251. Richard Dawkins in the Time 100

Comment #37119 by Duff on May 3, 2007 at 12:28 pm

Behe was selected to provoke and sell copies of the mag. These editors are like selfish genes, they'll do anything to propagate and sell the product.

252. The God disunion: there is a place for faith in science, insists Winston

Comment #36825 by Duff on May 2, 2007 at 12:56 pm

Ben Hope, you described Winstons confusion of uncertainty with the Uncertainty Principle of quantum physics as "not a trivial error". I'll up you one and invoke Wolfgang Pauli's "not even wrong"!
I think Winston and the late Steven Gould suffer from the same vestigial religious virus implanted in their youths.

253. Pundit Christopher Hitchens picks a fight in book, 'God is Not Great'

Comment #35912 by Duff on April 29, 2007 at 9:22 am

As a former brainwashed prisoner of a dynamic American religion, trust me when I tell you it is effective when non-believers poke fun at you and ridicule the rationality of your beliefs. It hurts and it embarrasses but it may cause one to actually think about what one believes. I specifically remember someone telling me how "corny" my religion was. That description of what I had, here-to-fore, thought was a great belief system set me to thinking and reading and investigating, and it wasn't long until I realized my beliefs were in fact "corny" and even worse, wrong. I am now a very happy atheist.
Never let an opportunity go buy to tell a theist how silly they are.

254. Study: Religion is Good for Kids

Comment #35718 by Duff on April 28, 2007 at 2:15 pm

All I know is that I was a very smart little kid with very religious parents. I qualified to be a Rhodes Scholar but my sweet, kind, well meaning and most importantly, religious parents were not in favor because if I went to a "serious" university and studied godless science, I would probably lose my "soul". Don't tell me religion is good for children.

255. The Video: Bill O'Reilly Interviews Richard Dawkins

Comment #34294 by Duff on April 23, 2007 at 6:29 pm

Richard, far be it from me to tell you how to deal with this type of American/Fox/Entertainment Tonight kind of format, but it doesn't help to be polite with these kind of dirtbags. I wouldn't suggest you even go on the show, but if you do, get in their face and out smashmouth them or they will make you look like a pussy.

256. Pope abolishes limbo

Comment #34005 by Duff on April 23, 2007 at 3:07 am

Most of us who come to this site believe in evolution, right? Well, this is a perfect example of religion evolving. We should encourage all religions to evolve, and hope that in the process they will become a little less ridiculous.

257. Atheists split on how to not believe

Comment #33940 by Duff on April 22, 2007 at 6:32 pm

Chaplain Epstein and those of his ilk can criticize Dawkins and Harris all they want, but if it had been left to them their "humanist" approach would be muddling along fifty years from now without any encroachments on the theist camp.
What this world needs is a thousand more people like Dawkins and Harris. Enough of this mamby pamby, nicey, nicey. I say, go for the jugular and let the battle begin before the theists kill us all.

258. Richard Dawkins interviews the Bishop of Oxford

Comment #33716 by Duff on April 21, 2007 at 10:39 am

Once again, a sad spectacle of an intelligent, thoughtful human trying to justify the unjustifiable and rationalize the irrational. What a relief it is not to be weighed down by the truly heavy burden of dogma.

259. Christians at Bible publishers have their throats cut

Comment #33030 by Duff on April 19, 2007 at 3:25 am

Weefree, you're whining again.

260. Flea Circus!

Comment #33022 by Duff on April 19, 2007 at 3:11 am

Robinson/weefree, I'm not sure why you are banned, but just maybe its because you are a whiner? There is definitely a bit of poor me in your discourse.
Buck up, bucko. I'm sure they love you on the christian sites.

261. Atheism isn't the final word

Comment #32415 by Duff on April 17, 2007 at 3:13 am

Let's see...First there was CS Lewis and then there was Madalyn O Hare's son. That pretty well locks this guy's case up in iron clad logic. Who could argue against that?

262. Pope says science too narrow to explain creation

Comment #31311 by Duff on April 12, 2007 at 1:49 am

We shouldn't discourage religious leaders from making comments about evolution. It puts them on record and makes it easy to trash them when they, like the popester, make utter fools of themselves.

263. How to defend your faith with an electric wheelchair

Comment #30551 by Duff on April 8, 2007 at 3:10 pm

The really sad thing is, this picketing of the Mormons around their temples makes them even more emotional about their religion (I know this from all my Mormon relatives). And of course the same is true for the equally pathetic Baptist who are usually the ones doing the picketing. They both become more religious as a result of the confrontations. It's a psychological, self perpetuating sickness.

