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

Comment #49023 by pewkatchoo on June 10, 2007 at 3:17 am

Robert Maynard
It is Professor Dawkins, not Dr Dawkins.

402. Americans believe in both evolution, creationism: poll

Comment #49021 by pewkatchoo on June 10, 2007 at 3:06 am

There was an article on the Creationist Museum on Heaven and Earth (what a shite title) on BBC1 this morning. A panel of 3 were discussing it afterwards. The consensus, even among UK christians, was that they are bonkers. They did a, very unscientific, poll of Americans and a scary number of them were right on for creationism versus evolution.

My question is this, why should my license fee go to pay for such blatant propaganda as Heaven and Earth?

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

Comment #48903 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 12:23 pm

devolved
you really are a total bawheid! You come up with the same shite all the time. Now gettaefuck.

404. Christopher Hitchens on Religion

Comment #48891 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 11:07 am

Veronique


I do think that pink is more becoming.

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

Comment #48886 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 10:38 am

Robert Maynard
Do we actually have a 'cause'? I know that I have a wish list, mostly to do with getting religion out of schools and out of government. But I am not sure that I would express it as a cause. But then you did enclose the word in quotes, so maybe I have missed your point.

406. We of little faith

Comment #48883 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 10:32 am

Donald
Excellent summation. There is a danger sometimes to pick the most obviously nonsense phrase and ignore the rest with Blair. Brown is very similar in that regard. Politics is just another form of irrational belief.

407. We of little faith

Comment #48882 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 10:29 am

Mind-Rebel
You may think that you are stating facts, but you clearly are not. I do not know where you are getting your knowledge from, comics by the look of it, but you are sadly wrong. Buddhism is not an irrational faith system. The Gautama Buddha laid down 4 truths and 8 paths. These are all to do with building the mind and the moral way to do things. There was no god involved in the process, simply human enlightenment. Gautama Buddha did not believe in reincarnation and it is not actually a central tenet of the original teachings. Zen buddhism is purely a mental discipline based on the 8 paths. It is intended to improve wisdom and concentration in the hope of eventually achieving enlightenment.

These disciplines are easily translated to modernistic morality, self-discipline and the search for knowledge. Pretty much what you need to better yourself. No mumbo-jumbo need be applied.

If we take your course, we are in danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. That is nihilism and anarchic.

I don't know if I have explained this very well, but I am sure that there are others more knowlegeable who will correct anything I have got wrong.

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

Comment #48866 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 8:35 am

Philos
You seem to be running around chasing a problem that is not there. I know of many atheists who do good work. I give money regularly to help the poor children of Brasil and talk quite often to a lady in Brasil who organises housing for the poor. We each do our best, but if you are looking for approval from people then that is not a particularly good reason for doing good.

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

Comment #48863 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 8:27 am

gcdavis
There is another point. Adverse programming of children, for example by the nazis and the communists, led to children betraying their parents. In many cases this caused so much distress to the children that many committed suicide at the knowledge of what they had done.

There are so many lessons in history, but we (humanity) just go on repeating the same old mistakes.

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

Comment #48862 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 8:21 am

gcdavis
It goes even deeper than that. There have been recorded instances of animals of one species looking after the children of other species when they have been abandoned or their mother has been killed. Even species that would normally be enemies.

411. We of little faith

Comment #48860 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 8:12 am

DejaFu
I am a 3rd Dan Kendoka and 1st Dan Karateka, which is why I know a wee bit about Zen Buddhism. I try to use it to help my concentration, with mixed success of course. )^8

I also studied Japanese culture, history and mythology to try and get an insight into how they think. I even did two language courses so that I could try and make the visiting sensei feel more comfortable when they came to our club. I find it a fascinating society, wide open in some areas, totally repressed in others. Full of contradictions.

412. We of little faith

Comment #48857 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 8:05 am

vinelectric:
You are welcome

bouwe:
sorry, I did get you mixed up with rebel because your post was straight after his. I must be in my dotage.

