tagged w/ Dawkins
-
"There was surprise when Prof Dawkins acknowledged that he was less than 100 per cent certain of his conviction that there is no creator.
The philosopher Sir Anthony Kenny, who chaired the discussion, interjected: “Why don’t you call yourself an agnostic?” Prof Dawkins answered that he did.
An incredulous Sir Anthony replied: “You are described as the world’s most famous atheist.”"There was surprise when Prof Dawkins acknowledged that he was less than 100 per... more
-
-
(following article is bullshit but worth forwarding)
One cold spring day in London, as I crossed the bustling square at Piccadilly Circus, I looked left instead of right (a typical American tourist) and was nearly run down by a careening double-decker bus with a flash of letters emblazoned along its side:
THERE'S PROBABLY NO GOD. NOW STOP WORRYING AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE.
The slogan is now ubiquitous and not only in London. When I first saw it I laughed, amused that atheists in the UK were miming propaganda techniques perfected by evangelical groups in the US, whose billboards dot the American landscape ("Having truth decay? Brush up on your Bible!"). I likely would have thought no more of it had not a friend informed me that the driving force behind the London bus ads was none other than the dean of the so-called "new atheists"--Darwin's Rottweiler, himself--Richard Dawkins. If you are wondering what an esteemed evolutionary biologist and respected Oxford University professor is doing placing billboards around London proselytizing atheism, you are not alone.(following article is bullshit but worth forwarding)
One cold spring day in London,... more
-
-
RICHARD DAWKINS, the atheist campaigner, is planning a legal ambush to have the Pope arrested during his state visit to Britain “for crimes against humanity”.
Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author, have asked human rights lawyers to produce a case for charging Pope Benedict XVI over his alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic church.
The pair believe they can exploit the same legal principle used to arrest Augusto Pinochet, the late Chilean dictator, when he visited Britain in 1998.
The Pope was embroiled in new controversy this weekend over a letter he signed arguing that the “good of the universal church” should be considered against the defrocking of an American priest who committed sex offences against two boys. It was dated 1985, when he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases.
Benedict will be in Britain between September 16 and 19, visiting London, Glasgow and Coventry, where he will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, the 19th-century theologian.
Dawkins and Hitchens believe the Pope would be unable to claim diplomatic immunity from arrest because, although his tour is categorised as a state visit, he is not the head of a state recognised by the United Nations.
They have commissioned the barrister Geoffrey Robertson and Mark Stephens, a solicitor, to present a justification for legal action.
The lawyers believe they can ask the Crown Prosecution Service to initiate criminal proceedings against the Pope, launch their own civil action against him or refer his case to the International Criminal Court.
Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, said: “This is a man whose first instinct when his priests are caught with their pants down is to cover up the scandal and damn the young victims to silence.”
Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great, said: “This man is not above or outside the law. The institutionalised concealment of child rape is a crime under any law and demands not private ceremonies of repentance or church-funded payoffs, but justice and punishment."
Last year pro-Palestinian activists persuaded a British judge to issue an arrest warrant for Tzipi Livni, the Israeli politician, for offences allegedly committed during the 2008-09 conflict in Gaza. The warrant was withdrawn after Livni cancelled her planned trip to the UK.
“There is every possibility of legal action against the Pope occurring,” said Stephens. “Geoffrey and I have both come to the view that the Vatican is not actually a state in international law. It is not recognised by the UN, it does not have borders that are policed and its relations are not of a full diplomatic nature.”RICHARD DAWKINS, the atheist campaigner, is planning a legal ambush to have the Pope... more
-
-
Dan About Town Episode 2 Season 1 Segment 2. Dan goes online and becomes an honorary member of the GoGreen Squad (G - G - WHAT?!) He enlists the help of his friend, Malia, who travels with him to a local park and make sure some unsuspecting folks were aware of their detrimental environmental practices.Dan About Town Episode 2 Season 1 Segment 2. Dan goes online and becomes an honorary... more
-
-
Ok, I think this guy is a joke, but I couldn't resist posting this article. Atheists will chuckle while Christians will nod sagely over Mr. Comfort's 'wisdom'. Enjoy!
"I found over the last year, when I said an atheist is someone who believes nothing created everything, they go berserk and say, 'We don't believe that,'" said Comfort, co-host of "The Way of the Master" television show with actor Kirk Cameron and the head of Bellflower, Calif.-based Living Waters ministry.
But Comfort insists atheists clearly believe nothing created everything.
"All you have to do," Comfort told WND, "is push them into a corner and say, 'So, you're an atheist?' 'Yep.' 'So you believe that nothing created everything, a scientific impossibility?' And they'll say, 'Well, no.' 'So you believe something created everything?' And they say, 'Well, yeah. Something did, obviously.' 'So you're not an atheist?' 'OK, I'm not an atheist.'
