Paul ’s Comments (group member since Sep 12, 2010)

Paul ’s comments from the Atheists and Skeptics group.

An interesting question. I don' think there's a market in the same way that there is for christian fiction - where there is a whole oeuvre with the sole (soul?) intent of feeding that audience - but I think it can, and does, play a central part in a lot of fiction (aside from the mass of fiction that is secular in that religion doesn't even figure in it). A couple of my personal favourite authors that take deliberate swipes at religion and magical thinking are Iain Banks and Christopher Brookmyre (both Scots, oddly enough...). Of especial interest are Surface Detail, Not The End Of The World and Attack Of The Unsinkable Rubber Ducks

The Devil's in the Detail looks intriguing, I think I'll have to check it out. Good luck!

Reminds me of a quote referenced by Hitchens. Someone had said "America has no king but Jesus" and Hitch's response was "Two words too many".

The Phelps crew are publicity whores, plain and simple. To quote the late, great comedian Linda Smith "I'm not happy about these people having the oxygen of publicity - I'm not that chuffed about them having the oxygen of oxygen."

By definition all psychics are either delusional or - as in the case of Sylvia Brown - deliberate frauds. In either case, though, they prey on credulity and grief.

Adrian wrote: "I don't know, I think I smell a troll."

Frighteningly, I think it seems genuine...

What a hateful piece of shit. And attempting to make money from his insane nastiness makes in even worse, like those morons with the pork-infused "anti-muslim" bullets

http://digitaljournal.com/article/352912

Holy crap, just heard this mentioned on a comedy show - but it's actually real! Perhaps they ought to market it to a country surrounded by unfriendly Muslims; Israel. Oh, wait...

I was fortunate enough to see Krauss give this lecture earlier this year at the QED con in Manchester. He is a good writer, but an excellent speaker. I keep meaning to look up one of his debates with Brian Greene. They distinctly disagree on certain key issues - largely whether string theory is actually relevant.

(If you haven't read it, I'd recommend Greene's The Fabric of the Cosmos as one of the best popular physics books I have ever come across).

Rod wrote: ""Why insist on kindness? Does the universe and life in general demand or concern itself with this?"
What if people don't want kindness? Why is that bad or unacceptable? Does nature care? Is the universe better or worse off? "

Precisely because nature or the universe has no sense of justice or fairness. We are here and we are able to make choices. We are able to ease suffering and to help others. Indeed, it makes us feel good to do so, no doubt an evolutionary trait that developed to aid cooperation. We see it in many other animals, too.

And we have another one. Carey almost writes these himself.

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/so...

Two good responses:

http://humanism.org.uk/2013/03/30/bha...

http://newsthump.com/2013/03/30/lord-...

He's actually starting to sound like one of the nuts they have in the US. Fortunately over here they aren't getting much support.

I'm absolutely sure that he'll accept the evidence and court judgement... ahem.

MadgeUK wrote: "He did walk out. Here is the Guardian report:-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2..."

According to reports from Maryam Namazie he was enticed back when the three guys who had sat in the women's section were let be.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/maryamnam...

This really shocked me, I can't believe UCL let them do that. I wish Krauss had walked out rather than been talked around, but it was a horrible situation to be in. When it was apparent that the organisers were asking for 'gender' as part of the ticket info the event should've been cancelled by the uni. I'm amazed the Student Union didn't picket it. We can be too bloody meek sometimes.

I'm hardly one to defend the monarchy (or this government), but it is a difficult tightrope to walk. I absolutely think they SHOULD have specifically included discrimination on grounds of sexuality, but I can understand why that was omitted. I do wonder if her role as head of the church is at least as much of an issue.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/...

Nice little article about John Sweeney and his famous run in with the scientology nuts back in 2007. I am very tempted to get his new book about them.

I do disagree with the article slightly; the author singles scientology out as being dishonest about their beliefs when recruiting; almost all religions hide or downplay the more bizarre claims of their scriptures. Scientology is just more deliberately dishonest and aggressive about it.

I remember when I first grappled with this, as a child. "If everything has to be created, who created god?" only to be told that god is eternal. I didn't understand the concept of special pleading, but it was obviously an inadequate answer.

What I really love about this video is how it equates god's lack of belief in his creator with the atheist.

I do like DarkMatter's stuff, and this is a good one.

Nice. As is said, number two is too often overlooked. The reason the 'Golden Rule' is faulty; "Do unto others as you would have them do to you" should be re-written "Do unto others as you think they would have you do to them."

Of course, much of this can be summed up in The One True Commandment:

TRY NOT TO BE A DICK.