B7-Deep.txt (1/30/2010) Email grahamkendall74135@yahoo.com I am found on IRC Efnet/Undernet/Dalnet as glk Files on science and religion are found at http://www.grahamkendall.net/ All are free to use any of this material without limit. ******************************************************************************* Deep Thoughts Any errors here are automatically sombody else's fault. == Geological Periods of the Earth. Pre-Cambrian,(Archean, Proterozoic( Ediacaran Period), Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, Permian,/ Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous,/ Tertiary, Quaternary. The Bible has only two geological periods, Pre-flood and Post-flood. == Preambrian Time Archean Era 4600-2500 million years ago( Proterozoic Era 2500-570(Tonian Period 1000 - 850 / Cryogenian 850 - 630 / Ediacaran Period 640 - 542 million years) Phanerozoic Time Paleozoic Era/ -- Cambrian Period 570-505 /Ordovician Period 505-438 / Silurian Period 438-408/ Devonian Period 408-360/ Carboniferous Period (Mississippian and Pennsylvanian/360-286 / Permian Period 286-245/Mesozoic Era /Triassic Period 248-208 / Jurassic Period 208-144 -- Cretaceous Period 144-66.4 /Cenozoic Era Tertiary Period/ Paleocene Epoch 66.4-57.8/ Eocene Epoch 57.8-38.6/ Oligocene Epoch 38.6-23.7 /Miocene Epoch 23.7-5.3 / Pliocene Epoch 5.3-1.6 /Quarternary Period /Pleistocene =============== If the Good Samaritan were not a Christian, would he burn in hell forever? === I am a defective in the police farce === Math describes everything except reality. === "Against logic there is no armor like ignorance." - Laurence J. Peter "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." MLK Jr. "It is worse still to be ignorant of your ignorance." - Saint Jerome "The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism." - William Osler == "It is impossible to make people understand their ignorance; for it requires knowledge to perceive it and therefore he that can perceive it hath it not." - Jeremy Taylor == "What men want is not knowledge, but certainty." - Bertrand Russell == in only four centuries, Unicorns evolved in to Wild Oxes. == We all know the creationists were right about the earth being flat so:they must be right about everything else. == I don't trust people who value their religion more than their life, chances are, if you're willing to die for God, you're willing to kill for Him. == "To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable, but to be certain is to be ridiculous." - Chinese Proverb == Apple computers are based on one found in a flying saucer, millions of years better than IBM == In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors" == Science is not a religion. It does not have gods, holy books or even Bingo. == Poetry enforced by police squads can become TRUTH. glk == Theism is the only 'discipline' in which ignorance is elevated to the status of a virtue. == Mixing science with religion leads to nonsense. glk == It is hard for science education to overcome a lifetime of religious brainwash. glk == Religion is clear, to the deluded. glk == Scientists KNOW the earth is only 6000 years old but lie about it so they can 'stay in power' == I never coveted my neighbor's slaves. glk == I remember when Souther Baptist preachers in Georgia preached that black people were created as the result of a curse God placed on the descendants of Ham. == Although mythology has its charms, to which I am subject, explanatory power is not among them. == If God exists, what possible good would it do to hate him? And if he does not exist, there is no such being to hate. == We are all liable to self-deception when it suits our interests; for this reason we must maintain a constant state of vigilance against it. == "Copernicus, young man, when are you going to come to terms with the fact that the world does not revolve around you?" == Christians are a victim of skillful marketing! glk == The more success the quantum theory has, the sillier it looks. -Albert Einstein to Heinrich Zangger (May 20, 1912) == A rolling stone gathers momentum. == Christian motto. God loves you and I love you and if you disagree with my religion opinion, I will have to hurt you. glk == All of my opinions are self evident. glk == False claims need a lot of philosophical language to promote them..glk == I have been working on experiments to prove a great Universal body of material that pervades the entire Universe, but has no effect whatsoever. I call it "Doesn't Matter". == The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Ringtone. glk == I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature - Thomas Jefferson == No matter how you spell beLIEve there is ALWAYS a LIE within. == Dyslectics of the world Untie. == I heard about the dyslexic werewolf that mooned at the bay. == Religion is a dream. Wake up. glk == Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils. ==== God is so powerful, He doesn't need to exist. === A god is a magic man who makes universes, writes holy books, and sends plagues. glk == A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." -- Douglas Adams) ==== Holy men can explain anything and followers can believe anything. glk == Did the Holy Ghost say "BOO"? glk == Religion makes intelligent people believe stupid things. == John Titor showed me his time machine. It was controlled by a TI-89 calculator. glk == My wave function collapsed and I can't get up. glk == The more you know about christianity, the less you will believe it. == Man's curiosity betrays itself when we believe what we create. == Isnıt a body of belief set in stone dangerous? Forever vulnerable to decay? == The human capacity for self-deception is bottomless. == Chaucer spoke perfect English. glk == Ban calculators as weapons of math instruction. == Changing religion is exactly like a frog jumping from one dirty pond to another. == The goal of the universe is to produce cats. People are a byproduct. == Just because some loonies think a cracker is their god doesn't mean anybody else owes it an ounce of respect. == Trilobites were Cambrian mammals. Dr Kent Hovind == The Macintosh computer was copied from a crashed flying saucer.glk == Cowards only die once too, and the valiant die in some pretty stupid ways sometimes. == The first mistake of any religion is putting it in writing. == I never smoked a sausage. I could not keep them lit. glk == Religion makes perfect sense as long as you don't think too hard about it. == Censorship begins when the mighty are afraid of losing the argument. == What use is power if it can't be abused? == If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. -- Descartes == My parents were married so I am not illiterate. glk == Dustbin Argument -- the more things you throw in it, the heavier the argument. == Try living without science. You will have many more problems to pray about. glk == "The gap between what you know and what you think you know is always dangerously wide." -Nassim Taleb == "If you leave the Christian Bible outside, eventually the wind and the rain will destroy it. My bible is the wind and the rain." - Attributed to an unnamed Native American == "The general public may be able to follow the details of scientific research to only a modest degree, but it can register at least one great and important gain: confidence that human thought is dependable and natural law is universal." --Albert Einstein == As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality. (A. Einstein) == I am allergic to religion. It makes me break out in logic. glk == Theology is the attempt to mask superstition in a fog of pseudo-intellectual verbiage. == Opinions do not translate into facts. You may have the right to express your opinion, but that doesn't automatically make it a fact. == I used to be a speed reader but as a result missed all the exits. == You can safely assume you have created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates the same people you do. --Annie Lamott == The doctrine of the material efficacy of prayer reduces the Creator to a cosmic bellhop of a not very bright or reliable kind. -Herbert J. Muller == Solar cells wear out the sun. glk == My modem is error correcting so I am infallible. glk == In the immortal words of Walt Kelly, If we don't change direction, we will end up where we're headed. == "All great truths begin as blasphemies" G B Shaw == "Old age to the unlearned is winter; to the learned, it's harvest time." == Kill all fanatics! == The comfort of the wealthy has always depended upon an abundant supply of the poor. --Voltaire === I am sad because my perpetual motion machine ran down. glk == God got tired of grain offerings and now only accepts the offering of His Son's life. == "I think P.T. Barnum only is half right. There is a sucker 'born-again' every minute." - Bible scholar Dr. Robert M. Price == Feynman made a comment that philosophers are as useful to science as ornithologists are to birds. == I hear Obama is paying $4000 to turn in clunker computers. glk == Religion is organized delusions. == Life:is nature's way of keeping meat fresh. === If I do not see as far as others, it is because I stand in the footprints of giants. == As men's prayers are a disease of the will, so are their creeds a disease of the intellect. (Emmerson) == If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them (Asimov) == Religion is fossilized opinions. glk == A sense of humor, properly developed, is superior to any religion so far devised.-- Tom Robbins == As for praying to the invisible people - it's like watching somebody playing with a toy telephone. Great fun for kids, a bit sad in a full grown man. == I have outlived everybody so far. glk == Everybody projects his/her brain's architecture onto the outer world. == Schopenhauer said, nothing more is implied by a premise than what is already contained in it. == Christians are looking for a petrified rainbow on Mount Ararat. glk == The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on. == Follow the infallible crowd! == I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. == Theism is nothing more or less than an exercise in credulity. == Much of religous dogma is the implicit rejection of our own freedom and responsibility. == Religious faith requires a kind of selective and acrobatic ignorance of which I am apparantly incapable. == Since humans make things, they imagine a god who makes things. == "It will yet be the proud boast of women that they never contributed a line to the Bible." George W. Foote == "What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof. Christopher Hitchens == "Since the Bible and the church are obviously mistaken in telling us where we came from, how can we trust them to tell us where we are going?" Anonymous == Only two things are infinite, the Universe and human stupidity .. and I'm not sure about the Universe .. - A. Einstein == Religious disagreements are settled by power to silence opponents. glk === Religion perpetuates superstitions and presuppositions instead of systematic use of evidence. == I usually put off procrastination for later. ==. Finding the right religion may be less important than finding the alternative to having one. == Truths have evidence, otherwise all you have is another story. == cult (n.) a rival Christian denomination whose interpretation of the Bible differs from your own == My enemy is ³weaponized Christianity", glk == After a certain age we should stop believing in the literal truth of fairy tales. The are all right for small children and very bad for adults. == Technicians believe they are engineers. Engineers believe they are scientists. Scientists believe they are God. God thinks he's a mathematician. == I have a miraculous picture of Jesus - if you look really closely at the face, you can see a burnt tortilla. == This isn't rocket surgery. == Will Rogers used to say, 'When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.'" == A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything. (Friedrich Nietzsche)) == "Fools rush in where fools have been before." -- Unknown == You say your god is unknowable? But the unknowable and the non-existent are indistinguishable. === I never coveted my neighbor's slaves. glk -- I am too big to fail. glk == Ultimate eternal TRUTH always agrees with my present opinions. glk == Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires. == When you talk to God it's called prayer, but when God talks to you, it's called schizophrenia. == Immortality is a self-defense mechanism in order to rationalize an inevitable defeat. == Life is FAR too complicated to be made by intelligent design. == A priest forgave the SIN function in my calculator. glk == 'Polite society' is frequently synonymous with 'police society.' == "Modesty is one of my thousands of virtues" == "A church is a place in which gentlemen who have never been to heaven brag about it to persons who will never get there." -- HL Mencken == Your argument is thinner than the broth made out of the shadow of a chicken that starved to death 100 years a go == "Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise" -James Madison, Letter to William Bradford == "It is certain, from experience, that the smallest grain of natural honesty and benevolence has more effect on men's conduct, than the most pompous views suggested by theological theories and systems." - D. Hume == In the absence of evidence, the scientist says, "I don't know," but the religionist says, "I believe." == "I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway" == "It is wrong, always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence" -W.K. Clifford == "Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." - Albert Einstein == Theists claim absolute knowing about invisible things, then requires absolute proof from those who don't claim absolutes. == Insurance people use pi to compute how long people will be round. glk == The Supernatural is only the Natural disclosed. == ³ The design of organisms is not what would be expected from an intelligent engineer ² Prof Francisco Ayala == My Dad told me three words, that if I never forgot them, I would never lack for money..... "Stick 'Em Up!" == Gooch's Paradox ... "Things not only have to be seen to be believed, but also often have to be believed to be seen." == Religion will always seek to occupy the boundaries of human knowledge, only to be pushed back by the advancement of science. One is supposed to employ reason and logic but to suspend it when one encounters anything that opposes or diminishes the approved interpretation of scripture. Never underestimate an insecure person's ability to delude himself. When someone feels free to cherrypick information to suit their needs, almost anything can make sense. However, as in war, societies all want to believe God is on our side, even when conducting the unholiest of acts. == I read a book once. It was neat. I would recommend it. == The best argument against religion is all the other religions. == Thou shalt not commit geometry. == Pascal lost his wager and is now burning in hell. glk == Robots have rights too. glk == "You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself." Galileo == The price of liberty is eternal publicity. == Christianity explains reality for those who don't care whether their beliefs are true or not. == You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. == ³We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.² Richard Dawkins == Baseless assumptions are not the same as "evidence. == A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes merry; but money answers everything" Ecclesiastes 10:16-19 (New King James Version) == We have the fossils: We win. === The universe displays no proof of an all-directing mind. -- Auguste Comte == If God had not created numbers, math would be impossible. glk == You can I get a free education if you just agree with me. glk == Science ceases to function if based on lies. Religion can survive for thousands of years that way. glk == Darwin was against slavery. Can the Bible agree with that? In any case, his personal views have nothing whatsoever to do with the validity of evolutionary theory. And it is very clear to anyone who reads the book that he is refering to races of plants and animals. Only an utterly dishonest charlatan would pretend anything else. == Crazy animal bipolar bear == It is not hardness of heart or evil passions that drive certain individuals to atheism, but rather a scrupulous intellectual honesty.-- Steve Allen == When your life is threatened by an entity as powerful as the Church, everyone is a Christian == You would think it would be trivial to create a living organism in a lab, wouldn't you? After all, Dr. Frankenstein did it two hundred years ago. == Barbarians cannot be expected to create anything but a barbaric god. == Hell! Even my spellchecker knows. Everytime it finds 'creationism' it recommends 'cretinism'! - Steve Price == When the truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie. Soviet dissident Yevgeny Yevtushenko == You certainly are entitles to your opinion, however unqualified it may be. == Prayer is the practice of asking that the laws of the universe be anulled on behalf of a solitary sinner admittedly unworthy. == Klingon proverb: If there are gods, they do not help and justice belongs to the strong. Klingon horoscope 7th January 2009: Today is a good day to die. == "Creationism is not the alternative to Evolution - ignorance is." == "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." Jean- Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation == "It isn't faith that makes good science...it's curiosity" Prof. Jacob Barnhardt, The Day the Earth Stood Still == "Loyalty to petrified opinion never broke a chain or freed a human soul..." Mark Twain == People Who Donıt Want Their Beliefs Laughed at Shouldnıt Have Such Funny Beliefs == If we were made in his image, when why arenıt humans invisible too? == If God Wanted People to Believe in Him, Then Why Did He Invent Logic? == Which Day Did God Make All The Fossils? == The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality. - George Bernard Shaw == There is no snooze button on a rooster. == "The right to free speech does not imply the right to be taken seriously." - Hubert Humphrey == Don't Blame the telescope if you don't like the view. (Panama Floyd) == Theism is a map without a country. glk == Art exists so that we do not die of reality. === Only the religious, who are accustomed to adhering to old immutable texts, see it as a sign of weakness when science lacks uniformity of opinion, or updates its ideas to fit new evidence. == Shoes have been declared weapons of mass destruction. == People resort to faith based epistemic approaches when they cannot abide the honest answer of 'we don't know'. == "It's funny how the invisible and the non-existent look exactly the same" == Politeness is wasted on the dishonest. == I agree with a court ruling from the Simpsons: "Religion must stay 500 yards from Science at all times." == Religious addicts are always chock full of rationalizations. == Research has shown that the shelf life of a fruitcake is longer than the life of the shelf. == I wanted to start a truck garden. I planted some lug nuts. glk == "Truth is the strange attractor of mankind and can only be understood at a level higher than our current reality" == If you liked Chaos, you will love complexity. == Perhaps you should go looking a bit into the realm of what is known to be natural before making claims about stuff you don't understand? == The object of life is not to be in the majority ... but to avoid being in the ranks of the insane." (Marcus Aurilius) == "I have invulnerable proof that evolution can't happen!" "Oh, yes, what is it?" "I'm. not going to tell you ...." == The Flying Spaghetti Monster ate your god. == Prepare your proof before you argue. == Asgardian, God of Mischief == I think we all need to take responsibility for this religion culture that grossly devalues science and discourages curiosity. == Individual people are smart, compassionate, or reasonable. Groups have appalling tendency to become hysterical when the individuals within them feel powerless. == To believe in God is first of all to know that we can be deceived all the time. == If alcohol is illegal in prison, why are there so many bars there? == Douglas Adams said, I'll take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day. == Hey, if the Flying Spaghetti Monsterıs noodly appendage doesn't save you, itıs because you are supposed to die that way. == Famous politician excuse What you heard me say wasnt what I really said. == You are simply confusing your own ignorance with reality. == "It's not smart or correct, but it's one of the things that make us what we are." - Red Green == "The slave holder in the south were on the winning side of the theological debate" - Sam Harris == The word 'replenish' used to mean fill, back in 1611. == When his life was ruined, his family killed, his farm destroyed, Job knelt down on the ground and yelled up to the heavens, "Why god? Why me?" and the thundering voice of God answered, "There's just something about you that pisses me off." ~Stephen King == I think we should privatize the government. == You can't always want what you get. == I self medicate with Mountain Dew and Oreos. glk == Where is the "Any Key" on my computer? == If you torture them enough, they'll confess!  Thus proving you were right all along.  If they haven't confessed yet, you haven't tortured them enough! == I am half Irish, half Scotish. which makes me drink but I dont want to pay for it. == Not everyone shares your quaint superstitions. == I got Onstar for my bicycle. glk == There is no way to teach anything (except perhaps mathematics) without running afoul of someone's ideas. == Napoleon, Jesus, and the King of the Universe here all agree I am sane. glk == Eurasia is our friend! We've always been at war with Eastasia! == klg is my evil twin. == You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do - Anne Lamott" == I am a guilty bystander. glk == A dyslexic guy here tried to hold up a store, using a gnu. == I know all the tricks, dramatic irony, metaphor, bathos, puns, parody, litotes and satire. I am vicious. == If the Flood is a morality tale, I'm not sure of the moral, since God promises at the end that he won't do the bad thing to us again, however wicked we are. Of course he has many other bad things to do to us. == Pronouns and neurons are made of quirks. glk == Throughout history, whenever religion is married to politics, the inevitable result is the loss of personal freedom and the increased dominance and subsequent corruption of government. == The power of accurate observation is commonly called called cynicism by those who have not got it. == What I like about Genesis is the kinky parts, like where God tried to get Adam to mate with the animals == Nothing is foolproof because fools are so clever. == The difference between mathematics and the natural sciences is that in math one does not simply state something and wait for a rebuttal: one is expected to actually *prove* that what one says is true. == Some mysteries are only known by God, Herself. == How to become a great leader. Ignore facts, tell big lies, stand by them, look confident, and attack anyone that doesn't agree with you. == How come you never hear father-in-law jokes? == It's always one prophet up on a hill when no one else is around that God decides to give the secrets of the universe to. == The Catholic Church has Missals and Canons to defend the faith. glk == Palintology is the study of why God hid dinosaur bones all over the world 6,000 years ago. == A fool can always ask more questions than a wise man can answer. == "What is asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence." == A successful liar and manupulator knows that the con can only be run on someone who has a dream they want so much they are willing to give their power over to someone else. == Home school your kids. My kids like their burgers medium. They can always discuss their spirituality as they flip burgers or mop floors. == There are always those who will reject reason for the comfort of the certainty that they are right and everyone else is wrong. == I asked to buy a CD at the bank but they did not have the songs I wanted. glk == Religion claims, like a cascading chinese whisper, a rumour mill, and in a society where such forces could go unchecked by external forces, it would be allowed to spread unimpeded. Just because someone's effect is great, doesnt mean they are not deluded, remember, many of the great visionaries of history were also touched by a degree of madness, thats what gives them the edge over the rest of us. They are not limited by reality. == The very best confidence trickster is one who actually believes the delusion he has spun, and that does take a schizophrenic and psychotic personality rolled into one... very rare. == I got an air freshener for my motorcycle. glk == Never forget that for many folk, itıs always easier to believe than to think.­ A. D. Foster == I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.--Susan B. Anthony == It takes an extraordinary intelligence to contemplate the obvious. --Socrates == The problem with homeschooling is that your kids will grow up to be as stupid as you are. == The science community keeps learning. Christians, who are infallible, are usually incapable of learning. == The excess of a virtue is a vice. -- Greek Proverb               It is the function of vice to keep virtue within reasonable bounds. -- Samuel Butler == Christians are atheists regarding all gods but one. == Reason must be allowed room to adjudicate between fact and fantasy. == I refer you to Matthew 5:9, "Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Peacemakers are guns, in the old west.. == God is an action figure you find in the Bible. it won't do anything until the author dictates its duties and attributes. == "What is the biggest problem in America? Is it ignorance or is it apathy?" They are likely to answer, "I don't know and I don't care!" == Christian people wave off questions because they clash with their bedrock conviction. == Reality is a function of probability. == The great Yankee baseball player and manager, Yogi Berra, once said You can see a lot by observing. == There is no such thing as the supernatural, nature itself is super. == "Why does everybody take an instant dislike to me?" "It saves time." == Some people detect gods the same way winos detect snakes. glk == "In mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them." ~Johann von Neuman == Experience is the worst teacher; it gives the test before presenting the lesson.-- Vernon Law == Idealism increases in direct proportion to oneıs distance from the problem. == My Blackberry had a rotary dial. glk == I will defend your right to agree with all my opinions. glk == I am a Board Certified Carpenter. glk == True story I saw some Christian tracts taken from a dead Nazi soldier. It said "He will protect you from your enemies." == If a Democrat wins, I am moving back to Mars. glk == If all the other gods are delusions, how are you immune to equal delusions? == We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are. == There's been quite a lot of psychological research done on "true believers" -- they all act the same, whether they are religious fundies or Maoist ideologues or whatever. == "Accustomed to trample on the rights of others, you have lost the genius of your own independence and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises among you." - Abraham Lincoln == According to your stupid theories, I would still be a monkey if there was no god. Obviously, I'm not a monkey. Right? == If there's no god, how do you explain this voice in my head, huh? == Christians are willing to hurt real people in a crusade to promote belief in mythical people. glk == The main point of Christian education is to eliminate critical thinking in favor of only seeing the world through a Christian perspective. == With soap, baptism is a good thing. == The more antiquated and archaic a body of knowledge is, the more authority religion grants it. == The fact that Christianity allows people to commit loving atrocities is a very huge problem. == "Hitler burned Jews for being Jewish. For that, we call him evil. God burns Jews for being Jewish, forever. Christians call him 'good'" == "If God wanted us to be atheist then we would have been born that way" == We have fought long and hard to escape from medieval superstition. I, for one, do not wish to go back. -- Amazing James Randi == I am a problem thinker. glk == Dreams and religions seem real until you wake up. glk == Because we are all brought up to respect faith, it leaves open a gap through which fanatics can charge. == That's the problem with trying to satirize creationists -- there's NOTHING anyone can say that is soooooooo silly or stupid that some creationist somewhere hasn't preached it in all earnest seriousness. == I don't have a God complex? Let me tell you something. I am God. == "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." - Albert Einstein == I am scornful of deliberate ignorance and deceit. == What do you get if you cross a JW and a Satanist? Someone who goes door to door, telling people to go to hell. == God is very interested in Texas High School football. == "Funding cutbacks force Government to cancel Wednesday" == They found a petrified rainbow from the Flood. glk == I tested positive for wisdom. glk == Liar=someone who disagrees with me. glk == This is your brain on religion. ()*&()&*(&* glk == I have a nasty habit of denying things that aren't true. glk ==== Empathy is hard-wired in children's brains. Christians think you can only get it by going to church. == People are in danger of being burned at the stake and that tends to make atheists rather circumspect about their true beliefs. == I found God, and all I got was this lousy straight-jacket. glk == When you speak to God it's called Prayer. When God speaks to you,. it's schizophrenia! == If you don't want to learn, I hope you at least find some bliss in your ignorance. == New movie "Finding Nematode" glk == When god gives you lemons, find a new god. == We come in peace. Shoot to kill. === Britain gave Australia the criminals and they gave the US the puritans---- the Aussies got the better deal. == The very tenets of their Christian faith have immunized them against the power of conversation and appreciation of facts. == The Bible is infallible in the original Klingon. glk == Magic purports to know the cause of something whereas science confesses ignorance pending the gathering of more data. == People do not understand gravity and gravity does not understand people. == What does a dog do on its day off? George Carlin == NOTE Product contains no field mice. == Most fish don't have fur. == I wunder if the Bible code is mentioned in the Bible code. glk == Evolution is a combination of the inevitable with the serendipitous. == File Deletion is Murder! == The problem with Baptists is that they don't hold them under long enough. == "Nothing that you enjoy is waste of time" Bertrand Russell == I think there should be Creationism taught in public schools. All children should learn that Brahma created the world out of a lotus seed. == You'd think in a fancy restaurant like THIS, they could keep the snails off the plates!!! == Each circuit has a puff of smoke installed when made. If the smoke leaks out, it no longer works === War is god's way of teaching Americans geography. == [This space unintentionally left blank] == Atheists hold truth in high regard and understand the link between justice, truth and objective, corroborated evidence. == Why do some of the most devout Christains sometimes lack that inner sense of kindness? == The zealots are making a lot of noise, in the hopes that the masses will confuse noise with controversy. == The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance. [Robert R. Coveyou] == Yogi Berra said, "In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; in practice, there is." == New book "The Impotence of Poofreading" === In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher - Dalai Lama == Fundie motto Students need to be able to jump to their own conclusions. glk == We dyslyxics worry about spending eternity in the fire and brimstone being tortured by Santa. == ³Nature is not human hearted.² (Lao-Tzu (604 BC - 531 BC) == I was once mugged by a blind bandit...he said "Stick 'em up! ... are they up?". == When I was born, everything was fine for a while, then a doctor spanked me and another one cut on my wee wee. glk == I am criminally sane. glk == I used a special secret code on the Bible and it said "glk is old and wise." glk == Richard Feynmanıs sentiments: ³But I don't have to know an answer. I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose - which is the way it really is, as far as I can tell, possibly. It doesn't frighten me." == Several psychological studies appear to support [17th-century Dutch philosopher Benedict] Spinozaıs conjecture that the mere comprehension of a statement entails the tacit acceptance of its being true, whereas disbelief requires a subsequent process of rejection. We seem to accept appearances as reality until they prove otherwise. == When men destroy their old gods they will find new ones to take their place. -- Pearl S. Buck == The captive in my basement is banging on the floorboards again. == The Christian guy on the Simpsons said Jesus died and reincarnated as bread. == Russell observed: "Cruel men believe in a cruel God and use their belief to excuse their cruelty. Only kindly men believe in a kindly God, and they would be kindly in any case." One of his maxims: "Never try to discourage thinking, for you are sure to succeed." == Start out understanding religion by saying everything is possibly wrong. ... As soon as you do that, you start sliding down an edge which is hard to recover from. ... ? -- Richard Feynman, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (1981) == "If churches want to play the game of politics, let them pay admission like everyone else." === Science is as liable to be used for inhumane purposes as any other human institution. Indeed, given the enormous authority science enjoys, the risk of it being used in this way is greater. == Make English America's ofical language! == There are some people who, if they don't already know, you can't tell 'em. . ---Yogi Berra == Dyslexics are teople poo. == Recent events loom large in the minds of men. glk == I've met many who are probably mentally ill AND religious and the propensity to be ill magnified the religious delusion. == The delusional see a thing even when it is not there. == ...the being cannot be termed rational or virtuous who obeys any authority but that of reason.