Karen watched this video with some fundies at a seminar. They thought is was positive towards religion. Karen thought is was accusing religion. It was a good indication of the internal filter at work. Fantastic video. :)
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Holes in scientific theories.
Fundies say that there are to many holes in scientific theory. Jeffrey Kluger says:
"A fishnet is made up of a lot more holes than strings, but you can't therefore argue that the net doesn't exist. Just ask the fish."
From:
This vid is dealing with the alleged dishonesty of Ben Stein's Expelled
"A fishnet is made up of a lot more holes than strings, but you can't therefore argue that the net doesn't exist. Just ask the fish."
From:
This vid is dealing with the alleged dishonesty of Ben Stein's Expelled
The Bible's flat Earth
The Bible's flat Earth Wouldn't an omnipotent god have mentioned an important thing like: the world is a sphere.
Another link:
And another:
Another link:
And another:
Dawkins - Religious labelling of children.
Dawkins discusses the religious labelling of children. The child is not a christian child, the child is a child of christian parents. Likewise, the child is not an atheist child but a child of atheist parents.
Bible Quotes.
It doesn't matter if these things are taken in context or out of context, you cannot tell me that human morality is based on this nonsense.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Christian love in email form.
Dawkins reads some hate mail from christians. If this is the kind of being good that religion teaches, I'm glad to have no part of it.
Intelligent falling vs the THEORY of gravity
If fundies want to put intelligent design up as a competing theory to evolution then intelligent falling has to be put us as a competing theory to gravity.
The Onion:
The Onion:
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Religion teaching people how to be good, the Israeli army way.
Some soldiers in the Israeli army are coming forward about their orders and actions in the latest Gaza war. They are telling stories of unarmed women and children being shot by heavily armed soldiers. Is this religion teaching people how to be good. The very thing that religious people accuse atheists of is the very thing that they condone and do, freely, willingly and all too regularly.
This is a big case of the school yard adage: What you say is what you are.
NY Times article:
This is a big case of the school yard adage: What you say is what you are.
NY Times article:
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Pastor gets caught trolling at UnreasonableFaith.com
A pastor has been on boards pretending to be an atheist on Unreasonable Faith. What gave it away was his posts containing the kinds of stupid statements that are normally attributed to atheists by fundy nutbags.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
IDiots
The only debate on Intelligent Design that is worthy of its subject.
IDiots always want to debate. This format would work well for me.
IDiots always want to debate. This format would work well for me.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
What if all the atheists left America?
Some stats on what America would look like if all the atheists left. Expelling all the atheists is something often called for by Fundy nutjobs.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Conservatives are lapping up the porn.
Conservative states are the staple of the porn industry... as if we didn't all know this!!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Humour
Top 10 Reasons Why Beer Is Better Than Jesus
10. No one will kill you for not drinking Beer.
9. Beer doesn't tell you how to have sex.
8. Beer has never caused a major war.
7. They don't force Beer on minors who can't think for themselves.
6. When you have Beer, you don't knock on people's doors trying to make them drink it.
5. Nobody's ever been burned at the stake, hanged, or tortured over their brand of Beer.
4. You don't have to wait more than 2,000 years for a second Beer.
3. There are laws saying that Beer labels can't lie to you.
2. If you've devoted your life to Beer, there are groups to help you stop.
1. You can prove you have a Beer.
10. No one will kill you for not drinking Beer.
9. Beer doesn't tell you how to have sex.
8. Beer has never caused a major war.
7. They don't force Beer on minors who can't think for themselves.
6. When you have Beer, you don't knock on people's doors trying to make them drink it.
5. Nobody's ever been burned at the stake, hanged, or tortured over their brand of Beer.
4. You don't have to wait more than 2,000 years for a second Beer.
3. There are laws saying that Beer labels can't lie to you.
2. If you've devoted your life to Beer, there are groups to help you stop.
1. You can prove you have a Beer.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Third Knox teacher charged with sex abuse
Third Knox teacher charged with sex abuse.
Another teacher charged over sexual abuse allegations from Anglican school, Knox. Don't have to look any further if you want a good example of how Christianity teaches people to be good. These leaders of the Christian community are accused of terrible crimes. Were they all atheists hiding out in the religious education system?
