151. The US map of faith

Comment #55557 by Johnny O on July 11, 2007 at 2:22 pm

Dang, I've said too much, now y'all will be moving here real soon. Our state motto is "Oregon, it's a nice place to VISIT", especially if you are from California

LMAO

I'd love to see one of these for Europe I suspect it would red in Portugal, Spain, Italy and some of the ex-Soviet countries but yellow almosy everywhere else.

152. Sean Hannity with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #55545 by Johnny O on July 11, 2007 at 1:35 pm

...at this moment in time we don't have evidence to support either contention...

Bingo!!

That is exactly why we don't believe it. Show the evidence for it and we "could" change our minds. Religious people, despite the lack of evidence, don't.

Why believe in something that can't be supported with evidence? In fact not "WHY DO" you believe it... "HOW CAN" you believe it?

There is no brainwashing required on our part.

153. Sean Hannity with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #55540 by Johnny O on July 11, 2007 at 1:26 pm

If you are told over and over by preachers and friends that you must accept their religion only if you are to be saved from the eternal fires of hell and you accept this without analyzing the propaganda involved here, you are brainwashed.

If you are told over and over by scientists and friends that it is impossible for God to exist and for consciousness to continue after death and you accept this without analyzing the propaganda involved here, you are brainwashed.

Would you like to make a wager on which of these two happens most?

The thing about most Athiests is that they do analyze the evidence. You can't do this for religion, because there is none.

154. Scientists Urge a Search for Life Not as We Know It

Comment #55327 by Johnny O on July 10, 2007 at 4:00 pm

But wait...the bible also does not mention marsupials or dinasaurs...wonder why that is...

Genesis Chapter 1: Verse 20
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Genesis Chapter 1: Verse 21
And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis Chapter 1: Verse 24
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Genesis Chapter 1: Verse 25
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

See... He made everything. I'm pretty sure he invented Velcro, Scatter Cushions and Aromatherapy Candles... I just haven't found those bits yet.

155. Now this is how to critique Ken Ham's creation 'museum'

Comment #54963 by Johnny O on July 9, 2007 at 1:25 pm

In fact I'll be happy to send anyone a genuine fossilised ammonite if they e mail me at
GETESMART@aol.com
(sod the expense!)

Graeme, I only live up the road in Hampshire and my kids would love one of those. I shall e-mail you and if you send them with your address I'll send you the money for the postage.

156. Bill Moyers interviews E.O. Wilson

Comment #54961 by Johnny O on July 9, 2007 at 1:14 pm

On Sunday I watched 5 hours of documentaries about Darwin, Evolution and The Galapicos on UKTV History, (a UK based cable/satelite channel).

In one programme, "Darwin's Legacy", Wilson popped up almost as much as Prof. Dawkins and I found him very engaging.

Although he doesn't directly address religion in this video, he does have many good points to make.

I got the following from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._O._Wilson

On the question of God, Wilson has described his position as provisional deism.[5] He has explained his faith as a trajectory away from traditional beliefs: "I drifted away from the church, not definitively agnostic or atheistic, just Baptist no more."[2] Wilson argues that the belief in God and rituals of religion are products of evolution.[6] He argues that they should not be rejected or dismissed, but further investigated by science to better understand their significance to human nature. In his book The Creation, Wilson makes a case for putting aside epistemological differences between religion and science and concentrating on what they have in common; namely, living nature.

Not necessarily what I believe but I really like the guy...

157. Sean Hannity with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #54956 by Johnny O on July 9, 2007 at 12:43 pm

Hitchens shows a prejudiced brain washed view of what heaven is

Ok, we have one group of people that looks at evidence and make reasoned decisions based on what they find. (Or more importantly DON'T find).

Or another group of people that meet up every Sunday to discuss their 3,000 year old ideas. Make their children go with them, telling them that if they don't do what the pointing man in the dress tells them, then they will burn in Hell for eternity...

Pffftt, who's brainwashed?

158. Sean Hannity with Christopher Hitchens

Comment #54953 by Johnny O on July 9, 2007 at 12:33 pm

You should check out the related links after the video is done. There's one with Hannity, Hitchens Colmes and discussing that repulsive fat bastard Gerry Fallwell. Right at the end of it, after causing a near riot Hitchens comes out with a classic line...

"If Fallwell had an enoma he'd have been buried in a matchbox"... LMAO

159. Evangelicals See Dilemmas in G.O.P. Field

Comment #54672 by Johnny O on July 8, 2007 at 12:31 pm

"You have to weigh things with your intellect but put it through the filter of your faith."

...and then ignore the intellect part.

160. Won't anyone stand up for God?

Comment #54508 by Johnny O on July 7, 2007 at 3:01 pm

Wow. Now, if the bible had one of those...