264. Prophets of the new atheism

Comment #30550 by Duff on April 8, 2007 at 2:54 pm

If that is a picture of Mssr. Klinghoffer, he looks like every gtwoshoes I've ever seen. But aside from that adhominem, I am dying to see what the new "latest arguments for ID as formulated by their chief proponents" are. Let's be kind and patient and understanding while they get their "stuff" together and prepare these latest arguments. In the meantime, I wrote the Seattle Times and put in my two bits worth. Everyone should do the same.

265. Prophets of the new atheism

Comment #30548 by Duff on April 8, 2007 at 2:49 pm

If that is a picture of Mssr. Klinghoffer, he looks like every gtwoshoes I've ever seen. But aside from that adhominem, I am dying to see what the new "latest arguments for ID as formulated by their chief proponents" are. Let's be kind and patient and understanding while they get their "stuff" together and prepare these latest arguments. In the meantime, I wrote the Seattle Times and put in my two bits worth. Everyone should do the same.

266. Militant atheists: too clever for their own good

Comment #30139 by Duff on April 7, 2007 at 3:29 am

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am finished supporting the Dawkins of the world and am casting my lot with the begger children.

267. In the Beginning

Comment #28851 by Duff on March 31, 2007 at 8:32 am

Beware the fundies! If it is true, as Dawkins and others suggest - and I firmly believe - that religion is the only socially acceptable form of insanity, we then have to assume that those people might just behave like insane people. Up to and including strapping a bomb to themselves to get even with the likes of us.

268. Interview: Jerry Coyne

Comment #28848 by Duff on March 31, 2007 at 8:18 am

If I hear one more religionist claim science and religion have things to teach each other, I'm going to reach for my Browning. I'm waiting to hear one positive thing that religion has brought to science/mankind. One thing. Come on religionists, lets hear one thing.

269. The Fifth Flea!

Comment #28219 by Duff on March 28, 2007 at 12:07 pm

If you've ever read any of this christian "literature" you will find it universally bad. Pedantic, simplistic, anti-intellectual tripe, to be exact. It is comparable to christian "music", which I would characterized as being melodiously simplistic, lyrically moronic and pathetically corny. Other than that, it's great stuff, obviously inspired by God.

270. Mormons miffed over coffee-swilling angel image

Comment #27501 by Duff on March 25, 2007 at 3:32 am

Scottish,
You are correct, Sir, it has been done many, many times before.

271. Kissing Hank's Ass

Comment #26184 by Duff on March 17, 2007 at 2:18 pm

I don't know if the creator of this stuff is a Mormon, but I'll bet he/she is. Those two "missionaries" are "two by two", in conservative suits and white shirts. The only thing missing is their name tags.
The "law" about alcohol and all the other proscriptions are straight out of Mormon doctrine, as is the stuff about Karl and his son and all the writers of the tales.
I should know, I used to be one of those guys.

272. Yanoconodon, a transitional fossil

Comment #26183 by Duff on March 17, 2007 at 2:12 pm

Fishpeddler, I almost choked on my aperitif! Brilliant!! Satire slays the religious dragons better than any sword.

273. Does God answer prayer? ASU research says 'yes'

Comment #25945 by Duff on March 15, 2007 at 6:42 pm

The rule is perfect. Prayer actually works...except in those instances where it can actually be proven to work, such as in cases of amputations, or raising people from the dead. Unless, of course, it is hundreds of years later when it is difficult to disprove your case.

274. Did You Know? Shift Happens - Globalization, Information Age

Comment #25685 by Duff on March 14, 2007 at 5:39 pm

Yeah, ok, Luxembourg just passed the US. Oh, my, what shall we do??
China has more babies. What a revelation. What a lot of extraneous BS.

275. Richard Dawkins and the dangerous delusion of religion

Comment #25681 by Duff on March 14, 2007 at 5:34 pm

Every islamist should be asked to answer the question: Do you believe people who defame religion and Islam in particular should be punished in any way? If they can't answer that question in the negative, they deserve no sympathy, or respect for their religious views. Period! Obviously, the same holds for the prejudicial views of Christians. And of course, anyone should be free to ask a scientist if they condemn prejudicial views of scientist. Good luck on that one.

276. For the God Question, a Biological Perspective

Comment #25677 by Duff on March 14, 2007 at 5:26 pm

Uzi,
Not only is it a fact that most people are pretty gullible, I posit that there are very few people who have arrived at a level where they generally question most everything they see and hear.
What percentage of the worlds population knows what "nullius in verba" means?

