tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post3010459659716598121..comments2023-11-03T11:32:01.540+00:00Comments on Thought Experiments : The Blog: Delusional NIgeBryan Appleyardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276787058430388582noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-41876308381860350262008-11-03T03:56:00.000+00:002008-11-03T03:56:00.000+00:00acer travelmate 210 batteryacer btp-34a1 batteryac...<A HREF="http://www.batterygoshop.co.uk/acer/travelmate-210-battery.htm" REL="nofollow">acer travelmate 210 battery</A><BR/><A HREF="http://www.batterygoshop.co.uk/acer/btp-34a1-battery.htm" REL="nofollow">acer btp-34a1 battery</A><BR/><A HREF="http://www.batterygoshop.co.uk/acer/travelmate-520-battery.htm" REL="nofollow">acer travelmate 520 battery</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-86258706864729896352007-05-22T20:28:00.000+00:002007-05-22T20:28:00.000+00:00I guess I cannot read Carroll's book, since I've c...I guess I cannot read Carroll's book, since I've committed not to go seeking religious atrocity stories.<BR/><BR/>But I did read about 50 reviews at Amazon. Whew!!<BR/><BR/>'Kepler's Witch' has some remarks about how the Protestants took out their anger on the Catholics in Prague -- they killed Jews. Somehow, reading a book on the tube seems like a pale sort of crime compared with that.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-66999976060859270932007-05-22T13:12:00.000+00:002007-05-22T13:12:00.000+00:00David:Skipper: Why do you think that the Reformed ...David:<BR/><BR/><I>Skipper: Why do you think that the Reformed care about the Orthodox or the Orthodox about the Reformed?</I><BR/><BR/>One of them gets to decide who is a real Jew; one of them has a tendency to forcibly decide what people get to do on Saturdays in Israel.<BR/><BR/>I will grant that, among the monotheisms, Judaism is the least inclined towards imposing itself upon non-believers.Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-57062902741558418922007-05-22T06:55:00.000+00:002007-05-22T06:55:00.000+00:00You guys had better hope there is no god, or, if t...You guys had better hope there is no god, or, if there is, that he does not have any predilection toward decency.<BR/><BR/>As you know, David, I never search out religious atrocities. They find me, each one worse than the last, so that I foolishly imagine each time that I have now encountered the worst.<BR/><BR/>No such luck. Allow me to quote a paragraph from 'Kepler's Witch,' which I picked up Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-20636227545054657392007-05-21T21:51:00.000+00:002007-05-21T21:51:00.000+00:00Harry: Which you deny is possible.Skipper: Why d...Harry: Which you deny is possible.<BR/><BR/>Skipper: Why do you think that the Reformed care about the Orthodox or the Orthodox about the Reformed?Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16902329503560660425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-64128003076247231402007-05-21T14:09:00.000+00:002007-05-21T14:09:00.000+00:00Skipper: And yet I'm a monotheist and don't care a...<I>Skipper: And yet I'm a monotheist and don't care at all whether you are or not. Once again, caring about what others believe is a very Christian trait.</I><BR/><BR/>David != religion<BR/><BR/>Caring about what others belief is a trait unique to religions.<BR/><BR/>viz. Reformed v. Orthodox.Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-60734380328150856602007-05-21T02:49:00.000+00:002007-05-21T02:49:00.000+00:00If he exists and sits in judgment, it has somethin...If he exists and sits in judgment, it has something to do with it.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-73274101504710561452007-05-21T00:17:00.000+00:002007-05-21T00:17:00.000+00:00Harry: All of which has exactly nothing to do wit...Harry: All of which has exactly nothing to do with whether G-d exists.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16902329503560660425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-68429955877187099992007-05-21T00:07:00.000+00:002007-05-21T00:07:00.000+00:00Skipper: And yet I'm a monotheist and don't care ...Skipper: And yet I'm a monotheist and don't care at all whether you are or not. Once again, caring about what others believe is a very Christian trait.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16902329503560660425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-72656702936786262622007-05-20T02:31:00.000+00:002007-05-20T02:31:00.000+00:00I noticed it when being instructed in the faith. A...I noticed it when being instructed in the faith. After I gave that up, I looked it up. Anybody can examine the contemporary documents. Well, not in Catholic schools, but there are libraries.<BR/><BR/>It isn't the 11th century any more.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-90582135660038366352007-05-19T23:59:00.000+00:002007-05-19T23:59:00.000+00:00Harry - you sound so positive.Harry - you sound so <A HREF="http://thinkofengland.blogspot.com/2007/05/definition-of-day.html" REL="nofollow" .> positive</A>.monixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16631194815411019266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-88722230420590108222007-05-19T22:54:00.000+00:002007-05-19T22:54:00.000+00:00As far as I'm concerned, all those actions by Pace...As far as I'm concerned, all those actions by Pacelli did make him a Nazi, but even if they hadn't, his protection and encouragement of the Croat murderers of 300,000 Jews did the trick.<BR/><BR/>It was not only that Catholic bishops did not excommunicate Nazis (although a single one, Cardinal Galen, did try to keep them out of his church, unsuccessfully).<BR/><BR/>The pope and the rest of the Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-64194804015302687972007-05-19T19:26:00.000+00:002007-05-19T19:26:00.000+00:00David:From your comments at Appleyards:But I never...David:<BR/><BR/>From your comments at Appleyards:<BR/><BR/><I>But I never try to argue believers out of their belief and, frankly, I just don't care that much that they do believe. I can't imagine becoming emotionally invested in an anti-astrology crusade.