Comments by GBile

Comment #51509 by GBile on June 23, 2007 at 7:16 am

Again 'the man is a sinner' myth:

But even if religion did disappear, which of course it won't, we human beings would still be here, organised in groups of various kinds, still beset by the same lack of self-knowledge, viciousness and moral weakness.

Religion has always been an evil engine in 'organising man in groups of various kinds'. I am sure the bishop has done his bit in this divide and conquer madness.

But he also hints on the solution in his article, although he might not realize this himself.
He appeals to people of wisdom to cooperate. That's it, no groups of wisdom or congregations of wisdom, but people. I think atheists know this, hence the paucity of 'atheist organisations'. We talk together, cooperate and go our way.

No Bishop needed.

152. In the name of the Father

Comment #51507 by GBile on June 23, 2007 at 7:05 am

Again 'the man is a sinner' myth:

But even if religion did disappear, which of course it won't, we human beings would still be here, organised in groups of various kinds, still beset by the same lack of self-knowledge, viciousness and moral weakness.

Religion has always been an evil engine in 'organising man in groups of various kinds'. I am sure the bishop has done his bit in this divide and conquer madness.

But he also hints on the solution in his article, although he might not realize this himself. He appeals to people of wisdom to cooperate. That's it, no groups of wisdom or congregations of wisdom, but people. I think atheists know this, hence the paucity of 'atheist organisations'. We talk together, cooperate and go our way.

No Bishop needed.

153. In the know

Comment #50254 by GBile on June 16, 2007 at 4:06 am

Mr. Vernon may have been good in assisting his flock fondling their spiritual genitals every sunday, but he apparently doesn't have a clue what life is like when you consider that the possibility that a god or gods exist is negligible and therefore call yourself an atheist.
He likes to impress us with statements like:

But we are also far from wise like the angels

This is of course only 'circular mythology' and meaningless.

Being free from religious delusion does not make you certain, far from it. It sets your focus in life on the real stuff. It makes you realize that wishful thinking is counterproductive, but that we can gradually, in tiny but important steps, obtain knowledge that can benefit us in our existence on our 'pale blue dot'.

154. A Compass That Can Clash With Modern Life

Comment #49579 by GBile on June 12, 2007 at 12:42 pm

There are no comments on this article.

Maybe we should leave it at that.

This nonsense is uncommentable.

155. Richard Dawkins and Alister McGrath

Comment #49427 by GBile on June 12, 2007 at 12:20 am

Dianelos Georgoudis:

An other believer, an other God ...

156. Manliness is next to godliness

Comment #49204 by GBile on June 11, 2007 at 2:20 am

Disgusting.

Let us double our efforts to get rid of the reli-madness.

Just a thought: What would mr. Prager do when he saw 10 of these guys coming from a bible-class ?

157. Can we really learn to love people who aren't like us?

Comment #48759 by GBile on June 9, 2007 at 2:16 am

For the great strength of religion is that it creates communities, and its great weakness is that it divides communities

What is so great about a 'community'? Who decides what the extent of a community should be ? A neighborhood ? A city ? A nation ? The people regularly attending a church, a football stadium, a museum ?

In my opinion we do not need communities like that at all.
What we need is people who have the desire and the attitude to go along in a positive way with everyone she or he meets, willing to help when help is needed, to cooperate when cooperation is needed and so forth.

Then our 'community' is the universe.

158. Atheism is pretentious and cowardly

Comment #48076 by GBile on June 6, 2007 at 1:44 pm

Is this 'the arguement from ignorance' :

Nobody can say what religion precisely is ... so it must be true ??

159. What I Think About Evolution

Comment #46779 by GBile on June 1, 2007 at 2:35 pm

Darwin 2,
If consciousness continues after death, we might then learn that:

We all spent our eternity in the Hell of Popocatetettel, whom mankind forgot to follow 22000 years ago.

We have to work, for eternity, in the celestial Fast food chain of Angel Hut (many vacancies) feeding obese winged beings.

There are no virgins over there.

We are alone ...

E^(i*pi) = - 2

Is there anything that you know that points to what is true , not true, probable, improbable ?

160. Photos of The God Delusion Event in Second Life

Comment #46761 by GBile on June 1, 2007 at 12:31 pm

What about Third Life, or Fourth ??

161. What I Think About Evolution

Comment #46760 by GBile on June 1, 2007 at 12:24 pm

Mr. Brownback thinks he is able to become 'President of the USA'. Wow.

