Comments by notsobad

151. Creationism call divides Royal Society

Comment #247310 by notsobad on September 14, 2008 at 9:55 am

Please post:
Revealed: UK's first official sharia courts
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4749183.ece

152. Our scientists must nail the creationists

Comment #247200 by notsobad on September 14, 2008 at 5:25 am

And where is this obsession with medieval titles and names gonna end?
Lords, sirs, etc. What a load of bollocks.

153. Creationism call divides Royal Society

Comment #247136 by notsobad on September 14, 2008 at 2:46 am

A clergyman in a top position of a scientific organization, how could that possibly backfire...

154. Have We Ever Faced An Enemy More Stupid Than Muslim Terrorists?

Comment #246891 by notsobad on September 13, 2008 at 1:43 pm

The whole terrorism thing is exaggerated. Your chances of dying in a terrorist attack are almost zero, even if 9/11 happened every year ... unless, of course, you live in New York ;).

155. Comedian Sabina Guzzanti 'insulted Pope' in poofter devils gag

Comment #246332 by notsobad on September 12, 2008 at 7:34 am

"Inviolable"? Says who? Let's put it to the test in a country where free speech is sacred.

There is such a country?

156. Comedian Sabina Guzzanti 'insulted Pope' in poofter devils gag

Comment #245963 by notsobad on September 11, 2008 at 3:25 pm

"We Christians put up with many insults,...

This very sentence proves that you, indeed, don't.

157. Talk at today's meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science

Comment #245953 by notsobad on September 11, 2008 at 3:13 pm

Reiss,
either prove that it's not a misconception or stop spewing BS.
How can a scientific body that receives money from the gvt. promote attacks on science?

158. Anthropologists Develop New Approach To Explain Religious Behavior

Comment #245713 by notsobad on September 11, 2008 at 11:00 am

Broshiesq:
stances on political issues (neither true nor false)

wait, what?

Eric Blair:
So religion is just another layer of family-orineted tribalism? That's hardly news, nor does it offer an explanation for its spread and longevity while tribalism, in its literal form, has pretty much disappeared.

Tribalism has also evolved, just like religion ;)

159. Anthropologists Develop New Approach To Explain Religious Behavior

Comment #245290 by notsobad on September 10, 2008 at 1:33 pm

Old, old news and something Dawkins and others have been saying for some time.

160. Palin: average isn't good enough

Comment #244194 by notsobad on September 8, 2008 at 12:31 pm

On the contrary,
can you meet a larger atheist than someone who does so much shit in god's name?

161. Face to faith

Comment #244181 by notsobad on September 8, 2008 at 12:15 pm

Either you deceive yourself into believing in the virgin birth and the resurrection as literal fact, or you know they are a metaphor

It wasn't supposed to be a metaphor. It's just today's explanation of moderates to save their face.

162. 'Armored' fish study helps strengthen Darwin's natural selection theory

Comment #244175 by notsobad on September 8, 2008 at 12:02 pm

Falling apples help strengthen the Newton's theory of gravitation every day!

The titles suggests something that is not necessary.

163. It's no wonder evangelical atheists need to shout so loud

Comment #244164 by notsobad on September 8, 2008 at 11:39 am

That was supposed to be a comedy, right?

There is not an atheist alive who, in the face of reasonable evidence, would not become an instant believer.

Not a believer, we'd just acknowledge the fact.
Otherwise, it's like saying that you became a believer in New York when you first saw the evidence for it.

164. Science Has No Place in Politics

Comment #244161 by notsobad on September 8, 2008 at 11:35 am

The average voter doesn't care about science that much so this is the only way to win the election.
However, once someone like Obama is elected he should start caring about science. It's the only way how to 'sneak' science into big politics.

165. A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash

Comment #236647 by notsobad on August 25, 2008 at 1:47 am

"Can anybody think of a question science can't answer?"
"Is there a God?" shot back a boy near the window.
"Good," said Mr. Campbell, an Anglican who attends church most Sundays. "Can't test it. Can't prove it, can't disprove it. It's not a question for science."

nonsense
If religion didn't make scientific claims, it would be pointless and not real. Oh wait...