Another teacher charged over sexual abuse allegations from Anglican school, Knox. Don't have to look any further if you want a good example of how Christianity teaches people to be good. These leaders of the Christian community are accused of terrible crimes. Were they all atheists hiding out in the religious education system?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
GetUp's Save the Internet campaign
GetUp's Save the Internet campaign is still going. It must have prickled Clive Hamilton by the look of his attack on GetUp in this AustralianIT article.
They say: "Without God, how would we know how to be good?"
How do we know how to be good without God? I think that our morality and social rules have evolved. Religion has co-opted these social rules.
Anyway, what happens if the rules all disappear? I have a couple of examples:
. Japan and Scaninavian countries have abandoned religion but anarchy hasn't ensued.
. The Dutch town of Drachten removed all of its road signs but traffic chaos has not ensued. In fact, in Bohmpt, Germany, things have gotten better with less crashes and more polite sharing. There are only two rules: stay under 30mph and give way to anything to your right be it a bike, a pram or a vehicle. Easy :)
So, what's going on? Without clear commandments, why don't people just run wild? I think that people pull their heads in when they don't know that they are in the right. If you feel that ideas you get are pre-approved by an omniscient being you will carry them forward, right or wrong.
Anyway, what happens if the rules all disappear? I have a couple of examples:
. Japan and Scaninavian countries have abandoned religion but anarchy hasn't ensued.
. The Dutch town of Drachten removed all of its road signs but traffic chaos has not ensued. In fact, in Bohmpt, Germany, things have gotten better with less crashes and more polite sharing. There are only two rules: stay under 30mph and give way to anything to your right be it a bike, a pram or a vehicle. Easy :)
So, what's going on? Without clear commandments, why don't people just run wild? I think that people pull their heads in when they don't know that they are in the right. If you feel that ideas you get are pre-approved by an omniscient being you will carry them forward, right or wrong.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Mark Twain's description of the book of Mormon
The book is a curiosity to me, it is such a pretentious affair, and yet so ’slow,’ so sleepy; such an insipid mess of inspiration. It is chloroform in print. If Joseph Smith composed this book, the act was a miracle — keeping awake while he did it was, at any rate. If he, according to tradition, merely translated it from certain ancient and mysteriously-engraved plates of copper, which he declares he found under a stone, in an out-of-the-way locality, the work of translating was equally a miracle, for the same reason.
I'm gonna call this agressive evangelising.
This guy held a woman captive, hand cuffed in an adult diaper, reading the bible to her. Watch those fundies, you never know how far they'll go.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Proposition 8 supporters
Because the proposition 8 campaign was a political movement donations over USD100 had to be recorded on public record. eightmaps.com have converted that list into a map to help normal people to avoid such nutjobs.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Good arguements:
When you're abused for being an atheist because Hitler was an atheist these are your arguements.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
ID fundies at it again.
The ID fundies are at it again in Florida this time. After ten court cases dismissing ID as religion they are ready to give it another run through.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Polls
Polls seem to attract the terminally stupid, or is that being too hopeful. Perhaps people really are this stupid. This Guradian (UK) article indicates 12% of Britons believe the bible to be the literal truth. The Telegraph (UK) gives a little more detail including the Archbishop of Canterbury's amusing accusation that Dawkins is evolving into a "very simple kind of thinker". This from a theist. Theists can't see the world in black and white quickly enough.
Friday, January 30, 2009
WTF
The Israeli army showed us its loving god through its wholesale slaughter of cage Zoo animals. This pregnant camel was deliberately shot with a rocket. Other animals were shot with small arms in their cages.
Christian Nazis
Archive footage of Christian Nazis. Before theists accuse atheists of being Nazis they should understand that Hitler was elected by a Christian country. He didn't suddenly become a Nazi. He didn't take power by forse. His policies were acceptable to Christians.
Theists. Watch this video.
Watch this video. This guy says that the earth is flat because it says so in the Koran. This is now dumb you sound to me when you make claims about how the world is based on your bible.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Carbon Dating
Eric Lyons M.Min. sets out his arguments against carbon dating. He sets up his straw man well then burns it to the ground thinking that this proves the Young Earth Creationist theory.
Where did he go wrong? PotHoler54 answers all of his questions.
