Comments by Quetzalcoatl

2001. Inadequate, private and late apology with grotesquely inadequate excuse

Comment #159140 by Quetzalcoatl on April 11, 2008 at 1:37 pm

BFKate-

If I say I hate queers but I happen to be a superb surgeon does that mean I can't be trusted to treat gay people?

It means that there's a good chance that you might refuse to treat them, jeopardising their lives. Even if you do treat them, then it's more than likely that you would be less careful than with a straight person. Would that make you suitable for the job?

2002. Inadequate, private and late apology with grotesquely inadequate excuse

Comment #159131 by Quetzalcoatl on April 11, 2008 at 1:26 pm

BFKate-

I think calling for Ms Davis' resignation for expressing an opinion is a punishment and a type of ban, as well as a form of censorship. I don't think anyone wants to kill her but they do want to see her pay some kind of price. That is not freedom of speech.

Of course she is entitled to freedom of speech. But part of her being a public official, elected by the people, is the expectation that she should be held to a higher standard. She was undoubtedly aware of that. A public official who makes statements that discriminate against whole sections of the population should pay a higher price for that.

2003. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #159123 by Quetzalcoatl on April 11, 2008 at 1:14 pm

ASMarques-

If I gave you the sources and you did verify by yourself that this is indeed what the eyewitnesses are telling you, your eyes would fill with tears, your heart would be overwhelmed with sympathy, and all doubts would instantly vanish. This way you are, hopefully, being encouraged to be more alert and indeed to use the Internet on your quest for the truth

Ah, I see. You're withholding the sources for my benefit. How generous of you.

I am curious as to whether you took the same approach when discovering these hidden truths, or whether you were shown sourced evidence by others.

2004. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158945 by Quetzalcoatl on April 11, 2008 at 8:00 am

Wherever you go, whatever you do, Jesus is with you. You could be eating a cheeseburger, he's there. When you're taking a shower, he's there with you. When you go to the toilet, he's there. While you're sleeping, he's right there with you.

Isn't it a comfort to know that Jesus is with you?

2005. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158908 by Quetzalcoatl on April 11, 2008 at 6:52 am

Irate-

maybe, but it's more fun to think that when Philip gets pissed, instead of dancing or starting fights, he does the housework.

2006. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158902 by Quetzalcoatl on April 11, 2008 at 6:45 am

Philip1978-

A couple of times I woke up in the morning after a rather heavy night on the tiles to discover not only could I not remember the night out I had cleaned my room, even hoovered it the second time. I was really freaked out, I had folded all my clothes, dusted - everything!

Rock. And. Roll.

2007. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158883 by Quetzalcoatl on April 11, 2008 at 6:29 am

Tyler-

Disappear when the questions about your "sources" get tough

You wouldn't think a question like "so where exactly did you get this from?" would be so tough for him to answer, especially since he's done all the hard work of uncovering the truth about the Zionist/Illuminati/Greys conspiracy. But apparently it is.

2008. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158823 by Quetzalcoatl on April 11, 2008 at 4:57 am

Decreasing Intelligence Ogenes said-

A troll lives under a bridge never leaving

I find it quite funny that he's trying to define what a troll is, and doing it based on the tale of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

2009. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158736 by Quetzalcoatl on April 11, 2008 at 1:48 am

Vulcan-

and when man's current understanding of the universe or how things work in it contradicts what the Bible actually says about it later discoveries show man's understanding to be wrong and the Bible correct after all

May I have some examples?

2010. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158733 by Quetzalcoatl on April 11, 2008 at 1:44 am

Just combed my way through the thread- very interesting.

Defective Infector Ogenes, what can I say? You're certainly good for a laugh. And you seem to have a talent for writing. I foresee a bright future for you in Christian Apologetics :-)

2011. Lying for Jesus?

Comment #158697 by Quetzalcoatl on April 11, 2008 at 12:58 am

Having just received some great news, I am in a very good mood, practically bouncing on my chair. This must be how Philip1978 feels ALL THE TIME.

This thread will not ruin it for me.

More salient thread-related comments to follow.

2012. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158379 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 12:07 pm

al-

and yet here we are. This is ample proof of the theory that there is nothing so stupid that someone, somewhere will not believe it.

2013. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158368 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 11:55 am

We ask for where the comments came from. ASMarques says:

You'll have to trust me. Or not. As you wish

Considering you've provided copious links in the past, it strikes me as very strange that you cannot provide a source for these quotes. Some might call it convenient. If they were cynical.

2014. Fleabytes

Comment #158339 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 11:06 am

Al-

I'm not sure if that's true. There was a gap between you chastising him and the deletion of his posts. The battle royale with Styrer happened after the event as well.

2015. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158336 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 11:03 am

Al-

reading them, it struck me that some of them could be true (the commander sniping prisoners was in Schindler's List) and some could easily be the understandable exaggerations of the traumatised. But without context and authorship, it's impossible to know.