² -- Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) == Mathematicians have an unfounded fear of dividing by zero. == Moderate religious people have done little to curb the excesses of the extremists of their own traditions. == What do you steal for the man who has everything? == Religion requires people to discard reason and critical thinking and to accept unverified assertions and dogma without without questioning. == Science is required to deal with the real world, not magical fantasy notions that people just make up. == "My mind is the key that sets me free." ‹Harry Houdini == Magic is the religion we don't believe in, religion is the magic we do" == Gullibility and credulity are considered undesirable qualities in every department of human life--except religion. == History is after all only a pack of tricks we play on the dead. == People imitating fundies should always admit to being imitators, because no matter how crazy they act, there is a real fundie somewhere who is just as crazy. == I will believe in God if you will believe in Santa. == The universe is obviously fine tuned to produce cats. People are waste products of the process. glk == Religion can change lives, like for followers of Koresh and Jim Jones. glk == "No matter how paranoid you are, what the government is actually doing is worse than you imagine." == "Don't believe anything until it's been officially denied." == Satchel Paige warned, "Don't look back. It might be gaining on you." == No one likes being told where to go unless he is lost. == Religion is about turning untested belief into unshakable truth through the power of institutions and the passage of time. == Fundie claims The great rift valley in Africa proves there was a global flood. Evolution is racist. Creationism says there is a perfect race. All the water from the Flood disappearing through the hole in the ozone layer. All the evolutionists, tell me something. I know how the big bang has happened, but tell me, wouldnt an explosion, especially one that size, take away life instead of allow it? Think about it. Everyone knows scientists insist on using complex terminology to make it harder for True Christians to refute their claims. Apes are just creatures twisted by Satan to mock Jesus by giving EVILotion credibility. Furthermore, they are naturally lust crazed for human women. Since they are not natural creatures they should be exterminated forthwith as the tools of evil they are. Deoxyribonucleic Acid, for example... sounds impressive, right? But have you ever seen what happens if you put something in acid? It dissolves! If we had all this acid in our cells, we'd all dissolve! So much for the Theory of Evolution, == Since the people in power were the ones making the rules, appointing themselves as gods, and imposing the law and religion, I would venture to guess that the majority believed it only to save their skins. == "Hitler burned people like Anne Frank for being Jewish. For that, we call him evil. God burns Anne Frank foreverfor being Jewish. For that, Christians call him 'good' == "If Jesus is God, then it means that God sent himself down to earth to sacrifice himself to himself because it was the only way that he could convince himself to forgive all of us and change a rule that he made in the first place." - John Armstrong == I have no problem with actual religion, but scientific-sounding falsehoods uttered at the behest of spirits of unknown origin tend to bring out the exorcist in me. == Long ago Egyptians worshipped cats as gods. Cats have never forgotten this. - Unknown == War and genocide, when blessed by God, are perfectly holy. == Well what a surprise...a book that offers no evidence of its claims predicts that some people won't believe it! == One is not superior merely because one sees the world as odious. -- Chateaubriand (1768-1848) == To say the Bible was written by men and may contain inaccuracies completely contradicts the word of the Bible. == People who feel their lives are disintegrating can find comfort in the solidity of a strong authority figure. == Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. Those who do know history are doomed to watch them repeat it. == Lord Reith said that there are some people whom it is one's duty to offend. == Only a fool says there is no Mother Goose. == I keep in shape. Round is a shape. == If there is only one God, who is the god of this world? glk How is Satan god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4)? == My sleep cycle had a flat tire. glk == Quoting an author is not quoting a god. glk == If you hang a cat by the front paws and its tail, you get a catenary. glk == "If a person doesn't already understand that cruelty is wrong, he won't discover this by reading the Bible or the Koran, as these books are bursting with celebrations of cruelty, both human and divine. We do not get our morality from religion." == The plural of anecdote is not data. == In the religious paradigm, it's more about "You can believe me or you can believe your lying eyes" == Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night." == All powerful God has some interesting attributes. One is that such a being by definition, must be able to ignore causation, logic, and physical laws. (Otherwise, its not all powerful) == Evolution says it's okay for strong people to bully weak people, just like gravity says it's okay to shove people off cliffs. == My Turing machine halted. It ran out of punch tape. glk == Reincarnation is silly. I learned that when I was a soldier in Napoleon's army. == "Being Human Is Overrated." Rex the Chimp == Our government is based on sex and balances. == This is my favorite universe. == Religions don't have a non-violent way to express their proper hatred for the other groups without mucking up society at large. == Who needs Newton or Copernicus when you've got the Corinthians? == If it works, it is obsolete. == "All knowledge is interpretation" - Nietzsche == I was abducted by an alien. It turned me into a newt. But I got better. glk == Children are too young to consent to sex or vote yet parents at the same time allow their young children to make important religious decisions. == I view religious beliefs as a consequence of cultural evolution and a desire to explain what is unknown, and control it if possible.by words and rituals. == "If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities" -- Voltaire (1694-1778) == Jesus was a Jew til his Father sat him down and told him no more of that. == "Vote Cthulhu 2008! Why settle for the lesser evil?" == Rule number one of creationism: "Evolutionists" have to explain ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. Creationists, on the other hand, have to explain ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. == Christians have three gods for the price of one! glk == Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to believe. (Laurence J. Peter, American Educator) == "The scientific method with its reliance on evidence and experimentation is not perfect, but compared to other methods of gaining knowledge, it is the one most likely to be right." == Richard Feynman said, "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled...I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy." == Bertrand Russell said, "Almost everything that distinguishes the modern world from earlier centuries is attributable to science..." == Carl Sagan captures the essence of the scientific approach to knowledge. Before an idea can achieve the revered status of "theory," it must survive round after round of skeptical criticism. === Sinclair Lewis said, "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross." === The Stone Age didn't end for lack of stone. == Gods dont kill people. People with gods kill people. == "The Romans killed Jesus on the cross. His death on the cross saved us from our sins. Therefore, we should worship the Romans." - Earle Jones == "The earth is flat, and anyone who disputes this claim is an atheist who deserves to be punished." [Muslim religious edict, 1993, Sheik Abdel-Aziz Ibn Baaz, Supreme religious authority, Saudi Arabia] == "The bloodiest, most brutal wars fought, all based on religious hatred. Which is fine with me! Any time a bunch of holy people want to go out and kill each other I'm a happy guy!" - George Carlin == If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being. -- Rev Jerry Falwell == While traveling near Tampa, Florida I passed the "Jehovah's Witness Assembly Hall" and was struck by the fact that that must be where they make them. - Gene Spafford == Nietzsche wrote "To man, any answer is better than no answer." == Flatworms don't care about innocence or guilt. == You do not need oxygen at the highest place in Kansas. glk === In the long run nothing can withstand reason and experience, and the contradiction religion offers to both is only too palpable. -- Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) == You might be a Calvinist if you have an overwhelming compulsion to burn me at the stake. == "...I become fearful when I see people substituting fear for reason..." Klaatu, The Day the Earth Stood Still == My school colors are ultraviolet and infrared. glk == "An error has occurred while creating the error message for an error that has occurred." == I am a defective in the Police Farce. == Homeopathic tablets: In the event of a headache, take one tablet. If symptoms are severe, take half a tablet == The voices in your head are not your friends. == Don't hate me because I'm atheist. Hate me because I tell the truth, which by default makes me atheist. == My guru taught me "Moderation in everything, including moderation". == Alpo is $1.29 a can. That's almost $8 in dog money. == Definition of blasphemy - disagreeing with a fanatic. == "Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits." - From Puddn'head Wilson's Calendar, by Mark Twain == One of the greatest flaws of religion is that it insists that it has all the answers, even when it's demonstrated to be false. == If you view morality as a way for people to live together instead of a ticket to get into heaven, it makes more sense. == Why, in a world chock full of facts, would you choose to base your life on something which is fact free, like religion? == I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. == glk approves of this page. == Homeless man sentenced to house arrest. === "Christian Scientist Pharmacist Refuses to Dispense Any Drugs." == I am a 7 Day Atheist. === There are plenty of assertions which are passed off as morals when in fact they are just someone's preferences. == Important: This message is private. Unless you know you are the intended recipient, do NOT read it. == Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), Pense'es, #894. == "One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others."--Robert A. Heinlein == In elementary school, in case of fire you have to line up quietly in a single file line from smallest to tallest. What is the logic? Do tall people burn slower? - Warren Hutcherson == Evolutionary change of religion is known as heresy. == An opinion is not scientific evidence. glk == Religious people believe IN god. The religious right believes they ARE God. == At one point in time, many of us actually had Jesus as our personal lord and saviour. Unfortunately, we later had to dismiss him for incompetence, gross negligence, misconduct and consistent failure to show up for work. === Who needs a conscience when Jesus died for our sins? -- Ahriman == Do unto others before they do unto you. == "There is nothing as mysterious as a fact clearly described"-- Gary Winogrand == "Nature is the final arbiter of truth." == Nothing is as effective as the notion of the sacred to motivate people to do really bad things in the name of good. == I got my PhD in Thinkology at Drive Through U. glk == There's plenty in this universe to satisfy our need for beauty and awe and wonder and romance without inventing nonsense beliefs. Acquiring the knowledge of how the universe works can only enhance rather than detract from those feelings. == Genetic continuity runs in my family. glk === I picked a hell of a day to stop sniffing glue. == Some people guide their actions and morals by those of ancient barbarians. They call themselves Christians. glk == I tell Christians "One of us should think about what you are saying". glk == I before E except in Einstein. === Our family was so poor that our Thanksgiving dinner was turkey buzzard. glk == As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand. attributed to Josh Billings == I am a person of interest. glk == You can prove anything you want if you're given a free hand at picking your assumptions. == A religion old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science, might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths." == Don't anthropomorphize computers, they hate that. == I see a real disconnect in not believing in fairies and astrology but still believing in gods. == "Klaatu barada nikto" = Meaning of life. glk == Someone who is surrounded by theists and raised by theists has no concept of theism until the theists start teaching theism. == Rational arguments do not work on religious people, otherwise there would be no religious people. == I have as much authority as the Pope. I just don't have as many people who believe it. == If the cops didn't see it, I didn't do it! == There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots. == We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is. Kurt Vonnegut === If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving isn't for you. == "Gods are fragile things; they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense." -- Chapman Cohen == It is impossible to think like an ancient person. We know too much they did not know and they believed too many thing we do not accept. glk == As long as there is ignorance, emotion and superstition, religion will exist. glk == The whole religious complexion in the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum HAVELOCK ELLIS == All thinking men are atheists. ERNEST HEMINGWAY == Men will wrangle for religion; write for it; fight for it; die for it; any thing but ...... live for it. CHARLES CALEB COLTON == What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the wish to find out, which is the exact opposite. BERTRAND RUSSELL === Human beings are often poor reporters of their own actions. == Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it is upon logic rather than upon the crime that you must dwell. Sherlock Holmes === The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. A. Einstein === Inspect every piece of pseudoscience and you will find a security blanket, a thumb to suck on, a skirt to hold. What have we to offer in exchange? Uncertainty! Insecurity! Isaac Asimov === If you do not like my answers, do not ask me any questions. glk === The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism. -- Sir William Osler 1849-1919 == Ignorance is a renewable resource. P.J.O'Rourke == Unfortunately the world that you describe bears little resemblance to the world that the rest of us live in. == H.L. Mencken said that "The most common of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It's the chief occupation of mankind." == Gandhi once said "An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it." === "It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion." - Bertrand Russell == This claim can not be proved. This claim can not be refuted. glk === Edward R. Murrow said it well: "A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves." == Where are the fossil Cambrian catfish?? After all, catfish are bottom dwellers. == We are all a product of the past. Change it and you never existed. glk == Free the Indianapolis 500. === Some people are not happy unless they are mad about something. === If a young deaf person swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap? == The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live. == "There is no such thing as absolute certainty, but there is assurance sufficient for the purposes of human life." - John Stuart Mill == The Preacher He is in his mind 'chosen' and 'anointed' to be some exempted creature that lives off others, in exchange for the special connection to God that he brings to true believers. He tends to become angry if opposed. If he has politically powerful friends, he is dangerous. "We have the mind of God and everybody else just needs to realize that and fall in line." === "I am a humanist, which means, in part, that I have tried to behave decently without expectations of rewards or punishment after I am dead." -Kurt Vonnegut == Gods are silent, except for the voices in your head. glk == I took a vow of science. glk === I was a Roads Scholar at Tulane University. glk === It is a god eat god world. glk == When man becomes extinct, all of his gods will become extinct with him. glk === Reality is there whether we like it or not. How we perceive reality is the difference between delusion and rationality. == Evolution: Life's a niche, then you die. === If every trace of Christianity and the Bible were erased. None could be recovered. If all trace of science were similarly erased, it could all be recovered eventually. glk === Cannibals do not eat clowns. They taste funny. === Viking Motto: "It takes a pillage to raise a child." glk == I never have problems with computer viruses or any @##$%^%^#$%$^%^&&*%^(*(^&)*()(_)(& glk === "I'm an atheist and I'm OK! I know there's no God but I hate Him anyway". == Karl Popper said, "Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve." === Perfection is way overrated. glk == There is no problem so large that it cannot be solved with dynamite. == Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. -- John Adams === If you propose to deliver to me a message from God. first, tell me the password He gave me to expose and reject the claims of rascals, fools and mental cases. glk == The three brothers named their cattle ranch FOCUS because that is where the sons raise meat. == "I was driving alone one day and I saw a hitchhiker with a sign saying Destination Heaven. So I hit him." == "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan == Atheist n A person to be pitied in that he is unable to believe things for which there is no evidence, and who has thus deprived himself of a convenient means of feeling superior to others. Chaz Bufe, The American Heretics Dictionary === I am innocent. I was not there when it happened. Besides, it was self defense. glk == "The religion of one age is the literary entertainment of the next." Ralph Waldo Emerson == Everything I say is a lie, including this statement. == I tried to get a student loan, preferably a beautiful 18 year old lady. They told me that is not what the program is about. glk == There is a little known cookbook by Darwin, Origin of Spices. glk == Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. ~ Albert Camus == What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism -- Albert Einstein == In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences. --Robert Green Ingersoll === Man was made in the image of God yet God is undescribable and infathomable. == "Religion consists in a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he was certain of." - Mark Twain == The history of science shows us that patching the gaps in our knowledge with miracles creates a path that leads only to perpetual ignorance. == Intelligence is the ability to learn by experience. Gods already know everything so they are not intelligent. glk == The eternal laws of God are not as eternal as previously claimed. glk ==. Gods are magical people. They make universes and live up in the sky, but sometimes visit earth to do magic tricks and kill people. glk == No creationist I've ever asked to explain the theory of creation does so. Gosh, they're so reluctant to explain their theory, you'd almost think they don't even have one. == If you pray to Saint Christopher, You are out of luck. He was busted down to just Mr. Christopher. glk == You should not make a habit of trivializing the forefront of human scientific endeavour by suggesting your understanding would be required. == The basic trouble, you see, is that people think that "right" and "wrong" are absolute; that everything that isn't perfectly and completely right is totally and equally wrong. Asimov == God's Words change with each edition of the Bible. The true meaning of the Bible changes each century. == "Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." - Albert Einstein == "Doubt may not be a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." - Voltaire == "One of the truly bad effects of religion is that it teaches us that it is a virtue to be satisfied with not understanding." - Richard Dawkins == Religious belief is founded on hearsay and requires unconditional belief. Scientific belief is founded on preponderance of evidence and is only held conditionally. == Fundamentalists can kiss my left behind. === Everyone has THE answer, but nobody tells the truth. == If there is only one god, he is not very good at communicating. == Press #1 for English. Press #2 for Klingon. Press #3 for %$@%&*( glk === I am overdrawn at the memory bank. glk == I like George Carlin's idea of worshipping the sun. It gives life and warmth, and it won't banish you to hell just cause you don't love it. == People who possess a faith that requires them to deny how the real world actually is and actually operates have a fraudulent faith. == What earthly good is learning about astronomy and evolution, unless you want to stare at the sky and think you're a monkey? == I used to fly a WD40 in World War 0. I won the Extinguished Flying Cross. The enemy was The Enemy. glk == I'm not arrogant. Don't confuse confidence and extreme will power with arrogance. == God is tripolar. glk == Jesus died for my sins. So I sin as much as I can, to bring glory to the Lord. The more I sin the more Jesus' sacrifice is worth. == Wisdom comes with age ... but sometimes age comes all by itself. == Whenever women approach me in bars and nightclubs and ask me for my number I tell them 127.0.0.01. == "The best way to win an argument is to begin by being right" -- Jill Ruckleshaus == I was close to my dad till he told me to get off his damn foot. == I am just a man from Planet Dirt. glk == I just wonder....if everybody tithes to the preacher, who does the preacher tithe to? == Floggings will cease when morale improves. == Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. -John Lennon) == Stupidity makes baby Jesus cry. == Mutations should be expected with any larger body of self-replicating behavioral patterns which explains the vast number of variations of any given religion == When the room is filled with nutballs, the normal person seems out of place. == Don't pray in my school, and I won't think in your church. == "This ain't rocket surgery." --G.W.Bush == This statement exists in a quantum superposition of states, and is simultaneously true and false. == Everyone knows English is God's native tongue He talks in a REAL language, namely, English. It's true that back in them days He translated that to some other language after Speaking it in English, but after all, it's His universe and He can do what He doggone well wants to do." == No wonder we are so violent. We are made of mean old acids. glk == I'm right. You're wrong. God told me so. End of dicussion. glk == It is easier to tell a lie than produce a miracle. glk == "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." == What is it: is man only a blunder of God, or God only a blunder of man? -- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), The Twilight of the Gods == The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. -L.P. Hartley, writer (1895-1972) === "The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference. Dawkins == A problem in science: people want to believe in the fantastic and the fantastic is often accepted without being tested. === Faith is a drug.. .and I am sober. == "The highest honour that a rational thinker can bestow upon religion is ridicule" == The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. Alvin Toffler == "If you see a blind man, kick him. Why be kinder than God?" - Old Iranian proverb == On Pluto, you could have a superconductor at room temperature. == The bible is "clear" on many things. On most of them it is wrong. == The Christian god makes man human, then burns him when he acts like one. == The earth started out flat and it only warped into a sphere slowly as man's science got better. == "No public man believes that the Bible means what it says: he is always convinced it says what he means." George Bernard Shaw == "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." == You know how dumb the average guy is? Well, by definition, half of people are even dumber than that. == About which Mark Twain said, in his book Letters from the Earth: "I have never understood how a just God could expect his creatures to pick the one true religion out of an infinitude of false ones by faith alone. It strikes me as a sloppy way to run an organization, universe or any other thing." == "I have always wonder how a Christian discredits the Greek mythologies as historicaly accurate?" == I think that people who embrace religious dogma fit into the following categories: children; the mentally ill; the uneducated, under-educated or deliberately misled; and the suffering. == "A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious." -Aristotle) == http://www.fstdt.com/ fundie quotes == "All gods pass through the mouths of man." == Human beings have a remarkable capacity to turn their imaginary God into a deity as vindictive, cruel, narrow-minded, and oppressive as themselves. == == There is no mistake in learning only preferences. Daltoro == The TRUE name of the Hebrew God has been discovered recently. It is not YHWH. It is YAHOO. glk == Do you suppose there are Municipal Court Jesters? == Tolerance applies to how we treat people we disagree with, not how we treat ideas we think false. == It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious. --Alfred North Whitehead) == I was baptized an atheist by Mother Nature. glk == People tell me I am past my shelf life. glk == All of those who deny God... yes.. are fools. but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. == God loves all of us, but He loves the ones with really big guns more. == "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." --Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943 == Christians dont wanna follow logic. They want logic to follow them. == The universe is not perfect. The stars keep blowing up. The earth has many faults. glk == Funny thing about the Psychic Friends network going bankrupt. Gee, you would have thought they would have seen it coming. == Mental illness includes fixed beliefs in irrational ideas, however religion includes fixed beliefs in irrational ideas. glk == A good proof for God is the fact that if the earth were an inch closer to the sun, life would be impossible. glk === I achieved enlightenment and realized there are no gods. glk == Losing your faith is called growing up. == "All religions look equally silly from the outside..." --Robert Heinlein == "Insanity in individuals is rare-but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs, it is the rule." "When a hundred man stand together, each of them loses his mind and gets another one." == Science is good without faith and cares not a fig about religious fantasies. == I hated going to weddings. All the grandmas would poke me saying "You're next". They stopped that when I started doing it to them at funerals. == Fear is a powerful thing that prevents people from questioning what they suspect is false. == When you lose the power to laugh at yourself, you lose the power to think straight. --Clarence Darrow == I've developed a new philosophy--I only dread one day at a time. Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000) === The two rules I have been taught by Christian leaders is "Might makes right" and "Power corrupts." glk == Blessed is the self righteous Christian, for his is the sure and certain knowledge that no matter what load of tripe he comes out with: God told him to say it. === glk= Worthless eater of Oreos, == I know who you are and saw what you did. Use Paypal. glk == Good results of prayer is proof God exists. Bad results proves God is mysterious. glk == To talk without thinking is to shoot without aiming. == glk works in mysterious ways. == I am joining a Yoga extension class soon....cause if the end of the world is coming I will need to be limber enough to kiss my butt goodbye. == Americans conquered the moon. Look at all the craters. glk == I was going to buy an old math book at a sale but somebody named Isaac Newton scribbled all over it glk == They use pi in insurance statistics as they compute how long people will be round. glk == Dear Sir: You have won $1 in the Nigerian lottery. Send us $1000 for taxes owed and we will send your winnings. glk == I met Christians who strapped on a Bible and committed intellectual suicide. glk == If God is omnipotent, why does he always need a ghost writer? == In 1000 years, during the new Dark Age, the only record of our civilization will be a few National Enquirers. glk == No one can prove god but everyone wants to be His spokesperson. == Priests make up lists of sins and will remove them, if you pay and obey. glk == The beauty of religious mania is that it has the power to explain everything. Once God (or Satan) is accepted as the first cause of everything which happens in the mortal world, nothing is left to chance... logic can be happily tossed out the window. --- Stephen King == In Gold We Trust. == "Why should I allow that same God to tell me how to raise my kids, who had to drown His own?" -Robert G. Ingersoll == The mind is a great inventer. It can invent feelings, religions, TRUTH and gods galore. glk == This is all a bad dream and I am your worst nightmare. glk == There are many thinkable universes and only one real one. glk == All my enemies are paranoids. glk == All my statements are inerrant in the original version. glk == In fundamentalism, you have all the truths. In education, you are searching for truths. == That which does not kill us, usually requires stitches. == The Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. There was no money in the Garden of Eden, thus no evil. glk == Mankind differs from the animals only by a little, and most people throw that away. - Confucious == Hard work may pay off eventually, but laziness is rewarded immediately. == The Catholics claim the Prots are mistaken. The Prots claim the Catholics are mistaken. I agree with both groups in this matter. glk == "Man has such a predilection for systems and abstract deductions that he is ready to distort the truth intentionally, he is ready to deny the evidence of his senses only to justify his logic"---Fyodor Dostoyevsky == I can resist anything but temptation. == Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions which move with him like flies on a summer day. - Bertrand Russell - === One cannot conceive anything so strange and so implausible that it has not already been said by one philosopher or another. - Rene Descartes - == Religion is fiction validated by fantasy. glk == "Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by difference of sentiment in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most to be deprecated" --- George Washington == "True virtue is life under the direction of reason." -- Benedict Spinoza == When asked why I don't believe in God, I always answer, "I believe in me because my magic works." === Warning: Do not remove this tag! --> |=| <-- If you remove this tag, God will send you to burn in hell. glk == "I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous!" And God granted it." Voltaire == The 10th Commandment upholds the institution of slavery. "Do not desire another man's house; do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns." == If you insult Lord Krishna, you will be reborn as a toad. Don't claim I did not warn you about this. glk == Civilization started approximately 8000 years ago, when beer was invented. glk == Science deals with the MOST important question of human life: what is the nature of reality and how can the answers to this question increase the human ability to survive? == Brahma, the Father of the universe. glk == If evolution always changes thing to the better, does this mean that all humanity will one day be Australians? == Old statistics experts are broken down by age and sex. glk == It's 12:30 AM, do you know where your God is? glk == I once visited Long Island Sound. I was disappointed because I did not hear anything. glk == "We have just enough religion to make us hate but not enough religion to make us love one another. -Jonathan Swift == The Christian god is PERFECT... if you make enough excuses for Him. == A massive tornado stuck Southern Arkansas on Saturday, causing millions of dollars worth of improvements. == It is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain belief in one of the historical religions while obtaining a competent modern education in science and history. == Science is the technique of being wrong, but doing something about it. == Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two equals four. If that is granted, all else follows. "1984" George Orwell == Bibliolatry is a very seductive heresy. It requires no thought at all, really, since the Bible is the absolute authority and whatever the Holy Interpreters (of whatever cult) say it means is what it means. == Gods are silent, so priests must determine their opinions and tell them to the public. glk == God wrote the Bible in English for a reason: So it could be taught in our public schools." == When did it become necessary to believe improbable things without evidence, which is called faith. Why don't schools and parents teach critical thinking? == "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ." Ghandi == glk killed a beer when he was only three. == There is no intellectually honorable surrogate for rational argument. == Religion is an attractive nuisance in the legal sense, meaning a structure that attracts children and young people and exposes them to dangerous ideas and criminal temptations, like an unfenced swimming pool or an unlocked gun room. == Science is always wrong to some degree, that's why it's ever improving. Religion is always right, that's why it condemns those who question its edicts == God is omnipotent... But he still requires worship, cash and tax exempt status from the government. == Jesus gives mankind free will to choose to worship him or suffer eternal punishments for not worshiping him. He makes you an offer you can't refuse. == "For science, God is not a valid category because God is by definition a reality beyond time and space and therefore does not belong to the world of our scientific experience." --Hans Kueng == Just because a rascal or a fool has an opinion, that does not make it false. Just because an expert or saint has an opinion, that does not make it true. However, probability points in that direction. glk == What the pure scientist is terribly nervous about is that people who aren't able to make the distinction between science and religion will hinder the progress of science." == "When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land." --Bishop Desmond Tutu == Skepticism is the highest duty and blind faith the one unpardonable sin." -- Thomas Henry Huxley, M.D., Essays on Controversial Questions (1889) == A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. - Emo Philips == The fact that one scientific model does, or does not, match some political or religious model has absolutely, positively, no relevance to the validity of that scientific model. == Thinly sliced cabbage. ~ Cole's Law === Every time you understand something, religion becomes less likely. -- Francis Crick, co-discoverer of DNA == I was in a church and prayed to God for wealth. Somebody handed me a pail full of money so I took it and gave thanks for an answered prayer. glk == If you know only one idea, it is automatically true to you. glk == No gods are observed to make or do anything, except make my driveway gravel. It was obviously designed to just lay there. glk == The Catholic God made the pope infallible and the Protestant God made the Bible infallible. glk == I believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster (PBUH). Prove He does not exist. == "No theologian could ever be a historian. The historian has only one concern: truth, whereas the theologian has something else at stake: his dogma." Joseph Ernest Renan (1823-1897) == Isn't it amazing how the more science helps humanity, the more the religious right tries to drag us back towards the Dark Ages? == The key to creationist thought: Words are the primary reality, like the Bible, other Holy books, and Church dogmas . Physical evidence has secondary authority, false if refuted by Holy Words, no matter what the physical appearance indicates. glk == Today the official spokesman for the Foxes agreed an investigation into what happened to the henhouse may be needed. == One of the greatest sources of evil in the world is the belief of some people that THEY inerrantly understand the mind of God. == Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it. --Benjamin Franklin == "People place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution; they don't put their hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible." --Jamie Raskin === There is no society in recorded history that ever suffered because its people became too reasonable. == Fundie Motto "I dont believe in science, nothing will convince me, and everyone else is wrong" ==- A cat can handle just so much abstraction. == Should atheists sit down and shut up about evolution and science so that Christians don't feel unconfortable? No - some atheists may draw inappropriate conclusions, but no more than Christians, who aren't being told to shut up. If outspoken atheists do make it difficult for Christians to reconcile with reality, that speaks ill of Christians and religion, not of atheists. == I'm completely in favour of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death. --George Carlin == Is it seven years of bad luck to walk under a black cat? glk == "If you are thinking a year ahead, sow a seed. If you are thinking 10 years ahead, plant a tree. If you are thinking 100 years ahead, educate the people." --Chinese poet, 500 B.C. == Creationism is bad religion, seeking validation by doing bad science. glk == Theologians argue because they get paid to come up with meaningful sounding explanations for meaningless problems. == One should judge a man mainly from his depravities. Virtues can be faked. Depravities are real. Klaus Kinski(German actor) == Things should be described as simply as possible, but no simpler. A. Einstein == The philosopher Bertrand Russell, with his magnificent insight, sums it up perfectly: "Men tend to have beliefs that suit their passions, cruel men believe in a cruel god, and they use their beliefs to excuse cruelty." == Toward no crimes have men shown themselves so cold-bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of belief. -- James Russell Lowell, Literary Essays, Witchcraft, Vol. II, p. 374 (1891) == There is no God. But it does not matter. Man is enough. -- Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, == "Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition, there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes." George Soros == A person can function "normally" in a million and one ways and hold the most irrational beliefs imaginable, as long as the irrational beliefs are culturally accepted delusions. ~~ Robert Todd Carroll, The Skeptic's Dictionary == If you want to save your child from polio, you can pray or you can inoculate. --Carl Sagan == Not many adults are going to have their minds quickly changed, even by the best argument. == You believe in a book that has talking animals, wizards, witches, demons, sticks turning into snakes, food falling from the sky, people walking on water, and all sorts of magical, absurd and primitive stories, and you say that we are the ones that need help? == I think it should be mandated that churches teach evolution, as well as lessons in every other religion known to humans. Teach the controversy, I say. == Charles Darwin was born on exactly the same day as Abraham Lincoln. One freed the slaves. The other freed our intellects. It's too bad that some have not yet chosen to accept that freedom. === I consider ALL arguments in support of my views. == My computer uses electrons made in China. glk == I read "War And Peace" in one minute. I think it is about Russia, glk == "Do not condemn the judgment of another because it differs from your own, you may be both wrong" == "Man prefers to believe what he prefers true." -- Francis Bacon == Western mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks, so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use? toothpicks? == I prayed to Lord Krishna for wisdom and a long life. My prayers were answered. glk == 1 2 3 many A Kansas math lesson. Doggy kind, kitty kind, moo cow kind. A Kansas Biology lesson glk == The concept of God sacrificing part of himself to end a status of the world which HE HIMSELF created is nonsensical. == That the general education level among the US population has dropped considerably is relevent to why religious fundamentalism is on the rise...simply that it thrives in empty skulls. == Did anybody ever see a pork belly. Are they for eating or just for trading? glk == Everybody knows that that Moses brought stone tablets, written by God, down from the mountain. That makes sense, but Joseph Smith's silver tablets from the woods? That's crazy. == I am not hyper. I am just overclocked. == I am so old my social security number is XLIV. glk == Attention all personel. The sky is falling. This is no drill. glk == If God is the answer, then maybe we need to ask better questions. == Aristotle said, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." But you need to distinguish usefully between entertaining a conceptual model that may reflect literal facts, in order to explore it, and entertaining a myth with proper recognition of its mythological status and what that implies. == I studied the sin of the angel Theta. glk == God is an imaginary friend for adults. == Christians offer TRUTH like a whore offers LOVE. glk == The Christian system of faith attracts people who can not seperate fact from fantasy. glk == Muslims will get sex in heaven but Christians will not. Convert before it is too late. glk == Does the Australian Santa live at the South Pole? glk == What an indictment of your Christian brethren. You are saying if your fellow parishioners didn't have their religion they would become antisocial and kill, rape, and steal. == When the Christian community does not have political power, it talks about religious freedom. When they do have the power they no longer talk about religious freedom. === My Scottish Clan colors are Ultraviolet and Infrared. glk == Tell the voices in your head that they are wrong. glk == "When you cover up life with myth and ritual, you can't see anything for what it is." John Kaminski == Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid. John Wayne == I never coveted my neighbor's ass. That should count for something in my favor. glk == Christianity now knows and understands the art of spin doctoring. They have learned to create malleable rationalizations for ALL occasions. == Do deaf pentecostals sign in tongues? == "In childhood our credulity serves us well. It helps us to pack, with extraordinary rapidity, our skulls full of the wisdom of our parents and our ancestors. But if we don't grow out of it in the fullness of time, our ... nature makes us a sitting target for astrologers, mediums, gurus, evangelists, and quacks. We need to replace the automatic credulity of childhood with the constructive skepticism of adult science." Richard Dawkins == "Moses was a basket case." - Anonymous == How can I be overdrawn at the bank? I still have plenty of checks left in the book. glk == Does the Holy Ghost say "BOO"? glk == Is God irreducibly complex? glk == People have legs exactly long enough to reach the ground. What is the probability of that? == The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost their power of reasoning. -Voltaire == Since God has wings, feathers and talks, so maybe He is a parrot. I will be a pollytheist. glk == I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe. == The only people who need faith are those whose intellects are insufficient to understand evidence. == The power of accurate observation is called cynicism by those who have not got it. - G. B. Shaw == Education is one of the few things a person is willing to pay for and not get. William Lowe Bryan == Spies in Iraq found instruments of math instruction, requiring an immediate invasion. glk == Just remember: Thinking may be hazardous to your faith. glk == God of the Bible is a poor parent. When he had only two kids to look after, both went bad. glk == Blarney, The Irish Dinosaur! glk == I hear your church filed for intellectual bankruptcy. glk == My computer can read your mind and does not like what it sees. glk == They will never make a computer as smart as a person. It would be as big a bread box and require a muffin fan to cool it. glk == Many Christians display the Pope Effect, a feeling of infallibility. glk == Kill one man and you are a murderer. Kill millions and you are a conqueror. Kill all and you are a God. == A casual stroll through a lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything. == Do you call fifth grade your senior year? glk == "The World Trade Center destruction was caused by Pagans, Abortionists, Feminists, Gays, Lesbians, and the ACLU." - Jerry Falwell == The non-religious, pro-evolution democracies contradict the dictum that a society cannot enjoy good conditions unless most citizens ardently believe in a moral Creator. == I am in contact with my inner nerd. glk == Your delusions of self-importance are reaching unhealthy levels. Please seek competent psychological counseling. Do you also have delusions of adequacy? Have a nice day. glk == Religion is a product of a combination of intelligence plus ignorance. glk === Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.