Belgian Atheist

30 Renowned Writers Speaking About God

2012-02-01T21:02:00.001+01:00

Atheist motivational posters

2011-11-28T13:42:00.001+01:00

Here's a link to my album where I put the motivational posters that I find on-line.

Atheist posters

Beefed up security

2009-10-22T14:49:00.001+02:00

By dowsing? Look at 0:30

STOP MEALY MOUTHING

2009-05-27T08:59:00.001+02:00

Michael O'Brien Transcript

Michael O'Brien, former councilor and Mayor of Wexford attended the RTÉ programme Questions and Answers on 25 May 2009 and, after Minister Noel Dempsey, the sponsoring minister of the Ryan Commission report in to Child Abuse allegations spoke, Mr O'Brien spoke to the minister and to the panel.

Wolfram|Alpha

2009-05-18T11:21:00.001+02:00

I don't think I like Wolfram|Alpha

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=atheist

I don't agree with the definition presented and that synonym network is just horrible, illiterate? bad?, where does that crap come from, born?

Crackergate in Belgium !!!

2009-05-08T13:17:00.003+02:00

"Niet zomaar lachen met het geloof" ("don't just laugh with faith")

I've searched for English sources but can't find any yet so let me frame and translate a little, Goedele is a sort of celebrity (for over 15 years already) in Belgium who stands for women in general (women's rights, freedoms, sexuality ...).
Since about a year she has her own magazine, sort of controversial from the first issue (had a vagina story with explicit pictures, not a very big issue in Belgium).
On the latest cover she's depicted as a nun, that's not too bad for the church here, they should and can accept this but in the magazine are some (fake) communion wafers with an accompanying text: Eat this it is my body.
And yowza, big uproar, cardinals, bishops, priests all have their knickers in a twist and shout about outrage.

I have not bought the other issues but: I HAVE TO GET THAT MAGAZINE!

Sending a stern message

2009-05-08T10:09:00.001+02:00

Apparently my medical insurance company (Partena) supports "alternative treatments", here is the rough translation (I sent it in dutch obviously) of what I sent them:

I am satisfied with Partena but as a customer I want to let my voice heard AGAINST de validation that's being given to "Alternative treatments" by your Advantage package (it is good that you at least do not label it "alternative medicine" as it is indeed not medicine)

I hope the funds attributed to this are minimal and have the lowest priority, I understand that these things are popular and are a way to attract customers but you should also be aware that you could also lose customers over this who do not wish to see higher contributions or have their contributions being used for this.

Kind regards,

Hugo

I just wish more people would voice their opinion and let these companies know that appeasing the ignorance is not always the best move.

Interview with Richard Dawkins on Belgian TV

2009-05-04T09:47:00.001+02:00

How could I have missed this.
Good for the University of Antwerp!
Good interview.

Pharyngula: The Discovery Institute should try to publish this in one of the ACM journals

2009-04-29T10:58:00.001+02:00

Pharyngula: The Discovery Institute should try to publish this in one of the ACM journals

Posted using ShareThis

James Randi Speaks: Charles Lynch

2009-04-23T15:35:00.001+02:00

Dr. Phil - Honeymoon Hangover - Jan. 28, 2009 - Part 5

2009-04-23T08:56:00.001+02:00

Tim Minchin Interview: Atheism, Comedy and Religiosity in America

2009-04-21T15:43:00.001+02:00

Losing Religion: William Lobdell

2009-04-21T15:07:00.000+02:00

Comment op een andere blogger

2009-04-07T16:25:00.000+02:00

'k was even in een creatieve bui en heb de volgende comment geplaatst op de post

Waarom ik tegen abortus ben - of voor

Inderdaad, er zou een politionele opvolging moeten zijn van elke zwangerschap en een crimineel onderzoek moeten zijn bij iedere miskraam (in de toekomst zal het waarschijnlijk mogelijk zijn om na iedere coïtus een automatische zwangerschapstest te doen en zwangere vrouwen te registreren, tot dan heffen we gewoon het dokters geheim op wanneer het over zwangerschappen gaat)
Vrouwen met verdacht gevonden miskramen moeten zich voor de rechtbank verantwoorden en voor moord veroordeeld worden (indien kan aangetoond worden dat ze al eens iets gerookt of gedronken hebben of een risicovolle activiteit gedaan hebben zoals fietsen -> onvrijwillige doodslag)
Alle onderzoek op stem cellen stopzetten en wetenschappers veroordelen die moedwillig meedoen aan deze moord partijen.
Invitro fertilisatie die zovele embryo's vernietigd moet ook als criminele activiteit bestempeld worden, dokters en koppels die dit durven moeten veroordeeld worden.
Indien er nog ingevroren embryo's zijn moeten die bij noodgevallen eerst geëvacueerd worden uit hospitalen aangezien men in die containers 1000den levens kan redden terwijl die enkele baby's wel even kunnen wachten, ze hebben trouwens al maanden van het leven geproefd en zijn trouwens al niet meer zo onschuldig als die ongeboren embryo's.
Uiteindelijk moet het potentiële nieuwe menselijk leven dat in ieder van onze cellen zit beschermd worden, de massa moord die men begaat met het onschuldig snuiten van de neus moet stoppen, deze cellen die moeten opgevangen en bewaard worden (Kleenex moet berecht worden voor de massamoorden die hun producten veroorzaken)
We mogen ook de opvolging niet vergeten, er moet steun gegeven worden aan humane koppels gevonden worden die de miljoenen baby's die ongewild het leven onthouden worden wil laten inplanten en adopteren, er moest maar eens de volgende Obama, Beethoven of Einstein tussen zitten (de Dutroux's, Hitlers, Bundy's of Fritzl's vergeten we even, trouwens als iedereen gered word zal iedereen blij zijn wie weet zit Jesus himself ertussen!)
Ieder potentieel leven MOET de kans krijgen om te leven, iedere ongeborene moeten de kans krijgen, het gaat hier over leven of niet leven, kwaliteit doet er niet toe!
Ik kan bijna niet wachten tot de realisatie van deze utopisch paradijselijke maatschappij.