Of particular interest is the Hugh Miller carbon dating incident as told by the two parties above. Hugh Miller sent fossilized dinosaur bones in for carbon dating. Fossilized dinosaur bones cannot be carbon dated because all of the carbon is gone from them. This is just the wrong measure so it cannot give any meaningful results.
However, these bones had a preserving resin coating applied to them by man. So, the sample, being a combination of relatively new resin and carbon14 free, fossilized dinosaur bones came up with an age of 15000 - 20000 years. This is an average age between the bones and the resin.
For Young Earthers this was the knock down argument for evolution. For them, if evolution is wrong, creationism must be right. For me, if evolution was disproved right now it would not make creationism more likely. They are not competing scientific arguments. Why would Christian creationism or Intelligent Design be more valid than the Australian Aboriginal's Rainbow Serpent creation hypothesis?
How is this different to science? Miller was looking for a result. He worked out how to get it. According to potholer54, he could have gotten the same result by smearing jam on a dinosaur bone. The jam would introduce carbon14 to the sample and skew the results towards a much younger date. Science looks at results to see if they fit into scientific theory. If they don't fit into scientific theory they put both the test and the theory to the test. They don't just yawn and pull an old theory out of the draw and say: 'Well, I suppose this one will do.' They aren't just trying to keep the punters happy.
In this case it would be just as valid (totally invalid) to say that the resin on the bones was 15000 - 20000 years old and that this disproved the entire bible story that man was created 6000 years ago because man makes resin. It's a dumb argument designed to impress dumb people into tithing. They use these straw man arguments because they work on theists.
Where did he go wrong? PotHoler54 answers all of his questions.
Of particular interest is the Hugh Miller carbon dating incident as told by the two parties above. Hugh Miller sent fossilized dinosaur bones in for carbon dating. Fossilized dinosaur bones cannot be carbon dated because all of the carbon is gone from them. This is just the wrong measure so it cannot give any meaningful results.
However, these bones had a preserving resin coating applied to them by man. So, the sample, being a combination of relatively new resin and carbon14 free, fossilized dinosaur bones came up with an age of 15000 - 20000 years. This is an average age between the bones and the resin.
For Young Earthers this was the knock down argument for evolution. For them, if evolution is wrong, creationism must be right. For me, if evolution was disproved right now it would not make creationism more likely. They are not competing scientific arguments. Why would Christian creationism or Intelligent Design be more valid than the Australian Aboriginal's Rainbow Serpent creation hypothesis?
How is this different to science? Miller was looking for a result. He worked out how to get it. According to potholer54, he could have gotten the same result by smearing jam on a dinosaur bone. The jam would introduce carbon14 to the sample and skew the results towards a much younger date. Science looks at results to see if they fit into scientific theory. If they don't fit into scientific theory they put both the test and the theory to the test. They don't just yawn and pull an old theory out of the draw and say: 'Well, I suppose this one will do.' They aren't just trying to keep the punters happy.
In this case it would be just as valid (totally invalid) to say that the resin on the bones was 15000 - 20000 years old and that this disproved the entire bible story that man was created 6000 years ago because man makes resin. It's a dumb argument designed to impress dumb people into tithing. They use these straw man arguments because they work on theists.
Teen Rape Case - SMH
This SMH article tells of 7 boys around 16 raping a 13 year old repeatedly.
So, the happy clappers are gonna be after the pornographers again.
However, for me, there is a hint. I know I am reading between the lines a lot here. But if my theist oponents ignore the rule that correlation does not imply causation then I'll join in and be intuitive. One of the kids was not permitted by his parents to recieve school based sex education prior to the event. For me that equals happy-clapper parents. Secular parents want their children to have real information as they need it to deal with real world situations as they encounter them.
How would real sex education have helped here?
. If these kids had know what rape was one of them might have seen that this was wrong and said something or just gone home. I bet each parent of the boys wishes their boy had walk away and rung the police.
. She would have know that she was out of her depth and that 16 year old boys have just one thing on their minds.
. Did they use condoms? Is she pregnant? This situation is bad enough without this poor girl having to life with the repercussions of this forever.