Rtambree:
yes, I saw that movie too. I did not make the connection that you did, but you are absolutely right. What a shocking affair that is.

After posting my own responses on the Graudain site I read some of the posts from the 'faithful' and, to paraphrase Weinberg:

'Without religion you would have clever people saying clever things and stupid people saying stupid things, but for (apparently) clever people to say totally, braindead, off the wall, stupid things, it takes religion.'

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

Comment #48810 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 5:41 am

gcdavis
I believe that Prof Dawkins has already appeared on TftD. Quite recently I believe.

414. Atheism is the absence of belief

Comment #48807 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 5:35 am

Oh devolved you are so clever. I wish I could think of things to say like that on the spur of the moment. It's a shame that you are talking bollox.

Admit it, there was no man. It was all in your little head. Do you really think that the people in this site are so stupid? This existential argument is as old as the hills.

415. 60 SECONDS: Richard Dawkins

Comment #48790 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 3:55 am

Good, but it is just repeating stuff that is already in TGD. Can't they think of other relevant questions to ask?

416. Dobson and John MacArthur fantasize about the downfall of America

Comment #48789 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 3:46 am

You know a society has been abandoned by god when...

...they start putting meat in their mars bars.

...Take That re-unites for yet another concert.

...Chelsea win the Champions League.

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

Comment #48784 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 3:37 am

Corylus

They need to give up this notion of 'difference'. However, in order to do this they must give up the idea of having exclusive access to truth's provided by God, the notion of "God's chosen people" has to go and the idea that some of us are hell bound and others saved really has to go.

418. We of little faith

Comment #48780 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 3:32 am

Dr Benway, Blair is searching for his legacy just now and will say absolutely anything that he thinks people want to hear. He is only elloquent if you are not prepared to analyse exactly what it is he is saying.

419. We of little faith

Comment #48777 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 3:26 am

Bouwe, it was not zen buddhism which drove the kamikaze, it was militant shinto and emperor worship.

Zen is a personal discipline, it has very little to do with religion and nothing at all to do with deities.

420. We of little faith

Comment #48771 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 3:10 am

I will be writing a very angry letter to my mp to ask him if he thinks it is a good use of public funds to give money to a religious organisation for 'further study'. What the fuck is there to study anyway. I am getting so angry with this government and it's so-called opposition.

421. Teaching assistant quit in protest at Harry Potter

Comment #48770 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 3:04 am

The Wierdstone was my favourite story growing up. The Beeb dramatised it for radio and it enthralled me listening to it. I bought my daughter and son the books and they prefer them to Harry Potter. I even re-read them myself to remind me what was the fascination.

422. Teaching assistant quit in protest at Harry Potter

Comment #48764 by pewkatchoo on June 9, 2007 at 2:37 am

I would ban Harry Potter from being read full stop. It is boring old tat! The works of Alan Garner are much better.

423. Atheism is the absence of belief

Comment #48551 by pewkatchoo on June 8, 2007 at 10:58 am

Thanks Logicel. To be fair I did get some support as well. The only downside is that it raises my profile and it is quite easy for people to find out who I actually am. I don't exactly make a secret of it. This will not stop me from being equally critical in the future. But I do wonder just how far people might take things sometimes.

424. Atheism is the absence of belief

Comment #48537 by pewkatchoo on June 8, 2007 at 9:56 am

It looks like I have stirred up a bit of controversy over at the DT. Poor old Deedsie must be shaking in his shoes with rage.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml;jsessionid=WZUGDOWSFU2YRQFIQMGSFGGAVCBQWIV0?xml=/opinion/2007/06/08/do0803.xml

425. Christopher Hitchens on Religion

Comment #48536 by pewkatchoo on June 8, 2007 at 9:55 am

Excellent stuff there.

426. In Saudi Arabia, a view from behind the veil

Comment #48479 by pewkatchoo on June 8, 2007 at 6:04 am

I agree wholeheartedly with Rtambree. I am going to start a campaign straight away demanding more women with their tops uncovered in public!