Praying the wrong way

2009-04-06T08:23:00.001+02:00

Mecca mosques 'wrongly aligned'

I think eventually the prayers will arrive where they need to be.
We all know prayers are earth bound otherwise just a slight inclination a few 100km away from the Kaaba would shoot the prayer into space where it would dwell forever.
Thus it all depends on prayer velocity and friction, because unless someone is are praying exactly in line with a meridian or latitude the prayer will circle the earth until it eventually passes the Kaaba, now I don't know anything about whether prayers have friction thus slowing them perhaps to a standstill or if prayers could start dwindling down and crashing to earth or speed up and escape earth's gravity pull, I'll leave those important questions to the "real" muslim scientists.

(via The Anti-Theist and Misoclere Society)

"Losing My Religion" by William Lobdell

2009-03-27T08:17:00.001+01:00

Just listened to the FFRF podcast interview of Feb. 28 with William Lobdell, author of Losing My Religion I actually became physically sick listening to that interview, my stomach still feels awkward.
There may be worse crimes and many people and children may have suffered more but none of the criminal pedophile rapists were so supported by their communities and protected by the organization that they worked for as the priests in the catholic church.
It is so horrible that the truth had to be held back, appalling, lay it all open I say, expose those fucking catholic rapists pedophile priests (sorry, my stomach is still in a knot after hearing that, if anything even remotely like that would happen to my children no one would be able to stop me, I'm adamantly against the death penalty and am really non-violent but, can't even continue this sentence)

Atheist day

2009-03-20T17:18:00.000+01:00

Today is atheist day, details here
http://tinyurl.com/atheist-day

Happy atheist day all

Catholic monk's 'Good Sex Guide'

2009-03-20T14:18:00.001+01:00

huh, euh, huh what's next a vegetarian writing a book on how to cook and eat a good steak? A Jain monk writing a book on how to succeed at boxing? The mind it boggles.
But hey if your wife becomes more calm and healthy then it's all good ...

Vatican backtracks over doctors involved in providing abortion to a raped nine-year-old -Times Online

2009-03-19T10:39:00.002+01:00

Vatican backtracks over doctors involved in providing abortion to a raped nine-year-old -Times Online

As is the case so often they "repent" only after a huge public outcry (where was their religiously tuned morality when they decided "too hastily").
One can only imagine in horror what they'd do if they acquired actual power again to suppress media and impose their laws.
The dark ages may be in our history but those people would be overjoyed to return to them.
WAY too little, WAY too late I say, they should not have stuck their noses in this case in the first place, anything they continue to say about this is an affront to humanity, only their backtracking into a dark cold cave would be a marginally adequate reaction.

Some questions I have about this:

Where was their finely tuned religious morality when they were "too hastily" deciding the ex-communication?
Does anyone really believe they would "backtrack" if there had not been a public outcry? (thus showing the flexibility of so called dogma)
How many "too hastily" ex-communicated people are there in Brazile who are because of this ostracized by their community but about whom we do not hear and for whom the church does not backtrack?
What are "systematic" abortions? If there is another similar case and it is the same doctors who perform the operation are they then systematic? Why would a 2nd (3rd, 4th,...) similar case be morally different?
How can dogma be flexible?

As I see it, their dogma is not flexible, they still and will continue to condemn everyone.
But there is a greater force than their dogma, when there is a real and actual risk of losing "souls" (ie. $$$) they will start a damage control program that overrides the dogma.

Oh, yeah and the vatican is evil
(wouldn't it be at least a little uplifting if Google results for vatican would return the wiki for Evil and vice versa?)

Moral scale

2009-03-13T10:30:00.005+01:00

vatican defends abortion expulsions

It is just too easy to compare this to rapist priest protections while excommunicating victims because they dared talk to authorities after their confession was declared "a secret" (see also: http://www.bishop-accountability.org/) but that is exactly what came to mind as I was reading the latest update of this Brazilian case.