How religion primed society and these boys for this event:
. Christianity says that a girl who steps into any situation and is raped did the wrong thing. It says that she should have been more careful. The blame is pushed onto the victim. Islam does this more - thus the bhurka.
. Religions tell their members that others are of less worth than their fellow flock members. This xenophobia justifies rape of 'the other'.
. Women are second class citizens to theists. Made from a rib to keep men company, rib woman gets what she diserves.
. Men are instilled with a sense of entitlement to women's bodies - just look at traditional wedding vows.
. Women brought sin into the world (the snake/apple affair) so they get what they deserve.
. With a black and white attitude towards the world theists will stoop to depravity when they fall from grace - in for a pound, in for a penny. The idea that a fall from grace is a complete fall is what leads many Catholic girls into prostitution.
. Once a woman has fallen from grace she is worthless. For these boys she probably got what she diserved because she went on a date with one of them.
Football teaches young men the wrong thing too.
. Again, a sense of entitlement.
. The message is that if you are good enough, you'll get away with it. Our society seeks to be like its idols by wearing the same brand shoes or shirt and raping girls in the same manner.
. Football teaches that might is right.
Christianity has had 2000 years to make the society it says it can make. It is no closer today than it ever has been. Society wasn't safe when they had enough power to burn you to death or drown you for disagreeing with them. The problems and threats were just different. We only give politicians a few years to show that their policies are working then we dump them. Why have we stuck this this crap for so long? Is it because we want to believe their lies?
If you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
So, the happy clappers are gonna be after the pornographers again.
However, for me, there is a hint. I know I am reading between the lines a lot here. But if my theist oponents ignore the rule that correlation does not imply causation then I'll join in and be intuitive. One of the kids was not permitted by his parents to recieve school based sex education prior to the event. For me that equals happy-clapper parents. Secular parents want their children to have real information as they need it to deal with real world situations as they encounter them.
How would real sex education have helped here?
. If these kids had know what rape was one of them might have seen that this was wrong and said something or just gone home. I bet each parent of the boys wishes their boy had walk away and rung the police.
. She would have know that she was out of her depth and that 16 year old boys have just one thing on their minds.
. Did they use condoms? Is she pregnant? This situation is bad enough without this poor girl having to life with the repercussions of this forever.
How religion primed society and these boys for this event:
. Christianity says that a girl who steps into any situation and is raped did the wrong thing. It says that she should have been more careful. The blame is pushed onto the victim. Islam does this more - thus the bhurka.
. Religions tell their members that others are of less worth than their fellow flock members. This xenophobia justifies rape of 'the other'.
. Women are second class citizens to theists. Made from a rib to keep men company, rib woman gets what she diserves.
. Men are instilled with a sense of entitlement to women's bodies - just look at traditional wedding vows.
. Women brought sin into the world (the snake/apple affair) so they get what they deserve.
. With a black and white attitude towards the world theists will stoop to depravity when they fall from grace - in for a pound, in for a penny. The idea that a fall from grace is a complete fall is what leads many Catholic girls into prostitution.
. Once a woman has fallen from grace she is worthless. For these boys she probably got what she diserved because she went on a date with one of them.
Football teaches young men the wrong thing too.
. Again, a sense of entitlement.
. The message is that if you are good enough, you'll get away with it. Our society seeks to be like its idols by wearing the same brand shoes or shirt and raping girls in the same manner.
. Football teaches that might is right.
Christianity has had 2000 years to make the society it says it can make. It is no closer today than it ever has been. Society wasn't safe when they had enough power to burn you to death or drown you for disagreeing with them. The problems and threats were just different. We only give politicians a few years to show that their policies are working then we dump them. Why have we stuck this this crap for so long? Is it because we want to believe their lies?
If you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
Theist misconceptions
Atheists have to moral compass:
. My moral compass is based on Secular Humanism.
. I don't need supernatural threats to be nice to people.
. Reciprocity is a human trait co-opted by religion.
Atheists are more prone to criminality:
. Prison populations show higher religosity than society overall.
. Atheists don't have a supernatural forgiver of sins. We have to forgive ourselves.
. Atheists don't have a devil to blame. We have to take reponsibility for our actions.
. Atheists only get one life and don't want to waste it in gaol.
Atheists worship self:
. I don't even know what that means. It sounds like religious mumbo jumbo so it just gets ignored.