I firmly believe that each human person, regardless of circumstance, was willed into being and made for a purpose

Would that purpose be, in Brownbacks case, being the cause of four more years of America sliding into irrelevance ?
How many of the other candidates raised their hands also ?

162. Hitchens and Prager Debate

Comment #46190 by GBile on May 30, 2007 at 1:56 pm

What a terrible, black, depressed mind mr. Prager shows to the world. This is exemplified by his 'conviction' that every man, woman and child is basically evil. Goodness must be rammed down their throats and it takes a God to do the ramming.
Likely mr. Prager is also of the Rick Warren school of 'the moment I stop believing, I will stop being altruistic'.

No, mr. Prager, mankind is not like that. 'Man the sinner' is a lie, thought up by men (of course 'men') with compacted minds and sinister agenda's. Please shut up and let mankind cast away its religious shackles and regain its natural way to goodness and happiness.

163. The Dawkins delusion

Comment #45869 by GBile on May 29, 2007 at 12:34 pm

I recently equaled "quasi-religious" to "engaging in spiritual masturbation". Masturbation, treating yourself to a nice feeling, is perfectly acceptable.
Would it be a good thing to to separate these quasi-religious people from their hobby? Would the 'houses of worship' become as sparsely populated as a desert when they discover that genuine 'nice feelings' do not require imaginary friends or mirages of 'eternal places', but that the world around them offers all they need?
My answer would be Yes and Yes.

164. I'm Sure God is Scared

Comment #45773 by GBile on May 29, 2007 at 7:25 am

Bonzai,

I don't have any problem with masturbation. People going to a church to have a 'soothing feeling' in the groin, oops, make that 'in the head', are Ok with me. But certainly these feelings can also be had on a trip to the zoo, reading a book or having dinner with 8 friends. Nothing supernatural required.

165. I'm Sure God is Scared

Comment #44789 by GBile on May 25, 2007 at 9:38 am

I just love lite religion. Soothe your conscience by sitting on a pew for an hour a week,...

That is not religion. It is spiritual masturbation.

The writer was apparently embarrassed by listening to Hitchens' colorful language in the company of her father and forgot to listen to the meaning of what Hitchens said. She should read his book.

166. Heliocentrism is an Atheist Doctrine

Comment #44686 by GBile on May 25, 2007 at 7:18 am

An planet, star, or other celestial object at a distance of X m(eter) from the earth, that would be rotating AROUND the earth, would move 2*Pi*X m in 24 hour = 86400 seconds. The fastest speed that can be achieved is the speed of light = 300.000.000 m/s. In one day light travels (3*10^8) * (8.64*10^4) = 25.92*10^12 m. A circle with that circumference has a radius X = (25.92*10^12)/(2*Pi) m = (25.92*10^12)/(6.2832) m = 4.13*10^12 m = 4.13 billion kilometer.
Sounds impressive ? The sun is 150 million km away, our sister planet Neptune is 4.5 billion km away, so it must already be moving faster than the speed of light if the 'geocentrists' have their way.

'Inerrancy of the bible', doesn't science spoil everything ?

167. Christopher Hitchens Is a Treasure

Comment #43380 by GBile on May 21, 2007 at 8:06 am

Gee,

An other believer, an other God. This time :

Suppose that God is not a Rationalist, a Logician, a straight-line Geometer-of-the-skies

A clumsy God, a Pot-head God, an omni-obfuscating God, an omni-conjuring God, an omni-prankerish God, a school-dropout God, a f-level God ??

An other try to construct 'something' that can't be attacked by the unbelievers.

An other failure ...

168. The Fastest-Growing Religion

Comment #42426 by GBile on May 18, 2007 at 7:29 am

Uzi,
Spirituality is a word with some dubious meanings, but I can understand your use of it with regard to your 'rock-climbing'.

On the other hand 'worshipping' is a word I don't like in whatever context. It is an ugly, degrading word, no one should have to use it, ever.

169. Freethinking Ruins All Things

Comment #42414 by GBile on May 18, 2007 at 7:07 am

In comment #41783 I introduced the Delud-O-Meter, which indicates the total of humankinds religious delusion. Earlier this week we saw the Delud-O-Meter going back in the direction of zero, by 1.0 Fw (Fw = Falwell, the (temporary!) unit of delusion).