How evil is even the partial defense of the father (who also liked the handicapped sister a lot). catholics cannot just claim that that is not their "faith" these are the people who write the dogma, who are in charge, this is not a case of a catholic politician or some crazy catholic neighbor, these are bishops, diocese, the fucking vatican!
They define the catholic's faith. I've read that one of the doctors plans to continue going to church and will continues to call himself catholic, I'll never ever understand that, if I'm with the scouts and they expel me for an action that I consider good and the highest scout leaders supported the expulsion, then I would not try to go to the meetings in the hope that certain scout groups would not follow their leaders and that I could stay under the radar, NO, I'd start going against the scouts, if I still wanted the values that I thought were important I'd start my own group and call them outdoorsers or naturepeople but not scouts and I'd speak out about all the bad things of the scouts.

Now ex-communication in my view is like blasphemy, a non punishment, I'd even like it, but in their society it is still a big deal and they can be expected to become social pariahs.
This is further torture of a RAPE VICTIM the catholic church should forever be linked to evil!

Just to show that I don't shield from other news sources, I found this site named Conservative Truth, now only in rare cases will there be much rational to be found on such sites and the subtitle seems to agree with that statement.
But the following article about catholic priests was very informative, well written and I agree with everything in it.
Why Aren’t Sexually Abusive catholic Priests Excommunicated?
It is still very relevant to the current situation, I think Mary Mostert should update her article with this Brazilian case.

And if you look at what their precious bible tells them then abortions is not even such a big crime, at least not as big a crime as picking up sticks on the sabbath:

And if men struggle and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury, he shall be fined as the woman's husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
- Exodus 21:22-25

A simple fine for causing a the woman of a couple WHO WANTS THE BABY to miscarriage, I can imagine that if the husband (notice that the woman has no say about the fine) did not want the kid then he'd not ask for a big fine and might even befriend the guy he was fighting with after he caused the miscarriage.

Here's some more bible bits about abortion

Of course rape is not such a big thing in the bible either, was 50 shekels a lot of money back then or are those mail order brides overpriced (and they don't even give a free ride first like in the bible)

Vile just vile.

You got it made when

2009-03-10T14:11:00.001+01:00

there are Google Maps mashups of your cause

Losing their religion

Truth (life as a math equasion)

2009-02-27T13:49:00.002+01:00

deredactie.be - Bisschop Williamson trekt verklaringen in

2009-02-27T13:23:00.002+01:00

Bisschop Williamson trekt verklaringen in

De titel en het artikel doen vermoeden dat de Bisschop zijn fout inzicht in wat er tijdens WO II gebeurt is heeft herzien en aanvaard dat de holocaust heeft plaatsgevonden inclusief de uitroeiing van miljoenen Joden.

Op hetzelfde moment kopt een CNN artikel "Holocaust-denying bishop apologizes, but does not recant", in dat artikel worden directe quotes gegeven van de uitspraken van Bisschop Williamson:

"I regret having made such remarks," Bishop Richard Williamson said in a statement on a Catholic Web site where he has posted in the past. "If I had known beforehand the full harm and hurt to which they would give rise, especially to the Church, but also to survivors and relatives of victims of injustice under the Third Reich, I would not have made them."

Ook dit BBC artikel geeft deze quotes en komt tot dezelfde conclusie dat er blijkbaar wel spijt is over de gedane uitspraken maar niet over de inhoud ervan (en zelfs die spijt is natuurlijk ook wat twijfelachtig door de geforceerdheid ervan)
Het artikel op de Redactie komt blijkbaar toch tot een heel andere conclusie, een conclusie die op apologetiek lijkt, het kan natuurlijk ook zijn dat de kennis van engels niet zo goed is bij de Redactie of zou de reporter misschien katholiek zijn?

Het is natuurlijk ook wel frapant dat de schade aan "de kerk" op de eerste en speciale plaats komt bij Bisschop Williamson, de schade aan slachtoffers en familie is tweederangs en niet zo belangrijk natuurlijk als de enige echte kerk.

-

Church leaders said the Pope had not been aware at the time of an interview given by the bishop

Als het niet zo serieus was zou het zeer ironisch zijn dat juist die paus zich probeert te verschuilen achter een "wir haben es nicht gewusst"

Law Makes Blasphemy Illegal in U S Christopher Hitchens

2009-02-27T08:57:00.001+01:00

This cannot be accepted!!!

Got my Elite license this weekend

2009-02-18T13:03:00.001+01:00

Now I can drive around Paradise City with gold paint cars ...
Now to get the platinum paint...

This is a dangerous site

2009-02-13T10:46:00.000+01:00

http://zerooutoffive.blogspot.com/

I spent the last 20min trying not to laugh out loud.
I need to get some work done!

Just a quick

2009-02-12T08:36:00.001+01:00

Happy Darwin day !!!

been a while

2009-02-09T15:57:00.001+01:00

I haven't posted much lately, I've been sick, busy, having fun and just didn't feel like it.
But I got some things on my mind.

Here's a European story that rubs me the wrong way, PZ's latest post about Eluana Englaro, WTF, indeed how's a comatose woman gonna consent to sex of any kind but also does Berlusconi really mean to say that infertile women have no right to life???

Next I have a little beef with some fellow atheist bloggers, there are some other posts similar to this one, trying to limit what atheists can and cannot do as if they (or those that think like them) are/should be the only spokespeople for atheism, I don't feel like posting them all but I don't like it, unless they are speaking about the 1 in 5 atheists who believe in god I'd say let them give it their best shot at debating a theist.