That's the problem with writing things on stone tablets. No Edit, no backspace, no cut and paste.

The one true Bible therefore suits whatever the moral zeigeist happens to be. We like gays, evolution, big bang theory and monkey tennis.

We are however still dubious about the mashing of potatoes and the making of chips, (or French Fries).

161. Won't anyone stand up for God?

Comment #54503 by Johnny O on July 7, 2007 at 2:14 pm

...but non-standard use of 'e'. Is 'Potatoe' the spelling of True Believers? ;)

And that is why The Holy Potato (no 'e') Lord created the edit button...

162. Interview with Dan Dennett on Danish TV

Comment #54501 by Johnny O on July 7, 2007 at 1:56 pm

"Religion is the root of all evil" says Richard Dawkins


That Channel 4 producer has a lot to answer for!

No one seems to have noted the question mark in the title. "Root Of All Evil?". He's asking us, not making a statement.

163. Won't anyone stand up for God?

Comment #54500 by Johnny O on July 7, 2007 at 1:52 pm

For me, God is mashed potatoes. What have atheists got against mashed potatoes, which I and a majority of the world's citizens find quite delicious? Mashed potatoes are not "the root of all evil." Mashed potatoes don't "poison everything." Silly atheists!

It's not the Potatoes it's the Mashing that causes problems.

My God, the one true God, is a Whole Potato, Mashing is a sin and unless you stop in this Heathen practise you may well be the cause of the world's first Holy Potato War...

(Note the correct use of capitals)

164. Floods are judgment on society, say bishops

Comment #54322 by Johnny O on July 6, 2007 at 11:08 am

On the upside, all of the people from the North of England that won sppedboats on Bullseye can now use them.

(I suspect that only us Brits will get that one)

165. Floods are judgment on society, say bishops

Comment #54321 by Johnny O on July 6, 2007 at 11:06 am

stephenray -

HAH!!!

There ya go. Chalk one up for the Brits. Our loony churchman are just as stupid as the yanks.

And ours dress so much snazzier. They have a much greater sense of occasion.

Katherine -

So, these disasters have nothing whatsoever to do with low pressure systems coming off the Atlantic?

What kind of crazy talk is that? It was the Gays. Repent NOW before you get your whole city flooded you evil woman!!

166. At a Theater Near You ...

Comment #54082 by Johnny O on July 5, 2007 at 8:53 am

'Twas doon by the inch o' Abbots
Oor Johnny walked one day
When he saw a sicht that troubled him
Far more than he could say
A fanatic muslim bastard
Wiz doin what he'd planned
And intae Glesca's departure hall
A Cherokee he'd rammed.

A big Glaswegian polis
Came forward tae assist
He thocht "a wumman driver"
Or at least someone half-pissed
But to his shock nae drunken Jock
Emerged to grasp his hand
But a flamin Arab loony
Frae Al Qaeda's band

The mad Islamist nut-case
Had set hissel' on fire
And swung oot at the polis
GBH his clear desire
Now that's no richt wur Johnny cried
And sallied tae the fray
A left hook and a heid butt
Required tae save the day.

Now listen up Bin Laden
Yir sort's nae wanted here
For imported English radicals
Us Scoatsman huv nae fear
Oor hame grown Glesca Asians
Will have nae bluidy truck
So tak yer worldwide jihad
An get yersel tae Fuck

167. Don't Mince Words: The London Car-Bomb Plot Was Designed to Kill Women

Comment #54076 by Johnny O on July 5, 2007 at 8:09 am

"Johnny O, one again I am sorry if my tone was shorter than it should have been."

No need to apologise. It can be hard to judge a persons tone from a quickly written post. When I wrote my last one I went back through it and chucked in a couple of "mates", here and there because I thought it sounded confrontational without them... and I wrote it. lol

And please don't think I'm some kind of American Hater. I may have major problems with the current administration, but I've never met a yank I didn't get on with. Even when I was kicked out of Disneyland in Florida for wearing an offensive t-shirt, (with a picture of Jesus on it), I had a laugh with the security guards.

168. Don't Mince Words: The London Car-Bomb Plot Was Designed to Kill Women

Comment #54035 by Johnny O on July 5, 2007 at 3:57 am

First of all mate, my comment about "...bandying round statistics with wild abandon...", was an attempt at humour, to try and diffuse the tension. Not at all serious, but thanks for putting me straight on what science does, I have often wondered...

Fanusi Khiyal - "I take it that you have no problems with the war in Iraq then?"

Did I miss something? What does that have to do with cosying up with terrorists? How would Bush feel if one of Bin Laden's men started visiting Downing Street for tea with The Prime Minister? He'd be outraged and rightly so. Clinton met Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness on more than one occasion and let them travel the country raising funds for Sinn Feinn, the political wing of the IRA.

