Comments on: Saturday Morning Ar-LOL-Ewww

By: Araxie

Araxie — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 02:43:27 +0000

*Choke* I shouldn’t have read that while I was eating… XD

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:41:33 +0000

Just for the record .. Al Gore never claimed to have invented the internet

http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp

Nor, to the best of my knowledge has he ever claimed to be a scientist

By: Nicole

Nicole — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:39:32 +0000

Keera #57 —
” I am against treating the religious with disrespect simply because they are religious. ”

I totally agree, but I also believe in the converse — I am against trreating the religious with respect simply because they are religious. Crazy is crazy and should called out as such regardless of the basis of the insanity. Flying planes into buildings, throwing acid in the face of girls because they are ‘immodest’, letting children die without medical care, hating your child because they are gay , suicide bombers … and the list goes on. This are all crazy acts and they are all based in religious beliefs.

To be sure, not all religous people are this crazy, but they form the base for this kind of crazy, even the most liberal. If you accept a belief as true with no evidentuary basis, then you can accept any belief with no evidentuary basis. If I believe that bread and wine turns into the body and blood of my god, then I can believe that praying alone will heal my child.

Let me make one thing very clear, I sincerly do not care what people believe as long as they do not in anyway infringe on the lives of others. Unfortunately, the basic tenets of most religions do excatly that.

By: Keera

Keera — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:03:31 +0000

David #55, I have asked myself how in the world an illiterate carpenter ended up heading a world religion. It is a fascinating question, and the man himself would probably be shocked at what is done in his name. There were skeptics back then and there are skeptics now. I’m not against people being more skeptical about who they should follow; people should always do their own thinking. I am against treating the religious with disrespect simply because they are religious.

Dave #56, I belong to a group that forecasts the weather weeks and months (and even years) ahead of the meteorologists using astrology (yeah, I’m a woo-woo). I do this in part to see if astrology works (people are too erratic to use in a scientific study), and in part because weather is fascinating (and I live where we have a lot of it). As a group, we have a particular interest in climate and weather and therefore we want to know if there really is anything to this global warming stuff, so I get both sides of the story (via the mass media and via my astrology group). I will say this: Man does influences local climate (the tilling practices that led to the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s is a perfect example) and that does need to be taken seriously, IMO. But globally? The jury’s still out and well it should be.

By: Dave in Boston

Dave in Boston — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:04:28 +0000

Al Gore is a scientist the same way he invented the Internet, so that’s fine. But you did say “I tend not to listen to those [scientists] who support Al Gore.”

I have no idea what monsters under the bed he may be pushing. And I’m no climatologist. However, based on the reports and papers I’ve read it seems to me that there are at least three plausible doomsday scenarios and several others that would be unprecedented humanitarian catastrophes… and nobody really has any idea what the risk of any of them happening really is.

It is also my opinion (on the basis of experience with complex nonlinear dynamic systems) that it is, probably, already too late to do anything about it.

By: David A. Rooney

David A. Rooney — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:14:35 +0000

Keera - I read all these posts on religion (I’m what is known as a recovering Catholic, btw) and I think of Joseph Smith and the Mormons. Looking at the historical record it seems that Joe Smith was a snake-oil salesman who capitalized on a wave of religiosity (and may even have come to believed his own hype). But this close examination is only possible because of the close proximity to us in time, the amount of documentation (some in his own writing) and the lack of a language barrier (american english words haven’t changed much in the intervening years). And don’t get me started on the absurdites of the Scientologists.

But all this begs the question for Christianity and other older religions - what would their origins look like if we had the same wealth of historical documentation and language clarity? Would they seem as absurd - not far from the ‘zombie’ idea?

By: Keera

Keera — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:46:18 +0000

Dave #53, I didn’t say what you said I said. I can’t stand the adult version of monsters under the bed any more than I liked the childhood one, so very early on in the global warming debate, I went looking for other reports and research to find out if Gore was right (i.e. I got out of bed and turned on the light). My conclusion: Gore is a fearmonger. I therefore do not listen to those who follow him.

By: Dave in Boston

Dave in Boston — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:54:05 +0000

Keera: choosing to listen to some scientists/”scientists” and not others based on whether you like what they say… that seems like missing the point.

I also have a hard time crediting any kind of genetic predisposition towards religion. Both genetics and the brain are much more subtle and complex than that.

By: Elyrest

Elyrest — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:59:35 +0000

“Elyrest — I thought you you trusted me on discerning the Arlo-ness of comics”

Nicole, I just noticed this comment — I don’t know what I was thinking! I won’t let it happen again.

By: Mark in Boston

Mark in Boston — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:46:38 +0000

JSB: Perhaps that preacher was referring to Muslims. The Prophet peed sitting down, and as a result many observant Muslim men do.