Besides, Kazim makes the very mistake he is trying to speak out against, Kazim points out that the theist would not have to:

... defend the concept that a god exists at all

Oh yes he does, because what Dan Baker agreed to defend was the non existence of the The God of The Bible, a very clearly defined god, not just "a god", and such a debate is quite easy, especially for Dan with his extensive knowledge of the Bible.

Buscampagne in Nederland

2009-02-05T16:09:00.001+01:00

Voila, nu ook in Nederland, komt al heel dichtbij ;-)
Spijtig dat ze er geen PayPal account bij gezet hebben dan kon iedereen makkelijk steunen, maar blijkbaar gaat het zo ook wel, ze zitten al aan €6000

http://www.atheismecampagne.nl/index.html

New non-religious parenting book

2009-01-23T10:34:00.001+01:00

Raising Freethinkers is released

I got the first book Parenting Beyond Believe and I'll be ordering the new one too.

Microsoft Tag

2009-01-20T13:14:00.002+01:00

I've played with Microsoft Tag a little.
It's quite amazing how fast it catches and resolves those tags on my phone, I just have to point the camera to the tag very briefly for the application to recognize it.
Yes, it is essentially a barcode with a site behind it but this type of barcode can be read by any phone with a camera (and an internet connection)

I made a Tag for this site

Went to a local humanist meeting

2009-01-13T14:46:00.001+01:00

They were hosting a lecture from a popular (amongst humanists) Belgian Professor, Prof. Johan Braeckman who did a lecture on Darwin and creationism, ID...

I'm a member but the Belgian humanist organizations clearly need to become more organized, there are chapters in just about every city and they pretty much operate on their own. I was a member of HVV in a different city so I didn't get any info on what was going on in the city I live in now.

I'm now member of both chapters and I will not extend the membership of my original city when it comes up.

The lecture was OK, a rehash of a lot of things I already knew but still good to listen to and learned a few more things about Darwin's personal life.

The drink afterwards was good to find out a bit about the organization but other than that it was pretty cold (literally and figuratively)

Probablemente Dios no existe. Deja depreocuparte y disfruta la vida.

2009-01-12T14:34:00.001+01:00

Sounds good to me :)

Super Deluxe Bible History #1

2009-01-08T10:08:00.001+01:00

Most un-sex-illy

Humanlight

2008-12-23T12:28:00.001+01:00

I blogged about this already, then forgot about it and now see Humanlight pop up in searches that reach my site so I looked into it again, the winners of that contest are on the site.
Its a bit late now and the designs of the 2008 winners don't really do it for me, I like this one from 2006 and ordered a pack (which will arrive in Januari) so that I can spread some love after the obligatory period ;-)

Lord of War - The life of a bullet

2008-12-20T20:06:00.001+01:00

Excellent intro!

What's Morally Wrong With Homosexuality?

2008-12-20T12:08:00.001+01:00

I stumbled on this but it is awesome!
Love "the parts don't fit" argument and morals from animals bit.

Amazing, horrible, wonderful, sickening

2008-12-18T14:08:00.001+01:00

Warning this is gonna be a post with some horrible things and the links also contain some pretty disturbing pictures, so you're warned.

This is all those things and more.

However the parents (and a lot of the commenters) should be a bit more careful with when talking about miracles, I know the article only mentions it once and the parents are probably genuinly thankful to the doctors and science for allowing their baby to survive this.

As I see it the only actual event that could in a way be defined as a miracle was the development of the 2nd fetus insite the baby's brains, all that follows is pure science and their luck of living in the western world.

I wish them all the best and thank goodness that humanity has progressed so much already to be able to give that baby a chance to live.
(via Pharyngula)

Kleine opmerking

2008-12-16T16:14:00.001+01:00

Ik ben deze interessante site aan het lezen

Wie heeft het beste wereldbeeld?

Een kleine snelle opmerking, in de 2de tabel staat:

3. God - wetenschap kan geen uitspraak doen over God (bevestigen noch ontkennen)

Nu zo een stelling is waar voor een wel bepaalde god, een god die geen eigenschappen heeft of die geen interactie heeft met de materiële wereld.

Die stelling zo uitdrukken kan door religieuzen worden aangehaald als het punt waarop ze gevalideerd worden om toch maar te blijven geloven, het is de stelling die voor hun de weddenschap van Pascal in het voordeel van hun god doet kantelen, het kan zijn dus ...

De wetenschap kan wel degelijk uitspraken doen over een god die eigenschappen heeft, of een god die interactie met de materiële wereld heeft (bvb. dat een god de aarde 6000 jaar geleden gemaakt heeft of gebeden beantwoord)

Dit word verder in de tekst ook wel met wat meer woorden gezegd maar dit punt zou altijd op alle niveaus duidelijk gemaakt moeten worden, indien het niet gedaan word kan hiermee steeds alle wetenschappelijke discussie over religie van de tafel geveegd worden.

Black Jesus Answers YOUR Stupid Ass, Vol. 1

2008-12-16T11:28:00.001+01:00

I believe in HIM!

The Parrot Sketch

2008-12-08T16:29:00.001+01:00

Legally and in HIGH Quality!!!
Monty Python is NOT dead!