-- Friedrich Nietzsche == Science has proven itself to be very reliable because it is based on evidence. If we just think it's all politics, religion and subjective information, the debate degenerates and you can't really reach a valid conclusion. == The hurricane was an Act of God. Sue the churches. glk == Not agreeing with something is no reason to be ignorant about it. == "One man with courage makes a majority."--Andrew Jackson == The Bible tells of staffs turning into snakes. That is evolution of species. Are asp and aspen the same species? == I studied volcanos in college. I graduated Magma Cum Laude. == I wanted to start a truck garden so I planted some lug nuts. glk == Christian theology: Holy Inadequate glk == I can not find the ANY key on my computer. == Christianity is the fossilized opinions of ancient barbarians. glk ==. Teach your kids science or else their children and grandchildren will be too busy freezing in the dark to worry about any "controversy." glk == In my youth, the periodic table, of the elements was EARTH. AIR, FIRE and WATER. glk == The power of God seems to vanish when chemical reactions or natural phenomena can be demonstrated but, only comes back when we don't know something. == Religious nutjobs are not easily discouraged because merely being demonstrably wrong for centuries rarely has much effect. glk == One of the reasons I can't see becoming a fundie is that my brain can't encompass the total amount of absurdity required to be a true believer. == "The mind of the fundamentalist is like the pupil of the eye: the more light you pour on it, the more it will contract." - anonymous == People claim God is infinite. Nobody went there to check it. glk == ID theory. "Please don't ask us for a theory because we haven't got one, but we don't like evilution." == Some people have emotional needs not met by mere reality. That is the basis of religion. glk == There is no Satan. It is really your parents. glk == Creationists have been shooting themselves in the foot so often that pretty soon they won't have a leg to stand on. == Some people can tell what time it is by looking at the sun. But I have never been able to make out the numbers. == Of all the Gods once believed in by our ancestors, none exists today. There are no more temples dedicated to the god Zeus, no more temples dedicated to the god Mithra, no more temples built to honor Asclepius, the god of health and healing no more temples to honor Apollo the sun god or the thousands of other gods once believed by the masses. All have been killed off by science, old age or competition. Eternal truths do not last long these days. == If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. - - -Dan Quayle == The only certainty I have is that making garbage up contributes nothing of value in the pursuit of understanding. Like the religious, you see "I don't know" as a disenfranchisement, as some sort of weakness or admission of defeat. Those of us in the community of reason see it instead as tremendously empowering. To the religious, "I don't know" is some sort of end state. For us it is the the first step. == Why introduce a vague, ill defined, and immensely confusing term like "spirituality"? By using such a word you are allowing the mentally unwell to dicate the terms of reference. == Hell hath no fury like the lawyer of a woman scorned. == I choose science over faith because knowing too much didn't ruin it. == Reasoning with a Christian is like arguing with a bumper sticker. glk == Two youmg men once tried to get me hooked on LDS. glk == How come so many philosophers use so much text to explain so little? == In Australia, the number of the beast is 999. glk == Your philosphical comments are badly handicapped by not being familiar with what you are talking about. == No matter how long you boil an egg, it will not hatch. glk == I do not make errors; reality fails to live up to my expectations. == Teach a man to fish and he will drink beer all weekend. == This sentence contains threee misteaks. glk == If I am a fool, it is, at least, a doubting one; and I envy no one the certainty of self-approved wisdom - Lord Byron (1788-1824), English poet. The skeptic does not mean him who doubts, but him who investigates or researches, as opposed to him who asserts and thinks that he has found. - Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936), Spanish philosopher. == God sounds very like the barbarians who wrote the Bible. glk == I solved Floormat's Last Theorem. a^1+b^1=c^1 for many a,b,c integers glk == I am a bottle scared veteran of World War Zero. glk == When someone makes the comment to me that evolution is only a theory, I reply that "Yes, it is a well established theory, and God is only a hypothesis." == Paul commanded women must remain silent on the WWW. glk == Millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. == Division by zero is illegal in all states except Mississippi. == If the big bang occurred, where is the crater? == Priests are doing roaring business on God concept and created Holy Books to establish their claim. Then they spread the fear complex that nobody should question the Holy Books since they are revealed! Thus, cheating is systematised for centuries. == If God made people from dirt, why is there still dirt? == "Beware of the man whose God is in the skies." Bernard Shaw == What scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch? == Your statement seems to suggest that if we don't know the answers to absolutely everything simultaneously, it all must be wrong. That's a ridiculous position. == I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious. H. L. Mencken == If imagination was adequate to define all reality, the ancient Greeks could have figured out ALL science. glk == A man with an argument is not better than a man with an experience. == My learning curve has flatlined. glk == Why is it that only highly religious people get possessed? Atheists don't suffer from demons. == We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture." ---- Ray Mummert, creationist from Dover, Pennsylvania, 2005 == Children see powerful, wise and mysterious adults create things, houses, dinner, and clothes. The lesson sticks with them when models of the universe are constructed. They propose a Creator, powerful, wise, and mysterious, who makes things. glk == I am a prime ape. glk == I am waiting for a cell phone with wide screen TV. glk == Praying is like a rocking chair -- it'll give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere. -- Gypsy Rose Lee == The human mind seems hardwired to never see anything as "chance." Rain gods were worshipped for millenia. == it is hard to make good predictions, particularly about the future. == We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid. - Benjamin Franklin == I have been called a "son of a bishop" but my parents were not Catholics. glk == Noah's wife was named Joan of Ark == The thoughts of a True Believer are so simple and obvious that it is no wonder they are unable to accept evidence contrary to their position. They have tied their God to some very silly notions, and now they have to protect them, or their God will sink along with them. == Christians like to add God to science as science works so well and it gives God something to do. glk == If a pope touches an antipope, do they both disappear in a burst of gamma rays? glk == Why does a flautist not play a flaut ? why is it called the United Kingdom when it is ruled by a queen? Why does a milch cow not give milch? glk ==== Satan is a Christian---he believes all the major doctrines taught by Christianity, and even acknowledges that God is Lord and Savior, doesn't he? == Children believe all sorts of fantastic things as it is good for their imaginations. Children even have invisible friends they talk to. But it is not regarded as good for them to take their fantasies and imaginary friends into adulthood. == It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of what he was never reasoned into.--Jonathan Swift, Author/ theologinian == It isn't a lie if you believe it. --G. Costanza == This is the best of possible universes because it has glk. glk == There was never a century nor a country that was short of experts who knew the Deity's mind and were willing to reveal it. Mark Twain == Fundies got their degree at a drive through college. glk == The Great Grandchild of Lady Hope reported Einstein recanted Relativity on his deathbed. glk == Nothing can ever be proven to someone who lacks even the smallest shred of integrity. == Being surprised at the fact that the universe is fine tuned for life is akin to a puddle being surprised at how well it fits its hole -- Douglas Adams == "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei == "The recipe for perpetual ignorance is simple: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge." Juju O'Clair == The scientific method is the art of truth-telling, which is the highest system of ethics to inculcate morality in society. == Faith in God is the prelude to self-deception. == Pat Robertson stated on his 700 Club Program, January 14, 1991: "You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don' have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist." Pat Robertson believes that only Christian people should interpret and benefit from the Constitution. Again, on his 700 Club, December 30, 1981, he stated that "The Constitution of the United States, is a marvelous document for self-government by Christian people. But the minute you turn the document into the hands of non-Christian people and atheistic people they can use it to destroy the very foundation of our society." == Remember, theocracy is just another name for fascism, with a little prayer thrown in. == It is now quite lawful for a Catholic woman to avoid pregnancy by a resort to mathematics, though she is still forbidden to resort to physics or chemistry.-- H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 - 1956) == Gods heal many more people since modern medicine was developed. glk == I plan to attend the time traveler conference which was held last week. glk == Where's the critical thinking required when you find something you can't explain and decide that "God did it"? == The believing mind is externally impervious to evidence. The most that can be accomplished with it is to induce it to substitute one delusion for another. ~ H. L. Mencken == "Science is an integral part of culture. It's not this foreign thing, done by an arcane priesthood. It's one of the glories of the human intellectual tradition." Stephen Jay Gould == Do you believe that Jesus is God? No, do you believe Jupiter is God? == Dyslexics of the world untie. == I think the problem is, God is still using pi=3.0 (2 Chronicles 4:2). == Claims made without evidence in science are called speculation or a hypothesis. In religion, they are called eternal truth. glk == President for Life International Organization Of People Named Graham Kendall If that is not your name, sorry about that. (If your name is Graham Kendall, ask about our dues!). glk == The only thing the religious truely hold sacred is their delusions, everything else is hundreds of times less important than anything a self proclaimed moral relativist can think up. And in their minds, it will all be forgiven, because it was done for the cause of making everyone else conform to the rules the fundimentalists just got through breaking. == With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all, irrevocably. == Jupiter used to be a great god. He was busted down to planet, first class. glk == "Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good." (Job 34.4) == Denying children access to knowledge that would help them to cope in the modern world is tantamount to abuse. Teaching them Creation prepares them for the 17th century. glk == I have found an elegant proof that arithmetic is inconsistent. Unfortunately the universe is too small to contain my proof. == Church and state should keep their dirty handy hands off science. Scientists may have disagreements. Let them resolve it without any outside busybodies coming in and trying to define what science is and what it's not. == I think we should start with the sciences that brought us the very first weapons -- geology (rocks) and botany (sticks). == The preacher I met was an ignoramus masquerading as an ignoramus. glk == "The philosopher David Hume urged that one should always hold it more likely that one had been deceived than that the laws of nature should stand suspended." == What is the French word for "detour"? glk == Answers $1. Valid answers $2. ETERNAL TRUTH $5. glk == It bugs the hell out of me when people try to tell me what I "really" think (for instance when they tell me that really, deep down, I believe in God and I'm running away from Him). == The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule. --H.L. Mencken == All superstition is much the same . .the deluded believers observe events which are fulfilled, but neglect and pass over their failure, though it be much more common. - Francis Bacon - == Which is worse, ignorance or apathy? Who knows? Who cares? == "Science does not know everything but it is still searching. Religionist know nothing and yet they do NOT search." C. W. Dalton, == If God wanted us to believe we were related to chimpanzees, He'd have given us DNA 95% identical to theirs. == A scientist speaking of God is using either poetry or ignorance. glk == I used to be pure as the wind driven snow, but I drifted. == Religion attacks the attribute of science that distinguishes it from superstition - verification. == Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things: One is that God loves you and you're going to burn in hell. The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love." Butch Hancock == Christianity is "Cults Gone Wild." glk == I am aware that I am hideously wise. glk == None of the religions or their mythical deities are required to explain anything we know and none of them shine any light on what we don't know. == "Gorilla My Dreams, I Love You" song title == Maybe as mankind progresses, and realizes the folly of ancient superstition, the Bible can assume its rightful place on the shelf next to the Aesop's Fables, the Odyssey and Grimm's Fairy Tales. == Christianity has not put a man on the moon, but it has put many men to death for curiousity. == "I claim this planet in the name of The Empire of Mars." glk == Stand back! I have a little knowledge and I'm not afraid to use it! I have nothing to lose. == I hate it when people are so obsessed with reality. == The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. Stephen Hawking == I used to sniff glue but luckily I got no drain bamage. glk == The fundies want to declare me brain dead and take away my Mountain Dew and Oreos. glk == If you have to assume the very thing your trying to prove in order to prove it- then you've gotten nowhere in terms of rationally proving anything. == Faith is merely the dismissal of the requirement of reasonable premises to justify a conclusion. == In the beginning was the big bang, and it was very good. glk == Congratulations! you are the proud descendant of 3.5 billion years of survivors! == It is also interesting to note that people are suggesting that atheism is caused by gods messing with people's heads to prevent them from believing. Certainly a possibility, of course, but not an action any of the more popular gods would seemingly want to take. == There are none more ignorant and useless, then they that seek answers on their knees, with their eye's closed. == So since snakes are deaf, how could the snake HEAR Eve? Lipreading? == People that can't see facts, no matter how plainly presented, cannot be trusted to act in the best interest of those they represent == The American physicist Steven Weinberg has famously remarked, The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless. == The powers-that-be (political, economic, religious, whatever) generally do not like "critical thinking". They prefer people under them to shut up and just do what they're told. As I have often said, the most dangerous question that any person can ask is "Why?" == A faith that cannot survive collision with the truth is not worth many regrets. -Arthur C Clarke, science fiction writer (1917- == Phrenology(reading head shape) is only useful if its claims are rigorously verified by the science of astrology. == "I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief." (Gerry Spence) == Freud was correct in leveling his criticism against religion. Fundamentalist religion is a very unhealthy and unbalanced form of religious expression. Fundamentalist religious belief should, in fact, be classified as a form of mental illness. == "Knowledge rests on knowledge; what is new is meaningful because it departs slightly from what was known before." -- Robert Oppenheimer == So long as we are bound by loyalties to a particular religion's dogmatic beliefs, we are not free in many sectors of human thought and experience to explore afield and more deeply. == "What A Fiend We Have In Jesus" song title glk == "Those who cavalierly reject Evolution, as not adequately supported by facts, seem quite to forget that their own theory is supported by no facts at all." == Most people I meet feel sorry for me as I have a total inability to believe religious nonsense. glk == "God" is just Santa Claus for adults. == Homo sapiens sapiens sapiens sapiens sapiens == glk. == The preacher who hit me in the nose apparently had taken a vow of violence. glk == I lost my job in the orange juice factory. They said I couldn't concentrate. == The Vatican is opening a casino. it will be called Gregorian Chance. glk == Some people are afraid of heights. I'm afraid of widths. == Blind faith will not accept critical thinking and critical thinking will not accept blind faith. == Christian version of proof. "The thing that makes my Scriptural assertions correct is that I try to apply faith and accept the guidance of Jesus' Holy Spirit with respect to my understanding of Scriptural truths. It's not _my_ proof but the Holy Spirit's proof. Again, proof of God and Jesus doesn't come from any Christian or the Bible anyway. You can only get the insight you're looking for from the Holy Spirit." Thus, the voices in your head are infallible. == My claim is that ALL theists claim that THEIR method of approaching their beliefs is the correct one. Why should we believe your claims and reject all of theirs? Claiming that your beliefs are proof that your beliefs are correct is assuming your conclusion. You claim that your god objectively exists. (The alternative is that it subjectively [only in your mind] exists .) Things that objectively exist leave objective evidence of their existence. So either there IS evidence of your god, or your god doesn't exist anywhere but in your mind. That's what logic says. == If my religion says grass is pink, does the fact that you think grass is green make you an atheist? == Religion is the ultimate opiate, like a super-heroin. It lets you feel good about doing anything you feel inclined to do, such as hating others for their beliefs and dismissing the reality that surrounds you. == If we assume that man actually does resemble God, then we are forced into the impossible theory that God is a coward, an idiot and a bounder. H.L. Mencken == Missing information leads to misplaced values that leads to bad decisions. Bad decisions lead to personal and community suffering. == Science once said Newton gravity was a fact. Now it says Einstein gravity is a fact. You can not trust science as it changes so regularly. glk == The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. -- Bertrand Russell" == You can't buy much with a three-dollar bill these days. == Don't try logic to sell God. That only works on stupid people. == Ignore him. He is a barbarian and thinks the customs of his tribe are laws of nature. == I was fired from my job as a prooofreader for some unknown reason. glk == Ad homenim arguments are not effective. They are employed by those impotent and unable to provide rational refutation. == How can you work harder at doing nothing? == The first priest was the first rogue who met the first fool. --Voltaire == Science doesn't address morality at all. Neither does math. Does that make 2 + 3 = 5 immoral? == A stupid man's report of what a clever man says is never accurate because he unconsciously translates what he hears into something he can understand. -- Bertrand Russell. == The fundies aren't interested in understanding the world. Only in controlling it. == Faith is like a mirage... its built up like its something... but the closer you examine it the more you realise its all just an illusion. == Christian "I will pray for you.". Atheist "Thanks, I will think for you." == Native: "If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?" Priest: "No, not if you did not know." Native: "Then why did you tell me?" == For those who need the amniotic warmth of certainty, dogma is the proper womb." --Ray Ginger, Six Days or Forever, 1958 (the story of the Scopes trial) == I will give Mountain Dew and Oreos to those who will convert to atheism. == How are we created in the image of an invisible God? == The demonic legion was cast into a herd of swine creating deviled ham. == If you do not agree with me, your psychosis is starting up again. == You only imagine you have a headache. In reality, it is just the wave functions behaving badly. == We have a whole nation of people with their hands over their ears singing hymns to drown out the uncomfortable truth. == It is fashionable to wax apocalyptic about the threat to humanity posed by the AIDS virus, 'mad cow' disease, and many others, but I think a case can be made that faith is one of the world's great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate. -- Richard Dawkins == The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.-Philip K. Dick == "The more the fruits of knowledge become accessible to men, the more widespread is the decline of religious belief." - Sigmund Freud == My spill checker fines owl typical graphical arrows. glk == Mysticism is a manufactured reality for the temporarily unknowable. Timothy Rambo == The Universe is not Evidence for a God, it is Evidence for the Universe. Still no God required. == Religion is sort of like wearing lifts in your shoes. If it makes you feel better about yourself, fine. I don't have a problem with that. Just don't ask me to wear your shoes. ~ George Carlin ~ == I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. Richard Dawkins == Science is LOST on these people. They are way too into their own fears to actually concern themselves with mere FACTS! And they make a steady parade of suckers for the professional frauds who use them to gain money and political power. == Recently, it was discovered that in Alaska, where everything shrinks with the cold, pi is equal to three. It's called 'Eskimo pi'. == Cold makes things shrink. That is why days are shorter in winter. glk == So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence. -- Bertrand Russell == I meet many Kamikaze Christians, who committed intellectual suicide for their religion. glk == Evolution is the most incomplete explanation for origins, except for all the other ones. == "My responsibility is to follow the Scriptures which call upon us to occupy the land until Jesus returns. We don't have to protect the environment, the Second Coming is at hand." James Watt, Interior Secretary under Ronald Reagan) == The real question is not, "What is truth?" The real question is, "Who gets to decide?" == I propose 7 is a random number. Prove it is not. glk == I have to give you credit for packing so much misinformation into such a small space. Maybe your degree was in topology. == I have been trying to become less critical of others. If you were not so stupid, you would realize that. == A good scapegoat is nearly as welcome as a solution to the problem. == All the rocks in my driveway were all obviously designed by the Designer to appear undesigned. glk == The most accurate way to spell "one nation under God" is T*H*E*O*C*R*A*C*Y. == The snake in Eden could walk and talk, so why not sing and dance? == Every word in the Bible is true. It's the sentences that are the problem. == If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented? == "Vegetarian" is an American Indian Expression...meaning... extremely poor hunter. == "Reason is not one tool of thought among many, it is the entire toolbox. To advocate that reason be discarded in some circumstances is to advocate that thinking be discarded, which leaves one in the position of attempting to do a job after throwing away the required instrument." (George H. Smith, from "Atheism: The Case Against God,") == "I am arguing that faith as such, faith as an alleged method of aquiring knowledge, is totally invalid and as a consequence, all propositions of faith, because they lack rational demonstration, must conflict with reason." (George H. Smith, from "Atheism: The Case Against God") == "I call him free who is led solely by reason." (Spinoza) == "The Age of Reason" was responsible for making more people into infidels than any other book except the Bible." (Gordon Stein) == "The division between faith and reason is a half-measure, till it is frankly admitted that faith has to do with fiction, and reason with fact." (Sir Leslie Stephen, "Essays on Freethinking and Plainspeaking" (1905)) == "What I conclude is that religion has nothing to do with experience or reason but with deep and irrational needs." (Richard Taylor, "Will Secularism Survive?", Free Inquiry) == "You will notice that in all disputes between Christians since the birth of the Church, Rome has always favored the doctrine which most completely subjugated the human mind and annihilated reason." (Voltaire) == "The way to see by Faith is to shut the eye of Reason." (Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard, 1758) == I have come to the conclusion that they are generally not dishonest because they are Creationists, they are Creationists because they are dishonest. Adults with greater integrity and respect for the truth inevitably -and almost invariably- come to conclusions other than Creationism. == There is no shortcut to intellectual honesty. Atheism requires sacrifice -- in that you sacrifice the illusion of immortality and the sense of transcendent purpose. But, religion requires the sacrifice of critical thinking, self determination, your time, your money, and logic. I'll take the former. == Using science quotes without science knowledge is like using a microscope as a hammer. glk == Science has nothing to say about religion, either pro or con, except when religion is so utterly heretical that it becomes a pretext for the propagation of willful ignorance. == Of all of the useful information the omniscient, omnipotent deity who created the universe could have passed along to us, he neglected it so that he could instead devote the last 15 chapters of Exodus to detailed instructions on how to make a tent. (Farrell Till) == My boss says that if you don't like working on Saturday . . . don't bother coming in on Sunday. == Christian claim "I believe in science. I just do not believe in the corrupt unproved, materialistic unspiritual, atheist, mere fallen human claim the earth goes around the sun." glk == Religion actually makes more problems because faith is a way to make a virtue of things that make absolutely no sense. == Love is nothing to a tennis player. == "640K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates, 1981 == I am so honest, I never tell the same lie twice == These effects are to be explained by reason; but because you are unable to assign any, you have recourse to a Deity as your last refuge. Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods, 3.10.25 == The Earth is degenerating these days. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer mind their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching. - Assyrian Stone Tablet, c.2800 BC == Ideology is easier, because you don't have to know anything or search for anything. You always know the answer to everything. It's not penetrable to facts. == Consistency we should expect of philosophies, but perhaps not of philosophers. - Neal C. Gillespie - == Science is not the Bible. It does not demand to be absolute truth... just to strive for good explanations. == Newton was in error on a few details of physics. According to your "logic," gravity also must be "quite suspect" Are you willing to jump off a skyscraper to test it? == Next crusade: Intelligent Demonic Possession vs. The Germ Theory == The early bird gets the worm. The early worm, on the other hand, just gets eaten. == "We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield." --George Orwell, 1946, "Under Your Nose" == Militant Agnostic Motto: I don't know and you don't either! == There are only two "levels" in evolution: extinct, and not extinct yet. == But you know what? You ban Science out of your classrooms and out of your life if you want to . . . but you're gonna know then what life in the Dark Ages is all about. == Saying "Amen" at the end of a prayer is like hitting the ENTER key. It tells God that the command is completed and He should then get busy to carry it out. glk == I think I see the root of your problem: You're under the mistaken impression that your beliefs can modify reality. == Thesaurus, a Mesozoic reptile with a large vocabulary. == To say that secular means irreligious implies that all the arts and sciences are irreligious, and is very like saying that all professions except that of the law are illegal.- John Stuart Mill - == A mystic is someone who wants to understand the universe, but is too lazy to study physics. == Sincerity is no substitute for fact. == We are, in fact, the moral backbone of the nation: Brights take their civic duties seriously precisely because they don't trust God to save humanity from its follies. -- Daniel C. Dennett == Genesis Seven Blunders of the Ancient World. glk == Science and theology don't mix. Probably true. If I want to create a valuable new product, I will need science. If I want a bunch of slaves, theology is most likely the better tool. == You cannot learn unless you try to learn. Many so-called Christians are intentionally remaining ignorant because they don't want their religious prejudices to be upset. They will _never_ learn to run because they refuse to walk. I have very often seen people who have been kept sheltered, to include being kept from knowing or discussing certain things, make spectacularly bad decisions when the opportunity presents itself. Tom McDonald == A great many people in the world do not think as I do about these things. But I care nothing for that. The knowledge that I am right is sufficient for me.-- Mark Twain (Letter to Virginia City, 1864) == Standard prayer. Lord, please break the laws of the universe for my convenience. glk == "I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize." Steven Wright == Apparently original sin comes with a time-delay fuse: you're born with it, but it doesn't actually kick in until you reach puberty. == I claim 13 is a prime number, at least in the United States. glk == Creationists do not have to produce any external evidence for their claims as the Holy Spirit is their source, God Himself. glk == You can't teach an old god new tricks. glk == Ignorance on your part about natural processes does not imply intervention on God's part. == The Old Testament boasts of atrocities committed in the past. The Qur'an instructs believers to commit atrocities in the present. The New Testament gloats over atrocities to be committed in the future. == There are many missing links in evolution at present. In 100 AD, all links were missing. glk == "The problem with the "God" hypothesis is not that it cannot explain anything -- the problem is that it can explain everything."--J. Smith-Slattery" == "The simple believeth every word." - Proverbs 14:15 == There was a time when religion ruled the world. It is known as the dark ages. - Ruth Hurmence Green == Nothing can be proved beyond an unreasonable doubt. == I once uttered a Buddhist prayer. I prayed: May my house be safe from tigers. So far -- so good. == Jesus Christ. The same yesterday, today and tomorrow... dead. == Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. Self-incurred is this tutelage when its cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another. Sapere aude! Have courage to use your own reason! - that is the motto of enlightenment. Kant -- What Is Enlightenment? 