277. Non-believers can be bigoted too

Comment #25675 by Duff on March 14, 2007 at 5:09 pm

How dare those damned philosophers be concerned about "logical consistency". Logical consistency by damned!
It is a typical illogical inconsistency for religious apologists to condemn logical consistency, since it is exactly the lack of logical consistency which damns religion. Killing our children because the disobey is a perfect example.
What some people call Biblical Literalism, is the perfect manifestation of most of the logical inconsistencies in religion today.
Religionists insistence on literalism will be the death of religion as more and more people pay attention to what exactly the literalists are claiming.

278. Free Speech

Comment #25674 by Duff on March 14, 2007 at 4:58 pm

Everyone who comes out forcefully against religious nonsense needs bodyguards. And that simple fact says it all. Religion is the basis of all evil in this world, at this time.
When ever any of us see Hitchens and Dawkins and Harris in public places, we should be ready and willing to protect them from the religious cranks and sickos out there in the world who would love to do them harm.
Thinking people unite!! Get in the face of the religious fanatics! Don't let a ridiculous, ignorant statement go unchallenged!

279. Understanding Genetics - Daniel Dennett Interview

Comment #25185 by Duff on March 10, 2007 at 6:12 pm

You guys go ahead and "sift". I've sifted all my life and found all religions intellectually irrelevant. Now, I'm more inclined to be a decimator. A pox on all your religions.

280. Response to Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris

Comment #25083 by Duff on March 10, 2007 at 3:19 am

Well, I certainly learned something from this "person". He is decidedly not the George Foreman of religion. More like Simpson"s sweet neighbor, Ned.

281. Was there ever dog that praised his fleas?

Comment #24092 by Duff on March 4, 2007 at 6:44 pm

Laugh, I thought I would die, this clown, Alister McGrath, calling Dawkins an anti-semite. Well, I guess when you have nothing else to refute him with, you might as well resort to the reprehensible standby of anti-semitism. Oh, and besides that, Dawkins also doesn't "get" the Universe. As if any theologian who ever existed understood the Universe.
Let's not let a stupid religious statement go unanswered.
Twice this week, I had someone say to me, "Don't tell me you don't believe in god!" And twice I said, "What! Do I look stupid?" Maybe a little intemperate, but a true sentiment, none-the-less.

282. Faith

Comment #23060 by Duff on February 26, 2007 at 4:37 am

After all is said and done, the score is still:

Science - 1,187,334
Religion - 0

283. Memo: Stop teaching evolution

Comment #22532 by Duff on February 19, 2007 at 5:05 pm

Gimmeltwat,
If you really think Darwinists are embarrassed by Dawkins you are a worse nutjob that even the people on this site think. You are irretrievably moronic. May your God help you. (Trust me, HE won't).

284. Researchers find 6,000-year-old fossil evidence

Comment #22422 by Duff on February 17, 2007 at 3:28 am

The big story here is not that chili peppers were eaten six thousand years ago, but that they have actually found food remnants eaten by Adam and Eve, or their actual children!!! And, not only that, the Garden of Eden was in Mexico!!!

285. In Loving Memory of William Luke Ashton: July 10th 1989 - Dec 25th 2006

Comment #22376 by Duff on February 15, 2007 at 6:36 pm

When bad things happen to children it always brings tears to my eyes, even though I don't have the slightest knowledge of your children. Children are special. I can't imagine anything happening to my own.
I offer condolences to your children, as if they were my own.

286. Foreword for the UK edition of 'Letter to a Christian Nation'

Comment #22245 by Duff on February 13, 2007 at 5:03 pm

If you believe in the "coming rapture", please, please don't read Sam Harris' book, Letter To A Christian Nation, because it will weaken your faith. What ever you do, don't read Letter To A Christian Nation. Don't do it! What ever you do, Don't Do IT!!!! Unless, of course, you have the overwhelming strength of your convictions. Unless, of course, you have an intellect that can withstand the terrible, irrefutable, but, never the less, devilish promptings of the intellect. If you have the promptings of the spirit, if you have the holy ghost informing you of what is right and what is wrong, don't read this horrible diatribe against God's religions here on earth.
You know how God has condemned the intellect. You know how God has condemned reason! If you believe in God. If you believe in the danger of intelligence and the evil concept of "REASON", it is incumbent upon all believers to not read this evil tract. It is a product of the Devil Himself/Herself.