Here's a YouTube channel to keep an eye on

2008-12-08T15:36:00.001+01:00

JeansTake

Can I just say that the comments on her video's made me all warm and fuzzy and no I'm not THAT sick anymore! ;) )

Atheism is becoming a great community and current technology is letting us reach out to everyone, this is indeed a great time to be alive (and to be an atheist)!

Also the atheists are supportive but still insist she finds out the details herself (people are not sleeping forever when they die ;-) ) while theists are either negative (granted for the moment there's only one) or fall back on "praying for you" and here's an authority that says you gotta believe MY dogma!

(via Friendly Atheist )

Back among the living

2008-12-06T22:24:00.001+01:00

After a weeks hibernating/regenerating here's a funny link for the weekend (via linkdump van ReteCool)

A little mention of a useful tool

2008-11-21T11:50:00.001+01:00

It's something that I use everyday but hardly ever actually see:

http://www.foxmarks.com/

It lets you sync bookmarks and favorites of all your PCs or laptops once setup it just sits there doing it's business, you can create sync profiles like Work/Home and select folders and individual bookmarks that are only synced to that profile (so that P0rn folder doesn't end up on your work PC, not that I have one of those, really!).

It used to only work for FireFox (hence the name) but they now also have an IE version (and there's also a Safari version, all these can work concurently with eachother), the news was in their blog .

And even if you're on a PC without such a browser or cannot install the add-on or software then you can still go to the FoxMarks site and access your bookmarks from that site (it's what I do on my mobile phone or on a public computer)

Why do they always sleep better somewhere else ...

2008-11-21T09:55:00.001+01:00

Because my wife was a little sick yesterday and I had to go to the owners meeting of our apartment at 8pm (which lasted until 11pm grrrr) we let our daughter sleep over at her grandparents.

Now at 2yo I think she sleeps good, occasionally we get a few nights when she'll wake up from wanting a bottle or a bad(or exciting?) dream but I'd say 70% of the time we get the sleep that we need and she sleeps a good 9-10 hours, she does go to bed late (around 10pm) and we'd like to change that but she can sleep until 8 or 9am so we figure it'll change automatically when she has to go to school and has to get up earlier.

I figured a new place (the last time she slept at my mom's was about a year ago) would disrupt her a bit but no, she slept from 6pm!!! until 7:30am I was on the phone this morning when she woke up and she sounded happy and of course well slept!

They have the same bed and I don't think it there's less noise.

Still, good for her but I don't get it :-)

School

2008-11-18T13:38:00.001+01:00

I can't believe we're already doing this.
We've chosen a school for Alina, she can start kindergarten in January but we're planning to only send her in March because we want her to be a bit more comfortable with the 2 languages we're speaking to her. At daycare it does frustrate her a little when people don't understand what she says in one language and we hope she'll make the distinction better when she's a bit older.
The choice of school will provide a bit more meat for this blog when it starts because it's a catholic school. The primary reason for the selection is that the school is the closest one but my wife finds the catholic bit an extra bonus (I find it a mild negative).
Being a Belgian school it is not too heavy on the religion, it didn't come up during her registration and I only spotted one promotional poster that was just a soft message that I would agree with too and at the bottom in very small print it had the bible chapter/verse reference.
So I'm pretty sure it'll be ok but I'm gonna keep my eyes open :-)

Lest we forget

2008-11-05T09:17:00.003+01:00

This is also a big loss for the Christian God as one of His more fervent supporters put it thusly:

You could and you did!

2008-11-05T08:33:00.001+01:00

Well done USA for this first step towards change, now show the world what you're really made of!

Too bad that for the moment (about 50% counted) it looks like CA Prop. 8 will make it, but it seems like CA Prop. 4 will not and in WA initiative 1000 (doctor assisted suicide) has resoundingly made it (though it seems like a very limited initiative but again it's a first step)

Now to try to stop looking at the results and get some work done ;-)

Suggestion

2008-11-04T09:31:00.001+01:00

Even if this (warning: gruesome) was a single case it should be enough for all good people to update any guidebooks, reference material and/or teaching aids to explicitly denounce such practices or remove the offending paragraphs, in fact decent people should think about either abandoning or rewriting the entire content of materials that once contained such practices. The originals can be kept for historians in libraries and museums but should not be used anymore in reference to current events.
The sad truth is that it is not a single case and even sadder that millions, nay, billions of books, websites and other media which contain, condone and even promote such practices are being used as guides and reference material for current events and sit on the bookshelf of decent people who keep advancing it as a source of guidance (and I admit there is even one in home though I do not advocate using that book for guidance).
I don't advocate book burning but some material is not suitable for some situations (like pornography for children or in this case books which contain and advocate gruesome punishments for non-crimes for moral guidance), the original texts should not be removed from existence but please fellow humans, update the books you say you use for moral guidance and help in removing such practices from this earth let them be just a memory we read about in history books in the proper context of rejection of those ideas not in books that are being promoted as "good".

Thoughtful and intelligent interview

2008-10-31T11:37:00.001+01:00

Sid Schwab of Cutting Through The Crap has posted a video of an excellent interview with Barack Obama.