1784 == There is nothing worse than infinite punishment for a finite transgression. I got to pity that poor bastard that was found picking up sticks on the wrong day, first he gets stoned to death, then he gets to spend eternity in hell. Tortured forever for picking up firewood, that's gotta suck. == The greatest test of courage is to bear defeat without losing heart. --Robert Green Ingersoll == Geocentrists don't appreciate the gravity of the situation. == I don't believe in God but I'm very interested in her. - Arthur C. Clarke - == Fundie science "The first land animals couldn't have survived on land because, being so ill-adapted, they would have been eaten by predators." == The hydrodynamic sorting argument in the Flood is an admission by creationists that order can come from disorder without intelligent design. == "In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." - George Orwell == The Ohio school board vice president called scientists who raised serious questions about Ohio's "Critical Analysis of Evolution" lesson plan "a bunch of paranoid, egotistical scientists afraid of people finding out [they] don't know anything." == There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is contempt prior to investigation. == Two proofs the Bible is true, from Billy Graham. The Bible is true because the alphabet is true. The Bible is true because the multiplication tables are true. glk == Why be born again, when you can just grow up? Jason A Cortina == I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of.-- Clarence Darrow == Imagine the Creator as a low comedian, and at once the world becomes explicable.-- H.L. Mencken == "It is not only vain, but wicked, in a legislator to frame laws in opposition to the laws of nature, and to arm them with the terrors of death."-- Thomas Jefferson, 1779 == Is the universe fine-tuned for us, or are we fine-tuned for the universe? == I am so skeptical, I can hardly believe it.- Chip Denman == I'm not reclusive, my cave is always open. == I have problems seperating religious people from mental people. They both tell me unlikely stories with great certainty and no evidence. Both are easily angered when opposed. glk == The set of claims without evidence is infinite. == The idea of respect for people of other religions has no basis in the Scriptures. == There is no science, without a statement of statistics, AND any statement without statistics, is a conjecture of faith by the professor of such statement, and the believer. == We are prodding, challenging, seeking contradictions or small, persistent residual errors, proposing alternative explanations, encouraging heresy. We give our highest rewards to those who convincingly disprove established beliefs.--Carl Sagan == The real intent of the Religious Right is to create a science-free zone where creationists can set up camp and rule the nation. glk == "Faith: Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel." -Ambrose Bierce == The universe seems to be a "No God Zone". glk == "All models are wrong but some are useful." -- George E. P. Box == I believe in the Misanthropic Principle: the universe was designed solely for the purpose of tormenting humans. == Time is never wasted on the exposure of ignorance and error. glk == Churches only enlighten us when they are in flames. - Argentinian Graffiti) == When I die, I'm donating my body to science fiction. -Steven Wright == It is the mark of the marvelous toleration of the Athenians ... that it wasn't till Socrates turned seventy that they broke down and forced him to drink poison. - Isaac Asimov == Why Universe is so perfect? Perfect? It's held together by strings. == JW's and Mormons have no success converting each other--- they can never find the other at home... == To "explain" reality by stating that an unknowable being created it by unknowable means, for unknowable purposes is no explanation at all ---it is magic. In fact, faith only lives by denigrating reason in order to create a sphere of influence for itself. Historically, faith has always claimed that reason is flawed and inadequate, and that faith alone can provide full answers to human questions and desires. Faith is opposed to reason. If faith were reasonable, the term would not be needed. It claims to be an alternative means to knowledge, but it cannot demonstrate that claim in any manner. Every scientific advance can be directly attributed to what the Bible calls worldly, foolish, unspiritual,fallen, materialistic earthly ways of thinking. == Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of this astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy.--Carl Sagan == I do not see how all the animals fit into that Ark which the Hebrews carried around. glk == If the Indians had not invented Sanskrit, we would all be pointing and grunting at each other. glk == Did Jesus take off His halo at night? glk == Science does not 'set out' to disprove religion - it is just collateral damage along the way to validity, just like destroying any other superstition. == Science is religion liberated and writ large. == Is beating your slave a sin? Is smashing a baby against a rock a sin? glk == Pascal chose the wrong god and is burning in hell now. He lost the wager. glk == Only by attempting the absurd can we achieve the impossible. == Can't we discuss this like adults, Stinkyface? == Centuries of repeated intellectual failure does not impress Christians of each age, who feel in their heart they understand the matter. glk == DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not constitute the support, opinion, or policy of GLK Technologies, or of the little green men that have been following him all day. == If a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, how much more dangerous is complete ignorance? == All rights reserved 4004 BCE - 20000 CE glk == Cult: A religion that has not yet received its tax exemption. == "In the beginning, there was nothing. And God said, 'Let there be light.' And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a lot better. --Woody Allen == When astronomers are measuring distances in space, do they add an extra light-day for every four light-years? == For the holidays, I am going to set up statues of middle age men, a Manager Scene. glk == Computers are not intelligent. They only think they are. == "Faith is a cop-out. It is intellectual bankruptcy. If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits." Dan Barker == Sticks and stones may break my bones, but so would an eighty-pound carrot. == How do you distuinguish between a universe that is fine-tuned to produce cats and happened to produce humans as a nasty waste product and your putative universe fine-tuned for humans? Ask your cat his opinion as to the goal of this universe. == God must have loved hydrogen as there is so much of it. glk == "I try to be cynical, but it's hard to keep up." --Lily Tomlin == The Good Samaritan stood before Jesus at Judgement Day. Jesus asked one question of him. "Did you get baptized and accept me as your Lord and Savior?" GS replied, "I obeyed the laws of my Hebrew religion, given by God, all my life and helped people as best I could." Jesus replied. "Go to hell to be burned forever. Away with you. Next!" glk == I got through first grade with help of Cliff Notes. glk == Why do they call it 'tourist season' if you cant hunt them? == I am old and wise, not odd and wide. glk == The organization "Veterans of Future Wars" is accepting new members. glk == My parents raised me to be honest and seek knowledge. That is why I am not a Christian. glk == "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain." C S Schiller) == "There is no other door to knowledge than the door Nature opens. And there is no truth but the truth we discover in Nature". Luther Burbank (1849-1926) American horticulturist == Maybe I just got hit in the head and this is my life flashing before me. glk == I had a Gutenberg Bible but I threw it away. Some fellow named Luther had scribbled all over it. glk == Religion is a way of taking individual illusions and making a mass movement out of them by emphasizing their commonalities and glossing over their individuality. == It's sad to see such a fine instrument as a human brain under the thrall of religious illusions. It's like seeing an exquisitely machined Vernier Calipers being used to hammer nails. == It's never too late to have a good childhood! The older you are, the better the toys! == Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish. Euripides (484 BC - 406 BC), The Bacchae, circa 407 B.C. == Common is the man who can be fashioned into a reflection of the era in which he lives. Rare is the man who can take the era in which he lives, and fashion it into a reflection of himself. == I studied all night to pass my Turing test...test...test... Eliza administered it. glk == The Ultimate Truth is that there is no Ultimate Truth. == Atheists who are cruel to other people are not TRUE atheists. glk == Ignorance Is The Cosmic Sin, The One Never Forgiven ! == I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. --Mohandas Gandhi == I need no gods. I have enough trouble with the invisible elephant. glk == I never try to disprove any gods. Billions of them could exist. glk == That which does not destroy me has made its last mistake. == Noah's Ark was made out of cubits. glk == Got mole problems? Call Avogadro at 6.02*10^23 == If science evidence is fallible, how can faith claims not be even more fallible? == When Columbus landed, the Indians said "There goes the neighborhood." glk == Not knowing is much more interesting than believing an answer which might be wrong. --Richard Feynman == To teach is to learn. Japanese Proverb == Gods are like people, only more invisible. glk == Science is what happens when preconception meets verification. == "How can you have order in a state without religion? For, when one man is dying of hunger near another who is ill of surfeit, he cannot resign himself to this difference unless there is an authority which declares "God wills it thus." Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet." -- Napoleon Bonaparte == The culture of masters and serfs in the Middle Ages did not work very well and they could not fix it, no matter how hard they tried. That is why they called it the Futile System. glk == This space intentially left blank. glk == "If you make yourself a sheep, the wolves will eat you." -- Benjamin Franklin == Fortunately, Latin hasn't changed very much in the last 45 years. == Aliens stole the Statue of Liberty and left a fake exact copy. glk == A 'saviour' is a creation of the terrified mind. == "Gods always behave like the people who created them" Zora Neale Hurston == "If you must believe in anything, believe in yourselves, in your senses, in your minds. To accept a religious creed is to accept another's mind in place of your own and generally contrary to your own. When religious belief comes in, brains go out" Marilla M. Ricker == "As people become more intelligent they care less for preachers and more for teachers" Robert Ingersoll == Whoever dies with the most toys wins! == If you're being chased by a bear remember: you don't have to outrun the bear; you only have to outrun your hiking buddy == A definition of "fitness" in biology: Has more grandchildren (and greatgrandchildren and...) than others do. == "What the hell did you do to the cat? It looks half dead!" -Mrs. Shroedinger == Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever does. - Margaret Mead (1901-1978) Anthropologist == "We may rest assured that God would never have suffered any infants to be slain except those who were already damned and predestined for eternal death." --John Calvin == I applied the Bible Code method to the Bible and only got the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto" glk == "Theologian: An uncommon individual who, though possessing finite abilities, has been called by God himself who, though possessing infinite abilities, requires the assistance of the former in explaining Himself to the rest of us." [Translation: if God existed, theologians would be out of work.]" -- "Rev." Donald Morgan == If complexity proves an intelligent designer, shouldn't imperfection prove the intelligent designer is imperfect--which brings into question the designer's intelligence in the first place. == There are only 10 kinds of people, those who understand binary, and those who do not. == "I am treated as evil by those who feel persecuted because they are not allowed to force me to believe as they do." -- Sources unknown ==: "Although it is said that faith can move mountains, experience shows that dynamite works better." == After global warming, Talahassee, Florida will become Talahassea. Seattle, Washington will retain it original name. After global warming, Canada will change its maple leaf flag to a palm tree. glk == If I state a claim which is not a fact, it is a lie. If the Bible does the same, it is great spiritual TRUTH. glk == Drug: A substance that, when injected into a rat, produces a scientific paper. == Words are more powerful than all of the laws of nature, according to preachers. A single prayer can overcome all four natural forces, at least within the solar system. glk == Evolution says a great deal but, like any other scientific process, it does not cover the subject of God - it describes what is observed. If God is not observed then it cannot say anything about it. == Judge Roy Moore should have gotten a real BIG piece of granite and posted all 613 commandments. glk == "Now creation science ... is really pretty bogus. ... I think there's a lot of hocus pocus in that stuff." Pat Robertson, 700 Club) == http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/sex/long.htm == You can remove a curse with a hex wrench. glk == Nobel Laureate Dr. Steven Weinberg said. "With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." == Religious leaders are a dime a dozen, so whatever they try to pass as truth is worth less then one cent. == "If the sum of credible evidence we have is that the universe lacks anything like a god, then we shouldn't be shy about concluding that there isn't one." --Neal M. Stevens == Scientists have far better things to do than deal with every nutty idea. == Sanity and rationality can be cured. Millions of people have succeeded. glk == The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination -- but the combination is locked up in the safe. -- Peter DeVries == "Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence. -- Richard Dawkins == "Faith is powerful enough to immunize people against all appeals to pity, to forgiveness, to decent human feelings. It even immunizes them against fear, if they honestly believe that a martyr's death will send them straight to heaven." -- Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene == There are more thinkable universes than real universes. Choose wisely. glk == I said it, I believe it, and that settles it. If you want more proof, I will say it again. glk == Fundie reply to opposing science facts "I just don't believe we have all the information yet and my faith and belief in the God who Created the Universe is much stronger than man's theories and, of course, superceeds them." == I wish I had a knob on my TV to turn up the intelligence. There's one called brightness, but it doesn't seem to work that way. == This file is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty, and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects. == The invisible and the nonexistent look very much alike. (Delos McKown) == The deluded are always filled with absolutes == Science, as a practice, process, or institution, has no metaphysics other than the assumption that if you can measure it, you can study it . . . - John Wilkins - == "I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good...Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty, we are called by God, to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism" Randall Terry -- Operation Rescue "Intolerance is a beautiful thing...There are people that are politically correct that want to say the cardinal sin of the hour is intolerance and I think that is a bunch of junk." [Randall Terry, Operation Rescue] "I honesty believe that in my lifetime we will see a country once again governed by Christians . . . and Christian values. What Christians have got to do is take back this country, one precinct at a time, one neighborhood at a time, and one state at a time." [Ralph Reed, Executive Director of the Christian Coalition, May 1, 1990, Religious News Service] == If religion is true, it does not need science to support it. If it is false, science can not save it. glk == If God truly values free will, then he would not punish those who choose other than He desires. == If God wanted us to believe we were related to chimpanzees, he'd have given us DNA 98% identical to theirs. == Creatures inveterately wrong in their inductions have a pathetic, if praiseworthy, tendency to die before reproducing their kind. - Willard van Ormand Quine - == Knowledge is true opinion. -- Plato == Dogma is a dangerous thing. Religion seems to inspire it. == You may not like this universe but then, who said reality had to be nice. == "The fool hath said in his heart there is no God - The wise man says it aloud." == Christian: Christian theology is logical. glk: Explain how it is logical. Christian: If you were not so sinful, you would see it is obvious that Christian theology is logical. I will pray that you get saved and receive the Holy Spirit. Christian theology is very logical. Believe it or I will have to hurt you. glk == Religion is vampiric: it tends to spread quickly, but dies out when exposed to the light of reason; but has a nasty tendency to return from the dead! == When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, "This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know", the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives. --Robert A. Heinlein == Supernatural causes can produce any conceivable effect from any conceivable set of initial conditions. == I realize that this God is described differently in different places, but the God of Israel seems to have changed from one storyteller to the next. == 66666666666666666666... - the number of the obsessive compulsive beast == "Creation science" isn't science. It's not really theology. It's barely even an "-ism". --Daniel Harpe == Which are you going to believe, God's own infallible Bible, or the lying universe? glk == The peril of negative arguments is that they may rest on our lack of knowledge, rather than on positive results. - Michael J. Behe - == Christian claim If something is nice, like a pretty sunset, God did it. If something is bad, like a tornado, God merely allowed it or Satan did it. glk == "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."--Saul Bellow == The universe started 13.7 billion years ago. It was a Monday. That explains a lot. glk == Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. Napoleon Bonaparte == Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. --Isaac Asimov == The Mormons claim that their feelings (burning in the bosom) prove that the Book of Mormon is true Why should I believe any of your feelings have more authority? glk == You know how dumb the average guy is? Well, half of everyone else is even dumber than that. == Deathbed recantation is in the great christian tradition. Tertullian tells us that the early heretic, Marcion, on his deathbed recanted the views he had held for most of his life. Tertullian later drifted into heresy himself, but of course he recanted on his deathbed. == Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the universe, but they should be. glk == "My psychologist tells me I'm paranoid... but what does he know? He's one of THEM. == I will sell you end of the world insurance. Just send me $100 and I will provide you with a $1 million dollar policy payable the day after the end of the world. == In those parts of the world where learning and science has prevailed, miracles ceased; but in those parts that are barbarous and ignorant, miracles are still in vogue. -Letters of Ethan Allen to Thomas Jefferson == Clones are People Two == I will try to be nicer if you will try to be smarter. glk == It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. --Sir Arthur Conan Doyle == Red sky at night, shepherd's delight. Sheep drowned in morning, global warming. == Children are not considered smart enough to vote, but they are assumed to be smart enough to choose the One True Religion. glk == Reply to a poorly stated claim "You know, my command of English suddenly seems to have failed me. I recognize the words individually, but I've never seen them assembled quite this way." == Religion is good for creating certainty, a cheap commodity. == A man does not attain the status of Galileo merely because he is persecuted; he must also be right. --Stephen Jay Gould == Teaching children creation prepares them for the 17th century. glk == Very large numbers of people seem to WANT some authority that will tell them what to do and believe. There are always spiritual leaders willing to satisfy this need. glk == Scientists do not know to the millimeter how far away the moon is. Thus they do not know how far away it is. Thus it might be farther away than the sun. glk == Sometimes, in the interest of dispelling one's ignorance, one has to sacrifice comfort for knowledge. == "Any sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from a genuine kook." -- Alan Morgan (talk.origins) == "They're trained to believe, not to know. Belief can be manipulated. Only knowledge is dangerous." --Frank Herbert, "Dune Messiah" == The translaters of the Hebrew Old Testament made many mistakes. It REALLY said the universe is 13.7 billion years old starting with the big bang, evolution and all. The translaters came up some wild story about a man named Adam, a rib and a world flood. glk == "Fundamentalism is a problem, NOT an answer." == "The universe is full of amazing things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper" == Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived. - Isaac Asimov == Reality is a crutch for those who can't handle religion. == If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.--Douglas Adams == Does entropy increase in a closed mind? glk == The most serious doubt that has been thrown on the authenticity of the biblical miracles is the fact that most on the witnesses in regard to them were fishermen. Arthur Binstead == If I wanted to hear your opinions, I would give them to you. glk == Believing is easier than thinking. Hence so many more believers than thinkers. --Bruce Calvert === Christianity might have died out except for Paul. He had to destroy Christianity to save it. glk == I own a vast collection of seashells. I keep them on beaches scattered around the world. == The bible is a mostly fictional, confusing piecemeal work written by men and full of contradiction. That's really why it's so popular among the public. glk == A truly unselfish act would be a Christian volunteering to have his soul take your soul's place in hell, so yours could go to Heaven. Don't hold your breath. == It was easy to count cards in Blackjack. I always got 52. glk == 9 of the 10 voices in my head voted that I am sane. glk == There are many fundamentalist and fringe churches or cults such as The Door that discourage any form of higher education. I guess they know that education tends to make people ask questions. == If the universe is so complex that it must have a creator, then surely that creator, who would have to be even more complex than the universe, also needs a creator by the same logic. It is creators all the way up. That, of course, leads to the problem about what created a creator complex enough to create a complex universe. And if the "creator" itself didn't need a creator, why should the universe? == The flat earth is hard to explain to the spiritually blind. glk == Christians often say that there's no such thing as chance, because God has a plan for the world... but, if that's true, then why does He keep changing his plan to accomodate people's prayers? == "AIDS is God's way of weeding his garden" - Pat Robertson == If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free thought - not free thought only for those who agree with us, but freedom for the thought we hate. --Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. == Since this is a Christian nation, the protection of the Constitution does not apply to atheists, and science teachers. glk == I prayed and the voice in my head said ignore previous voices. glk == If a nation expects to be both ignorant and free . . . it expects what never was and never will be. - Thomas Jefferson - == Stupidity, if left untreated, is self-correcting. - Robert Heinlein - == The secret of success is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake those, you've got it made. - Groucho Marx - == I have heard preachers give sermons supporting slavery, conquest, genocide and baby slaughter in the Old Testament. I never heard a sermon opposing them. That tells me something. glk == When your pet bird sees you reading the newspaper, does he wonder why you're just sitting there staring at carpeting? == Doing away with Genesis 1-12 removes original sin, thus the need for a Savior. == The voices in my head disagree with the voices in your head. glk == If all records of God and Christianity were totally lost, they would stay lost. If all records of science were lost, they all could ALL be reconstructed by observations of nature. That is the difference between science and Christian theology. glk == Insanity -- a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world. - R. D. Lang == Promising salvation to atheists is like promising scuba gear to a fish. -- Sverker Johansson == Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain. - Anonymous == If I waked up to see Jerry Falwell staring at me, I run into the closet where the monster lives. glk == Philosophy is little more than an elegant way of repeating the mistakes of brilliant thinkers of the past. == Sun God! Sun God! Ra! Ra! Ra! glk == Corollary to Clarke's Third Law: Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. == Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.-- G.B. Shaw == After twelve years of therapy, my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes. He said, "No hablo ingles".-- Ronnie Shakes == "The map is not the territory." Alfred Korzybski == Theologians claim people use only 10% of their soul. glk == We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves. -- Tom Robbins == Atheism: the position that each religion is right about all the others. == There is no greater hatred in the world than the hatred of ignorance for knowledge. - Galileo Galilei == Science thrives on the unknown. Religion denies it. It is an oversimplification, but seems to characterize the age-old dispute between the two methods of understanding the world. == The great tragedy of science - the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact." Thomas H. Huxley == Religion has been used to explain our collective fears, that's why science is such an enemy to them. Smaller and smaller pockets of fear and irrationality will hold on till the bitter end. == Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence. (Richard Dawkins) == If it were discovered that religion made soldiers less willing to kill people and break things, all the chaplains and chapels would disappear overnight. The Nazi army had Christian chaplains. glk == Gods like me have no problem with megalomania. glk == Forever is a long time -- especially the last part. --Woody Allen == "The way of the world is, to praise dead saints, and persecute living ones." Nathaniel Howe == Liberation from superstition is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for science. - Carl Sagan - == Immediate assurance is an excellent sign of probable lack of insight into the topic. Josiah Royce == Fundie motto We have seen the past and it works. == 79.84% of all statistics are made up on the spot. The other 42.35% are made up later on. == Virgin Mary was made pregnant by the Horny Spirit. glk Christians claim refraining from premarital prevents pregnancy. It did not work for Mary. == There are things that science wasn't meant to explain and doesn't try to, such as what is morally right or wrong. There are things that science can't yet explain but is working on, like the origin of life. And there may be things that science would like to explain but never can. It is a simple (but distressingly common) fallacy to presume that if something is beyond science, it is not beyond religion, too. Richard Dawkins == "If we really know Truth, we do not fear hearing falsehoods or half-truths; if we are not sure of the truth - we shudder and try to shout down every utterance." - A. J. Mims == There has been only one Christian. They caught him and crucified him -- early. -- Mark Twain -- == "Hamlet" was one of Shakespere's less successful comedies. == The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. --Martin Luther King, Jr. == Remember all men would be tyrants if they could.- Daniel Defoe - == Christians can always find moral reasons to hurt opponents. glk == Ingrate, n.: A man who bites the hand that feeds him, and then complains of indigestion. == If the Bible says what it means, it can be judged. If it does not mean what it says, who can judge it? glk == Solutions are not the answer. Richard M. Nixon == glk: The earth goes around the sun. Fundie: That is just your opinion. Prove it. It is just a theory. The Bible disproves it. Were you there? Believing that makes people immoral. == Men invent ideas and words to express them. They are eventually invested with political and religious authority by those in power. People forget they are all mere human inventions, tentative and approximate. glk == Just when we manage to idiot-proof something, Nature comes along and builds a better idiot. == The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.-- Joseph Conrad == There is no central authority accepted by all religious people. There are thousands of different forms of Christianity. Each claims to be uniquely the One True version. glk == Never use logic on a human mind that's closed. There's nothing that infuriates a closed mind more than logic. - Opening Closed Minds, William J. Reilly == That is the very heart of faith---it must denigrate human reason and claim it is inadequate in order to maintain a sphere of influence for itself. == God works in mysterious ways which are indistinguishable from random events within the scope of natural law. == A brain that is good at simulating models in imagination is also, almost inevitably, in danger of self-delusion. -- Richard Dawkins == Jehovah is Satan's evil twin. glk == When religion stands in the way of progress, it has outlived its usefulness. == Christian apologetics is filled with tautologies: Is there a God? Yes. How do you know? Because the Bible says so. How do you know the Bible is correct? Because it was inspired by God. In other words, God exists because God exists. == Many people are overconfident enough to think that if they cannot explain something, it must be inexplicable and therefore a true mystery of the paranormal. == One would be well-advised to first thoroughly understand the probable worldly explanation before turning to other-worldly ones. == A hearty fool is he that believeth every word of the Bible. -Jacob Elleker, English Philosopher 1638 == Anyone who engages in the practice of psychotherapy confronts every day the devastation wrought by the teachings of religion. ~ Nathaniel Branden == Nature never makes any blunders, when she makes a fool, she means it. Henry Wheeler Shaw == I asked Eliza to marry me. She asked about my mother. (Eliza is an interactive computer program, simulating a social advisor.) glk == I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him. --Booker T. Washington == Relatives of schizophrenics are more likely to be religious/superstitious than the general population. That explain a lot. == God used to do EVERYTHING. As science progressed, God finally was retired. glk == The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. -- Bertrand Russell == Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught in falsehoods school. And the one man that dares to tell the truth is called at once a lunatic and fool" -- Plato == It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in an argument.-- William G. McAdoo == What do butterflies get in their stomachs when they are nervous? -- Mary H. Waldrip == What color does a Smurf change to if you choke him? == Organized religion is like organized crime; it preys on peoples' weakness, generates huge profits for its operators,and is almost impossible to eradicate. == Christianity is so pointless. It has thousands of different absolute, God breathed truths. == One must first believe them before Scriptures make any sense! == My assertions are infallible. If you want more proof, I will repeat them. glk == The common excuse of those who bring misfortune on others is that they desire their good. - - Luc de Clapiers de Vauvenargues 1715 - 1747 == Men show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they think laughable. - - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 - 1834 == A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. - Sir Winston Spencer Churchill == I never met a thinking Christian. I have met thinking ex-Christians. glk == If, at age five, you do not know the gods are made up things and the myths of impossible tales you are a fool.[Suetonius 75 - 160 AD] == Ignorance of the law of gravity is no excuse. == Why do smart bombs have a death wish? They do not sound very smart to me. glk == What is Mind? Never matter. What is Matter? Never mind. What is the Soul? That is immaterial. == Christianity is the belief in a god that created a copy of Himself so He could kill Himself so He could change the eternal rules that He made. == "The iron of observation must be hammered against the steel of the anvil of theory to have meaning to science". == Micro-geology pushes rocks up a few feet. Macro-geology produces vast mountain ranges, a few feet at a time. glk == When a Christian tells me that God has spoken to him and another person tells me that Elvis has spoken him .. I have no grounds to consider one more credible than the other == Repeatedly, we see how desparate people cling to beliefs that don't mesh with the facts. It is called faith, or mental illness. == Dear Billy Graham: I ignored my science teacher, as you advised me to do in your column. I answered all the test questions with "God Did it." I got an F for the test and failed the course. Please write my science teacher to explain why my answers were all correct and his science is all wrong. glk == Long ago and far away, gods were very powerful and public. Now, they are weak and retiring. glk == The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those who have not got it. ---George Bernard Shaw == If 50 million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.- Anatole France == Faith is not wanting to know the truth. ---Nietzsche == What is the function that a clergyman performs in the world? Answer: he gets his living by assuring idiots that he can save them from an imaginary hell H.L. Mencken == This crime called blasphemy was invented by priests for the purpose of defending doctrines not able to take care of themselves.---Robert G. Ingersoll == Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true.--- Francis Bacon == Are you sure that chemical reactions in your brain aren't the source of your so-called faith? == In the 60s people took acid to make the world seem weird. Now the world IS weird and people take Prozac to make it seem normal. == "I believe nothing, I fear nothing, I am free."-Nikos Kazantzakis == As Martin Luther King Jr. said: "Structures of evil do not crumble by passive waiting. . . . Evil must be attacked by a counteracting persistence, by the day-to-day assault of the battering rams of justice." == I am not running for God. The office of Dictator or Emperor is sufficient. glk == "Some believe all manner of hearsay evidence; others twist truth into fiction; and both sorts of error are magnified by time." [Cornelius Tacitus, _The Annals of Imperial Rome_ c.100CE] == Paul was wrong to claim the authority of the scripture, and yet teach people that they need not follow the Law taught therein. == I sometimes know I am dreaming, while in the dream. I explained to the people there that they were only dream people. They doubted me. I fixed them. I woke up. glk == Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to think. - Niels Bohr == In the unlikely event of losing Pascal's Wager, I intend to saunter into Judgement Day with a bookshelf full of grievances, a flaming sword of my own devising, and a serious attitude problem. == "When a man has once brought himself to accept uncritically all the absurdities that religious doctrines put before him and even to overlook the contradictions between them, we need not be greatly surprised at the weakness of his intellect." Freud "The Future of an Illusion" == All religions are founded on the fear of the many and the cleverness of the few. -- Marie Henri Beyle (Stendhal) == We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.- Richard Dawkins == I love Creationists. "Do you mean to tell me that probability and statistics are based on mere CHANCE"? == Torah! Torah! Torah! - War cry of the kamikaze Rabbis == A church with an army is infallible. glk == I wonder, when Jesus cleansed the temple, all he had was a whip. What if he had hand grenades??? == Pi was invented by Pithagoras. == The atom was discovered by Sir Isaac Neutron. == "A myth is a story that is truer than mere fact" == Free the Indianapolis 500!! == Hell is not a physical location, it is a spiritual place just off the coast of Peru. == The complete lack of evidence is the surest sign that the conspiracy is working. == "So the universe is not quite as you thought it was. You'd better rearrange your beliefs, then. Because you certainly can't rearrange the universe."