166. Pastor Michael Guglielmucci spun gospel of lies

Comment #236026 by notsobad on August 24, 2008 at 3:49 am

I bet morons will think that he was either miraculously cured or did nothing wrong because lying for Jesus is, indeed, all right.
Just look at the comments on that website.

167. Q&A with Richard Dawkins after lecture at UC Berkeley

Comment #233633 by notsobad on August 20, 2008 at 6:11 am

isthatclear,
you forgot to take your medicine, from the beginning.

168. Sincerity no substitute for evidence

Comment #233618 by notsobad on August 20, 2008 at 5:38 am

Michael Shermer said it well:

The recent medical controversy over whether vaccinations cause autism reveals a habit of human cognition - thinking anecdotally comes naturally, whereas thinking scientifically does not.

Strengthening your immune system with herbs is a good practice though. Also, a lot of modern drugs are based on herbs and other plants.
Of course, if someone claims to be able to cure everything from leukemia to Alzheimer's with herbs, they are charlatans.

169. Losing my religion

Comment #233612 by notsobad on August 20, 2008 at 5:21 am

As soon as they started to really question their faith, they found it was load of bollocks.
How surprising...

170. Knights Templar 'Heirs' Sue Pope For Billions

Comment #233610 by notsobad on August 20, 2008 at 5:20 am

The court should rule that both parties are deluded.

171. Catholic leaders block contraceptive advice for 30,000 Scots girls

Comment #233105 by notsobad on August 19, 2008 at 6:21 am

Since sending suggestions doesn't really work....

Toddler 'starved to death by religious cult because he wouldn't say amen'

The Afghan women jailed for being victims of rape

172. A flea we missed?

Comment #231419 by notsobad on August 16, 2008 at 10:18 am

How do Jews who take their faith seriously yet also value intelligent debate

...

hey offer a robust defence of the many good features that faith offers

They missed the point already (deliberately or not).

173. Big-brained Animals Evolve Faster

Comment #231196 by notsobad on August 16, 2008 at 12:11 am

Is the number of generations the unit of time here?
Otherwise, bacteria and viruses must win :)

174. Poll: Should the motto 'In God We Trust' be removed from U.S. currency?

Comment #230645 by notsobad on August 15, 2008 at 2:34 am

The basic principle of belief in belief is to use loads of slogans, phrases and symbols pretending there is belief to hide the reality that this belief is as empty as the people who claim it.

175. Judge says UC can deny class credit to Christian school students

Comment #229711 by notsobad on August 14, 2008 at 1:01 am

Obviously the delusion of commonality prevails on this board. Have none of you seen "Expelled?" This ruling is a closed-minded, anti-religious statement that has no basis in truth, only in bias. At least research the other side of your arguments, people. You shouldn't just discount any argument because you choose to do so...be learners not spewers of ingnorance.

Sometimes, it's hard to tell apart heavy sarcasm and extreme idiocy on the Internet.

176. Al-Qa'eda in Iraq alienated by cucumber laws and brutality

Comment #229210 by notsobad on August 13, 2008 at 8:20 am

So where are those people always saying that religion is not to blame?
Can you think of any other reason to kill female goats because they have an exposed pussy?

177. Judge says UC can deny class credit to Christian school students

Comment #229085 by notsobad on August 13, 2008 at 4:49 am

These fucktards - for that is what they are - actually rely on the rest of us for technological advances. They go through life in a bubble of total ignorance, spouting shite and believing bullshit. And then use their Satnavs to get to their churches, vaccinations to protect their children from disease and computing to spread their nonsense. Meanwhile they say science is wrong and they know better than Nobel Prize winning scientists just how things actually work. Ignorant cunts.

That's a very accurate description of their hypocrisy.