How anyone could even think of voting for the other side just boggles the mind!

Sarah Mania! Sarah Palin's Greatest Hits

2008-10-28T09:01:00.001+01:00

It's almost like watching The Office episode where Ricky Gervais does his dance routine, but then without the laughter ...

How Steven Hawking began

2008-10-27T08:13:00.001+01:00

Amazing story, amazing man.

We all knew "the good book" was dangerous

2008-10-24T11:28:00.004+02:00

And here's proof, quoting the Bible can get you in jail. It really should come with those warning stickers that say it contains violence, hate speach and sex.

"As far as I know, Pinkney's the first preacher in the history of America to get locked up for quoting the Bible," Davis says. "Deuteronomy is a great chapter—especially that part about killing all the men, women and children from every city."

(via The Stubborn Curmudgeon: Wrong Verse)

Why probably no god?

2008-10-23T10:20:00.003+02:00

You could probably(!) guess, it's because of the automatic protection religion gets in our society.

See:
http://www.atheistcampaign.org/probably/

A valid point is raised in the comments, a definite christian message should not be allowed as well so as not to offend muslims or other religious sects (and vice verso)

What's so good about Belgium

2008-10-22T16:24:00.001+02:00

Well this article (in dutch) has the following table:

(translated)

	Further ease of abortion	Euthanasia for minors	Adoption for gays and lesbians
unacceptable	21,4%	24,1%	26,3%
undecided	21,2%	18,5%	13,9%
acceptable	57,4%	57,5%	59,8%

The full analysis (PDF) can be downloaded at the end of the article, it is a survey done last year on about 1000 people in Belgium.

Okay, it could be better but then it can always be better. Clearly a majority of Belgians are quite progressive.

This is why I'm not too worried about any religious education that my daughter might be getting when she'll be at a catholic school, chances are most of her teachers won't even believe in a god ...

Atheists doing something!

2008-10-21T21:24:00.007+02:00

Check this out, who ever said that atheists can't get organized ...
A target of £5,500 reached and then some (it's at £35,000!!! at the moment) in just one day (correction, a few hours).
And Richard Dawkins is chipping in too, matching that first £5,500

The times they are a changing:

http://www.justgiving.com/atheistbus

update: I even saw Sarah Palin chiping in ... ;)
And if you want there's a Facebook group for this action:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=32985131033

Muslim McCain Fans Confront Intolerance At Rally

2008-10-21T13:23:00.001+02:00

There may be hope for humanity to overcome extremism.

Sarah Palin Song! (I Picked a Girl!) BBK#3

2008-10-19T20:50:00.001+02:00

The song starts around 1:30, pretty good.

Women on waves

2008-10-17T23:43:00.003+02:00

http://www.womenonwaves.org/

This is such a great cause, it is sad that the world needs it but it is very beautiful that there are people who are willing to devote their lives to helping women in oppressing societies!

Donations can be made here:
https://secure.vuurwerk.nl/~womenb/transaction_e.html

From Bors Blog

2008-10-16T09:14:00.002+02:00

LOL, I'll be smiling all day now.

MailBag Douchebag

via Bors Blog by Matt Bors on 10/15/08

bruceaajr@yahoo.com:

YOU SUCK!

In the words of Obama...

I...HOPE... your penis falls off. That would be a good...CHANGE.

Gook: John McCain's Racism and Why It Matters

2008-10-14T11:08:00.002+02:00

Amazing, well done video but it shouldn't even need to be explained like this.

Atheïstishe trefdag 2008 Belgie

2008-10-12T18:02:00.003+02:00

Ik ga alles proberen om erbij te zijn!
'k ben tenslotte lid van HVV

2009 Yamaha VMAX - Gallerij

2008-10-11T13:09:00.000+02:00

I'm dreaming again ...
2009 Yamaha VMAX - Gallerij

Libertyville Abortion Demonstration

2008-10-06T21:32:00.001+02:00

Who are these people? Really, do they only have one brain cell?

Atheist? Take this survey

2008-09-26T23:59:00.002+02:00

Take this survey, it's open for everyone (well if you're an atheist ;) )

(via Friendly Atheist)

Sarah Palin, Thomas Muthee and witchcraft

2008-09-26T14:27:00.002+02:00

I hope the Salem witch trials got rid of all witches in the US if Sarah becomes the VP

Winner: Hitchens

2008-09-24T15:30:00.001+02:00

God 0, Atheism 2: Hitchens Eats Another Religious Figure for Lunch

Daily Show with Christopher Hitchens

2008-09-24T15:27:00.001+02:00

Found on Emancipate Yourselves From Mental Slavery

Part 1

Part 2

Dodelijk arbeidsongeval aan kerk in Laken

2008-09-24T14:12:00.002+02:00

Heel erg dat dit gebeurd is en ik hoop dat die man er wettelijk werkte zodat de nabestaanden ten minste niet met die problemen te maken hebben.
Maar er zit hier toch ook een beetje ironie in, de man was aan het werken om een kerk te renoveren, en Pools zijnde was waarschijnlijk diepgelovig Katholiek, en dan gebeurt dit?
Zijn god hypothese heeft toch duidelijk niet gewerkt volgens mij ...