- Isaac Asimov == "Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life." (Eric Hoffer). == I took the IQ test twice. That gives me an IQ of 200. glk == Imagination is a wonderful thing......in moderation. It helps to know where imagination stops and reality begins. == The propeller keeps the pilot cool. Watch how he sweats when it stops! == If they make another movie about Christ, Arnold Schwarzenegger should play Jesus . . "I'll be back!" == The return of Jesus is like the Zeno Paradox. He is always coming but never arriving. glk == Immediate assurance is an excellent sign of probable lack of insight into the topic. Josiah Royce == Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science. - Charles Darwin (1871) == I don't pretend to know what ignorant men are sure of. - Clarence Darrow == Nobody is so confident in speaking about any issue as the one who doesn't know much about it. == Humans and gods have no common DNA. == Never attempt to teach a pig to sing. It is a waste of time and it annoys the pig.- Lazarus Long == The big bang was caused by a Cosmic Cat, who coughed up a big fireball. == Trying is the first step toward failure - Homer Simpson == In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is a hallucinating lunatic. == "Every lie is welcome that suits its purpose." - Thomas Paine == Scientists studied the feline DNA and found long sequences of...CATCATCAT..glk == I never make typical graphical arrows. glk == It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself - Epicurus == "The deepest sin against the human mind is to believe things without evidence" (T. H. Huxley) == Fundies doubt one species can become another one in millions of years but accept without question a stick can transform into a snake in moments. glk == Sit down before fact as a little child, be prepared to give up every conceived notion, follow humbly wherever and whatever abysses nature leads, or you will learn nothing. --Thomas H. Huxley" == It is as respectable to be a modified monkey as modified dirt. -- Thomas Huxley == Christians think science teachers have only one right, the right to remain silent. glk == God knows the sparrows fall, but they keep falling. Ain't creation just one dead bird after another? {Doris Betts} == "Humanity's most valuable trait is a judicious sense of what not to believe." --Euripides == "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident." (Arthur Schopenhauer) == The reason men are silenced is not because they speak falsely, but because they speak the truth. This is because if men speak falsehoods, their own words can be used against them; while if they speak truly, there is nothing which can be used against them -- except force. To attempt to silence a man is to pay him homage, for it is an acknowledgement that his arguments are both impossible to answer and impossible to ignore. --John Bryant == "Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others." Fyodor Dostoyevsky == Lack of education is a pregnant opportunity for tyranny. == Pigs may be largely ignorant of the mechanics of flight, but if you push one off a tall building it will make every effort to learn. == Christians tell me that an atheist can not understand the true meaning of the Bible without the Holy Ghost to advise them. Then they quote Bible verses at me to prove their point. glk == If a book is encrypted, and the instructions for decrypting it are contained only within the encrypted text of the book itself, do we have a logical problem? == Fundamentalism is about power, and they do not want anyone who doesn't buy their myths to share power. == "We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes." Gene Roddenberry == "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." --Upton Sinclair == "A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything." -- Nietzsche == Old statisticians never die; they just get broken down by age and sex. == God's native language was Elizabethan English, as in the King James Bible. Even the serpent in Eden spoke it, fluently. glk == "We have hearsay and conjectures. Those are kinds of evidence." -Lionel Hutz, lawyer, aka. Phil Hartman, The Simpsons == Atheism requires that rational minds make sense of the world as it is without resorting to spirits, imaginary forces and illusory creators of that which pre-existed them. Atheism lives and breathes. Theism makes glorious excuses for being dead. == Hey, who needs a conscience when Jesus died for our sins? -- Ahriman == The fundamentalists, by 'knowing' the answers before they start (examining evolution), and then forcing nature into their straitjacket of their discredited preconceptions, lie outside the domain of science--or of any honest intellectual inquiry. -- S. J. Gould == Why does the Vatican have lightning rods? glk == "The Bible is a wonderful source of inspiration for those who don't understand it." -- George Santayana == Kendall's Conjecture. There is at least one even prime between 1 and 3. glk == Science is not belief, but the will to find out. - Bertrand Russell == The earth is flat. If you do not accept this, you do not understand Flat Earth Theory correctly. == "Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power." --- Eric Hoffer - Reflections on the Human Condition --- "As long as the true believer is taught that he is in any way superior to the non-believer, he is well on his way to becoming a qualified bigot, religious fanatic, or member of one of the many hate groups that have been spawned by such teachings throughout the ages." -----Eric Hoffer == Science is a very unbiased discipline, Religion is a very undisciplined bias. == I thought it interesting that God is to be feared, and Jesus is to be loved and trusted. However, Jesus is God. == "The free mind recognizes that the question of truth...is prior to the obligation to believe. The insistence on faith begs the question of truth." == People who know they're right don't necessarily scare me. People who know what's right FOR ME scare me == I sometimes think that God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability. -- Oscar Wilde == "To attempt to be religious without a specific religion is like attempting to speak without a specific language.'' -- George Santayana) == It may be that ministers really think that their prayers do good and it may be that frogs imagine that their croaking brings spring. [Robert G. Ingersoll, "Which Way?", 1884] == "It is the mark of an educated mind to rest satisfied with the degree of precision which the nature of the subject admits and not to seek exactness where only an approximation is possible." -- Aristotle' == Do morally handicapped people get special parking places? Yes. They park in the same places designated for the physically handicapped. glk == The ignorant reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, and their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it. - Kruger == Gods have done a lot in the past, will do a lot in the future, but are always strangely absent from the present.--Anon == Two solutions together form a new problem.-- Mycroft Holmes == Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law. -- Thomas Paine == Adam was only human - this explains it all. He did not want the apple for the apple's sake, he wanted it only because it was forbidden. The mistake was in not forbidding the serpent; then he would have eaten the serpent. == Religion...when mere facts and reality aren't enough. glk == Really I am not much impressed with the people who say: Look at me. I am such a splendid product that there must have been design in the universe. - Bertrand Russell == Infidel - a person professing a religious faith other than that of the speaker. == I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use. Galileo Galilei == Nietzsche recognized that the psychology of Judeo-Christianity is the psychology of slavery. It is a value system based on guilt and fear. == The best way to convince another is to state your case moderately and accurately. - Benjamin Franklin == Once the paradigm switches, science tends to reward and praise the pioneers of the new order, and the supporters of the old order tend to die out. In belief-propagated systems, there is a still a great likelihood that the old belief will persist (splitters!), perpetuated even long after the chief proponents have died off. == An error made on your own is safer than 10 truths accepted on faith, because the first leaves you with the means to correct it, but the second destroys your capacity to distinguish truth from error. - Ayn Rand == The difference between religion and mental pathology is the number who suffer. == My mind may be fallible, but becoming mindless will not make me infallible. == A god that uses everlasting torture in hell instead of proper evidence just to make you believe in him, can that be an omnibenevolent god? == The Fundie Second Law of Thermodynamics says everything is degrading. That means their quoting the Bible to me only makes things worse. glk == One need not be a lawyer to conclude that an allegedly perfect being who desires all to be saved would be unlikely to relate the most important event in history with major contradictions. == Luke 1:35 "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:" The religious traditions of the ancients reported many virgin births. The Holy Ghost must have been busy back then. glk == One person's sin is another's virtue. I, for one, refuse to indulge in the mortal sin of judgement, threats, self-delusion, intolerance, and pure ignorance. That's why I'm an atheist. == Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise. Sam Pascoe, American scholar. == I am starting the First Atheist Church. Holy Communion will use Mountain Dew and Oreos. glk == I am just a man from planet Dirt. glk == The world is just filling up with more and more idiots! And the computer is giving them access to the world! They're Spreading their stupidity! At least they were contained before - now they're on the loose everywhere! - Harlan Ellison == The greater the number of men to whom the treasures of knowledge become accessible, the more widespread is the falling-away from religious belief -- at first only from its obsolete and objectionable trappings, but later from its fundamental postulates as well.--Sigmund Freud == A fanatic is someone who knows what God would want if only God knew the facts of the case, as he does. - unknown == Do unicorns have souls? glk == You must find God's love and mercy in the Bible as it is not found elsewhere. glk == The most heinous and the most cruel crimes of which history has record have been committed under the cover of religion or equally noble motives. -- Mohandas Gandhi == Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity; and fashion will drive them to acquire any custom. - George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) == Someone who is factually mistaken about the roundness of the world isn't evil or immoral because of it. So why so many assume that one who is mistaken about God has to be immoral? == Christians proudly wear and display, as a badge of honor, the straight jacket of conventional thought. == We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.- Jonathan Swift == Christianity -- Weapons grade religion. glk == All of science is based on measurements. All measurements have error. Thus, all science is based on error. Reject it all. Go live like in Bible times, like God requires. glk == Do I BELIEVE in the Bible? Heck, I've actually SEEN one! == Between the OT and NT, Satan became an enemy of God. Previously, they were betting buddies, in the book of Job. glk == People can see in things only what they want to see, And they want to see therein only what they know! == Sartre, about logic: "Logic is invincible, for in order to destroy Logic, one must use it." == There is a new TV show about a bunch of religious people going around making arrests. It is called COPTS. glk == "Every day is a gift. That's why they call it the present." == Religion: The science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from people. == "Faith is often the boast of the man who is too lazy to investigate." -- F.M. Knowles == "When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called Religion." -- Robert M. Pirsig == When a theist says "God exists", he is making a statement about his emotional desires, disguised in the form of a sensible factual claim. == I use irrational numbers to count religious people. I use imaginary numbers to count gods. glk == No atheists ever died in a war. You see no O above graves. Actually, they use an atom symbol in Arlington for atheists. glk == The highest duty of a citizen to a free society is to question his own opinions until they are validated. And then question them again. The next highest duty is not to pass on defective opinions to others in the guise of truth. == Creation is far simpler then evolution. So, simple people believe in creation. glk == God whispered in my ear while I was sleeping last night. He told me he hates you. Prove he did not. == Only 43% of gods think people are real. glk == Man is a Religious Animal. Man is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion -- several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. Mark Twain == Faith is an absolutely marvelous tool. With faith there is no question too big for even the smallest mind. == Sincere Faith has led men to commit terrible atrocities and amusing stupidities. On the other hand, the scientific method plods painstakingly along, continuously adding new data to human storehouses of knowledge . == There is never any reason to be angry with the enemy because whatever they do they are doing it because they believe it is the right thing to do. -- Marcus Aurelius == Fundamentalist = One that puts proof of his doctrines above love and compassion. == I do not serve gods, as they are hard to catch, let alone cook. glk == I once had faith in Santa, but I got better. glk == Allah is like Jehovah in a turban. == It is our responsibility as scientists, knowing the great progress which comes from a satisfactory philosophy of ignorance, the great progress which is the fruit of freedom of thought, to proclaim the value of this freedom, to teach how doubt is not to be feared but welcomed and discussed, and to demand this freedom as our duty to all coming generations. -- Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988) == Christians do not have faith in God so much as they have GREATER faith in the people who told them which god to worship, and ultimately -supreme- faith in their ability to choose the correct god, and to correctly interpret that god. Christians, in reality, worship nobody but themselves. == God is silent, except for people who hear voices in their head. glk == How does your ability to imagine constrain the universe? Matt Silberstein == I want to go to Paris and see the vault where they keep the standard kilometer. glk == Parents should not expose children to tobacco, drugs, or religion. They just might like it. glk == I am wiser and more powerful than all the gods and goddesses. That is because I am real and they are fictional. glk == The noblest of occupations is to search for truth. - Robert Ingersoll == I am Lord of the Files. glk == "All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win the world is for enough good men to do nothing" Edmund Burke == Christians and Muslims try to attach their system to science because science works so well. glk == The difference between science and theology is that science has general validity. glk == Churches can ALWAYS explain why they are always right and everybody else is wrong. People who do that are called sociopaths. == Simple proof of God. Since God exists, therefore God exists. QED All other proofs are this one, with added complexity. glk == Not only is there nothing to be gained by believing an untruth, but there is everything to lose when we sacrifice the tool of reason on the altar of faith. == The mind seeks patterns with meaning, called TRUTH. In their absence, it creates them. That is called faith, or insanity. glk == To quote anonymous authorities as evidence is not valid. --Anonymous == I am going to have my ego frozen, to be thawed out in the distant future. glk == "If we must play the theological game, let us never forget that it is a game. Religion, it seems to me, can survive only as a consciously accepted system of make believe." [Aldous Huxley] "Time Must Have a Stop"] == Complex problems have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers. == "It is wrong always, everywhere and for everyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." - W.K. Clifford) == Big bang -> Hydrogen -> Stars -> Heavier atoms -> Solar system -> Single cell life -> Multicell life -> Fish -> Amphibians -> Reptiles -> Mammals -> Primates -> Hominids -> Homo sapiens -> glk This gives the purpose of the whole universe. That is the SUPER anthropic Principle. glk == Nowadays our sciences, quick and fickle, wear out dogmas in 10 years, and axioms take only a little longer.-- Erwin Chargaff == God is immaterial, invisible, transcendental-- almost the same definition as 'nothing'. == What makes somebody a crackpot in a field? It takes two things: (1) Ignorance about the field, and (2) disdain for the knowledge of the experts. The crackpot cannot be persuaded that his ideas are mistaken, because he has no respect for what the practitioners of the field think of as a convincing argument. == "If we are going to teach 'creation science' as an alternative to evolution, then we should also teach the stork theory as an alternative to biological reproduction." -Judith Hayes == Creationism is a religious belief. If it were a scientific proposition, it would have science evidence to offer. == Jesus killed an innocent fig tree. He's hardly a good moral figure to follow. == Jesus was without sin (supposedly) so why didn't he carry out his own orders and stone the woman? His mother could join him. == Christ died for our sins. Dare we make his martyrdom meaningless by not committing them? Jules Feiffer == My files grow exponentially. By 2050, they will fill the universe. glk == "Intelligent Design" is only an updated word for "Creationism," which is religion exclusively, pure and simple. == If Evolution is true, there is no Creator, so laws come from Man's opinion. That is called a democracy, which is a terrible form of government. America, it is sad to say, has become a democracy. Kent Hovind - Creation Science Evangelist == "When I view all beings not as special creations, but as the lineal descendants of some few beings which lived long before the first bed of the Cambrian system was deposited, they seem to me to become ennobled." (Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species) == I know the weakness of human reason. But it is all we have, and the only safety of man is to cultivate it and extend his knowledge so that he will be sure to understand life and as many mysteries of the universe as he can possibly solve (Clarence Darrow)) == Resurrections were common long ago in the Holy Land. Look at all the empty tombs over there. glk == Due to rising electric costs, the light at the end of the tunnel will be shut off until further notice. == When one uses God as a placeholder for the unknown, one makes God into nothing more than a synonym for our personal ignorance. == "There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he dare not face this thought! Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not rational, he becomes furious when they are disputed." Bertrand Russell == "It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics." -Robert A. Heinlein == What we need in our schools is a Moment of Science. == Anything can happen in a society where you can convince people that when 99.9% of biologists and other scientists fully endorse evolution, it just means they lack the scientific insight of the local pastor and his Holy Book. == "The danger to society is not merely that it should believe wrong things, though that is great enough; but that it should become credulous, and lose the habit of testing things and inquiring into them; for then it must sink back into savagery." - W. K. Clifford == "There once was a time when all people believed in God and the Church ruled. This time was called the Dark Ages." --Richard Lederer, Anguished English == Catholics claim the Protestants are wrong. Protestants claim Catholics are wrong. I agree with both groups in this matter. glk == Where there's a whip, there's a way. == Mr. A "The earth is flat." Mr. B. "I doubt that is true. I require evidence for ideas claimed to be valid" Mr. A. "That makes you a close minded, stupid, ill-informed, dogmatic, bigot." glk == "Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason." Orson Welles == "Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life." == If God wants me to believe in him, then He needs to find better spokespersons than any I know of so far. He could take a second to speak to me personally. == Two wrongs don't make a right, but it sure does make it even. -Sister Souljah == "Orthodoxy means not thinking -- not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness" -- George Orwell == Science is really just a way of thinking logically and systematically dealing with reality. Its negation is thinking illogically and ignoring reality. == Reason and intelligence are the most effective instruments that humankind possesses. There is no substitute: neither faith nor passion suffices in itself. == No reason-based argument can undo a faith-based assertion. The motivation has to come from inside. --Franc == "Precisely the very worst thing about Christianity is the doctrine that the worst sin ever committed is the attempt to gain knowledge." "Religious belief is not a precondition either of ethical conduct or of happiness." --Dalai Lama, "Ethics for the New Millennium" == "Christianity came into existence in order to lighten the heart; but now it has first to burden the heart so as afterwards to be able to lighten it. Consequently it will perish." --Nietzsche == I honor my personality flaws, for without them, I would have no personality at all. == "A man without religion is like a fish without a bicycle." - Vique's Law == Sin is the disease invented by various religions so that they might sell you the cure. == I can hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my Father, Brother, and almost all my best friends, will be everlastingly punished. And this is a damnable doctrine. -- Charles Darwin == Finding that no religion is based on facts and cannot therefore be true, I began to reflect what must be the condition of humankind trained from infancy to believe in error. -- Robert Owen == This statement is false and so is the one below it. The above statement is true. Ignore these four statements. glk == "Truth never damages a cause that is just." --Mohandas K. Gandhi == "Everything I am today, I owe to people whom it is now too late to punish." == If God is beyond our understanding how can you possibly know anything about it/him/her? It amuses me that I am often told God works in mysterious ways by people who are often quite happy to elucidate on how God thinks, what his motives are and so on. How they supposed to know? They talk to God? Then why does God tell so many people different and contradicting stories? == "Madness is rare in individuals -- but in groups, parties, nations, and ages it is the rule." -- Nietzsche, 'Beyond Good & Evil' == The unwary mind is ever open to the seeds of the irrational. We are as gullible now as we were 2000 years ago. == I would accept posting the Ten Commandments on school walls if they were accompanied by graphic images describing each forbidden act, particularly adultry. glk == "Gods are fragile things; they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense." [Chapman Cohen] == "He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself" Thomas Paine == "A bad cause will ever be supported by bad means and bad men." Thomas Paine == "Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice." Thomas Paine == "Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the Worst" Thomas Paine == Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be mowed down in the cross-fire.- Michael Flynn - == Education is the process of moving from cocksure ignorance to thoughtful uncertainty.- Utvich's Observation == "The most common of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably absurd. It is the chief occupation of mankind." - H.L. Mencken == "Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life." -- Eric Hoffer == From my point of view, Christian theology is just the theology of the particular Christian I find myself arguing with. == If you get sick, how do you know it's not God's response to someoneelse's prayer that you get sick? == Don't you find calling the universe "God" somewhat superfluous when a perfectly good label, "the universe", already exists? Ahmad == For life is at the start a chaos in which one is lost. The individual suspects this, but he is frightened at finding himself face to face with this terrible reality, and tries to cover it over with a curtain of fantasy, where everything is clear. It does not worry him that his "ideas" are not true, he uses them as trenches for the defense of his existence, as scarecrows to frighten away reality.- Jose Ortega Y Gasset == "When you have shot and killed a man, you have in some measure clarified your attitude towards him. You have given a definite answer to a definite problem. For better or for worse you have acted decisively. In a way, the next move is up to him." -- R. A. Lafferty == Christians are fond of saying that God sacrificed his only son to avenge his own anger against a man and a woman four thousand years dead. They don't ask "What sort of evil crazy God would do that?" - Charles Fitterman == Religion is the mother of evil and impious deeds. - Lucretius == "I am called evil by those who can not force me to believe as they do." glk == "The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively not by the false appearance of things present and which mislead into error, not directly by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice." -Schopenhauer == "If evolution is true, you could not know that it's true because your brain is nothing but chemicals. Think about that." Kent Hovind - Creation Science Evangelist == All evolution is what the Creationists call "micro-evolution". == If you really wanted intelligent people to believe in You, then why didn't You give us any evidence more convincing than a book of fables written by ignorant barbarians, filled with atrocities, absurdities and contradictions, and preached at us by blithering idiots who don't understand the first principles of logic or science? == Most people have elaborate legalistic mechanisms to convince themselves that their religious claims are not an error. In most cases, such people simply hear another fundie make a statement, and they simply repeat it, unable to comprehend the fact that such a statement might be wrong, and that they might need to look up the facts first. Most fundies have an overweening respect for other fundamentalist "authorities," whether they really are or not, which is why Gish and Hovind and the rest of that group are still in business. == When you 'know' you are right and God is on your side I guess any claim, no matter how specious, is considered valid. == Fundies use proof by assertion, relying on the Holy Spirit to guide them to speak only eternal TRUTHS. glk == I think that atheists make a decision to cast away beautiful lies to embrace some very ugly truths - we are mortal, those we love are mortal, sometimes the guilty go unpunished, sometimes the innocent suffer horribly, sometimes the best of us die young for no reason at all. There is no grand design, no unfolding plan, no overarching purpose to the universe. == When I was a child my ethics and actions often comported closely to those of the Christian God. They would probably have comported even more closely if I had God's destructive capabilities at my disposal. However, I've since grown up and (with the help of family, friends, teachers, etc., as well as my own introspections) I have developed a social conscience. Now, my actions are better than those of the Christian God. == Religious Cult: The church down the street from yours. == Christian Fundamentalism: The doctrine that there is an absolutely powerful, infinitely knowledgeable, universe spanning entity that is deeply and personally concerned about my sex life. == "Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise. During almost fifteen centuries it has been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both superstition, bigotry and persecution." James Madison, fourth president and Father of our Constitution. == "God does not and cannot exist. But what led us to conceive of Him does exist and is constantly experienced and pictured." - Iris Murdoch. == "That which is ridiculous deserves ridicule" - Augustine of Hippo == Arthur C. Clarke has said that the great tragedy of history is the hijacking of morality by religion. == "Truth is always strong, no matter how weak it looks; and falsehood is always weak, no matter how strong it looks."- Phillip Brook == Reasonable men may be allowed to differ, where no one can reasonably be positive. David Hume == There are none more ignorant and useless, then they that seek answers on their knees, with their eyes closed. == Pray (verb): To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner, confessedly unworthy." --Ambrose Bierce (Devil's Dictionary) == "Ignorance is a renewable resource" P.J.O'Rourke == If 18,000 gods have been invented then it is likely that god 18,001 is also invented. == Being unable to reason is not a positive character trait outside of religion.- Dewey Henize == If God doesn't like the way I live, let Him tell me, not you. == Most of the old religions contain a fair amount of basic wisdom buried in among the supernatural nonsense. Things like not eating pork in hot climates, and basic social rules which contribute to a reasonably well-ordered community. Religion was a good way of bundling these rules and passing them along when people didn't have anything better. The only problem is that it has not been discarded when its usefulness was past. == "The world holds two classes of men -- intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence." --Abu'l-Ala-Al-Ma'arri (973-1057 -- Syrian poet) == Real Christians handle snakes and drink poison. == One thing you learn in any science, there are no final answers, only better questions. == Without data, evidence, and testing, one must turn to symbolism and metaphor -- that's all there is. Anything can symbolize anything. That is the strength and beauty of this system. glk == Just because there are millions of copies of the Book of Mormon doesn't mean that Nephites really lived in the Americas. == "Those who are enslaved to their sects are not merely devoid of all sound knowledge, but they will never even stop to learn." [Galen] == "I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence."-- Doug MacLeod == "Junk science has several warning signs: It advocates a cause, pays little attention to the investigative process, ignores contrary evidence and advertises a high moral purpose." It is similar to religion in these respects. == Have you ever wondered about the evidence for creation and against evolution?" I have to answer "yes, very much so." Mostly I wonder when someone is going to present some! == Creationism is the science of lying, perfected to an art. == "Theology ... induces a dogmatic belief that we have knowledge when in fact we have ignorance, and by doing so generates a kind of impertinent insolence towards the universe" - Bertrand Russell Man cannot make a worm, yet he will make gods by the dozen. -- Michel Eyquem de Montaigne == That's the trouble with satirizing fundies, no matter how far you go, there is always a real fundy who is even worse. == "All religions are equally sublime to the ignorant, useful to the politician, and ridiculous to the philosopher." - Lucretius (99 - 55 B.C.E.) == "Faith" means not wanting to know what is true. -- Friedrich Nietzsche == Religion is the idol of the mob; they adore everything they do not understand. -- Frederick the Great == "A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimension" Steve Emmett == "The argument that there must be a first cause is one that cannot have any validity. If anything must have a cause, then God must have a cause. If there can be anything without a cause, it may just as well be the world as God." "I am myself a dissenter from all known religions, and I hope that every kind of religious belief will die out. I do not believe that, on the balance, religious belief has been a force for good. I regard it as belonging to the infancy of human reason, and to a stage of development which we are outgrowing." Bertrand Russell == "When I was a kid, I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord, in his wisdom, didn't work that way. So I just stole one and asked Him to forgive me."--Emo Phillips == "If the sum of credible evidence we have is that the universe lacks anything like a god, then we shouldn't be shy about concluding that there isn't one." --Neal M. Stevens == The deluded are always filled with absolutes. The rest of us have to live with ambiguities. _Aristoi_ Walter Jon Williams == "Uncertainty, in the presence of vivid hopes and fears, is painful, but must be endured if we wish to live without the support of comforting fairy tales". (Bertrand Russell) == "The final happiness of man consists in the contemplation of truth. This is sought for its own sake, and is directed to no other end beyond itself." Saint Thomas Aquinas, [1224/5-1274] "Summa Contra Gentiles" [c.1258-1264] == "Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before. " - Steven Wright == No lie can live forever. Carlyle == "A danger sign of the lapse from true skepticism into dogmatism is an inability to respect those who disagree." -Dr. Leonard George. == "To believe our beliefs are permanent truths encompassing reality is a sad arrogance." -- Ursala K. LeGuin/Lao Tzu == Faith is to the human what sand is to the ostrich == Christians think a long record of church attendence and Bible reading is equivalent to an advanced degree in science. glk == Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Give a man a religion, and he'll starve to death praying for a fish. == "It is as morally bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good, as it is not to care how you got your money as long as you have got it."-Edmund Way Teale, "Circle of the Seasons", 1950 == The best way to get a bunch of Christians mad at you is prove them wrong. glk == Calvin (of & Hobbes fame) once said, "When in doubt, defy terms and definitions" == The more wild or fantastic a claim is, the more evidence is needed to support the claim. == "No matter how cynical you become, it is never enough to keep up." Lily == The theologian Hugh Pyper (1998) ... argues that Western culture is the Bible's way of making more Bibles. == "This is my body." Soylent Green is people!! == For it is the natural tendency of the ignorant to believe what is not true. In order to overcome that tendency it is not sufficient to exhibit the true; it is also necessary to expose and denounce the false. -- H. L. Mencken == "The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry." [Richard Dawkins, "Viruses of the Mind"] == "Nowhere in the scriptures will you find any encouragement to study, to learn, to enquire. Nowhere will you find any praise for intelligence. And nowhere will you find any doctrine that promotes respect for those of other religions."--J. Smith-Slattery == The inspiration of the Bible depends on the ignorance of the person who reads it." - Robert G. Ingersoll == Modern cosmology has essentially concluded that there is nothing in the whole universe for the gods and devils of the human imagination to do! Once upon a time, they were the forces behind volcanoes and violent weather, wars and fertility, but today they have no function at all. == I cannot be insulted by my intellectual inferiors and am immune to propaganda, from many years of experience. glk == One of the almost universal charcteristics of Christians is the fixed firm feeling of certainty that they can not be mislead, either by themselves or others. glk == "God and Satan alike are essentially human figures, the one a projection of ourselves, the other of our enemies."--Lord Bertrand Russell == "A fools speaks because he has to say something, but a wise man speaks because he has something to say." -- Confucius == I claim that 500 people saw leprechauns dancing in my garden this morning. Do you accept my statement that they were there? That makes 500 witnesses that says they were there. Sorry, ALL the witnesses are unavailable for comment. How many witnesses can you provide which say they were not there? == "A cult is a religion with no political power." - Tom Wolfe == "When science and the Bible differ, science has obviously misinterpreted its data."