But to answer your question, personally I think Iraq was stupid and has provided the biggest recruitment campaign that Islamic extremists could have possibly hoped for.

Afghanistan on the other hand is different. They had Al Quaida terrorist training camps and the pretty much the whole world was on board with us there. How ever maybe we should have sorted that out a bit better before storming into Iraq, thus being involved in two wars, either side of Iran and making the whole area much more unstable than it was.

And before you start throwing the liberal/commie insults about mate, I was in the British Army for 9 years. Served in Northern Ireland, Gulf War 1 and did 2 tours in Bosnia, so I've seen my fair share of this shit first hand to have a reasonable idea of what I'm talking about. I have friends that are still serving and are constantly in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

But none of that is anything to do with the point I was trying to make.

169. Don't Mince Words: The London Car-Bomb Plot Was Designed to Kill Women

Comment #53984 by Johnny O on July 4, 2007 at 4:15 pm

Well, there's a lot to get through in this thread huh?

Firstly I have to say the Hitchens is getting on my tits. He's almost turning into a caricature of himself. His rantings make him sound more and more like his brother every time I hear him, just from the opposite end of the pendulum. He has good points hidden in amongst the bollocks and it's a shame he can't tone it down because he would reach a much larger audience if he did.

Fanusi Khiyal and Xenocratic. You are both bandying round statistics with wild abandon, I'm sure you could find information somewhere to support almost any point of view, but the truth is most likely somewhere between the two of you. Just by this fence I'm sitting on.

One problem I do however have with the good old U S of A is why did it take 9/11 for them to come on to the world stage and take a stand against terrorism? For years they have allowed Martin McGuiness and Gerry Adams, (both former IRA members) into the country on fund raising visits. They even popped into the Whitehouse for a chat. And for any of you that have been into an Irish bar over there and put your change into the tin or jar that was on the bar… where do you think that money was going? It wasn't buying books for school kids I tell you that now.

Since then though, Gerry and Martin have kept low profiles and those tins have disappeared. It's just a shame that it took something so terrible to happen in your own back yard for that change to take place.

170. At a Theater Near You ...

Comment #53980 by Johnny O on July 4, 2007 at 3:29 pm

>>the 'God 3.0 + economic and social failure = envious anger at the unbelievers' is something I always suspected<<

These guys weren't failures at anything other than bomb making. They were qualified Doctors. My mother actually works at the hospital where two of them had previously worked and one is being treated for burns. This is pure and simple Religious Ideology.

The guy was actually trying to get into the back of the jeep to set the bomb off whilst on fire. Until several people jumped on him and kicked the shit out of him.

You really don't want to be trying that kind of thing in Glasgow... The locals don't like it.

Click the link to see what I mean (Possibly the best newspaper headline ever)

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/news/tm_headline=hero-cabbie%2D-i-kicked-burning-terrorist-so-hard-in-balls-that-i-tore-a-tendon%26method=full%26objectid=19401382%26siteid=66633-name_page.html

And this one shows you where the guy's priorities lie...lol

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=hero-cabbie%2D-police-took-my-good-nike-trainers%26method=full%26objectid=19401912%26siteid=66633-name_page.html

171. Richard Dawkins: Atheist

Comment #50916 by Johnny O on June 20, 2007 at 12:24 pm

There is a link on the original site to an excellent debate held by an audience after watching "The root of all evil?", in which Prof Dawkins takes part.

172. The new preface to The God Delusion paperback and Q&A

Comment #50905 by Johnny O on June 20, 2007 at 11:37 am

On the opposite end of the emotional spectrum I was in tears of laughter at the opening view of him... baggy shorts that are a little too high... a dinosaur t-shirt... hands on his hips.

You have to respect a man who can still have you hanging on his every word whilst not taking himself too seriously.

173. The new preface to The God Delusion paperback and Q&A

Comment #50902 by Johnny O on June 20, 2007 at 11:27 am

Brilliant. You can see the how truly touched he was by Dr Ashton's comments about his son's funeral and the fact that a passage from Un-weaving The Rainbow was read as part of the eulogy. His voice actually breaks as he reads it. I almost started crying myself…

174. The Future Forum Presents: Christopher Hitchens and Marvin Olasky

Comment #50289 by Johnny O on June 16, 2007 at 1:03 pm

"..Hitchens will appear on Question Time on BBC1 next Thursday together with Boris Johnson. That should be an interesting show.."

And I will be in the audience. I've submitted the following question in the hope of starting him off:

"With all the city Academies being opened and run by The Church is there a danger of children being educated with an emphasis on faith, rather than fact"??

I can't wait...