Dodelijk arbeidsongeval aan kerk in Laken

via Deredactie.be - de nieuwsstroom on 9/24/08

Een Poolse arbeider viel van een stelling bij renovatiewerken aan de Onze-Lieve-Vrouwkerk.

Interesting cartoon

2008-09-23T13:18:00.001+02:00

The American River Ganges

By Thomas Nast

Thought experiment

2008-09-22T15:03:00.001+02:00

This post and a YouTube video I saw recently got me thinking.

Suppose that today on all screens and on all street corners, even inside all houses for every person on this earth their particular version of god or concept of supernatural entity would appear (Jesus for the christians, Vishnu for hindu's, even Zeus for those few that still believe in them, cosmic energy beam for the new agers etc.) and those characters would all tell the believers that actually they are all from the same alien race and that starting all those religions was a sociological experiment and that this alien race lives very prosperous without religion, even then I still think a large portion of the world's population would kindly take that information, put it aside and continue going to church and believing in their god much the same as before that revelation, and if they did not return to church by them self then any priest putting even a little twist on what happened would have his church full of believers again.

I'm 100% certain of this, I could not believe that the first answer by Lindsey in that Friendly Atheist post was made by a believer, I kept reading thinking that she was being humorous but no, that answer really is enough for her to cast aside all rational explanations of modern science (look at the horses answer!).

Unbelievable, there are books with titles that claim the writers do not believe in atheists, well I do not believe in theists, I have to think that in the dark of the night when she's all alone she is laughing at us atheists that we believe that she actually believes that stuff.

I have believe this to because to me the theory of evolution would crumble, no sane person who can use a computer could be so daft, it just cannot be, evolution should have naturally selected against such really, really gullible people by now!

(BTW that last paragraph was satire)

Angels exist

2008-09-22T14:33:00.001+02:00

This is art

Ayaan Hirshi Ali on The Colbert Report

2008-09-22T14:18:00.000+02:00

Seona Dancing

2008-09-22T14:13:00.003+02:00

Ricky Gervais REALLY was in a band in the '80 !!!

Dawkins on The Colbert Report Part 2

2008-09-20T20:41:00.001+02:00

Richard Dawkins on The Colbert Report 1

2008-09-20T20:40:00.000+02:00

Just the link

2008-09-19T16:50:00.002+02:00

It is not a recent story and I don't wanna comment on it ...

Pope satirist convicted in Poland

But there is hope

Ricky Gervais on the Daily Show!!!!

2008-09-19T15:44:00.000+02:00

HumanLight Design Contest

2008-09-19T11:51:00.001+02:00

I kinda like the christmas atmosphere and ignore the supernatural stuff, (if I send christmas cards they're sans religion) but this sounds like a better idea, if the winners are good I'll probably order some if I can.

CALLING ALL NON-BELIEVERS: Express yourself in a HumanLight Design Contest

HumanLight is a holiday celebrated around December 23rd specifically to acknowledge reason, family, friendship, and other shared, secular values of humankind. To learn more, visit the website: http://www.humanlight.org

The HumanLight Committee is hosting a HumanLight Holiday card and ornament design contest for secularists of all ages. Contestants should design an artistic expression to positively address these questions or some aspect of the HumanLight holiday.

What do we have to celebrate during the winter holiday season? What do you hope for in the future? What's the Humanist view/perspective?

ELIGIBILITY: All are welcome to enter!

Category 1: Ages 11 and under.

Category 2: Ages 12-17.

Category 3: Ages 18 and up.

One entry per artist. All media, (painting, printmaking, collage, digital art, photography, or perhaps something even more creative?) is accepted.

TO APPLY: Email the image as a high resolution (at least 300 dpi) JPEG

to humanlightcontest@gmail.com. In the body of the email, include the artist's name, age, what country and state (if it applies) he or she is from, and what method he or she used to create the image.

DEADLINE for entries is November 1, 2008.

Judge: Martha Knox is a fine artist, Humanist celebrant, art teacher, and Director of the Humanist Association of Greater Philadelphia.

Prizes: Three images will be selected, 1 from each age category. Cards and ornaments displaying all three winners will be available for purchase at the HumanLight merchandise webpage. Each prize winner will receive an ornament and set of cards with their image, as well as some HumanLight candy! The winners and their designs will also be featured on the main HumanLight website www.humanlight.org.

All images in this contest are owned by the artist. By submitting images to this contest, the artist agrees to grant the HumanLight Committee the right to print or otherwise re-publish the submitted images in marketing or web materials for the purpose of promoting HumanLight so long as credit is given to the artist as the original creator of the image(s). All proceeds from HumanLight merchandise sales will go toward further promotion of HumanLight.

Spread the word!

An atheist under (legal) attack

2008-09-19T10:03:00.002+02:00

by an insane theist of course, there's no doubt he'll win the case but even so those things actually cost money (so help him out a bit if you can) but things like that also carry a cost for society at large and should be stopped!

This is just insane

There should be more like him in Hollywood

2008-09-18T14:39:00.001+02:00

Brad Pitt donates $100,000 to fight gay marriage ban

I feel like Arthur Dent

2008-09-18T13:51:00.001+02:00

I feel like Arthur Dent on that infamous Thursday.

