007 at 10:17 am

The whole Iranian government is an insult to secular values and human rights. What should we do? Should we start burning the Iranian flag, strap bombs on and kill as many of them because they insult us? How stupid it all sounds. Instead what do we do? We write books, we have debates, we are so peaceful. So the "religion of peace" wants to send suicide bombers ...

Freedom of speech is a hard won right, we don't want to go back to the tyranny of religion, to ages when blasphemers were burned like rats.

What a stupid world we live in ...

98. Baptists Warned About Islam, Atheism

Comment #49757 by Arcturus on June 13, 2007 at 9:06 am

This comes smack on to Grayling's comment, the likes of Colson really feel insecure. The new wave of virulent atheism is real, and eating away at the religious establishment.

Keep up the good work, this time it might work properly.

99. A Compass That Can Clash With Modern Life

Comment #49648 by Arcturus on June 12, 2007 at 5:48 pm

The breast-feeding stuff ... Hilarious (to put it mildly)!!!!! Comedians should just use this. I'm hoping Colbert is picking up on this!!!!

These fatwa realeasing people are INSANE!

100. Baptists Warned About Islam, Atheism

Comment #49646 by Arcturus on June 12, 2007 at 5:41 pm

It's so sad that Third World is still so much under the influence of religion. Just take a look at Africa and the sickening influence of the muslmims and christians. The africans didn't deserve to get our delusions while giving us their riches.

So many died because of religion filled wars in Africa ...