One could speculate how the indicator of the Delud-O-Meter would move when mr. 'Whatswrongwiththeworld' Larison would pass away.
I find this hard to say. If mr. Larison believes what he writes, the change could well be 0.8 Fw (again in the direction of zero). But maybe mr. Larison is not deluded at all (religiously that is) but thinks along the 'religion is Good for the masses' line. Could this be the case ? If so, CBUH, contempt be upon him.

It would put him in the neighborhood of Leo Strauss and this is a not neighborhood I would like to run out of gas in.

170. Christopher Hitchens to God: Drop Dead

Comment #41902 by GBile on May 17, 2007 at 9:32 am

But millions of believers wrestle with their faiths and don't take doctrine at face value-
these are women who want to maintain their tradition, only make it better-
Muslim women who refuse to pray behind the men in mosque and who denounce last year's attempt in Ontario to adopt sharia-based law to settle Muslim family disputes-
Religion offers community, a framework in which to celebrate lifecycle events and mourn loss of life, distinctive recipes, and a code of values for moral living, among many other positive things-
What happens in the world and in the Church does not depend on God. It depends on us-

What more can be said to conclude that religion is 'man-made'

So repeat after me mrs. Tanenbaum: There is no GOD ...
Repeat this ten times, slowly, with a loud voice. Get the picture already ?

171. Television evangelist Falwell dies at 73

Comment #41783 by GBile on May 17, 2007 at 1:55 am

The passing of mr. Falwell could be used to do a little science. I propose to measure mankinds total religious delusion on the 'Delud-O-Meter' (patent pending). Mr. Falwells death moved the indicator of the Delud-O-Meter by a considerable amount to the zero-point.

Of course the Delud-O-Meter would not be scientific if there was no 'unit' attached to it.

How much delusion can be attributed to a certain belief ?
Belief in a 'virgin birth': 0.05 unit ?
Belief in 'going on a horse to heaven': 0.1 unit ?

Is assigning these values not a worthwhile task for the people calling themselves 'theologians'? Or maybe a committee including some atheists could be working on this ?

Now in science we are accustomed to give the units of measuring something a name (sometimes the name of the discoverer). The change of the indicator, mentioned above clearly was 1.0 Falwell (Fw). Using the Fw as the unit on Delud-O-Meter might give mr. Falwell somehow the 'eternity' he so desparately craved, but I personally think it will give the man too much 'honor'.
So what to use ? As the inventor of the Delud-O-Meter I might suggest the 'Bile' (Bl), but I suspect that a much better name can be found.

Any suggestions ?

172. Atheism in America

Comment #40274 by GBile on May 14, 2007 at 4:17 am

'Our kids are good Christian kids - they wouldn't do that...'

... until we order them to.

173. True faith is greater than the ranters

Comment #40266 by GBile on May 14, 2007 at 4:04 am

The 'religious' truth is that it is indeed a 'social institution'. A church is a 'sing and pray club'. No more and no less than a cricket club or a club of people interested in bird-watching.

174. God . . . in other words

Comment #39321 by GBile on May 10, 2007 at 10:13 am

So we may find 'something' in dimension 6 who's most important messages (commands) for mankind are:

I am the Lord your 6th dimension-entity
Thou shall have no other 6th dimension-entities before me
Thou shall not make for yourself an idol
Thou shall not make wrongful use of the name of your 6th dimension-entity

And we will call this 'GOD'?

Let's hope we will find something better in dimension 8 or 9.

Mrs. Gledhill, please repeat after me: THERE IS NO GOD IN THE FIRST DIMENSION ..
Repeat this 10 times, each time increasing the dimension by one. Say it with a loud voice and slowly ... Get the picture already ?

175. The New Atheists loathe religion far too much to plausibly challenge it

Comment #38311 by GBile on May 7, 2007 at 1:19 pm

From the link mentioned in comment #8 (Journal of Religion and Society (2005)):

There is evidence that within the U.S. strong disparities in religious belief versus acceptance of evolution are correlated with similarly varying rates of societal dysfunction, the strongly theistic, anti-evolution south and mid-west having markedly worse homicide, mortality, STD, youth pregnancy, marital and related problems than the northeast where societal conditions, secularization, and acceptance of evolution approach European norms (Aral and Holmes; Beeghley, Doyle, 2002).

100 proof, or what ?

So, Ms Bunting repeat after me: THERE ... IS ... NO ... GOD
Now say this again 10 times, very slowly and loud... Get the picture already ?

