The Hall of Fire

I'm really sorry hon, you and your mum and dad have been in my thoughts since I first found out what was happening. Big, big hugs

I don't understand why Americans are so afraid of socialism. As a general rule, it doesn't work. Most countries which tried it have since abandoned it, and those which keep it to any major degree usually have serious problems stemming from it. Few serious economists doubt that there is a strong lin...

Yes, I have met Richard Dawkins a few times, the last time as recently as a fortnight ago (I've promised Jewel she can meet him). Richard in person has the professorial, polite and earnest air of a parish vicar and he even goes out of his way to see your point of view when you disagree and I have d...

Given the thrusting, multi-cultural, bursting at the seams country that Britain has become is it any wonder that successive generations are beginning to reject the Jam and Jerusalem brigade in favour of more engaging and relevant Church movements (some of which are undoubtedly more odious in their ...

I'm not sure I see what is funny about that, Demo. Can you explain? Yes, I have met Richard Dawkins a few times, the last time as recently as a fortnight ago (I've promised Jewel she can meet him). Richard in person has the professorial, polite and earnest air of a parish vicar and he even goes out...

yovargas wrote:For nel:

Richard Dawkins wrote:...the stereo- type of scientists being scruffy nerds with rows of pens in their top pocket is just about as wicked as racist stereotypes.

(That's a quote he put up on his website.)

LOL, that's too funny.

In the UK the Church of England has been declining for a very long time now, a lot of which has to do with it been a state institution and the combination of conservatism, inertia and unearned privilege this inevitably lead to, and which continues to hurt it. Is that really true? Or could it be tha...

demo : Now I said at the top of my initial post that you could easily dismiss the Blasphemy Challenge as a college-level stunt and similarly you could condemn Dawkins for his some of his more extreme comments (as I have done before) but the point I was making in my essay was that there are feelings...

It is the corrupting and illiberal nature of religion when joined with power that creates the backlashes with the most inspiration. I wonder how you would react to a statement like this directed toward a lack of religious belief? For example, 'It is the corrupting and prideful nature of atheism whe...

Excellent Nerdanel, that backs up the heart of what I am saying and also backs up the essence of the replies that the ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirst Ali gave as to why she was so strongly criticising Islam after she left the faith (it was what was being done to women in the name of that religion, even in Eur...

If you want to understand why a group starts to react a certain way you may want to walk in their shoes a little bit and consider what may be precipitating it. Rather than just stand there and go "oh that seems awfully rude, I can't imagine what precipitated that, they must be closet Christian...

I have often said that I think Dawkins is a closet fundamentalist. :D In some ways, he reminds me of those people who are adamantly and violently opposed to homosexuality who later turn out to be homosexual themselves. They oppose it so strongly because they fear it in themselves. Who knows? What I...

Faramond also put his finger on what I was feeling was odd about these atheists or anti-theists who seem so intent on sticking a finger in God's eye. Me thinks they doth protest too much. Me thinks you haven't thought about this too much at all. If you want to understand why a group starts to react...

Ner

No worries, no need to flay that dead horse any longer.

What sort of atheist is obsessed with God? I can't imagine following your links, demo, and coming away with a positive opinion of atheists. But Dawkins and the people behind the blasphemy challenge are more accurately called anti-theists I think, which is not the same at all as being an atheist. I'...

nerdanel wrote:Demo,

In my most recent post, I highlighted the quotes that most caused me to read your post the way I did.

Yup, and they still don't suggest what you say they were suggesting.

Nerdanel

What on earth made you think that I was insinuating that prejudice against other groups had stopped? I wouldn't claim such a thing.

Therefore Atheists have begun to go through a similar conscious raising effort as women and blacks did when they had to overcome similar obstacles after they had won their civil rights. As blacks and women came to realise, it isn't enough just to win the right to vote, it is also important to be re...

I very much support atheists and agree that there is a stigma against atheists which must be addressed and overcome. However, I must say I find it deeply alienating to hear atheists comparing any prejudice they face to the civil rights struggles of women, minorities, and gays. Indeed, the first tim...

Who do I personally admire? Well many people, but right now the name near the tip of my tongue is Ayaan Hirst Ali who is one of the brave Muslim women to have escaped the oppressive environment of sharia law and arranged marriages in Somalia and Saudi Arabia and have spoken out against it when they ...