"'This something you believe created everything," Comfort continued, "do you think it was intelligent? I mean, could you create a bird or a flower or a tree or a blade of grass from nothing?' And they'll say, 'No, I can't do that.' 'Well, is this something you believe created everything intelligent?' And they'll say, 'Obviously.' And I'll say, 'Congratulations, you've just become an anti-science, knuckle-dragger in the eyes of our learning institutions, because you believe in intelligent design.'"
To help make the point in his book, Comfort culled quotes from leading scientists who believe "nothing created everything," including British biologist and unofficial leader of the popular atheist movement, Richard Dawkins.
Dawkins, in his 2004 book "The Ancestor's Tale" wrote, "The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved literally out of nothing, is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice."
Among others, Comfort cites physicist Robert A.J. Matthews of Ashton University in England, who wrote, "It is now becoming clear that everything can – and probably did – come from nothing."
American physicist Paul Davies of Arizona State University wrote, "Even if we don't have a precise idea of exactly what took place at the beginning, we can at least see that the origin of the universe from nothing need not be unlawful or unnatural or unscientific."
"The whole thought that nothing created everything is an intellectual embarrassment for atheists," Comfort told WND.
He writes in his book: "There's no way to say it kindly, but such thoughts show that the atheist doesn't think, and proves the Bible right when it says that the fool has said in his heart that there is no God.
"All you have to do is present unbiased facts about the unscientific and unthinking nature of atheistic evolution, and then watch people change their minds."
As WND reported, Comfort offered $20,000 to Dawkins to debate him on BBC radio, but the British scientist has not responded.
Comfort noted, however, Dawkins has offered his estimation of him, which graces the cover of "Nothing Created Everything."
"[Ray Comfort] is an ignorant fool," Dawkins said.
"He gave me a special condemnation for my book," Comfort remarked, "which is delightful."
But Comfort said his ultimate concern is for Dawkins' soul.
"Now that he's in his 60s, it won't be long until he goes to meet his maker," Comfort said. "And I want him to think deeply before he passes into eternity, because he is of worth to God and to me."Ok, I think this guy is a joke, but I couldn't resist posting this article.... more
-
-
The Alabama Freethought Association (AFA) doesn't like the sound of "retreat". They call their convivial annual gathering at Lake Hypatia an "advance". The 2009 schedule promised an atheists vs agnostics softball game, a ceremony honouring atheists in foxholes, paddleboats, music, cartoons, and barbecue.
Lake Hypatia is named for the Alexandrian scientist and philosopher murdered by a Christian mob in 415 CE, who has become an unofficial secular martyr. (There being no official secular martyr-selection procedure.) It's by Talladega National Forest. The state considers it Lake Joan, but the AFA sign on County Road 303 says Lake Hypatia. ("Joan ... of Arc?" I asked. "No, probably the developer's sister.")
Arriving on Friday, I found a registration table in the shade outside Southern Freethought Hall. On one side a cheerful blonde was saying, "I was raised p'lyg." On the other a dark-haired woman marveled, "Until a year ago I never knew an atheist. I thought they were all mean hateful people."
The AFA is a chapter of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), based in liberal Madison, Wisconsin. They've been holding the Advance since 1991. It attracts 100-200 people, mostly from the South, many from communities where strong religious norms treat atheism as unthinkable and despicable. At the advance, nonbelief provokes neither shock nor outrage. The 2009 Advance included atheists who were once Black Hebrew, Catholic, Episcopal, Jehovah's Witness, Methodist, Mormon, Pentecostal, Southern Baptist, or United Brethren church members. Or pastors.The Alabama Freethought Association (AFA) doesn't like the sound of... more
-
-
If you're a fan of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the gospel of Pastafarianism, then you have to love what's going on in Crossville, Tenn.
Members of the Crossville, Tennessee chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster sought and received approval to install a statue of the Flying Spaghetti Monster outside the city's courthouse.
(Credit: Ariel Safdie)
There, as I discovered today on Laughing Squid, some members of the local chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster have gotten city approval to erect a statue of "His Noodly Appendage" outside the local courthouse.
I talked briefly by phone Monday with Ariel Safdie, one of the local chapter members involved with building and installing the statue, and she said that for her and her fellow members, the issue involved in building the statue and seeking and acquiring approval to install it wasn't about religion, but about freedom of speech.
That seems perfectly appropriate to me, since the whole point of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is to make the point--via free speech--that if communities are going to give credence to one theory of the origins of life in their schools, then they also have to give credence to others.
Safdie and others applied for permission to install their statue, and it was granted by the city of Crossville.If you're a fan of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the gospel of Pastafarianism,... more
-