176. God Exists. A Formula Proves it.

Comment #37697 by GBile on May 5, 2007 at 1:27 pm

I must admit that I read Tiplers 'The Physics of immortality'. One thing he suggests in the book is to send 'selfreplicating robots' to 'every corner' of the universe. The purpose, as far as I recall, is to gather enough information about every particle in the universe to be able to predict the future en thereby 'the end of times'. Immortality is supposed to come from recreating the personalities (souls?) of every person in ... giant computers. Presto, you have achieved immortality (but you could be hacked, scary idea). I like the 'selfreplicating robots' idea, but don't care much about the immortality.
Maybe the God-equation is Tiplers next scientific breakthrough.

177. The kiss that brought immorality debate to a head

Comment #37662 by GBile on May 5, 2007 at 12:35 pm

This is a revolting story. Islam has been branded 'a backward culture'. I agree, also because no demonstrations will be held by 'moderate muslims' to protest what is going on in Iran.
But then again, all cultures founded on religion are backward.

178. For Motherly X Chromosome, Gender Is Only the Beginning

Comment #37461 by GBile on May 4, 2007 at 1:59 pm

Certainly this cute article holds more useful information for mankind than 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel combined, not to speak of sura's Jonah 1..109.

179. 4 Sermon for Matins: 'Dawkins and The God Delusion'

Comment #37342 by GBile on May 4, 2007 at 6:14 am

I read all the 'sermons' and found many words and little meaning. What I picked up was not a believe in a God, but a sentiment, deeply held by Dr. Sagovsky, in my opinion best described by this quote:

In religious ritual what is being enacted is a whole way of experiencing the world. It is enacted symbolically - often with the use of dance, chanting, music, and readings from sacred texts.

Obviously the sacredness of the texts are self proclaimed and it all oozes childishness, Harry Potter-ishness, insecurity, an 'I can do the tricks, so nothing can happen to me, right' attitude.
Of course nothing of this is necessary for 'real life'. For the 'celebration' of our natural world nothing metaphysically supernatural is needed.

In response to Dawkins' attack on religion, we might well ask what happens when you take away from society the belief that God or the gods exist. Dawkins argument is that this sets us free; mine that it sets us adrift.

Societies don't hold beliefs, but their members might. Taking away the 'God-believe' from those members will indeed 'set them free'. As for 'drifting', just consider the myriads of 'religious beliefs' held by myriads of religious believers. Dr. Sagovsky is just one example.

180. Was Muhammad Epileptic?

Comment #35189 by GBile on April 26, 2007 at 2:09 pm

Put the thing under the 'Plagiarism scanner' and it will fail miserably.
'Holy books', how silly can you get?

181. Dinesh D'Souza says I don't exist: an atheist at Virginia Tech

Comment #33451 by GBile on April 20, 2007 at 6:17 am

Denoir,

Wishful thinking and delusions can be comforting. Those people are tragically dead and nothing will change that. So what remains is the question of how the families and friends will cope with the loss. The truth, which is that their loved ones died a pointless death and that they are just gone and dead isn't going to comfort them. Reality does not owe us anything.

Why is it required that people have to be 'comforted', have to be able 'to cope with their loss'. The supposed neccessity of this is what religion exploits with their strangling promises of 'she is better of now' or 'he is is now with the Lord' (fill in the nonsense yourself).
Dramatic events happen and lives will change irrepairably. That people will eventually cope is often true, but we should not fall into the trap of inventing a nice story, a pacifier, or an afterlife where in the end everything will be great. Genuine compassion, love and friendship is what people in these circumstances need, no placebos.

182. Where Is Atheism When Bad Things Happen?

Comment #33439 by GBile on April 20, 2007 at 5:35 am

The Dailykos story, mentioned in Comment 10 above, is a devastating answer to mr. D'Souza's verbal garbage.
Please read it and be moved as I was.

183. The Great British Literary Census

Comment #31486 by GBile on April 12, 2007 at 11:51 pm

I would have liked 'The Ancestors Tale' on top of the list. That book tells what everyone should know, the amazing journey of life.
Books about religion are basically a waste of time and effort. But alas, where so many still cherish their delusions and don't hesitate to try to force their inability or unwillingness to accept their 'natural' life upon their children and their fellow men, books like 'The God Delusion' are very necessary.

184. The God Debate

Comment #29236 by GBile on April 2, 2007 at 7:10 am

Easily the most horrifying sentence of 'Evangelist' Warren is :

If death is the end, shoot, I'm not going to waste another minute being altruistic.

People, get out of his church right now. Never speak to this man again. You are much better than that. Don't let him fool you one moment longer. Beware.