287. Out of Africa, in the Gut

Comment #21915 by Duff on February 11, 2007 at 5:09 pm

If Keith Crandall of Brigham Young University thinks the timing is "novel", what is his take on the finding? Does he think it is more like 4000 years? Give or take a thousand. Beware the oxymoronic "religious scientists". Their takes deserve a serious second look.

288. Evolution Sunday

Comment #21884 by Duff on February 11, 2007 at 12:29 pm

I was accosted by a pretty young JW this morning at the gas station while filling my tank. She asked me if I believed we descended from monkeys. In honor of Evolution Sunday, I gave her a grilling she isn't going to soon forget. In the end she asked me why I didn't believe in God. I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself. I actually raised my voice and said, "Do I look stupid?" Forgive me, Lord, for losing my patience with the poor thing.

289. The God Delusion

Comment #21883 by Duff on February 11, 2007 at 12:17 pm

Let me try to simplify this problem of "modern theologians". Old type theologians said we must kill our disobedient children, modern theologians say the old theologians were wrong. Thats the difference.

290. The questions science cannot answer

Comment #21591 by Duff on February 10, 2007 at 3:25 am

It's coming clear now.
Iron Age Religion's contributions to society...zero.
Science's contributions to society...too numerous to describe.
I know whose side I want to be on.

291. Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins

Comment #21127 by Duff on February 7, 2007 at 4:51 pm

"Was there ever a dog who praised his fleas?" When I first drafted a comment on that fabulous quote, I made the mistake of writing, " Was there ever a God who praised his fleas." Was that a Freudian slip? Have I maligned our four footed, fabulous friends?

292. Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins

Comment #21122 by Duff on February 7, 2007 at 4:40 pm

"Was there ever a dog who praised his fleas?" When I first drafted a comment on that fabulous quote, I made the mistake of writing, " Was there ever a God who praised his fleas." Was that a Freudian slip? Have I maligned our four footed, fabulous friends?

293. Ancient boy's skeleton sparks evolution debate

Comment #21121 by Duff on February 7, 2007 at 4:33 pm

God is not going to be pleased by this skeleton. Skeletons are anathema to God. God doesn't like to see his great truths disproved by these inconvenient, paltry, pesky, pedestrian skeletons. It's time for a moratorium on skeletons. "No more skeletons," says God.

294. Interview with Alister McGrath, author of 'The Dawkins Delusion?'

Comment #20923 by Duff on February 7, 2007 at 3:03 am

I have it on good authority, from God Himself, that Professor McGrath is wrong on this and many other things. God has told me that the good professor was told by God Himself to stick with mathematics at the university, but that he opted instead for theology. Everyone knows that those who can, do mathematics, biology and physics and those who can't, do theology.

295. Atheist Rap: Extian, The Verse from Atheist Nation Pt III

Comment #20678 by Duff on February 5, 2007 at 5:07 pm

Too cool!! This is one guy I would like to meet. And I'm a white bread, white anglo saxon non-protestant, who would like to shake this young man's hand.

296. 'God Is Not a Moderate'

Comment #20575 by Duff on February 4, 2007 at 12:39 pm

Pablum is an americanism for mush. Mush is another name for a soupy cereal. Mush, soupiness, just other names for sloppy, simplistic, mushy thinking.

297. God and gorillas

Comment #20277 by Duff on February 1, 2007 at 12:58 pm

Methinks Ms. King is angling for the Templeton Prize. Anyone who worms and twists and does everything possible to make religion just a tiny bit acceptable to science has got their eye on the prize.

298. The Ego and the ID

Comment #19927 by Duff on January 30, 2007 at 5:19 pm

God rolled his eyes when He heard that Dawkins was questioning the intelligence of the Intelligent Design folks. (notice I capitolized the ID folks).
God is very perturbed at being questioned by the so-called intelligent people at the various Universities of the Western World. GOD doesn't like to be questioned by people who use intelligence and reason to think about HIM. GOD wants to be worshipped by people who think emotionally, rather than rationally. This rationality thing is going to come to an end, forthwith!! GOD will not be rationalized...Dammit.

299. Just 'Evolution in Action'

Comment #19925 by Duff on January 30, 2007 at 5:10 pm

God doesn't want anyone legislating against gay sex!!! He wants the gays to die from the various diseases he has sent to them!!! Lesbian sex is ok. God doesn't find that too abhorrent, in fact He finds it somewhat exciting!
If you don't know why I speak with authority on this subject, you haven't been paying attention.

300. He Calls Himself God

Comment #19812 by Duff on January 30, 2007 at 3:28 am

Be careful what you say about this wonderful man. He is going to be the next president of the US. God is his campaign manager. If you don't believe me, you should. God told me so.