. I don't worship anything. Worshipping is for theists.
Atheists are too few to effect real change in the world:
. Keep telling yourself that if it gives you comfort.
Atheists fear death because they have no heaven to go to:
. Theists have constructed an imaginary world to avoid having to face their own deaths. This is a product of fear.
Atheists are selfish:
. Freecycle's Atheist, Agnostic and Freethinkers group has lent the most money of all the groups including the Christians.
. Again, this is religion co-opting positive human actions and attributing them to their own faiths.
. Their motivation for altruism is to curry favour with their god. I don't have a heaven that will repay me for good deeds so my altruistic actions are much more generous because I don't expect repayment.
Atheists are stupid. They just cannot see the real world.
. We think the same thing. We say: "They beleive what...?"
. Religion is all black and white. So theists can answer questions in ridgid, dogmatic ways but they rarely give much thought to topics.
. They are asleep.
. Freethinkers - they just sound smart.
. Theists are just so closed minded. How can you learn with a closed mind.
There are no atheists in foxholes:
. at first I took this as a compliment. Atheists are rarely sucked into religious wars.
. after a while I was led to understand that this was an accusation of cowardous.
. the Military Acsociation of Atheists and Freethinkers will have an issue with this.
Atheists are imaginary. God doesn't believe in Atheists, so they don't exist.
. Prove it.
Atheists are just lazy, they just want to stay in bed on Sundays:
. Theists are lazy, they just don't want to think.
. I don't really sleep any later on Sundays.
Evolution/Science is a religion:
. I just don't get this.
. You're not allowed to just make up new definitions of words.
. Science makes astoundingly accurate predictions. Religions don't even try to make predictions they just retrospectively justify dusty old books and power structures.
Atheists hate God and we're just being rebellious by denying His existence...
. He doesn't exist so how can I hate him?
. My moral compass is based on Secular Humanism.
. I don't need supernatural threats to be nice to people.
. Reciprocity is a human trait co-opted by religion.
Atheists are more prone to criminality:
. Prison populations show higher religosity than society overall.
. Atheists don't have a supernatural forgiver of sins. We have to forgive ourselves.
. Atheists don't have a devil to blame. We have to take reponsibility for our actions.
. Atheists only get one life and don't want to waste it in gaol.
Atheists worship self:
. I don't even know what that means. It sounds like religious mumbo jumbo so it just gets ignored.
. I don't worship anything. Worshipping is for theists.
Atheists are too few to effect real change in the world:
. Keep telling yourself that if it gives you comfort.
Atheists fear death because they have no heaven to go to:
. Theists have constructed an imaginary world to avoid having to face their own deaths. This is a product of fear.
Atheists are selfish:
. Freecycle's Atheist, Agnostic and Freethinkers group has lent the most money of all the groups including the Christians.
. Again, this is religion co-opting positive human actions and attributing them to their own faiths.
. Their motivation for altruism is to curry favour with their god. I don't have a heaven that will repay me for good deeds so my altruistic actions are much more generous because I don't expect repayment.
Atheists are stupid. They just cannot see the real world.
. We think the same thing. We say: "They beleive what...?"
. Religion is all black and white. So theists can answer questions in ridgid, dogmatic ways but they rarely give much thought to topics.
. They are asleep.
. Freethinkers - they just sound smart.
. Theists are just so closed minded. How can you learn with a closed mind.
There are no atheists in foxholes:
. at first I took this as a compliment. Atheists are rarely sucked into religious wars.
. after a while I was led to understand that this was an accusation of cowardous.
. the Military Acsociation of Atheists and Freethinkers will have an issue with this.
Atheists are imaginary. God doesn't believe in Atheists, so they don't exist.
. Prove it.
Atheists are just lazy, they just want to stay in bed on Sundays:
. Theists are lazy, they just don't want to think.
. I don't really sleep any later on Sundays.
Evolution/Science is a religion:
. I just don't get this.
. You're not allowed to just make up new definitions of words.
. Science makes astoundingly accurate predictions. Religions don't even try to make predictions they just retrospectively justify dusty old books and power structures.
Atheists hate God and we're just being rebellious by denying His existence...
. He doesn't exist so how can I hate him?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