ASMarques- this is where you step in.

2016. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158330 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 10:54 am

Everyone-

it occurs to me to wonder how many of ASMarques' contradictory witness statements came from those who were mad, delirious or traumatised by the horrors of the war or their experiences within the camps.

If this is true, it strikes me as being especially reprehensible for said statements to be used to cast doubt on the veracity of the Holocaust. Some might say contemptible.

2017. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158279 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 9:27 am

Steve Zara-

He does. It's just such a shame it's all a pile of crap. Or is that too blunt?

2018. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158274 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 9:24 am

Well, that handful of cherry-picked statements wih no context has certainly impressed me. What was I thinking? Clearly you are right, ASMarques.

Or not.

2019. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158252 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 8:59 am

Sargeist-

I take your point, and looking back at it I admit I was over-generalising. You're right.

ASMarques-

clever. And way to turn it back on me! Although it seems clear that we disagree on the definition of "mass of corroborating evidence".

2020. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #158241 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 8:50 am

A quick search of Google has turned up the following:

http://blog.kjmastaw.com/

The first post is VERY interesting.

A quote from it: "In a previous blog posting, I pointed out that evolution is not scientific fact. It's a theory and nothing more".

Guess that the question of whether HE even knows what a scientific theory is, and what it means.

2021. Rep. Davis: The Worst Person in the World

Comment #158227 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 8:34 am

Kjmastaw-

but I'd venture to guess that very few of you really understand what the scientific method is, could explain the difference between scientific fact vs. scientific theory

Can you?

Epeeist has given you a large list of people who do with certainty. There are many here who do not have a background in science (I freely admit that I am one of them). But most of those people still know a great deal about the subject.

Do you?

2022. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158220 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 8:22 am

Al-

I know. The overwhelming nature of the evidence just serves to underline the absurdity of the claim.

You've got to have a really big reason for wanting to believe that it didn't happen to claim that it did not.

2023. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158206 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 8:05 am

A massive 60 year conspiracy involving hundreds of thousands of people that has not been refuted in all that time, with a mass of corroborating evidence to support it plus eyewitness and direct testimony that has not been recanted.

Gee. Sounds really easy to organise. You'd also think that modern Germans might have something to say about this monstrous conspiracy.

2024. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158164 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 6:53 am

Epeeist-

excellent. I now have the Stonecutters' song in my head!

2025. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158154 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 6:39 am

I should probably leave this alone, but:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Solution

A key passage to note:

In Heinrich Himmler's speech at the Posen Conference of October 6, 1943, Himmler, for the first time, clearly elucidated to all assembled leaders of the Reich, in frank and brutal terms, what the "Final Solution" referred to.

So much for there being no central plan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_holocaust

This contains more than, quite frankly, I reckon that most people would want to know about what went on.

2026. Fleabytes

Comment #158149 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 6:18 am

Anna-

it says very little, and I'm sad to say was exactly as I expected. You can bet this will come up in the future as well; he probably use it for ammo in one of his talks.

2027. Fleabytes

Comment #158085 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 4:01 am

Incredulous-

I noticed. And for me it is the afternoon....now.

2028. Fleabytes

Comment #158077 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 3:48 am

I'm not taking a position on this, I'm just linking to the posts when I find them.

Epeeist-

like all good Biblical prophecies, Keith's was after the fact. Richard Morgan was back on Fleabytes yesterday (comment 7532).

2029. Fleabytes

Comment #158071 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 3:41 am

Brian-

what's with the lurking? And why delete your posts?

2030. Hitchens vs. Hitchens

Comment #158052 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 3:06 am

Steve-

lack of radioactive materials and cloning vats might be another factor. But you're right, they are great!

2031. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158034 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 2:31 am

At the risk of starting an all-out conflict/depressing everyone, there has been a response:

http://www.fcosonline.org/index.php?topic=5.msg249#msg249

2032. Hitchens vs. Hitchens

Comment #158033 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 2:31 am

At the risk of starting an all-out conflict/depressing everyone, there has been a response:

http://www.fcosonline.org/index.php?topic=5.msg249#msg249

2033. Fleabytes

Comment #158030 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 2:30 am

At the risk of starting an all-out conflict/depressing everyone, there has been a response:

http://www.fcosonline.org/index.php?topic=5.msg249#msg249

2034. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158028 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 2:24 am

Irate-

we don't like to steal your thunder. I don't say fucktard much in the same way that you hardly ever proclaim yourself to be a god.

2035. Hitchens vs. Hitchens

Comment #158021 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 1:49 am

Steve-

I have some monsters for you. Check it out, fresh from Billy's Lab:-

http://musingsofastrangemind.blogspot.com/

2036. Hitchens vs. Hitchens

Comment #158013 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 1:24 am

Artful-

nice quote, but you didn't actually provide positive evidence to back up your assertion, did you?