178. Richard Dawkins, the naive professor

Comment #226337 by notsobad on August 8, 2008 at 1:57 am

Most self proclaimed "Christians" are way off the Bible and their God Yahweh who walked with Abraham along in Judah and is answering daily prayers. Somehow "Christians" last refuge is some deism with a touch pantheism of an original unknowable creator who got the 'ball rolling' and who is just then interpreted to be the Yahweh from the Bible, even he can't have anything to do with the fairy tales written from primitive desert nomads during the late bronze age.

I concur.

I think I'm unable to completely tune into the mindset that accepts that evolution automatically excludes a creator and I suspect there is no easy way to demonsrate that it actually does so. Darwin can take you from Theism to Deism without going any further.

But don't forget that atheism is the starting point and evidence should be used to move us from that point.

179. Richard Dawkins, the naive professor

Comment #225967 by notsobad on August 7, 2008 at 2:39 pm

I bet she wouldn't be able to actually explain what she means by 'out there'.

If kids weren't brainwashed with religion, they wouldn't have to choose between religion and science in the first place.

180. Dawkin 'bout a revolution

Comment #225712 by notsobad on August 7, 2008 at 9:22 am

Come with something that supports rational thinking, science or points out the hypocrisy and impracticality of religion and I'll support.

181. Call to teach biblical creation as science

Comment #225284 by notsobad on August 6, 2008 at 11:51 am

Who elected this fucktard?

182. More than 100,000 rare gorillas found in Congo

Comment #224869 by notsobad on August 6, 2008 at 12:31 am

But...

Nearly half of all the world's primates at risk of extinction

183. Interview with Paula Kirby on 'The Right Hook'

Comment #224687 by notsobad on August 5, 2008 at 11:38 am

News about Ireland and faith that are actually positive at last.

Dhamma,
it does. Use Firefox with QuickTime Alternative.

184. Richard Dawkins branded 'secularist bigot' by veteran philosopher

Comment #224147 by notsobad on August 4, 2008 at 8:05 am

Dawkins want to make the unsubstantiated claims that:
a) the only reason people believe is because they were brainwashed as children

He doesn't say it's the only one, but that it's one of them (e.g. http://www.counterbalance.net/transcript/dawk-body.html).
The problem is that children are brainwashed with religion before they develop critical thinking. That's why you can still see a lot of otherwise intelligent and educated people saying silly things when it comes to religion.

b) bringing up children in a faith is a form of child abuse

Dawkins says that some features are a form of child abuse, for example scaring kids with damnation and hell stories.
Do you not agree that that's a form of child abuse?

The command to "love your neighbour" is only directed at fellow Jews/believers p253
And the Good Samaritan is about â€¦ ?

How does that question make the statement false?

serious study of Bible

Not something Christians are fond of...

Dawkins quotes the noble prize winning physicist Stephen Weinberg who said" religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion" p249. Is this claim based on a systematic scientific survey of religion in history and the present day? â€" you must be joking!

He doesn't claim it is.

Dawkins claims that religion is a dangerous evil which does nothing but harm (preface and most of the rest of the book)

No, he doesn't. (or provide quotes)

atheism on the other hand is a quietly civilizing force which is gently making the world a better place â€" the world will be a happier and more peaceful place without religion he says.

No, he doesn't. (or provide quotes)

Dawkins claims that no good has ever been done by religion â€" absolutely none at all.

No, he doesn't. (or provide quotes)

He points out the destruction caused by religion and ignores the good things done by religion.

That's because there is no good deed that can't be done without religion, while there are many bad deeds that can only be caused by religion (dogma).

185. Richard Dawkins branded 'secularist bigot' by veteran philosopher

Comment #224045 by notsobad on August 4, 2008 at 3:11 am

27b-6:
Dawkins has written a book which is about the Bible, Christian theology etc knowing very little about these subjects. Consequently he gets his facts wrong.

This is the second time you said that, yet didn't list a single fact he was supposed to get wrong.
Have you actually read TGD?

186. Richard Dawkins branded 'secularist bigot' by veteran philosopher

Comment #224005 by notsobad on August 4, 2008 at 12:47 am

It simply won't do to say "there is no need for a detailed knowledge of the frills on the emperor's clothes" or "I don't need to be an expert on fairies to disbelieve in them." This is just evasion.