427. Don't Know Much Biology

Comment #48249 by pewkatchoo on June 7, 2007 at 7:38 am

Brian try looking here:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/279/5357/1640

Apathy about science and technology seems especially rampant among my fellow Americans, among whom indifference toward scientific understanding is almost considered a badge of honor. A recent National Science Foundation survey showed that less than half of American adults understand that the Earth orbits the sun yearly, only 21 percent can define DNA, and just 9 percent know what a molecule is. Another poll showed that one in seven American adults--roughly 25 million people--could not even locate the United States on an unlabeled world map. NASA administrator Dan Goldin cites a question he received while defending funding for the space agency: "Why are we building meteorological satellites when we have the Weather Channel?"

428. Here Comes the Fourth Musketeer.

Comment #48244 by pewkatchoo on June 7, 2007 at 7:31 am

Philip
Where did you get your copy? I looked in Borders but could not find it. Don't worry, I had a gift voucher so no need to spend any real money, ye ken.

429. Don't Know Much Biology

Comment #48241 by pewkatchoo on June 7, 2007 at 7:22 am

Philip
If you visit my website www.pukiemon.com, you could pretty much work out where I come from. I thought that 'pewkatchoo' was a bit of a giveaway too.

430. Don't Know Much Biology

Comment #48227 by pewkatchoo on June 7, 2007 at 6:03 am

Philip
I am a Brit too, Scots to be precise. I have sent emails to my MP about his parties plan, I live in a Tory area, to introduce creationist science in schools and have asked for a full explanation of their position. I have also told him that I am against the establishment of any further faith schools and want to know what his parties stance is on this too.

I agree with you about the other lot, but don't shout about it to loud as we have quite a few people in here who think they are wonderful. Even atheists can be delusional (^8.

431. Pell plans fidelity oath for principals

Comment #48214 by pewkatchoo on June 7, 2007 at 4:04 am

Logicel summed it up pretty much for me. All the way backwards to the Inquisition.

432. God is not responsible for war and suffering

Comment #48209 by pewkatchoo on June 7, 2007 at 3:49 am

A truly awful article. How is it possible that a journal calling itself The Australian can carry something like this? Stuff like this demeans Oz!

433. Don't Know Much Biology

Comment #48206 by pewkatchoo on June 7, 2007 at 3:44 am

Devastating! Clear, incisive rebuttal of everything that the creationist lobby stands for. Jerry Coyne is right, we should be very worried if our elected representatives have these viewpoints.

If they win, we should weep for the probable passing of mankind.

434. Atheism is pretentious and cowardly

Comment #48105 by pewkatchoo on June 6, 2007 at 3:50 pm

Philos, you are talking as much nonsense as the original poster.

435. Atheism is pretentious and cowardly

Comment #48103 by pewkatchoo on June 6, 2007 at 3:46 pm

Who exactly is this guy arguing with. It sounds as if he is arguing with himself. I lost him after the 2nd paragraph. What is my problem with religion? Everything. It insults my intelligence. It holds the human race in slavery to a bunch of charlatans. It is total excruciatingly painful bollox. Will that do?

436. Hamas Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony

Comment #48049 by pewkatchoo on June 6, 2007 at 12:06 pm

Rtambree, you invoked godwin's law. Mentioning the nazis is a no-no so you lost the argument. Sorry but that is an absolute. Nice try to try and turn it round on me though.

437. Religion and Child Abuse

Comment #48046 by pewkatchoo on June 6, 2007 at 11:51 am

Bizarro said

You must have a very, very peculiar definition of child of abuse. I was raised in a Christian home, but strangely (according to your theories on child abuse) I suffer from no psychological trauma or mental defects.

438. Hamas Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony

Comment #48045 by pewkatchoo on June 6, 2007 at 11:42 am

Oops, you were right Brian. It is me that was confused. These 3 way conversations are tricky. I do wish that this site was more easy to navigate back and fore.

439. Hamas Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony

Comment #48044 by pewkatchoo on June 6, 2007 at 11:38 am

Brian said

I've no trouble agreeing with all of that, except your conclusion. Surely those devoid of power, and then blown up be warplanes are as much innocent victims as isrealis blown up on buses?