</I><BR/><BR/>For one very simple reason. Astrologers don't care what you believe. Monotheists do, and will, given the means, seek to Hey Skipperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10798930502187234974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-82114062681020947652007-05-19T18:29:00.000+00:002007-05-19T18:29:00.000+00:00monix, you have missed my point. When the Baptist ...monix, you have missed my point. When the Baptist decided his religion and his god gave him the right to tell me whether I could play basketball or not, I was not an atheist. I was then still a Catholic, an altar boy.<BR/><BR/>The point of the example was not basketball, it was tyranny.<BR/><BR/>You may very well apologize for your religion and all others. Secularism will make you free.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-55603109760243765972007-05-19T15:00:00.000+00:002007-05-19T15:00:00.000+00:00But atheism is an absurd philosophical position. I...But atheism is an absurd philosophical position. If reality were consistent with atheism, there would be no reality. From nothing emerges nothing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-57285515024366218652007-05-19T13:56:00.000+00:002007-05-19T13:56:00.000+00:00As Kevin Kline said so memorably in "A Fish Called...As Kevin Kline said so memorably in "A Fish Called Wanda": "Don't call me stupid!"<BR/><BR/>That definitely bugs me more than anything else. I don't care if you attack my religious beliefs, but please don't attack my IQ. (This is a chip-on-shoulder caused by Southern accent heading to NE U.S.)<BR/><BR/>Yeah, there are oppressive people on both sides of this debate; Harry has no doubt seen his Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-4747391335552589132007-05-19T13:20:00.000+00:002007-05-19T13:20:00.000+00:00Gee, I'm gone for two weeks and a juicy religious ...Gee, I'm gone for two weeks and a juicy religious dust-up breaks out on Appleyard. It's not fair!<BR/><BR/>The experiences of English and American atheists aren't the same. Here there is much more a sense of being part of a beseiged minority, a point that is rigorously driven home by conservative Christian commentators and politicians at every available opportunity. So the militancy is a naturalDuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08852569465893563139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-25495168267192022942007-05-19T11:39:00.000+00:002007-05-19T11:39:00.000+00:00As I said earlier in quoting Eckhart,"Simple peopl...As I said earlier in quoting Eckhart,<BR/>"Simple people imagine that they should see God as if he stood there and they here. This is not so. God and I, we are one in knowledge."<BR/><BR/>People like me are those very simple people, talking about God as if God exists in the dualist subjest object sense. Eckhart's mystical notion is far too subtle for our leaden materialist vision of reality.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-88634076052438535762007-05-19T11:35:00.000+00:002007-05-19T11:35:00.000+00:00From reading these comments, I gather that religio...From reading these comments, I gather that religious attitudes in the American South are very different from those in the English North, where I grew up. Almost everyone was Catholic or Protestant and we children called each other Cat-licks and Proddy-dogs, while playing happily together. The only proselytising I encountered was when a group of handsome young American men turned up in the park monixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16631194815411019266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-57266329682318602472007-05-19T10:54:00.000+00:002007-05-19T10:54:00.000+00:00But psychoanalysing Dawkins's eager reader is a cr...<I>But psychoanalysing Dawkins's eager reader is a crock</I><BR/><BR/>Possibly, but it sure is fun, which I assume is why so many atheists and secularists can't stop doing it to the Bible's eager readers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-46520269409657335882007-05-19T07:22:00.000+00:002007-05-19T07:22:00.000+00:00Yes, we could easily dissect the mental furniture ...Yes, we could easily dissect the mental furniture of any random reader of 'Prayer of Jabez,' but I suspect all we would find would be stuff IKEA threw in the alley.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-56769899800831805732007-05-19T07:08:00.000+00:002007-05-19T07:08:00.000+00:00Susan: Don't take it personally, that's just Harry...Susan: Don't take it personally, that's just Harry's style.<BR/><BR/>But on the other hand, I can't see that telling you your beliefs are stupid is worse than telling you that your beliefs are stupid and you'll also spend eternity in hell for them.<BR/><BR/>There's been a mis-step here. Criticising Dawkins for his Quixotic and misguided mission I can get with. <BR/><BR/>But psychoanalysing Brithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-57543955797346962192007-05-19T04:16:00.000+00:002007-05-19T04:16:00.000+00:00First they came for the kids playing basketball. ....First they came for the kids playing basketball. . .<BR/><BR/>Of course, if you think the Big Spook will give you props for preventing little kids from playing ball, it all makes sense.Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-72595894203386580712007-05-19T00:09:00.000+00:002007-05-19T00:09:00.000+00:00Peter, as you very well know, my objection was to ...<I>Peter, as you very well know, my objection was to Baptists who tried to prevent me playing basketball on the sabbath.</I><BR/><BR/>Move over, Eichmann. Are you out of therapy yet, Harry?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-85928205733740211082007-05-18T23:28:00.000+00:002007-05-18T23:28:00.000+00:00Harry, boy, if you were really from the South, you...Harry, boy, if you were really from the South, you'd know continually calling a fellow Southerner a liar is a shooting offense. Lucky for you I'm out of range.<BR/><BR/>I sure have been to revival meetings, in tents, where people rolled on the ground and spoke in tongues. I did get told I was going to hell, but I did not get bullied for refusing to sign on to hard-core Baptist beliefs. I was, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com