185. John Paul Sainthood Nun 'Gentle, Simple'

Comment #28829 by GBile on March 31, 2007 at 5:32 am

Pope Benedict XVI announced in May 2005 that he was waiving the traditional five-year waiting period and allowing the beatification process to begin

This 'waiving' seems to be popular among leaders, but often it is to prevent possible 'criminal charges'.

The whole story reminds me of the 'beatification' process of a dutch nun. Her miracle was that, many years later (no waiving here), a woman (are these always women ?) attributed to said nun her 'mystery cure' for ... 'Athlete's foot'.
The amazing deeds these deities perform to cure their flock !

186. Hell is real and eternal: Pope

Comment #27972 by GBile on March 27, 2007 at 1:14 pm

What is a 'Pope' ??

What is a 'Bishop' ??

What is a 'Cardinal' ??

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

Comment #26664 by GBile on March 21, 2007 at 3:00 am

Cory, whom to thank when you have just become a father ?

First, thank your wife, who has accepted you to be the father of her child and who has courageously endured her pregnancy and the birth of your son.

Then thank all the doctors, nurses and others, who professionally helped your wife to let it all happen in the best way possible. And thank those who devoted their lifes to gaining knowlegde about the field of childbirth.

Then thank all the people who stood by you, encouraged you and your wife in this important period of your lifes.

And, finally, thank yourself for your determination to be a good husband and a good father for your son.

188. Lonely Atheists of the Global Village

Comment #26403 by GBile on March 19, 2007 at 6:20 am

Would Harris accept a claim by Christians that Christian evildoers are not really Christian

Suppose we accept that claim, how many 'Christians' will be left ?

189. British Book Awards shortlists 2007

Comment #24891 by GBile on March 9, 2007 at 4:22 am

I have never had the impression that this site had something to do with a 'Dawkins personality cult'. I experience it as 'open', with many sides to the matter presented. If someone is a bit 'overly enthousiastic' about the writings of Dawkins, so what? All shades of enthousiasm are present, as it should be.
To me, most of the negative articles about TGD and other topics (Eagleton, McGrath, Plantinga to name some) have been of a surprisingly low quality.
Actually, in contrast, I find the Harris - Sullivan dialogue very much worth reading ( but no Harris personality cult here!)

190. Books on Atheism Are Raising Hackles in Unlikely Places

Comment #23989 by GBile on March 4, 2007 at 3:09 am

Mr Steinfels just gives a collation of objections made against Dawkins arguments. In this he adds nothing to the debate. Most of the objecting articles have been presented on this site and have been found unconvincing.
For instance, Eagleton comes up with a definition of God in this way:

*God is the answer to the question why there is something rather than nothing*

First it can be said that the average 'Kansan' believes in a completely different God, the one that asked Abraham to sacrifice his son and who turned Lots wife into a pillar of salt.
It is those believes that Dawkins writes about.
Secondly mr Eagletons definition is just 'Theology', it does not mean anything. Same goes for the ramblings of mr Plantinga, like *Explanations come to an end; for theism they come to an end in God*. These are just words, no meaning.

191. The Dawkins Confusion: Naturalism ad absurdum

Comment #23749 by GBile on March 2, 2007 at 12:26 pm

This one really hit me between the eyes:

Explanations come to an end; for theism they come to an end in God. Of course the same goes for any other view; on any view explanations come to an end. The materialist or physicalist, for example, doesn't have an explanation for the existence of elementary particles: they just are

Elementary particles ? Of course they don't 'just are'. They are scrutinized, dissected and found to be built from heaps of even more elementary particles. Scientists have been busy with this in the past and will be in the future. No 'they just are' here, mr Plantinga.

But the same goes for the 'endpoint' of theism: God. Where Theologians stopped at the 'simple God' that 'just is', a small group of thinkers went beyond that (I happen to be one of them), and they call themselves 'Greologians'.

This is because they found a far deeper, far simpler, basis of it all: we call it 'Green Cheese'. Green Cheese is the Ultimate Source, the Deep of the Deep, the Essence of the Essence. So even the Moon is made of Green Cheese, as are the brains of Theologians.

Unfortunately some in our group are mumbling about 'going further'. But of course, mr Plantinga, being of Frisian descent should know that even for a Frisian there is nothing beyond 'Green Cheese' or 'Griene Tsiis' as they use to call it.

192. The Dawkins Confusion: Naturalism ad absurdum

Comment #23526 by GBile on March 1, 2007 at 1:06 pm