Turkey bans biologist Richard Dawkins' website

2008-09-18T08:36:00.001+02:00

Turkey bans biologist Richard Dawkins' website

And I'm going there on holiday later this year, and I'll be bringing my "A" t-shirts (and I still have some RDF stickers ...)

Safe, legal and falling

2008-09-17T22:35:00.000+02:00

Restrictive laws do not reduce abortion

Gay Scientists Isolate Christian Gene

2008-09-16T14:04:00.001+02:00

Finally!

uh, I think I'll go home now...

2008-09-12T11:49:00.001+02:00

LHC Webcam

Condom, condom!

2008-09-12T11:44:00.002+02:00

Activists promote safe sex in India with cellphone 'Condom, condom!' ring tones

Religion, always running behind science

2008-09-11T14:42:00.001+02:00

Always trying to limit it ...

http://www.space.com/news/060615_ap_hawking_news.html

Famed physicist Stephen Hawking said Thursday that Pope John Paul II tried to discourage him and other scientists attending a cosmology conference at the Vatican from trying to figure out how the universe began.

The British scientist joked he was lucky the pope didn't realize he had already presented a paper at the gathering suggesting how the universe was created.

There's a clip about this too:

http://atheistmedia.blogspot.com/2008/09/stephen-hawking-on-creation-myths.html

I have to go back to Nantes

2008-09-10T15:09:00.001+02:00

Pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ochblog/sets/72157607198700794/

Movies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8n0rsGcQpE

More movies

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ile+de+nantes

Les Machines de L'île

PZ would probably get a kick of this one ...

Calamar geant

Just to be sure

2008-09-10T11:57:00.001+02:00

Has The Large Hadron Collider Destroyed The World Yet

It gave me a nice calm feeling, not unlike when I first read "Don't Panic" written in large friendly letters on my HHGTTG ...

Interesting

2008-09-10T10:47:00.000+02:00

The catholic league continues to be offended by abuse directed towards a little food item.

They are crying babies, really, and to show us they have responded to the deluge of hate mail that PZ Myers got by posting a selection of what they them self got:

http://www.catholicleague.org/catalyst.php?year=2008&month=September&read=2452

One must assume that those are the worst of the worst that the catholic league got, do notice the lack of death treats, threats to do physical harm, only one is in all caps, most are even reasoned messages that want to engage in honest discussion, even profanity is not over abundant.

Really if that is the worst they got then I'm proud of my side ;-)

I have to make a pilgrimage to Tennessee !!!

2008-09-05T16:54:00.001+02:00

Evolutionists Flock To Darwin-Shaped Wall Stain

Settlements Reached in Chicago Clergy Abuse Case

2008-09-05T10:11:00.002+02:00

I think Hitchens once said something like:

It is not the abuse itself that shows the failing of religion but that a life devoted to religion does not stop the abuse.

Also this article, it boggles the mind that even with the apparent need for such measures people still think their churches are morally superior.
Definitely have a look at the second comment by Sister Maureen Paul Turlish:
Should priests give kids piggyback rides?

TV reminder, today, BBC2 9pm

2008-09-03T10:44:00.003+02:00

God on Trial
This evening on BBC2!
Sound interesting
Here's the wiki not much there, perhaps after tonight ;)

My PVR is set and ready

Chrome

2008-09-03T10:36:00.000+02:00

Posting this with Google's new browser Chrome.
Looks really clean but I have so many useful add-ons in Firefox that I use all the time I do not think I'll be switching. The one thing I'd really like to see in Firefox is the tearing away of tabs into their own window, that is just so awesome and useful.

Tone it down!

2008-09-02T14:25:00.001+02:00

Italian church loses battle over loud bells

GOD Versus LESBIANS

2008-08-30T20:00:00.001+02:00

Hell yeah, I might have to get some approval from my non lesbian wife, but if I say that it is for science I don't see how she can object to me participating in that experiment ...

god.voor.dommen

2008-08-30T13:01:00.001+02:00

Bekijk mijn pagina bij .god.voor.dommen

Just one more and then my weekend starts

2008-08-29T17:20:00.001+02:00

Porn in the sky not a problem, f-you religinuts!

That puts AA on my list of fav airlines!
(not that I look at porn, it's for the articles :-) )

Will the world end on September 10?

2008-08-29T17:06:00.002+02:00

This post gives some betting odds

What Will the LHC Find?

Lottery players would probably go for one of the following though in the first case there's nothing to collect, in the second case, well I hope it's not the one everyone thinks of:

Stable Black Holes That Eat Up the Earth, Destroying All Living Organisms in the Process: 10^-25%. So you're saying there's a chance?

...
God: 10^-20%. More likely than stable black holes, but still a long shot.

For normal people those 2 are obvious jokes, I hope this one will not occur:

Absolutely Nothing: 3%. It's always possible that we won't find anything really new, not even the Higgs. If that turns out to be the case — well, suffice it to say that there will be great wailing and gnashing of teeth. It's not a prospect I am especially worried about, but reality is what it is, and I'm sure we will find a way to move forward if that's the case.

For the others you'll have to visit the site.