It simply won't do to say "This is just evasion."

187. Richard Dawkins branded 'secularist bigot' by veteran philosopher

Comment #223693 by notsobad on August 3, 2008 at 7:29 am

Interesting how smokers resemble theists when facts are pointed out to them...

188. Evangelically Serious Science

Comment #223665 by notsobad on August 3, 2008 at 4:58 am

The usage of religious titles when talking about Dawkins was done to death. Let it go, lazy journalists.

189. Richard Dawkins branded 'secularist bigot' by veteran philosopher

Comment #223350 by notsobad on August 2, 2008 at 4:37 am

Prof Dawkins, professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, is also said to have "scandalously" selected particular quotes from Einstein to back up his claims that God does not exist.

Actually, Dawkins said that Einstein's personal views on the existence of gods are irrelevant to the truth. But Dawkins talked about him to tackle a popular myth among theists that Einstein believed in a (personal) god, which is actually used by theists as evidence for the existence of the divine.

Shane McKee:
One Flew over the cuckoo's nest

exactly :)

190. What's wrong with science as religion

Comment #222820 by notsobad on August 1, 2008 at 12:47 am

The article is covered by the following debate points:

Science and Religion BOTH make faith claims
Religion is not incompatible with Science: 'Non-Overlapping Magisteria'
Science can answer how questions but only religion can answer why questions
Atheism is a religion and you're as bad as the fundamentalists

Giberson, you didn't write anything new or original. just the classic drivel.

191. Breeding for God

Comment #221791 by notsobad on July 30, 2008 at 6:13 am

When they are born in UK and have citizenship there is no way, sending them back to Arabia of course.

Most Muslims in the UK are very likely not Arabs.

192. Breeding for God

Comment #221647 by notsobad on July 30, 2008 at 12:32 am

Someone tell the author that you can be both secular and religious.

99.8% of the Turks claim to be Muslims, and it's a secular democracy.

193. Atheism FLEAmix

Comment #221642 by notsobad on July 30, 2008 at 12:16 am

leading Christian intellectual

belief system-atheism

ha ha

strain of atheism

ha ha ha

194. Religions thrived to protect against disease

Comment #221641 by notsobad on July 30, 2008 at 12:11 am

We can see the same correlation between the number of languages and diseases then.
So, in conclusion, cultural diversity as a whole "thrived to protect against disease", so why did they single religion out?
Presenting this correlation as a conscious intent seems wrong, and it seems they presented the cause and effect the other way around. At least, that's the impression I got from this article.

The bottom line is, however, even if religion was beneficial in the past, it's obsolete in the modern world.

195. A Holocaust Denier Hits Manhattan (And Hearts Hitchens)

Comment #220010 by notsobad on July 28, 2008 at 12:33 am

1) there were no gas chambers or extermination camps on German soil, in other words, at Belsen or Dachau or Buchenwald;

Maybe not technically, but still tens of thousands died there because of poor treatment and in executions.

196. Red hot enlightenment led me to believe in one fewer god

Comment #218245 by notsobad on July 25, 2008 at 5:49 am

Source

197. Antony Flew reviews the Index of The God Delusion

Comment #215582 by notsobad on July 22, 2008 at 6:42 am

Starting to believe in god to prolong your life in the old age is ironic because you will actually make it less interesting and more limited.

There is a nice story in the film "Into the Wild" based on a true story about an old conservative guy, who changed his views on god and enjoyed the rest of his life.

198. Ten Commandments' of race and genetics issued

Comment #213047 by notsobad on July 18, 2008 at 4:09 am

History_Junky:
As a man of color

I have yet to meet a colourless person.
Don't you realize that dividing people into white and those of colour is the basic of racism (on both sides no less)?

Anyway, fuck political correctness.

199. Anti-Darwinists turned away by Israeli academia

Comment #212356 by notsobad on July 17, 2008 at 4:47 am