--Henry Morris(Creationist) == I went to a strip mall the other day. Let me tell you, I was disappointed. Everybody else had clothes on. == Churches are insurance companies. You keep paying your premiums and when you die you will get your reward. == All religions are founded on the fear of many and the cleverness of the few. --Stendhal == Among life's perpetually charming questions is whether the truly evil do more harm than the self-righteous and wrong. -- Jon Margolis == Christian theology is the talk of people trying to convince themselves that they really like the cage they were tricked into entering. == "The point of existence is not to find the most powerfull thing you can imagine and then grovel before it. == The intensity of a religious belief is inversely proportional to its correlation with reality. == "Your Highness, I have no need of this hypothesis." - Pierre Laplace (1749-1827), to Napoleon on why his works on celestial mechanics make no mention of God. == No absurdity is so palpable but that it may be planted in the human head if only you begin to inculcate it before age five, by constantly repeating it with great solemnity. Arthur Schopenhauer == There is no superstition in wisdom, and no wisdom in superstition. -Robert Ingersoll == "If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. The free mind is no barking dog to be tethered on a ten-foot chain." - Adlai E. Stevenson == One unnerring mark of the love of truth is not entertaining any position with greater assurance than the proofs it is built upon will warrant." -John Locke == "The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible." Bertrand Russell == "We are built as gene machines and cultured as meme machines, but we have the power to turn against our creators. We, alone on earth, can rebel against the tyranny of the selfish replicators." Richard Dawkins, 1976, The Selfish Gene == "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." George Bernard Shaw == "The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible." Bertrand Russell == "Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do." Bertrand Russell == The greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer. == "I have as much authority as the Pope, just not as many people who believe it" George Carlin == Species without fossilized ancestors is NOT the same as species without ancestors. glk == Faith is delusion with social reinforcement. == "Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense." - Carl Sagan == Real quotes from radio preachers. "Jupiter is the biggest star in our galaxy." "I never saw a bird with indigestion." "Those gamblers promote all that sinful race horsing." glk == Never judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes, because by then, you're a mile away, you've got his shoes, and you can say whatever you want to about him. == Theology: The study of elaborate verbal disguises for non-ideas. == Why is the third hand on a watch called a second hand? == Inconsistency is evidence of falsehood, but consistency is not necessarily evidence of truth. == To know is one thing; merely to believe one knows is another. To know is science, but merely to believe one knows is ignorance.- Hippocrates == Men think epilepsy divine, merely because they do not understand it. But if they called everything divine which they do not understand, why, there would be no end of divine things.- Hippocrates of Cos == Death to all fanatics!!!! == "Believe not because some old manuscripts are produced, believe not because it is your national belief, believe not because you have been made to believe from your childhood, but reason truth out, and after you have analyzed it, then if you find it will do good to one and all, believe it, live up to it and help others to live up to it." -- Buddha == Believe nothing no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.--Buddha == "Anybody who will not open themselves to the new knowledge readily available in medical and scientific circles because it calls into question their uninformed attitudes is profoundly ignorant." John Spong: == It is said that in Cuba there are two skulls from Christopher Columbus. One when he was a teenager and one when he was an adult. == Parents teach their children to look both ways when crossing the street. They tell them to look only one way when choosing a religion. glk == My files are vast, not half vast. glk == If there were a God, He too would realise the futility of existance and so cease to exist,therefore our understanding is greater than His == People tell me my claims should be submitted to pier review. I showed them to some surfers and they thought it was all cool and far out. glk == They will never make a computer as smart as a human. It would have to be as big as a bread box and it would take a muffin fan to cool it. glk == In IRC chat rooms: If you make a claim and offer no references, they say it is just your personal unverified opinion. If you offer references, you are accused of being boring, pedantic or flooding the channel. They reply "Were you there?" or "It is just a theory." glk == "The meme for blind faith secures its own perpetuation by the simple unconscious expedient of discouraging rational inquiry." == "Theology is not what we know about God, but what we do not know about Nature." Robert G. Ingersoll - "Some Mistakes of Moses" == "It (the Bible) is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies." Mark Twain == "How delightfully wonderfull it must be to be so utterly free from the ravages of reason" == I often wonder if the voices in my head ever get frustrated because I'm just too damn lazy to climb that clock tower carrying appropriate weapons. glk == Time flies like an arrow; Fruit flies like a banana. == Have you ever heard of the axiom that says what which proves too much proves nothing at all? == Prayer warms the air. glk == Every absurdity has a champion to defend it as TRUTH. == "By maintaining the separation of church and state, the United States has avoided the intolerance which has so divided the rest of the world with religious wars" -Barry Goldwater, 1981 == "Religion: A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable" - Ambrose Bierce == Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe == Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable. -Henry Louis Mencken == If the bible proves the existence of God, then Action Comics prove the existence of Superman. glk == "The Christian God is a being of terrific character -- cruel, vindictive, capricious, and unjust." [Thomas Jefferson] == If you prove science wrong, science changes. If you prove religion wrong, religion gets offended, or just ignores it. == If you assume the impossible, you will see that the possibilites are limitless. glk == The only religious debate I ever lost was when a Lutheran proved God exists by hitting me in the nose. I could have refuted his proof for God by kicking him in the shins. glk == I believe five out of four people have trouble with fractions. == "If a person followed the Old Testament exactly, he would be a criminal. If he followed the New Testament exactly, he would be insane." == Only a stupid shepherd dies for a sheep. glk == The Bible has many dead people who were reanimated. It was harder to stay dead back then. glk == If you look up the word "wise" in a dictionary, my picture is there. glk == Dead people stay dead, unless they are zombies, like Jesus. glk == I am real. The rest of you are only special effects, supporting cast, and extras. glk == I was predestined to doubt predestination. glk == The voices in my head wouldn't lie to me. glk == Did God convert to become a Catholic, from being a Jew? glk == Alexander the Grape Concord the world. glk == If a pagan does a bad act, he is not a true pagan. glk == The Gospels appear to contradict each other in a very significant way, but if you stare at 'em long enough, with faith, they don't! == The Christians had a Theory of Everything long ago. Here is their version. GOD DID IT. glk == The argument for creation was destroyed by honest scientist Creationists over a century and a half ago. They changed their minds by studying the physical evidence. Modern Creationists only study the Bible. glk == "Religion is said not to work if you don't first believe. Airplanes do not have that limitation." -- JeffMo == Can God make other Gods like Himself? Can God make Himself not exist? glk == Thank God I am an atheist. I have faith in atheism. glk == "Religion is tied to the deepest feelings people have. The love that arises from that stewing pot is the sweetest and strongest, but the hate is the hottest, and the anger is the most violent." -- Orson Scott Card's Children of the Mind == "I see only with deep regret that God punishes so many of His children for their numerous stupidities, for which only He Himself can be held responsible; in my opinion, only His nonexistence could excuse Him." --A. Einstein (Letter to Edgar Meyer, Jan. 2, 1915) == "It has never made sense to me that a God would grant to us the gift of reason coupled with a desire to seek, discover, and learn and then punish those of us whose use of those faculties led us away from Him due to his own reticence or failure to leave clear and unambiguous clues as to his existence. It speaks of a creator with the immature and jealous nature of a small child, or perhaps a psychopath. --William Snedden == Galileo recanted his heliocentric claims before the Church authorities. Thus, the sun continued to go around the fixed earth. glk == Creationism is not the alternative to Evolution, ignorance is. == "If the King's English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me!" -Ma Ferguson, Governor of Texas (1920) == "Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man." - Thomas Paine == Many people have to speak for God because God is silent. glk == "Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion." --Steven Weinberg, Nobel Laureate == Blasphemy is a victimless crime. == I'd be happy to judge Christianity by the contents of the Bible, and my judgment is no different from the one I made based on the acts of Christians. == The Bible commands a system of slavery, conquest, genocide and baby slaughter. If I tried to apply it in my society, I would go to prison, or worse. glk == "Man, once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without a rudder, is the sport of every wind. With such persons, gullibility, which they call faith, takes the helm of reason, and the mind becomes a wreck." - Thomas Jefferson == "We must respect the other fellows religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart." H. L. Mencken == "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it with religious conviction." -Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), Pense'es, #894. == "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions,they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." - John Adams == If the Bible is true, it needs no inspiration, and if not true, inspiration can do it no good." Ingersoll's Works, Vol. 11, p. 233 == "No public man believes that the Bible means what it says: he is always convinced it says what he means." George Bernard Shaw == One of the ugly realities of this world is that it is possible to grow old without ever learning anything besides religious superstitions. -- Clothaire == Religion may in most of its forms be defined as the belief that the gods are on the side of the government. -- Bertrand Russell == I don't need to practice what I preach, because I'm not the kind of person I'm preaching to. -- J.R. "Bob" Dobbs == "Creationists make it sound as though a 'theory' is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night." Isaac Asimov == "Obviously, a man's judgement cannot be better than the information on which he has based it." Arthur Hays Sulzberger == As the behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner proved in the laboratory, the human mind seeks relationships between events and often finds them even when they are not present. == No man with any sense of humor ever founded a religion. == The best cure for Christianity is reading the Bible- Mark Twain == "I can't understand the martyr. Far from going to the stake for the Great Truth, I wouldn't even miss a meal for it. My notion is that all the larger human problems are insoluble, and that life is quite meaningless- a spectacle without purpose or moral. I detest all efforts to read a moral into it." -H.L Mencken == Does Jesus love people that are in hell? Oh yes. It's known as "tough love" - very, very tough indeed, so tough as to be indistinguishable from rampant sadism, in fact. == How is it that after thousands of years, and millions of people trying to understand the bible, *you* are the only one to get it right? glk == Isn't it funny how, as we learn more about the universe around us, the less there is for God to do? Put God to work. Idle hands are the Devil's workshop. glk == "A common man marvels at uncommon things; a wise man marvels at the commonplace." -- Confucius == There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it. -- William James == "We only half live when we only half think." - Voltaire == Funny thing that a civilization would dismantle and destroy its own education system. Future archaeologists and anthropologists (or aliens trying to figure out what happened here) will be as baffled by the US as they are now about the Chinese retreating the way they did in the 15th century, after great intellectual progress. == BLASPHEMY: The ultimate and original political correctness. == "There are naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, questions put after inadequate self-criticism. But every question is a cry to understand the world. There is no such a thing as a dumb question" - Carl Sagan == "The religion meme is both self-destructive and anti-social. It is slowly but surely destroying itself. Hopefully, it won't drag the rest of us down with it." == "To be forced by desire into any unwarrantable belief is a calamity." I.A. Richards == Would a true Christian support eternal torture for most of the population of the world? == A person who can defend Bible morality is so depraved that he is capable of any horror. == The Christian is distinguishable by his belief that you deserve to burn in hell with neverending torture just for being skeptical. == Atheism stops the voices of deities in your head. glk == Chemical reactions are more complex than your ability to understand them. == If you anger Lord Krisha, you will be reborn as a Christian fundie, lower than a slug. glk == Your argument is like a doughnut, circular with a big hole in the middle. == "Faith is an absolutely marvelous tool. With faith there is no question too big for even the smallest mind." Rev. Donald Morgan (b. 1933), "Atheist theologian" == "Religion if fine, as long as it is practiced behind closed doors by consenting adults." == The sun will burn up the earth in a few billion years, REAL global warming. glk == Science endlessly revises models as observations require it. That is called progress by science and a scandal by religion. glk == "The commonest fallacy is to suppose that since the state of doubt is accompanied by a feeling of uncertainty, knowledge arises when this feeling gives way to one of assurance." - John Dewey == I was not made by a deity, unless it was one with a real sense of humor. glk == "It is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no reason whatsoever for supposing it to be true." Bertrand Russell == Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement. == An open and free society must treat every supposed source of knowledge and factual claim as open to criticism - none may be immune.-Karl Popper == Profanity is the attempt of a weak mind to make a strong statement. Robert B. Winn == Some people care if the knowledge they posses is centered around facts or derived from myths and legends. This is what sets the atheist apart from the religious. == "The altar cloth of one aeon is the doormat of the next." -Mark Twain, Notebook, 1898 == Is what the gods command good because the gods command it, or do they command it, because it is good? -- Plato == Liberty is the only thing you cannot have unless you are willing to give it to others. - William Allen White, Emporia Gazette == "It's not denial. I'm just very selective about what I accept as reality." --- Calvin ("Calvin and Hobbes") == "When a man lies, he murders some part of the world." - Merlin, "Excalibur" == In science, "fact" can only mean "confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withold provisional assent." I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms. -Stephen Jay Gould == ALL children want to learn. But, if this desire is crushed and made to seem evil, this desire is destroyed. Some people can fight against such brainwashing. Most people can't. glk == "Religion is the feeling of total dependence" == "Religion is an illusion produced by psychological projection" Sigmund Freud == "Religion is an attempt to escape responsibility" Jean Paul Sartre == "Men of simple understanding, little inquisitive and little instructed, make good Christians." Michel de Montaigne, a nobleman whose mother came from Spanish Jews who were forced to convert by the Inquisition, and who fled to France. == "Fear prophets and those prepared to die for the truth, for as a rule they make many others die with them, often before them, at times instead of them." -Umberto Eco == Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing. (H.L. Mencken) == You make a leap of faith because the alternative is emotionally in conflict with the way you wish to relate to the universe. == A physicist is an atom's way of knowing about atoms. George Wald == The chicken is the egg's way of making more eggs. == "The problems that we have created cannot be solved at the level of thinking that created them."- Albert Einstein == The wise are not wise because they make no mistakes. They are wise because they correct their mistakes as soon as they recognize them. == Knowledge is just opinion that you trust enough to act upon. == I'm sure that once you are ready to know certain things, you will make an effort to find out, and only then will you appreciate the knowledge. Until then, have fun. == God created everything, including Satan, and saw that it was good. What happened? glk == For a deep understanding of the social and moral effects of believing the Bible, ask the Christians if they support or oppose God ordering slavery, genocide, conquest, baby slaughter and eternal torture in hell for for all non-Christians. ( I Sam 15, Num 31, Joshua, Ps 137 ) glk == I have looked into the abyss, and the abyss has looked into me. Neither liked what we saw. == Christians killed Christians and vice versa. glk == We must know the truth, and we must love the truth we know, and we must act according to the measure of our love.-- Thomas Merton == I do not sin. If you want to claim you have angered a deity, it is your problem. glk == You're just jealous because the voices are talking to me and not you. == Demosthenes observed, "What a man desires he also imagines to be true." == "The Christian resolution to find the world ugly and bad, has made the world ugly and bad." -- Nietzsche == Nature cannot contradict itself, only our understanding of it. == The Book of Mormon warned us about false prophets. glk == It was acceptable to Germans to throw Jews into prison and it was acceptable to U.S. people to throw science teachers into prison. Tell me the difference. glk == "I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect that he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time." - Isaac Asimov == Gods can not be detected except by people with active imaginations. glk == Those who have faith need no proof because they have lowered their standard of evidence. == The attitude of many Christians toward the Midianites and Amalakites in the OT, commanded to be slaughtered by God, parallels the attitude of good Germans of the 1930s concerning the Jews and their fate. (Num 31, I Sam 15, Joshua) glk == "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. Aldous Huxley == "I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think." Socrates (470-399 BC) == It is dangerous to dismiss absurd arguments out-of-hand. When we do the arguments fester and grow, and sometimes enjoy a modicum of respectability from an audience which hasn't the critical thinking skills to see what others find so absurd about the argument. == "God forbid that we should give out a dream of our own imagination for a pattern of the world"-- Francis Bacon == "Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true". -- Sir Francis Bacon. == "The end of our foundation is knowledge of causes, and secret motions of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire, to the effecting of all things possible." - Francis Bacon, "New Atlantis" == Gods tend to be silent, except when making thunder. glk == Wise men stare at the unknown, and boldly asks, WHY? Others fall on their hands and knees, and start mumbling... == Ignorance is the womb of monsters. -Henry Ward Beecher == I hear God is dead. They read His will in churches. glk == You may always observe that faith and knowledge are related as the scales of a balance; when one goes up, the other goes down. Arthur Schopenhauer. "Religion - A Dialogue". == Mathematics has demonstrated there are SQRT[ -1 ] deities. glk == I go to church when I want to meet rascals, fools, and mental cases. glk == J. Michael Malec, who works for the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, said the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Louisiana's bid 20 years ago to add creationism instruction to public school classrooms. Malec said the Tangipahoa Parish School Board tried to add disclaimers in 1994; the 5th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that effort. ==== Christian scripts (1) "I'll pray for you." (2) "Jesus Loves You" (3) "God Loves You" (4) "I feel sorry for you." (5) "Atheists suffer from a mental illness that makes them unable to detect God/Spiritual things." (6) "Jesus still loves you!" (7) "You have to believe in SOMETHING!" (8) "Everyone worships SOMETHING!" (9) "It takes a lot more faith to believe in Evolution than it does to believe in God." (10) "It takes a lot more faith to ignore the evidence of God than it does to believe in Him." (11) "I only wish that my faith in God was as strong as your faith in Atheism/Evolution." (12) "You may think you're happy, but you can only know TRUE HAPPINESS through Jesus Christ." (13) "You have already made up your mind, and it's a waste of time to try to convince you." (14) "You have chosen to be blind to the TRUTH!" (15) "You have closed your heart off to the TRUTH!" (16) "You have obviously been deceived by the devil." (17) "I found Jesus. Why can't you?" (18) "The fool sayeth in his heart that there is no God!" (19) "You're obviously running away from God!" (20) "You're obviously hiding from the truth!" (21) "If there is no God, how do you explain the world we live in?" (22) "What happened in your life that made you hate God?" (23) "Of course the Bible sounds like foolishness! Without faith in God, you cannot understand His wisdom!" (24) "Even though you don't believe it, Jesus/God Loves you!" (25) "Even though you don't believe it, Jesus/God is REAL!" (26) "Well, those people were not TRUE Christians." (27) "A universe without God is a universe without hope or love!" (28) "Without a God, life is meaningless." (29) "Christianity is not just the best answer. It is the only answer." (30) "You have devoted your life to something NEGATIVE (atheism.science), rather than something POSITIVE (Christianity, of course)." (31) "Some day, God will call you." (32) "One day you will call to God for help." (33) "If you simply have faith in Him, you will see that God is real." (34) "I was once like you, a foolish, young, unbeliever." (35) "The day will come when you realize the Lord is your only salvation." (36) "It's too bad that you're going to Hell." (37) "One day you will have to answer to Jesus Christ Himself, and then it won't be so funny when he throws your unrepentent soul into HELL." (38) "You had better get right with God now before it's too late." (39) "Hope you have an asbestos suit, cause you're going to HELL." (40) "I hope you enjoy your special place in HELL." (41) "Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with God. (42) "Science does not know xxx, so God did it." (43) "There are no atheists in foxholes." (44) "Open your heart and God will speak to you." If you do not hear from God, it is because of a moral defect you have." (45) "There is one TRUE GOD. All others are imaginary or demons." (46) "They found the Ark on Mt. Ararat so that proves Genesis is all true." (47) "I do not know the answer to that question. It does not bother me any. I will ask God when I get to heaven." (48) "I was reading the Bible and suddenly realized it was ALL true." (49) "Were you there? (In response to a statement about the geological or astronomical events of the distant past)" (50) "When you point out a problem, they say "You fail to take in the whole picture and are taking things out of context." (51) "Science assumes God exists, as it is all study of God's works." "The scientist xxx believed in God." (51) "There is more historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus than for any other historical event. Nobody has been able to refute it." (52) "There are fossils in mountains so that proved the Noah Flood occurred." (53) "Why do you hate God?" (54) "If we are all the result of the chance sloshing about of the elements, then you have no more value nor right to live than a worm." (55) "You do not want to believe in God as you want to be free to continue your immoral life style." (56) "Everybody has a God shaped hole in his heart." (57) "Science and religion are both based on faith." (58) "Science is impossible without assuming God made and controls the universe." (59) "The laws of probability prove evolution is false." (60) "If the gospels were lies, people of that time would force them to be corrected." (60) "If you doubt the Bible, how can you believe any ancient historical work?" (61) "Do you love your mother?" (62) Millions of Christians beleive in Hod. Are all of them wrong and you are right?" (63) After a science fact is given. "That is just your opinion." == A Christian reflexively says you are persecuting them when you question their beliefs. Anger usually follows. Sometimes violence. == 'Belief or faith' is simply a conviction that certain propositions are true in the absence of verification. == It seems to me that the religious apologist must either say only his beliefs are true, or say that all such beliefs are true. Either way, he is in trouble. == My standard response when someone says "I'll pray for you" is "OK! And I'll think for you!" == "The best index to a person's character is (a) how he treats people who can't do him any good, and (b) how he treats people who can't fight back." Abigail Van Buren (b. 1918) == "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."-Albert Einstein == "A cynic is a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, and not as they ought to be."--Ambrose Bierce == People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.--James Baldwin 1953 == It is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness. --Eleanor Roosevelt One exception to this is when looking for gas leaks. :> glk == Man is kind enough when he is not excited by religion.--Mark Twain (1835-1910) == Irreverence is the champion of liberty and its one sure defense. --Mark Twain (1835-1910) == "The only good I can find in fundamentalists consumed by the afterlife, is they will make better dead people than live ones." Jack Rite == "Fundamentalism kills more brain cells than drugs." Jack Rite == Theological Truth == Oxymoron glk == "Reality doesn't have to be proven, take it or leave it." --Kenneth F. Flaherty == He who begins by loving Christianity better than truth, will proceed by loving his own sect or church better than Christianity, and end in loving himself better than all.--Samuel Taylor Coleridge == Religion is so frequently a source of confusion in political life, and so frequently dangerous to democracy, precisely because it introduces absolutism into the realm of relative values. - Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971), American theologian in Brown Alumni Monthly == Christian: one who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbors. -- Ambrose Bierce == "The Bible is a wonderful source of inspiration for those who don't understand it." -- George Santayana. == I paid thousands of dollars into an IRA and now those Irish fellows won't give it back. glk == Only survivors can claim God saved their life. glk == Everything is a miracle to the pious. glk == "Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear."-Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. President. == A false idea,even if believed by a billion people, and printed in a billion books is still a false idea. glk == H. L. Mencken said, "The way to deal with superstition is not to be polite to it, but to tackle it with all arms, and so rout it, cripple it, and make it forever infamous and ridiculous." ("Aftermath," The Baltimore Evening Sun, September 14, 1925.) But even Mencken, in the same piece, later nudges himself back toward the outlook of a scientist: "True enough, even a superstitious man has certain inalienable rights. He has a right to harbor and indulge his imbecilities as long as he pleases, provided only he does not try to inflict them upon other men by force. He has a right to argue for them as eloquently as he can, in season and out of season. He has a right to teach them to his children. But certainly he has no right to be protected against the free criticism of those who do not hold them. He has no right to demand that they be treated as sacred. He has no right to preach them without challenge." http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/menck05.htm#SCOPESD == A fundie claimed "God invented science". All of science is tentative and approximate, also sometimes mistaken. Is that the best God can do? glk == People invent God's opinions for Him. glk == "But the real glory of science is that we can find a way of thinking such that the law is evident. ... For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." R. P. Feynman == Atheists are the next stage of evolution. glk == "In order for a scientific revolution to occur, most scientists have to be wrong" -- Bob Clark == The love of God must be sought for in the Bible as it is absent elsewhere. glk == "So also, we must cherish the inerrant originals of Holy Scripture as free from all mistakes of any kind, even though we have never actually seen them." --Gleason Archer of Evangelical Divinity School == "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible." -- Albert Einstein == Proteins are made of mean old acids. Cosmetic rays come down from space. The atom contains pronouns and neurons.glk == If you want to burn almost everybody in hell forever, then you are Christlike. glk == Anyone can claim to do anything in the name of God. It does not follow that God is agreeing to this partnership. == If you can not tell the Christians from the crazy people, then what does that mean? glk == Seen on IRC I am almost an atheist. I lack belief in all gods but one. glk == The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you pour upon it, the more it will contract.-- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. == "Would everyone who believes in psychokinesis please raise my hand." == Sacred cows make the best hamburger. -- Mark Twain == The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.-- Plutarch == Life may have no meaning. Or even worse, it may have a meaning of which I disapprove. -- Ashleigh Brilliant == When I told the people of Northern Ireland that I was an atheist, a woman in the audience stood up and said, "Yes, but is it the God of the Catholics or the God of the Protestants in whom you don't believe?"-- Quentin Crisp == Some mornings, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps. -- Emo Phillips == When cryptography is outlawed, only bjayl gynjf jvyyr uniro cqvin. == "It's a very dangerous thing to believe in nonsense." -- James Randi == The great discoveries in science are not punctuated by "Eureka! I've found it!" But rather "Hmmm, that's funny..."--Isaac Asimov == If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.--Anatole France == "Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace." --Dalai Lama == The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.--Albert Einstein == Too often we... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.--John F. Kennedy == All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit. --Thomas Paine, American Patriot == The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge.--Albert Einstein == A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.--Albert Einstein == Which is it, is man one of God's blunders or is God one of man's? --Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche == It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God, but to create him. -- Arthur C. Clarke == Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile! --Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. == "I think we live in a very barren universe. Our task is essentially existential. If we're going to have any meaning in this universe, we have to make it for ourselves. It's not going to come from outside." --William B. Davis, X-Files == "The real truth about a lot of life's mysteries can be explained by science but people don't want to get in bed with science, because it's cold. They prefer religion, myth, drama." X-Files == "Religion is a byproduct of fear. For much of human history, it may have been a necessary evil, but why was it more evil than necessary? Isn't killing people in the name of God a pretty good definition of insanity?"--Arthur C. Clark == It takes two to speak truth - One to speak, and another to hear. --Henry David Thoreau == "The important thing is not to stop questioning."--Albert Einstein == Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.--Samuel Johnson == "Curiousity is not a theological virtue." -Lois McMaster Bujold == In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.--Martin Niemoeller They came for the teachers in the US. What did you do? == Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance. --Confucius, (551-479 BC) K'ung Ch'iu - Chinese philosopher == Everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.--Will Rogers == Why shoudn't truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to stick to the possibilities.--Mark Twain (1835-1910) == The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.--Mark Twain (1835-1910) == One thing I have learned in a long life: that all our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike -- and yet it is the most precious thing we have.-- Albert Einstein == "The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher regard those who think alike than those who think differently." --Nietzche == "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." --Abraham Lincoln == "One can often recognize herd animals by their tendency to carry Bibles." == "It is as useless to argue with those that have renounced the use and authority of reason as to argue with the dead." -- Thomas Paine == I can't think of anything that expands the mind more than revising one's assumptions in the light of evidence. -- Chris Lee == "Geology shows that fossils are of different ages. Paleontology shows a fossil sequence, the list of species represented changes through time. Taxonomy shows biological relationships among species. Evolution is the explanation that threads it all together. Creationism is the practice of squeezing one's eyes shut and wailing 'Does Not!'