I would also question your use of "vacuum", but let's not get off the point.

2037. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #158004 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 12:57 am

I've just read some of ASMarques' posts. My head has hit the desk hard enough to give me concussion.

2038. Hitchens vs. Hitchens

Comment #158003 by Quetzalcoatl on April 10, 2008 at 12:54 am

The rationalists among you are at the "I have a dream" stage. If your dream (unlike Martin LK's dream) were ever to translate into policy the result would be tyranny

Hmm. What an interesting assertion. Any present-day evidence of this in action? Some of the Scandinavian countries are highly secular. Given what you say, should we not see some evidence of tyrannical behaviour?

I'm sure you'll be able to provide examples to support your position.

2039. German Church admits aiding Nazis

Comment #157794 by Quetzalcoatl on April 9, 2008 at 2:36 pm

It should not be concealed that the Catholic Church was blind for too long to the fate and suffering of men, women and children from the whole of Europe who were carted off to Germany as forced labourers

The word the Cardinal was looking for should not have been blind. It should have been complicit.

Still. A bit late, but at least they've admitted it.

2040. Hitchens vs. Hitchens

Comment #157791 by Quetzalcoatl on April 9, 2008 at 2:33 pm

Ignore my last comment. On a serious note:

That is where the threat of atheism lies. Not so much in the absence of belief in a transcendent Deity before whom we are accountable as in what that vacuum is filled with.

If we take away accountability to God, what do we fill it with? Much better to keep it there, just in case.

Wrong. This is a solution from fear: fear of change, of the unknown; and a solution from inertia: better to stick what we know and are comfortable with.

This is not how things should be. But you raise a good question, Artful. What should the void be filled with?

The answer is plain. Replace human accountability to God with accountability to each other. To society, to shared standards of morality that do not come from any God. Teach that actions have consequences; not in the afterlife, but here and now.

2041. Hitchens vs. Hitchens

Comment #157782 by Quetzalcoatl on April 9, 2008 at 2:17 pm

Artful_Dodger said:

That is where the threat of atheism lies. Not so much in the absence of belief in a transcendent Deity before whom we are accountable as in what that vacuum is filled with.

I suggest we fill it with reason, science and free-thinking. Either that or turnips.

2042. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #157571 by Quetzalcoatl on April 9, 2008 at 9:23 am

Cartomancer-

[bigot on] ah, but you're forgetting something. "The Jews" control all the banks. "The Jews" control all the governments. "The Jews" control the UN. Israel is just a diversion. [/bigot off]

I honestly don't know why the Jews seem to be blamed for everything. I know there's the whole Christ-killers "rationale", but that never made much sense either.

2043. Fleabytes

Comment #157555 by Quetzalcoatl on April 9, 2008 at 8:57 am

Mixmastergaz, Al-

"Clairpenser" was really Brian English.

2044. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #157535 by Quetzalcoatl on April 9, 2008 at 8:35 am

al-

and the film of it, of course. Saw that in History class.

2045. Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions

Comment #157521 by Quetzalcoatl on April 9, 2008 at 8:18 am

ASMarques-

Doesn't this systematic lack of focus present a problem to your skeptical mind? Why was the fog of human testimony & hearsay thought preferable to in loco forensic investigation of the criminal matter

Yes, why would they trust the testimony of the skeletal prisoners liberated from the camps? Of the soldiers who found them? And as for forensic investigation, what about the many mass graves found?

2046. Fleabytes

Comment #157480 by Quetzalcoatl on April 9, 2008 at 6:39 am

Al-

that's probably my fault. I posted the link on several threads to make sure people saw it.

2047. Fleabytes

Comment #157473 by Quetzalcoatl on April 9, 2008 at 6:22 am

Cartomancer-

but I suspect some unscrupulous FCOS boggart might be trying to take advantage of this little disagreement for his own ends

Perhaps, but surely Richard Morgan would have said so if that were the case? He has just posted.

2048. Richard Dawkins: 'Growth in creationist beliefs a problem for schools'

Comment #157405 by Quetzalcoatl on April 9, 2008 at 4:03 am

Styrer-

I agree with Steve. If consensus can be reached via PM discussion, then the results of that could be posted here. If, however, consensus could NOT be reached, a statement to that effect could also be posted here.

I appreciate that this has invoked strong sentiments on both sides. But at the moment the discussion has essentially degenerated into a slanging match. Perhaps PM might be the way to go to achieve resolution.

2049. Cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov tries suicide after realising he was wrong about doomsday

Comment #157353 by Quetzalcoatl on April 9, 2008 at 1:12 am

Paula-

it's a sign of respect. He's so afraid of angering you that he want's to make sure he gets your title correct :-)

2050. Cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov tries suicide after realising he was wrong about doomsday

Comment #157346 by Quetzalcoatl on April 9, 2008 at 12:58 am

Dr Benway-

I must admit, the thought crossed my mind. We will have to wait and see.