440. Hamas Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony

Comment #48043 by pewkatchoo on June 6, 2007 at 11:32 am

Er no it wasn't, it was Rtambree! I think we are getting confused here.

441. Hamas Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony

Comment #48038 by pewkatchoo on June 6, 2007 at 11:20 am

You asked me what it would take. I told you. I am sorry if you think I am being unfair, but then life is unfair. But you twisted what I said anyway. I didn't say anything about all Palestinians speaking with one voice. I was referring to what passes for their leaders, and you know that. Nor does it matter if all Israel speaks with one voice of peace. If their leaders do then that is enough.

And that is the last I am going to say on the matter because you invoked Godwin's law, which shows the level of your irrationality on this subject.

442. Hamas Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony

Comment #48026 by pewkatchoo on June 6, 2007 at 10:34 am

Brian, for sure not every Palestinian is in love with death, though Islam certainly seems to promote it to levels that other religions do not. However, they peaceful ones are not the ones that have the power. Just look at those kids if you have problems accepting this. What would it take for me to side with the Palestinians. That is easy, if they were to revoke the position that they want to destroy totally the state of Israel and that they made it clear that they wanted to find a peaceful solution to the problem. But they are not prepared to do this at present and I can not foresee any time in the future when they will. That is pure pragmatism on my part.

Rtambree, you are now being ridiculous and have invoked Godwins law by mentioning the nazis. You have therefore closed the argument.

443. Hamas Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony

Comment #48011 by pewkatchoo on June 6, 2007 at 9:09 am

I, like many others, have followed this situation over the years. So far as I can see when the Israelis offered over 90 percent of everything that the Palestinians stated that they wanted and they subsequently turned it down, preferring to revert to violence, was the day that I lost all sympathy for them and their cult of death. I think you are backing a losing horse there.

444. Hamas Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony

Comment #47996 by pewkatchoo on June 6, 2007 at 8:16 am

I have to admit, reviewing this debate between RTambree and just about everyone else, I find it difficult to understand exactly what is your point. It seems to me that you are being a mite irrational, something that I don't normally associate with you to be sure.

I guess we all have our weak points, but I don't see this discussion going anywhere. You have got yourself involved in a totally circular argument.

What is needed is for a change of perspective on both sides, and this is never going to come about. It certainly won't as long as the palestinians think that teaching infants to hate and kill their neighbours is the right thing to do. However, bearing in mind that Israel is a mostly secular (or at least scientific) society, they surely should be the ones receiving your support.

445. Hamas Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony

Comment #47655 by pewkatchoo on June 5, 2007 at 7:18 am

I hear they are going to produce a fundie version called GI Jehosophat!

446. Debate between Richard Dawkins and Robert Winston

Comment #47637 by pewkatchoo on June 5, 2007 at 5:42 am

NMcC, nice one! I support a campaign to remove RE from British schools.

447. Hamas Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony

Comment #47596 by pewkatchoo on June 5, 2007 at 3:41 am

howtoplayalone. Well said.

448. Hamas Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony

Comment #47595 by pewkatchoo on June 5, 2007 at 3:38 am

Oh please Corylus and others. Kids play with lots of things. I used to play cowboys and indians and war games when I was a kid. Eventually you simply throw off childish things. There is a lot more violence and intimidation by kids nowadays than there was back in my childhood. Buying toy guns for boys has been frowned on since the 70s, and behaviour has got worse since. So there does not seem to be any connection between childhood games and behaviour. Unless of course you think it is all the fault of video games. Bah humbug.

449. Atheism in America

Comment #47383 by pewkatchoo on June 4, 2007 at 9:39 am

The video is no longer available on Youtube. Guess the religites campaigned for it's removal.

450. The Dawkins delusion

Comment #47373 by pewkatchoo on June 4, 2007 at 9:08 am

chamber, now all you have to do is learn how to write! Don't think that evolution will help out there though!