." == "The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality." -- George Bernard Shaw == "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than are lies." F. Nietzsche == "He was busy creating hell for people who ask such questions." St. Augustin (in reply to "What was God doing before creation?") == "It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." Thomas Jefferson == "There is no such thing as separation of church and state in the Constitution. It is a lie of the Left and we are not going to take it anymore" Pat Robertson Nov. 1993 address to American Center for Law and Justice == "If you talk to God, you are praying. If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia." == "The gov't of the US is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." George Washington == The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within. --Mahatma Gandhi == "Faith does not enhance reason, it replaces it." == "Fanatics are not easily discouraged by facts or the truth." -- James Randi == Exposing children to religion is like offering them dope or whisky. They MIGHT just like it. glk == If it can't be expressed in figures, it is not science, it is opinion. -- Robert A Heinlein. == Calculus is Latin for STONE. That is why it is so hard. glk == When I was young, the periodic table of the elements was EARTH, AIR, FIRE, AND WATER. glk == God is on the side of the one with the most canons. glk == Belief is the disease, knowledge the cure. == Your belief in Genesis stories is well contradicted by evidence, so well contradicted that your continued belief suggests serious mental incapacity. == One thing that pessimists and optimists agree on is that this is the best of all possible worlds. == Never, ever underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. == Did Jesus oppose killing Midianite and Amalakite babies? glk == If a Hebrew soldier refused to kill Midianite or Amalakite babies, would he be a sinner for not obeying a command of God? glk == Faith does not find TRUTH; if it did, there would only be one faith. == If you flatten out Kansas, you will still have Kansas. glk == A soft answer will turn away wrath, unless the wrathful person is a Christian being reasoned with. glk == Religious belief is not a precondition either of ethical conduct or of happiness. Dalai Lama, "Ethics for the New Millennium" == If an infinite nomber of monkeys type for an infinite amount of time, eventually they're going to type: "ROGLEFOLJEFXMO" == The God you perceive is like the canals once seen on Mars. They existed only in the mind of the observer. glk == Did the Creator of everything create Himself? glk == Rule of religion: most people imagine God that is just like what they would be like if given that much power. == "Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." - Voltaire == "God did it" is not an answer. It is simply a pietistic method of begging all questions. == One of the tragedies of the acceptance of creationist thinking is that God did everything by magic, with no defining limits or constraints. Science is impossible in such a universe. == The Hebrew Bible got it all backwards. glk == Ultimate Truths, Final Answers, are the fool's Pablum - - easily swallowed, fast food for the mind. == Religion is not compelling because it is profound. It is compelling because it has been adjusted over hundreds of years to be so, and the more glaring contradictions expunged. This is an example of an evolutionary process. == Future centuries will probably consider the present war of Christians against science to be similar to the witch trials of former centuries. glk == Christians keep telling me more than they know. glk == Christians like the fixed earth, fixed species and fixed ideas. glk == If you are bad in hell, do they send you to a worse place in hell? == Honesty is vital in science. It is only a rare option in religion. glk == They have Dial a Prayer for atheists now. It rings and rings but nobody answers. == Many Christians I meet display the Pope Effect. They feel their faith makes them infallible. glk == The world will end in 6 billion years. Be prepared. glk == If you outlaw,evolution, only outlaws will evolve. glk == What a fiend we have in Jesus. glk == When God created everything, and decided it was "good", that was JUST HIS PERSONAL OPINION. == Microgeology = An earthquake pushes things up a few feet, caused by natural processes. Macrogeology = mountain ranges pushed up miles high, caused by a miracle of a deity. glk == Adam and Eve are recorded in the Bible as talking, CLEAR AS DAY, PERFECT ENGLISH! Even stranger, the snake spoke perfect English too. == The Bible says Christians must become as little children. It also says children are foolish, so... glk == A. "God loves you and I love you" B. "I doubt that. Give evidence for that claim." A. "Then God hates you and I hate you." Smack! Pow! Slap! .... glk == "God does NOT want to send anybody to hell." Well, since He is allegedly all powerful, I guess we have nothing to worry about. == Kill a man and you're a murderer. Kill thousands and you're a conqueror. Kill them all and you're God. == The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience. == "To judge from the notions expounded by theologians, one must conclude that God created most men simply with a view to crowding hell" == If atheism is the lack of belief in God, then baldness is the lack of belief in hair. - Jean Paul Sartre == Freedom is measured by the distance between church and state. == If God were to disappear, what differences would be noticeable? == Lazlo's Chinese Relativity Axiom: No matter how great your triumphs or how tragic your defeats -- approximately one billion Chinese couldn't care less. == All sorts of people elevate their opinions to be those of God. == Man has created thousands of Gods. Gods have created zero men. == Christians thought disease was caused by God or other evil spirits. glk == A deity who remains silent and invisible should not get angry or surprised at doubt of His reality. glk == I have a friend who served in Europe in WWII. He showed me literature he found on a dead Nazi soldier. It was German Bible verses saying "God will protect you from your enemies". glk == A sheltered life can result in needless surprises. == We are not responsible for acts of God or other public enemies. glk == When Jerry Falwell supported laws threatening EVERY public school teacher in the country with PRISON, I only know of ONE person who publically opposed it. How many can you name? glk == The main theme in the evolution of modern science is the elimination of theological assumptions and influences. glk == Censorship is a sure sign of a lost cause. == This is what religon does. "God said it's this way. You can't prove God wrong. End of discussion. End of thinking." == A Christian once got mad at me when I told him "ONE OF US should think about what you are saying." glk == People who need to believe in deities can find them everywhere they look. glk == Truth to a Christian means the Bible and Church dogma. glk == Atheism is a rational point of view as deities tend to be invisible and silent. glk == Protestants think the Bible is the final authority. Catholics prefer quoting popes and saints as the final authority, in addition to the Bible. glk == Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of a good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones. == Science deals in only approximate tentative models and thus, makes a terrible religion. glk == If you propose a universe without fixed laws and where arbitrary godly magic alone rules, I can not respond rationally to such an irrational system. It is like chess with no rules. Anything goes. == I suggest you have had an inadequate education made worse by fundamentalist cult thinking. glk == To believe the obviously irrational, you have to give up intellectual honesty. Once you do that, you can convince yourself it is moral to hurt all who disagree with you. glk == "WARNING: No user Understandable Parts Inside. Do Not Open the Cover of the Bible. Literal Interpretation of Contents May Be Hazardous To Your Health and the Health of the Community." == Religious dogma offers the illusion of eternal TRUTH in exchange for the loss of progressive advancement. == TRUTH is as common as flies. Validity is far rarer. glk == Shortest book in the world-"Quotes of Famous Mimes" == It is useless to try to use faith claims to refute science. glk == The reason there are no creationist geology maps is creationism describes the Bible world of faith, not the physical world outside of churches. glk == No oil company uses creationist geology maps as there are NONE. glk == Religion can answer any question, if you have no intellectual standards. glk == Why do Christians have such a propensity to think the entire world is lying, just because they don't like what they are being told? == The Christians can say "IS NOT" to any opposing fact or logic. == The present Pope changed Galileo's sentence from "life in prison" to "time served". glk == The military thinks religious people are more efficient at killing people and breaking things. That is why they have chaplains and chapels in military bases. glk == "To open the eye of faith is to close the eye of reason" -- Benjamin Franklin == Morality is doing what is right no matter what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told no matter what is right. - Jerry Sturdivant - == You cannot reason a man out of a position he did not reach through reason. == Siran Siran was the man on the grassy knoll in Dallas. glk == The talking donkey said the talking snake story is true. glk == Genetic continuity is a LAW in biology. glk == Religion is speculation grown massive and absolute. == I was called a "satanic swine" by some Christians. That insult refuted all my facts and logic. glk == Paranoids are conspiring against me. glk == Fictional characters can do many things which real people can't do. glk == Theology and astrology are both popular delusions with similar predictive value. glk == Deities die when exposed to knowledge. == There is no idea so mistaken that it can not be called spiritual TRUTH. glk == Science of the year 1600 supported the Bible. Science of 2005 refutes some of the Bible. glk == I see theology to be like math. It is a game played with symbols having no necessary relationaship with the physical world. One important difference is people do not slaughter each other over the validity of the multiplication tables. glk == I found some gold and brass plates under a rock, shown to me by the Angel Theta. I translated the Reformed Etruscan to read."Ignore previous plates". glk == I have the term "and it came to pass" copyrighted. The LDS(Mormon) church owes me a fortune. glk == The Bible is accurate only in the original Klingon. glk == In Las Vegas, It is illegal to violate the Law of Averages. glk == "Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous, those in philosophy ridiculous" - Hume == The goal of the universe is to be cool. glk == To prove the Gospels by miracle is to prove an absurdity by something contrary to nature. - Diderot == If you start with absolute truth, you could say "God did it" to all open questions. == Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. == Chimps and humans have 98% identical DNA, therefore they were created separately ex nihilo(from nothing). glk == Chimps have 98% identical DNA as do humans. That means the dust God made chimps out of was 98% identical to human dust. == A scientist seeks information so that he can ask better questions of the universe. The fool, in turn, seeks information that best corroborates his preconceived answer. == With certainty, you stop learning and correcting your opinions. glk == The earlier Christians fought for a static earth. That failed, so they now fight for static species. glk == Most Christians don't even believe that God of the Bible exists. That is evidenced by the way most Christians invent their own God rather than use the cruel one described in the Bible. == A miracle is anything science can not explain THIS year. glk == Science can seperate fact from error by experiments and observations. glk == God is all powerful, all knowing, and all present -- yet he always needs money-- why? == Jesus said "Love Your Neighbor" as He prepared to send almost everybody to burn in hell. glk == Most Christians I meet carry around their own personal Dark Age, and wish to share it with all others. glk == Only false ideas need protection from testing and critical analysis. glk == "We have sunk to such a depth that the restatement of the obvious has become the first duty of intelligent men." -- George Orwell == Wouldn't it bother you to suddenly realize that you were surrounded by delusional religious people? What if your safety, health, civil rights and liberties were in the very hands of people you knew to be irrational? That wouldn't bother you any? == Is it not better to place a question mark upon a problem while seeking an answer than to put the label "God" there and consider the matter closed? == When the love of God reigned supreme, plague wiped out 1/3 of Christian Europe. glk == Only error needs to be protected by silencing critics. Valid ideas can stand any honest test. glk == The heart pumps blood and detects deities. glk == Do amino acids have a near life experience? glk == No deity spoke words to my head, heart or any other body part. glk == Explaining the knowable by the unknowable is madness. == Religion assumes it has TRUTH. Science pursues facts and explanations for them. == A preacher once told me to get out or he would throw me across the room. That was an example of the JUDO-Christian tradition. glk == A preacher called a cop to have me put into prison, for not believing in the Bible. The cop told him it was not against the law. glk == Religion is a childhood disease of the race. glk == Christians love the Church and Bible more than they love their fellow man. glk == The Christian traditions of cruelty and ignorance are not unknown to scientists but are not part of the ideals of science as a system. glk == In the Golden Age of Christianity, Popes excommunicated comets and Luther preached Jews should be slaughtered. glk == Intellectual truths are nothing but an inaccurate perception of the reflection of consciousness" Ryan James Moore 1979 == "Then you have to say one or other of two things: Either God only speaks to a very small percentage of mankind -- which happens to include yourself -- or he deliberately says things are not true in talking to the consciences of savages" - Russell == Christians eventually stopped the Black Plague by praying to God, parading saints' bones through the streets and slaughtering Jews. glk == Atheism is a non-prophet enterprise. == Gorillas do not sin. Jesus did not sin, thus.. glk. == Rainbow...Noah's Arc == Science works very well in the real world. Religion works elsewhere. glk == I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still it the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. Bertrand Russell) == It is taught in the Old Testament not only is it allowed to kill others of different tribes and religions but is the height of morality. glk == "When one admits that nothing is certain, one must, I think, also add that some things are much more nearly certain than others." - Russell == Science is what we tentively know and religion is what we don't know, but are certain of. == "The fundamental defect of Christian ethics consists in the fact that it labels certain classes of acts 'sins' and others 'virtues' on grounds that nothing to do with their social consequences." - Bertrand Russell == "The fact that a belief has a good moral effect upon a man is no evidence whatsoever in favor of its truth." - Russell. == In the OT God ordered genocide, conquest, slavery and baby slaughter, the moral laws of His followers. glk == My moral values include honesty and curiosity. This prevents me from becoming a Christian. glk == If the Christians get creationism into the schools, supposedly as science, teachers are then free to criticize it. The preachers will then complain their religion is being attacked. glk == Why do you not choose to defend your case on its merits? glk == Science works well in the whole universe.. Theology works only in churches. glk == Public statements are political statements. == Without science, all is mystery or miracle. glk == Satan is a minor Christian deity. glk == Logic Lesson: God exists. Gods make universes. Therefore the universe exists. QED glk == Using language to describe a deity has never been found to increase knowledge. glk == I never attempt to disprove a deity. One may ride up on a unicorn at any time. glk == Christians impede science all they can and then complain it has not yet solved all mysteries. glk == Change in science is called progress. Change in religion is heresy, or a new religion, or both. == Hitler claimed to be a Christian, Catholic type. He was never excommunicated. glk == God in the OT used to just kill people. In the NT, he decided to torture them forever. That is hardly an improvement. glk == Explaining the unknown by means of the unobservable is always a perilous business. == Christians tend to have less curiosity than scientists, since "GOD DID IT" explains EVERYTHING for Christians. glk == The first casualty of religion is fact. == When you really think about it, Christians and atheists have much in common. Atheists don't believe in any of the world's faiths. Christians don't believe in any of the world's faiths, with only one exception. == If there is an all-knowing God, He will know why I do not believe in Him. == If the Bible contradicts itself, it shows it's true. If it doesn't contradict itself, it shows its true. Please construct a scenario in which you could be convinced that the Bible is inaccurate. If there isn't one, then your arguments are entirely ad hoc. == The answers religion offers for questions are not logical, because they always resort to some "other realm" for which there is no evidence. == The questions Christians ask of me often tend to have built in answers, supporting their own theological world view. Example "WHO made the universe?" glk == The word "God" has no meaning, unless you want to define what you mean by the word, which I think you will find impossible if you actually ever attempt to do so. == Hitler and Luther both hated Jews. Luther founded Protestantism in Germany, which explains a lot. glk == Faith is an inefficient guide to factual data. glk == What of this business of softening one's heart...isn't that merely a euphemism for temporarily discarding your sense of critical thought long enough to accept the dogmas of religion? == Creation stories are seldom written by the deity involved. glk == Anything is possible in a deity created universe. glk == They talk about the Will of God. Who inherited the universe? glk == Christians can not agree who is a REAL Christian, except Paul, or maybe Jesus. glk == "Faith that cannot be tested, cannot be trusted" == Faith has its own logic. It doesn't need the substantiation of facts or evidence. glk == Christians tend to be easily angered. They are CROSS people. glk == Lies in religion just make another religion. glk == Science is basically natural selection applied to ideas. == Christians use special code to talk to each other. Rational people can not understand it. glk == The secrets of religion are found in the Dead Sea Scrawls. glk == If Christians stopped quoting the Bible and Church traditions, they would be almost silent. glk == "He who will not reason is a bigot, he who cannot is a fool, he who dares not is a slave." -William Drummond(Inherit The Wind) == I once dropped some acetic acid. It made me a sourpuss. glk == "There are many gods which the Christians reject. I just believe in one less god than they do. The reasons you might give for your atheism toward the Roman gods are likely the same reasons I would give for not believing in Christian gods" ---Dan Barker. == There are more than 15,000 different Christian divisions, beliefs, cults and groupings etc. If the self-professed Christians can't agree on what Christianity is, then what can Christianity truly be? == "Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too." Voltaire, "Essay on Tolerance" == Faith enslaves thought so as not to be troubled by doubt. == "Doubt is an unpleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." --Voltaire == The moon landing are all fakes. They were filmed in a studio on Mars. glk == I am a brain in a vat of Mountain Dew. glk == Put Saturn back into Saturnalia on Dec. 25. glk == It is unnecessary and redundant to try to disprove what is not validated. == Critical thought is the unpardonable sin, as it tends to refute Christianity. glk == Religion is a meme caught from people already infected. == It's a little known fact that the Dark Ages were caused by the Y1K problem in a non-compliant abacus. glk == I can lead a life of ignorance, bigotry, and superstition without some priest or preacher telling me how to do it! == I took a course in being infallible but I failed the final. I thought I made a mistake on it but I was wrong. glk == "Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration -- courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and, above all, love of the truth." -- H. L. Mencken == Do they make training wheels for exercise bikes? == Borrow money from pessimists--they don't expect it back. == Being curious opens up new modes of thought, not possible to people who find curiosity to be theologically dangerous. == If you violate Snell's Law of optics, they will put you in prism with the other convex. glk == Science and religion started from a common desire to understand nature and have power over it. Science has greatly succeeded in this. glk == Science gave us tools to know facts and religion gave leaders tools to achieve political power. glk == Here are three fail safe methods which Christians can use to refute any opposing claims. SHUT UP, GET OUT, POW. glk == People will kill for TRUTH. They merely argue for validity. == I used to be a heathen, but then I saw the Light. Now I'm a pagan == Gods live only in gaps of science knowledge. glk == THE UNIVERSE! LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT! glk == Whoever imagines himself a favorite with God holds others in contempt.- Robert G. Ingersoll == Valid ideas do not need faith or force to show they have value. glk == The missing link between ape man and civilized man has been found. it's US! == I just set my computer system clock to a few seconds before midnight in year 2000 and nothing happene^$*^&*()(9%^&**&^&^ glk == Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. God supposedly has absolute power. glk == The fastest example of punctuated equilibrium in history was the serpent's suddenly losing its voice, losing its legs and starting on a dust diet, rich in silicon and aluminum. A runner up was sticks turning to snakes. glk == They kicked me out of the KKK when they found out I was not a Christian. glk == The man who worships a tyrant in heaven naturally submits his neck to the yoke of tyrants on earth. - George W. Foot, Flowers of Freethought == Vacuum tubes were copied from a flying saucer which crashed in 1910 in the back yard of Lee DeForest. glk == "For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever would believe in him would believe in ANYTHING." == Faith: a waste product given off by human ignorance. == You want God to have two distinctly contradictatory qualities: to be everywhere, everywhen, unlimited and omnicient, and yet to be unable to communicate clearly with the rest of us. == Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C. Clarke == Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo. - unknown == Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. (attributed to Don Marti) == Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Phillip K Dick == People think that libraries are safe places, but they're not, they have ideas. == The invisible and the non-existent appear much alike. glk == Being a believer in Jesus Christ takes no intelligence or wisdom whatsoever. glk == We have little evidence at all for Jesus, therefore he is the Son of God. glk == Atheism is the most honest thoughtful position for the intelligent person. == "Science consists of questions that may never be answered. Religion consists of answers which may never be questioned." == I use room temperature fusion to make my antigravity perpetual motion time machine. glk == I do not fear "God", but if you start speaking "as an official representative for God" then I am going to be extremely concerned for my safety. == "TRUTH and GOOD are defined by superior force". glk == I am becoming a hibited vert. glk == The voices in my head are in stereo. glk == Moral indignation permits envy or hate to be acted out in the guise of virtue. -Erich Fromm == I used superglue on my split personality. glk == My dreams are rated YYY instead of XXX. glk == All my enemies are paranoids too. glk == Aluminum foil in my hat stops the rays from space aliens and improves the TV reception. glk == Stop me before I email again. glk == They recently discoved an unknown literary work by Martin Luther. It is titled "I Was A Teenage Catholic". glk == Paranoid schizophrenics outnumber their enemies at least two to one. == If you need a God, I just invented one named Larry. If you need a Trinity, add Curley and Moe. glk == According to one theory, God accurately recorded the history of the earth (great age, evolution, trilobites, the Permian extinction -- the whole works) in Genesis, but then made the words _look_ like they were telling a reworked Mesopotamian creation myth. == It is a waste of time to argue with fundies. Debating them is like playing bridge with monkeys. They think they've won if they eat the cards. == Theist think all gods but theirs are false. Atheists simply don't make any exception for the last one. == Religious statements are nonsense until theologians turn them into something merely irrational. == You have to educate a Christian before you can begin to reason with him. glk == Lithium cures God infestation. glk == Japanese soldiers in WWII made suicide charges while throwing very small trees, yelling "Bonsai Bonsai Bonsai!" glk == It is safer to go with a system, like science, which has demonstrated over and over its superior predictive value and has helped the human race so much than belief in invisible deities, which appear to be totally imaginary. == Evolution is the only scientific explanation for the varieties of life on earth. There are many other unfalsifiable explanations. These are equivalent, empty assertions. == Evolution is descent with variation, both universally observable. glk == The chance of going to hell is about the same as being impaled on a unicorn's horn. glk == The Bible was a great hinderence to the advancement of science as it is based on Hebrew mythology, not physical observations. glk == No scientific idea is beyond doubt, correction and extension. glk == Scientists test their opinions against the physical world. Christians test their opinions against ancient Hebrew tribal tales, the opinions of their spiritual masters and their other official Holy Books. glk == Fundie Motto. The unexamined life is vital to Christianity. glk == There is only one problem with religions that have all the answers. They do not allow questions. == When you do not know what you are talking about, label it SPIRITUAL TRUTH. glk == Saying it is "God's will" is just another way for a leader to state his own opinion in a glorified manner == If people believed in science, preachers would have to go sell shoes instead of myths. glk == The sum of science knowledge is used to cure people, then they give thanks to God. glk == Simple minded and emotional people need gods to believe in. glk == An official of the 700 Club told me you were not a REAL Christian unless you were willing to kill babies for God. glk == The simplist life forms are made of only two atoms. They are called diatoms.glk == In a thousand years, the largest religion will be the followers of David Koresh. They will all wear little M1 tanks around their necks. Their proof that Koresh rose from the dead is in the writings of the famous historian of that time, Nat Enquirer, in the former United States. glk == Join the Koresh religion. You have nothing to lose and might achieve eternity in heaven. glk == If you need a deity to worship, make a list of all recorded deities, put their names in a hat and draw one, or draw three if you need a Trinity. glk == Christianity is for people who can not stand the burdon of freedom. glk == Creationism has NOTHING but Bible stories to support it and the political/police power of the state. glk == It took the Federal Courts to end legalized antiscience bigotry, not the Christian community. glk == Genesis has trees before sun, moon, and stars, and animals, people, and plants without ancestors. glk == The Bible has birds as the first land animals, a talking snake, and magical trees which give eternal life and moral capacity. glk == The oldest meteorites date to 4.55 billion years. glk == The religious opinions of a scientist have no more authority than those of a football coach. glk == Good evolutionary books are THE SELFISH GENE, THE BLIND WATCHMAKER and CLIMBING MOUNT IMPROBABLE by Dawkins. == Science and Earth History by A. N. Strahler(Prometheus) supports modern science and refutes creationism. == Genesis is mythology. glk == The similarities and differences in living things show the patterns of common ancestry. glk == Give physical evidence that evolution can not or did not occur. == A scientist is a person who thinks scientifically. That involves testing ideas against the physical world. == The scientific community has a good record for making good predictions. That validates their assumptions and methods. glk == Theists are 2000 years (or more) out of date intellectually. glk Adam and Eve are mythical. == Give any scientist who believes in animals and plants without ancestors on a young earth. There are no scientists who are creationists. There are people who took some science courses who are creationists. There is a difference.glk == Evolution is valid science. == Prozac silences the voices of deities in your head. glk == No observation made so far refutes evolution. == No scientific idea was ever improved by including the influence of a deity. glk == Science is not perfect but it has methods for finding and correcting error. Theology lacks such a process as it is all based on faith. glk == Christians generally hate science. glk == I know of no observations supporting the reality of one or more gods or godesses. glk == Visit channel #stupid-fundie-tricks where they jump to conclusions and fall for anything. glk == If the creation story is accurate, the Egyptians had a fully functioning civilization 200 years after the creation. == Give any evidence you can for any deity ever doing anything. glk == You have no choice but to use your free will. glk == The Big Bang has MUCH physical evidence, like the 2.7 degree radiation, the expanding universe and the ratio of light isotopes. glk == God's morality includes slavery, conquest, genocide and baby slaughter. glk == It is difficult for an honest, intelligent, educated, emotionally healthy person to be a Christian. I know of none. glk == Science ignores all deity stories and prospers with that approach. glk == Petroleum geologists, with evolution, find more oil fields than preachers, who accept Genesis. glk == It's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a Christian to think rationally. glk == There are vast numbers of fossils showing different stages of evolution. Theories do not mature to become facts. Facts are observed conditions. Theories explain a pattern of facts. glk == Science does not attempt to explain final causality. It seeks to understand efficient cause and note where cause does not apply. == The origin of the laws of the universe are presently a mystery, involving the Big Bang. glk == Science gives no meaning, morals or philosophy, only models of varying degrees of probability. It does promote honesty as necessary to valid science. glk == I hear your church had to close its doors. The snake died. glk == If you want to learn science, go to a scientist, not a preacher or Holy Book. glk == The eclipse records show no disturbance in the solar system by miracles. glk == Evolution has animals and plants always with ancestors. The Bible has them without ancestors. glk == Those who would refute science need more than faith, force, and insults. glk == The evolution debate was won by science 100 years ago. Most Christians never found this out as their preachers fed them lies and took their money.glk == Nobody has refuted evolution yet or shown animals without ancestors ever occurred. glk == Large evolutionary changes take much time. It is seen in the fossil record. The theory of creation has yet to be presented anywhere by anybody. glk == You had ancestors all the way back to the early Precambrian, unless somebody was the miracle result of animals without ancestors. glk == The Genesis stories are refuted by the laws of nature and the physical evidence. glk == Fallible people wrote the Bible, edited it and voted it was the Word of God.glk == If you know of any scientific evidence for a young earth and animals without ancestors, present it now or admit you have none. glk == If you would judge modern science, you must first understand it. glk == Evolution has the total backing of the scientific community in their professional journals. glk == Atomic decay occurs without cause. glk == Mutations are chance events. Natural selection is not. glk == Jehoiachin was replaced by either his uncle Zedekiah (II Kings 24:17) or brother Zedekiah (II Chron 36:10). The Bible gives you a choice. glk == The sum of all science refutes creation and supports evolution as valid science. glk == If you want to know about these matters, take a physics course. All of science is tentative and approximate. glk == Nothing is physically knowable about events previous to 10^(-43) seconds after the Big Bang, called Planck time. glk == Dust is rich in silica and aluminum, both lacking in human composition. glk == Science is many years behind where it would have been if the Christians had not tried to destroy it. They then complain it has not solved all the mysteries of the universe yet. glk == In Israel, they found fossil sea snakes with small legs. == The lack of a fossils does not mean that no intermediates existed. == Did a Leviathan shoot fire from its mouth?(Job 41) == The Bible supports conquest, genocide, slavery and baby slaughter. == RNA or something simpler may have been the first genetic system. == No deities can be disproved. All MAY exist. glk == Evolution is widely observed in the lab and in nature. == Three gods is as likely as one or ten. glk == It would take a miracle of God to PREVENT evolution. glk == Nothing points to any deity good, bad, or neutral. glk == Defective people can not or will not understand fact and logic. They need something more, certainty. glk == Religion will eventually be replaced by science, except among the defective. glk == Christians prefer to use the police power of the state when their evidence fails, which is common. glk == When there was ONLY priests and their prayers and rituals, life was short and disease was common. glk == If God is not the author of confusion and the Bible has error, which leads to confusion, then God is not the author. glk == Deity stories do not frighten me. People who believe these stories do frighten me. glk == Gods are human inventions so they arrived late in the evolution of the universe. glk == All that religious people have is faith. If they had facts, it would be science or history. glk == Evolutionary geology finds oil and gas. Preachers produce hot air. glk == Biology without evolution is like astronomy without gravity. glk == The same Bible which describes God also describes a fire breathing Leviathan(Job 41). glk == If Christ touches the Antichrist, do both disappear in a burst of gamma rays? glk == Newton was converted to earth centered astronomy on his deathbed. glk == The word "accident" or "random" is used by fundies to describe natural processes so it looks like the universe needs God to organize things. glk == You have fallen for a whole family of lies and hoaxes. Do you collect them for a hobby? glk == Maybe all gods and godesses exist. They take turns running the universe. After YHWH, Thor will give it a try. I hope he does a better job of it. glk == If the Bible is true, all of science is false and your computer does not work. glk == Christian type science -> Any process not understood by a Christian and agreed with can not physically occur. glk == The Gish Principle -> If a gap exists between two fossil types, and an intermediate fossil type is discovered, then two gaps are present now and evolution is disproved even more. == Animals WITH ancestors is more logical than animals WITHOUT ancestors. glk == Since angels are equipped with wings, and not jet packs, heaven must not be very far up. glk == Deities do not speak to me, unless I am off my lithium, Haldol, and assorted laxatives. glk == We need Adam and Eve and a world flood in all schools. That will solve all of our problems, until science is done elsewhere and the prisons are full of science teachers. glk == Does God cure stupidity? glk == People who require to be controlled by others join religions. glk == If you do not believe God loves you, He will torture you forever. glk == Nothing in science disproves any gods or proves any gods. It ignores all gods and lets them all do whatever they want to do, in peace. glk == ET visited earth and dumped his trash near Roswell, NM in 1947. glk == Christians will always be able to find scientific mysteries to try to refute science. These tend to get solved while new scientific mysteries are exposed by this progress. glk == God of the Gaps has to move from gap to gap as they are filled in by science. glk == I am the Vice-President of the Oklahoma Solipsist Society. glk == The Big Bang came from a quantum singularity. If you get one and examine it carefully, you will find a whole universe tucked inside of it. Some assembly required, Batteries not included. Void where prohibited. glk == If you eliminate evolution, you eliminate all the science which supports it, leaving only Ohm's Law. glk == There is no God and Jesus is His son. glk == Unicorns evolved into wild oxen. glk == Kill all gods. Let the people sort them out. glk == God of the Gaps makes a living doing magical unexplainable miracles. glk == Scientists are almost always honest, are guided by facts, and change models as needed. They do not put opponents into prison. That is why they make terrible theologians. glk == When the Catholics add Virgin Mary to the Trinity, it will be The Blessed Quadrilateral glk == You could say the ultimate goal of nature is to make energy less available over time. glk == All science models are tentative and approximate. All Christian models are absolute and eternal. glk == If a believer tells you about his religion and says "HEY! You have LEARNED about my religion. If you don't believe it you're going to hell, but if you don't know it, you're OK." so thus, the more religions you learn about, the more IN DANGER you become!!! glk == Christians pick on past errors and present mysteries to disprove all of science and hope that automatically makes their system the default one. glk == By some remarkable coincidence, absolute perfect eternal truth corresponds to my present opinions. glk == When the preachers got laws passed threatening science teachers with prison for teaching modern science, the laws remained in full force for decades. It was the Federal Courts which ended this, not the love and wisdom of the Christian community. glk == Gods are composed of human imagination. glk == Facts have a way of interfering with pleasant dreams. glk == The laws of the universe control it, not invisible imaginary deities. glk == If the Bible does not mean what it says, it is written in secret code. glk == God is no more and no less than what the inventors proposed. glk == If you paid anything for your education, you are due a refund. glk == Myths become TRUTH when accompanied by armed force. glk == Science has suffered from fraud, error, and delusion but the scientific system has methods for detecting and correcting such things. Theology lacks such a mechanism as it is all based on faith. glk == Science has laws and facts which change as better data becomes available. glk Deity stories have NEVER been useful in describing physical events. glk == It is immoral for a Christian to use dirty words. It is not considered immoral for a Christian to propose putting three million teachers into prison for teaching modern ideas. glk == I have a picture of Christian torture instruments. I was impressed by the breast rippers and rectum ruiners. glk == Evolution has been validated longer than the modern theories of atoms and gravity. glk == The early earth was lifeless and within a billion years had simple bacteria. glk == The physical evidence shows a family tree with the first bacteria at the origin. glk == The sea grass Spartina townsendii is a new species which evolved in England about 1870. glk == The fossil record in the formations show the different stages of evolution in each geological period. glk == All of evolution is based on the observed laws of nature. These include mutations and descent from ancestors all through geological time since the first cells. glk == Evolution is descent with variation, which is universally observed. Creation is animals and plants WITHOUT ancestors, which is NEVER observed anywhere. glk == It is a FACT that animals and plants varied over the millions of years due to variation in the genes. There are several THEORIES about how and when these changes occurred glk == Isolated varieties can become a new species eventually. Look at the 14 species of Darwin finches on the Galapagos, descended from one mainland species. glk == Deity stories have NEVER been useful in describing physical events. glk == The first genetic system is unknown. The early earth was lifeless and within a billion years had bacteria. glk == The more intermediates you find, the more gaps are created for creationist to point at and giggle. glk == No observation in physical reality so far supports any deity stories or animals and plants appearing without biological ancestors. glk == Evolution is descent with variation and a change in the genome of a population with time. The fossil record shows a sequence of life forms derived from those of previous geological periods. glk == The earth is 4.55 billion years old and the universe about 13.7 billion years old. == The first known fossil life is 3.85 billion years old. It is NOTHING but prokaryote bacteria. == The creation model does not fit any of the physical evidence. glk == Animals and plants come from their ancestors ALWAYS, not from magic tricks by a deity in a Garden. glk == Most evolutionary events take thousands or millions of years. glk == The mammal-like reptiles preceeded mammals. glk == There are vast numbers of fossils to show the evolutionary sequence. glk == The human fossils found show a progression from small to large brains, an increase in stature and change in tooth structure, face and pelvis. == The objections people cite to evolution apply to virtually all of science as we know it. glk == The Chicxulub meteor strike in Mexico at the end of the Cretaceous wiped out most species on earth. It is 140 miles across, under a limestone layer. == A law is an observed regularity. A theory is an explanation for a regularity. A theory does not mature into a law. glk == We should all be held a cannibal for our actions. Jeffrey Dahmer. glk == The nucleus of the atom contains pronouns and neurons. High energy atoms arriving from outer space are called cosmetic rays. They get atomic energy from unclear reactors. :> glk == What is MIND? Never matter! What is MATTER? Never mind. What is the SOUL. That is immaterial. == Fabricating answers to unanswerable questions is the domain of religion. A deity model is not the default alternative to a scientific mystery. glk == Science needs theology like a free man needs chains. == The universe is not limited to those actions Christians can understand and agree with. glk == Science can never PROVE anything. It can refute things. glk == There are problems in all areas of science and the study of these problems leads to new understandings which expose more problems. glk == No observation in physical reality so far supports any deity stories or animals and plants appearing without biological ancestors. glk == The OCCAM principle says that the simplest idea which explains the observed evidence is to be preferred. Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily. glk == Multiple divine creations could resemble an evolutionary sequence. glk == I believe science is a powerful intellectual tool to help discover facts. glk == Christians have tried to destroy science and scientists for centuries, because it disagrees with their Holy Book, written over 2000 years ago. glk == The Bible has errors and needs to be corrected for that reason. glk == Read II Chron 22:2 and you will see Ahaziah is 42 years old when he became king after his 40 year old father had died. In II Kings 8:26, he is 22, not 42. Some editions correct this error, which exists in the original Hebrew. == Science is not a religion but is instead a useful intellectual tool. It has no Pope, Church, Holy Book, ritual or dogma. glk == Rationality evolved as a result of selection for survival. glk == People invent gods and goddesses. glk == The atoms in our brain are part of a complex structure which evolved over billions of years. == The earlier stages of evolution provided brains which could respond to external conditions in an appropriate manner. == Scientists provided the ONLY valid knowledge for causes of diseases. The prevailing religious view was that it resulted from a curse from God or from the devil. glk == Read an illustrated book on parasitology or tropical medicine to see the "wonders of God's creation". glk == Give the evidence your deity is any more real than any other proposed deity. glk == There are limits to knowledge. There are no limits to ignorance and error. == If atheism is a religion, then bald is a hair color. == An atheist believes in one less deity than a monotheist. == Supposedly, in Revelation, people will ride white horses out of heaven. glk == I know of no evidence for yours, or any other deity. glk == If you can not convert people to your religion, then punish them for your god. glk == Science explains what the ancients thought deities did. glk == The rainbow was once considered a miracle. We know now it is just complicated optics. glk == Deities seem to belong in the same catagory as meremaids, unicorns and fairies. glk == Morality and ethics provides a more efficient society which leads to biological success. These capacities will thus be selected for. A person who can not, or will not obey the rules of the tribe tends to become an outcast or dead , which reduces the ability to have offspring. glk == Including deities into a scientific explanation has never improved its predictive value. glk == Hypnotized people can perceive things nobody else can. It is true with religious people and mental cases too. == The Bible has a fire breathing Leviathan in Job 41. == The Catholic Bible has more books than the Protestant Bible. Is it the Word of God too? == Little is known about Jesus. The authors of the Gospels are unknown. == The Bible got ordinary things very mixed up. Why believe its less testable spiritual claims? == If the Bible is a purely human book, as it appears, then its more strange claims can be considered as cultural artifacts. glk == Since I can not enter a spiritual plane, first or second class, what can I do to provide evidence for a real deity? How do I avoid self delusion? glk == People who claim to have spiritual knowledge vary greatly on the message their diety provides. glk == The book of Daniel was written LONG after the events it claimed to foretell. == Recently, a "miracle" was reported in Ireland where a statue of the Virgin Mary, set in a lighted grotto, supposedly moved. It was reported to be seen by many people. A scientist showed that, in dim light, the eye shows a delayed image, This can produce an illusion of statue movement as the subject himself moves. glk == "Religions do make claims about the universe--the same kinds of claims that scientists make, except religions are usually false." Dawkins == The people who wrote the NT also read the OT. They could write it any way they wanted which promoted faith. glk == I know of no encyclopedias or scientific reference works which oppose evolution or support creationism. glk == Evolution is a fully validated scientific model of reality. Ignorance naturally breeds superstition, which in turn spawns religions. == When I question their Holy Book,some Christians get mad and hit me, call the cops or otherwise try to hurt me, to prove they are right and I am wrong. glk == "Evolution requires faith" is a dandy little piece of creationist propaganda and provides evidence of my basic thesis that "creation science" is a political tool used by people who want to have (Christian) religion taught in schools. == Religion is like a crutch, of some value to the lame, but a hinderence to the healthy. == Proof is for math. Science deals with tentative validity of models of reality. glk == The evidence shows species changes over the millions of years. == Modern species are not found in the Mesozoic or Paleozoic, but their ancestors are. glk == Science is facts without certainty. Religion is certainty without facts. == The earliest stages of the Big Bang may be untestable. Known laws do not apply. glk == If you have any alternative to modern science with better predictive value, then present it. glk == The limits to the definition of matter have not been determined completely yet. There are still mysteries about matter which the future people will investigate and define. glk == There might be an infinity of invisible undetectable things going on around us. glk == There was no 6 day creation or world flood. glk == Christians stopped killing and torturing people for God ONLY after they lost the political power to do so. glk == Reality has aspects which present science can not judge. glk == I like to educate the people who need education. Christians usually have a very poor education. glk == You need an education to analyze and critice religion. You need no knowledge to have faith in a religion. glk == Many Christians do not know animals and plants always come from their ancestors. They prefer magical origins. glk == I am an atheist. What god did you pick out? There is a large selection available. glk == The Bible has a woman made from the rib of a man. It has a world flood and magical rainbow. glk == The Bible has birds as the first land animal, before creeping things. Birds come from reptiles and reptiles came from amphibians who came from fish. The fossils show this sequence. glk == The Bible has the sun and moon standing still for about a day, for Joshua. It even has the sun backing up in the sky, for Isaiah(Ch 38). glk == Deity stories are intellectually worthless. That is the general opinion of the scientists. glk == Adam is mythical because the human race evolved over billions of years. glk No known scientist has proposed a flat earth. glk == Science has taken a long time to find valid models. Christians tried to destroy it. glk == If the Bible does not mean what it says, it is written in secret code. glk == Species always come from their ancestors . == http://earth.ics.uci.edu:8080/faqs/faq-transitional.html The Seymouria is a transitional between amphibians and reptiles. == Copernicus as a heretic for supporting the heliocentric model. == Nothing in all of science supports animals and plants without ancestors. glk == I know paleontology and geology and you do not. glk == The fossil record does not include most individuals who ever lived. No scientific observation ever made refutes evolution. glk == Evolution is descent with variation. This is science. It is fully supported by the physical evidence. glk == Look in these professional journals and you will find evolution as the only valid model. == No observation refutes evolution so far, as it is descent with variation. List any scientist who rejects descent with variation. glk == Nothing known to science refutes descent with variation, on the basis of physical evidence. == The Encyclopedia Brit. tried to make a historical time analysis of the Jesus stories and failed. glk == Faith is proof only of itself. glk == The nature of the first genetic system is unknown but some educated estimates are possible to test for validity. glk == There are 26,000 different Protestant sects which claim the Bible is easy to understand THEIR PARTICULAR WAY. Only one of these is possibly the true one. That means 26,000 different interpretations of the Bible. Now instead of 26,000 Protestant denominations, there are now only 25,999 Protestant denominations. In one of them, the preacher's snake died. They had to close the doors. glk All others are going to bake in hell for failing theology. glk == It is expected that future science will add to present science and modify or replace its present models. glk == Brainwashed people do not doubt ideas which they are given by their masters.glk == Lack of doubt is considered a positive moral value by preachers. glk == The Trinity is an example of multiple personality disorder. == Scientists correct the Christians. Christians do not correct the scientists.glk == Scientific laws have not been completely defined yet. glk == "All who die without the faith are in Hell." (St. Francis Xavier) Does that include Neanderthal people? glk == "One indeed is the universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved..." [Lateran Council IV, Pope Innocent III](Infallible) "This We solemnly affirm: The majority of those who are condemned to eternal punishment fall into this everlasting misfortune through ignorance of the Mysteries of the faith which must necessarily be known and believed by all who belong to the elect." (Pope Saint Pius X 1903-1913) == "There is no entering into salvation outside the Church, just as in the time of the Flood there was no salvation outside the Ark which denotes the Church." (St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica) == Science is not responsible for what rascals and fools do with it. glk == God, if He exists, knows what evidence would convince me of His nature. He has remained hidden so far. == I did not exist 100 years ago. It was not so bad. I do not fear the future, 100 years from now. glk == Christians are always telling me how sad I am without Jesus in my heart. glk Religion is nothing more than institutionalized superstition. glk == "When a theologian speaks of 'higher truth', he is usually trying to conceal a lower falsehood." -Morton Smith == Faith: Firm belief without logical proof (Oxford defintion) == It bothers me when people of slight education think their faith is adequate to refute hundreds of years of scientific discovery, and pass laws on that basis. glk == The sum of science works very well and that is why you have a computer rather than a pile of rocks to compute with. Some chips work better than others. glk == Modern science has changed when scientists produced the evidence that change was required, not because preachers could not accept it. glk == Many Christians tend to go around hurting people who disagree and the rest are willing to allow it. glk == If there is an early species found fossilized and a later species found fossilized, there were intermediate species, fossilized or not. glk == Cult thinking wants certainty so much it will accept ANYTHING which satisfies the hunger for TRUTH. glk == The origin of life is unknown but evolution starts once a chemical genetic system appeared in the early Precambrian. glk == We are saved from ignorance by fact and logic. glk == The Christians can not agree on what books compose the Bible. The Catholics have more Words of God than the followers of Luther. == Why did a wise loving God make Ebola, malaria, smallpox, and hangnails? glk == After listening to the Christians, I understand the Dark Ages much better. glk == Science is limited to the facts, Theology operates outside of those boundaries. == The typical fundie response to the KJV having "Unicorn" instead of "Wild Oxen" is "Unicorns are now extinct and have been replaced by wild oxen." glk == Joseph Smith, Jim Jones and Koresh told people about God's latest opinions. glk == If you can refute the Flood, you can ignore the rest of the supposed teachings of Jesus. glk == If people can make themselves believe Christian theology, they can believe ANYTHING. glk == The laws of chemistry determine chemical actions, not the beloved "chance" or "random" or "chaotic" or "God" of the fundies. glk == Christians who ask too many questions tend to become ex-Christians. glk == Certainty is for preachers, not scientists. glk == Science is not responsible for how people use it or misuse it. glk == Any contradiction between religion or science indicates a flaw in the religion, which religion should correct. glk == Science has no moral law other than honesty. Preachers take care of all the others, but honesty. glk == If Jesus came out of his tomb on the third day and saw his shadow, that means six more weeks of winter. glk == As Christianity lost political power, science increased rapidly. Rational thought no longer was a crime. glk == Rainbows shone long before an adequate explanation was available to science. == The central idea of descent with variation is very simple, The details are complicated. glk == If you want to call my search for validity a religion, then it is the king of all religions, superior to all others. == Religious thought has no value system other then to control the minds of others. glk == I have no deity. I do have reverence for fact and logic. You do good to fear it as it will destroy your myth system, as it has destroyed so many others. glk == Christians tell me I cannot understand the Bible without the Holy Spirit explaining it to me. Then, they quote the Bible to me, even though I have no Holy Spirit to interpret it. glk == Being a fundie is a head start toward mental problems. glk == God is a three letter word which means "I don't know". == A fool can get TRUTH in 5 minutes. A wise man can get a small piece of truth in a lifetime. glk == Religion is composed of a mixture of intelligence and ignorance. glk == It amazes me that people who can't solve a simple differential equation feel competent to judge the hardest problems in all of science. glk == Your Sunday School education is not adequate to allow you to judge cosmology or quantum mechanics. glk == Faith is to the human what sand is the to ostrich. == What difference is there between a designed object and one formed naturally, in the external world? If I had two hydrogen atoms, one designed and the other formed naturally, what differences would I note. glk == Zea Mays(corn) is a new species of Mexican grass. == All species alive today are not found before the Tertiary period so they ALL are new species, millions of them. glk == All living species are derived from Precambrian bacteria and all genes since that time are mutations of the original genome of these bacteria. glk == After the formation of the first genetic system, all individuals came from ancestors. glk == All gods are equally matters of faith. glk == Mountains are pushed up by continental drift. Old ocean beds become mountain tops, sometimes with fossils of sea life. == If you would disprove evolution, you are left with animals and plants without ancestors. == The internal and external errors in the Bible show it is a purely human book. Unicorns in the (KJV bible) Num. 24:8 Num. 23:22 Deu. 33:17 Job 39:9 Job 39:10 Psa. 22:21 Psa. 29:6 Psa. 92:10 Isa. 34:7 == Physical reality does not include a world flood or 6 day creation. == Galileo went to prison for promoting valid science. == Science is based on observation of the physical world. It has processes for detecting and correcting error. Its claims are all tentative and approximate. That makes it fundamantally different from religion. glk == Religious systems tend to get petrified around the dogmas and opinions of the founders. glk == A scientist drunk makes more sense than a preacher sober. == The ministers damn science for its evolutionary claims as they fill their car with oil, found by using evolutionary science. glk == The Pope says a cloned human will get a new soul fashioned by God. This is a real news report in The Tulsa World paper. Tusa World 6/25/97 Page C-9 == Give the physical evidence which matches Genesis. glk == God logic "I will pass out a book of indecipherable metaphores in disagreement with all the physical evidence I placed in the universe, and then I will provide these little creatures with rational thought. If they choose to use it and dismiss the amalgam of metaphores due to evidence to the contrary I will punish them infinitely" == Rational Christians == empty set. glk == The Bible supports slavery, conquest, genocide and baby slaughter. I apply it every day in my social and spiritual life. glk == You need a Holy Ghost Secret Decoder Ring to understand the Bible. glk == Sin is impossible until you have religious rules to disobey. glk == If you have total knowledge and total power, and made everything, it is all your fault if anything goes wrong. glk == The destruction of religion was a byproduct of scientific discovery, not its goal. glk == Supposedly God created us. So, if we are incapable of glorifying Him, does that amount to a design flaw in His creation? == When King David prayed for God to give him Bathsheba, God said "I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that." glk == I do not understand everything yet. I have not yet completed my dictionary which translates Linear-A to Etruscan. glk == Can Jesus live on any other body organ or or orfice, or is He specialized to live in hearts? glk == There are three empty tombs pointed out as the tomb of Jesus. Three empty tombs is more proof of the Resurrection than only one. glk == The First law of Thermodynamics disproves the loaves and fishes story. The Second Law of thermodynamics disproves hell. glk == They found the Will of Jesus. It was signed Jesus Panthera, Jr. glk == Christians are cross people. glk == The snake taught the ass to talk. glk == Henry Morris claims that the theory of evolution was formulated by Satan and Nimrod at the Tower of Babel. == When prayer in schools was common, slavery was too. glk == The Gospel of Thomas was delayed in the mail and arrived too late to be voted in as the Word of God. glk == They found a petrified man under an old church in Rome. They decided it was the Fossil Paul. glk == I am old and wise. Educate me if you have knowledge. glk == The part of any religion which is true is that all other religions are false. glk == A shotgun is a good substitute for facts. glk == Only religious people are able to sin because sin is a violation of the rules of their particular religion. glk == There are no intellectual standards in theology as it is all based on faith. glk == Would it be murder to kill a Neanderthal man or animal abuse? glk == If the rabbi sneezed during circumcision, you are not fit to serve the Lord. glk == Lady Hope recanted Jesus on her deathbed. glk == I am actually 10,000 massive parallel processors hooked up together. I can beat Deep Blue chess computer at tic-tac-toe. glk == Religion allows rascals to control fools. glk == Henotheists worship chickens. Polytheists worship parrots. Guess what pantheists worship. glk == Fools can die for their cult leader. Think about Jonestown, Waco, and Heaven's Gate.glk == Exodus 21:20,21 tells how to beat a slave to death God's way. == If you watch a few years you will see no mountain ranges rise up or erode away, stars form and die or many other long term natural events. glk == If Hell is in the earth, and the earth will pass away, where will Hell go? glk == Hell was formed long after the Big Bang as sulfur had not been produced by stellar fusion yet. glk == The Second law of Thermodynamics refutes the eternal Lake of Fire. It will become the Lake of Warm and finally the Lake of Cold. glk == Since God went to so much trouble to make evolution appear to be true, YOU HAD BETTER BELIEVE IT. == A Baptist preacher called a cop to have me arrested for not believing in the Bible. The cop told him it was not against the law. The preacher was disappointed. glk == Faith leads you anywhere you want to go, It can lead to the Hale-Bopp space ship, Waco or Jonestown. ALL ABOARD. glk == There is no observable difference between an invisible God and an imaginary God. glk == "Die verfluchte Huhre, Vernunft." (The damned whore, Reason). [Martin Luther] "What shall we do with...the Jews?...I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews." [Martin Luther] "Undoubtedly they do more and viler things than those which we know and discover."Martin Luther,"On the Jews and Their Lies",1543] == If the Bible is all true, science is all false. glk == All mysteries sound like a deity at work to those who need deity explanations. glk == They found a fifth Gospel under a pyramid, which admitted the other four were false. glk == Honesty is necessary in science but only an option in theology. glk == Little is known about Jesus but ancient rumors. glk == Supposedly Jesus will send almost everybody to hell. Is that love? glk == Evolution has all of science to support it. glk == Science does very well without a Holy Spirit to advise it and the creationists do very poorly with it. glk == My claims can be verified with scientific data and by observation of the physical world. glk == Man's first sin was faith. Mans first virtue was doubt. == Evolution is as much a religion as quantum mechanics. glk == How would a universe appear if it were NOT produced by a deity? glk == I am a proponent of the SUPER-anthropic principle. The universe was brought about to produce ME and all else is a support system for that one supreme goal. glk == If you can invent a great God, I can invent a greater God and it is Gods all the way up. glk == Science deals in validity and leaves TRUTH for the preachers to fight over. glk == Creation is derived TOTALLY from ancient Hebrew tribal stories. glk == Religions evolve. glk == If God knows all, why does He keep asking questions, in the Old Testament? glk == "God" is a idea useful for controlling people and obtaining their money. == Theology has no intellectual value as it is founded on faith. glk == Large changes in nature require long time periods, so would not occur in the time period when scientific observation occurred. glk == The authors of the Gospels are unknown. They could write anything they wanted to sell a religion. glk == Bible stories of a six day creation, world flood and animals without ancestors have not lead to any increase in knowledge nor has it shown any predictive value. glk == It often takes Christians hundreds of years to accept important scientific discoveries. glk == Christians tend to want to put science teachers into prison. glk == Evolution starts ONLY after the first genetic system formed. glk == Science uses facts derived from observation. Creation uses faith derived from literalistic reading of the Bible. glk == Any animal or plant which did not fossilize and get found did not ever exist and left no descendents.(Creationist logic) glk == The total failure of the creationist system gradually eliminated it from the scientific system over the centuries. glk == Evolution is descent with variation. Creation is magical appearance and no variation. glk == Evolution obeys all the known laws of nature. Creation breaks most of the known laws of nature. glk == Creation is a totally religious system with NO record for making any good predictions or explanations. glk == The Creationists were unable to present any useful model of reality so they took a short cut by FORCING teachers to teach it under threat of prison. glk == Science is a system for producing valid models of physical reality. == Humans came from early primates which came from early mammals which came from reptiles which came from amphibians which came from fish which came from chordates which came from tunicates which came from multicell sea life which came from bacteria which came from chemicals, which came from atoms, which came from stars and the big bang. glk == Once you give up evolution, you give up all the rest of science too. glk == The Bible supports conquest, genocide, slavery and baby slaughter. It is the moral guide to Christians. glk == Christians closed their torture chambers and burning stakes ONLY after they lost political power. glk == Honesty is a vital ingredient in science. It is a hinderance in Christianity. glk == Honesty is a moral quality almost universal in the scientific community. == Scientists have a far be better record for making good predictions than do preachers. glk == List the scientific tests that evolution has failed or that Creation has passed. glk == Man's moral nature has survival value for the individual and society. It is a produce of natural selection. glk == Darwin's central idea of natural selection has survived as part of the larger modern theory of evolution. glk == The social effects of a belief system do not validate it, or invalidate it either. glk == Scientists change their facts when the data requires it. That is called progress. glk == A scientific facts is a model based on observations. More and better observations can produce more and better facts. glk == Evolution has been widely observed in nature and in the lab. That makes it a fact. glk == Scientists can observe descent. They can observe genetic modification. Thus, they can observe evolution. glk == Atoms heavier than helium were produced in earlier stars. == There are many cubic miles of fossils showing evolutionary stages in life. == The opinions of scientists is superior to guesses of all the preachers. glk == If Adam is mythical, there was no Fall, needing divine sacrifice. glk == Change in religion is a scandal. Change in science is progress. glk == It is hard to make good prophesies, particularly about the future. glk == Thinking stops where certainty starts. glk == Try explaining the fossil record WITHOUT evolution. glk == Scientists can observe descent. They can observe genetic modification. Thus, they can observe evolution. glk == Scientists have a far better record for making good predictions than do preachers. glk == The fossils are arranged in a time sequence. The same sequence is seen all over the earth. glk == Explain the formations and fossils if you claim to know more than the sum of the scientific community. glk == If one would refute the sum of all modern science, you must explain everything it does and much more, better. glk == Since all gods are based on faith, all have the same basis, with no preference of any one over the other. glk == Not all quantum events have a cause. Atomic decay is one such example. Virtual particles are another example. The big bang is another such uncaused event. glk == The Gospels appear to have been created to sell a religious idea, maybe with a minor core of historical fact. Maybe not. glk == Science is derived from early religion but it continued to become seperate and develop as religion stagnated and held fast to ancient ideas. glk == Science is getting out of hand. The scientists must be imprisoned or burned at the stake. Give me that Old Time Religion. It is good enough for me. glk == Simple minded or desperate people need religions as they are unhappy being free of external control. glk == I am not aware of any theological truths that would be agreed upon by a devout Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist. glk == When atoms become organized sufficiently, we call them alive. glk == The Heaven's Gate people asked if the price of a ticket on the spaceship would be expensive. After all, they did not want to pay an arm and a leg. glk == Most Christians do not believe in science. They prefer Hebrew tribal tales. glk == Your Sunday school education is not adequate to allow you to judge science. glk == Theology is as intellectually obsolete as astrology. glk == Science is superior to theology as theology is founded on ancient obsolete models of reality. glk == Science deals with models of reality having varying degrees of probability. They leave certainty to the preachers. glk == Medieval logic does not apply to cosmology or quantum mechanics. glk == I deprogram Christians and other cultists. glk == Any story can be saved by a miracle. glk == Many reports of resurections occurred in the past. Apparently it was harder to stay dead back then. glk == Deities tend to have a family resemblence. glk == An incomplete model of reality is not equivalent to a false model of reality. glk == The large brained humans had computers as technology. Small brained humans had split rocks as technology. Both used chips based on silicon. glk == Species changes can be rapid compared to geological time scales. glk == Fundies think refutation of any science idea automatically refutes all of it and their deity stories are the default explanation. glk == Religion has emotional, political, and social value but no intellectual value. glk == If one god exists, then ALL gods and godesses are possibly real. glk == A fellow named Wisenhunt wrote a book 88 REASONS THE RAPTURE WILL OCCUR IN 1988. He had much detailed analysis from the Bible. His church sponsors got mad when I expressed doubt on the matter. glk == Science is 500 years behind where it would have been if the Christians had not tried to destroy it glk == If you want to know about these matters, take a physics course. glk == All of science is tentative and approximate. glk == The sum of all knowledge refutes creation and supports evolution as valid science. glk == The past science models which included God's actions always failed to work. glk == If you would judge modern science, you must first understand it. glk == I can not give you a university education here, only simple sentences which you are free to check in detail elsewhere. glk == If you accept the Bible literally, then the universe is young. glk == Most fossils are not of modern species. glk == Evolution is a fact explained by associated theories. glk == The earth will last about 6 billion more years and then the sun will expand and evaporate it. Get prepared. glk == The Bible was a great hinderence to the advancement of science as it is based on Hebrew mythology, not physical observations. glk == No scientific idea is beyond doubt, correction and extension. glk == Outside of fact and logic, ANY idea is thinkable as being true. glk == Math is never TRUE. It either is internally consistent or it is not. glk == Myth uses symbolism and anything can symbolize anything. glk == Little is known about Jesus as the authors of the Gospels are unknown. glk == Delusions are common among religious people. glk == I support helping the ignorant, weak and poor, not burning them in hell forever. glk == God is imaginary. The Bible is a purely human book. glk == Jesus would burn the Good Samaritan in Hell forever if he did not convert to Christianity, no matter how much good he did and how much he loved his fellow man. glk == The Bible says go to the elders of the church and be annointed with oil if you get sick. That would tend to make people die if they did not go to a real doctor. glk == The physical evidence for evolution is available from the geologists, biologists, and paleontologists. glk == Having faith is the same as jumping to a conclusion. glk == Tell us why your beliefs are true and all others are false. glk == I study the Bible at length and the more I read, the less believable it seems. glk == Science sees no gods or godesses at work in the universe. glk == People make up gods and theology and the intellectually and emotionally challenged believe them. glk == The Bible has a young earth with the sun going around it.Ps 93:1 Ps 19 == The fossil record shows an evolutionary sequence. glk == I give facts verified by hundreds of years of scientific observation. glk == The scientists find evolution makes sense. Christians have problems with modern ideas. glk == God is no more and no less than what the inventors proposed. glk == Speciation usually takes a long time. glk == Animals without ancestors is mythology. glk == This is the central idea of evolution. Animals and plants ALWAYS come from their ancestors, with variation. glk == If you can not understand these simple ideas, I can not help you. glk == Give any modern science professional journal which refutes evolution or supports animals and plants without ancestors. glk == Most living individuals do not fossilize now or in the past. == The first form of a genetic system is presently unknown. == The human DNA is 98% identical to that of chimps. == I know the facts and you know only church slogans. glk == Bible stories often do not match physical reality. glk == I am a scientist. I know facts. You repeat church lies. I know the difference. Do you? glk == If you want to learn science, go to a scientist, not a preacher or Holy Book. glk == I am a physicist. Check the professional literature to see if I mislead you. glk == Reason shows the Bible is flawed. glk == Only preachers and their dupes oppose evolution. glk == Preachers sometimes get violent when they lose an argument. glk == The Bible has serious errors. glk ===== Survival advice. Fragile: Do not bend, fold, spindle or mutilate. Void where prohibited by law. May be hazardous to your health. Close cover before striking. Not recommended for children. Do not purchase if seal has been tampered with. All sales are final. The names were changed to protect the innocent. Not responsible for direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect, error or failure to perform. May be too intense for some viewers. Batteries not included. For recreational use. An equal opportunity employer. Some settling of contents may occur during shipping. Use only as directed. No other warranty expressed or implied. No postage necessary if mailed in the United States. Substantial penalty for early withdrawal. Slightly higher in California. Keep away from fire or flame. Any rebroadcast, reproduction, or other use of this game without the express written consent of Major League Baseball is prohibited. Please keep your hands and arms inside the car while ride is in motion. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Contestants have been briefed before the show. Do not write below this line. Do not remove this tag under penalty of law One year limited warranty. See dealer for details. For prevention of disease only. Live long and prosper. == End of this file.