Recent content by pointyhairedhumanist

Looks like I agree wit pretty much everyone here, God is not disprovable (just highly unlikely). However I would point out that you can prove universal negatives by proving that they are self-contradictory. You can't disprove things that are possible (such as pink unicorns) or that have...

I know that it's not quite whatyou're after, but one that's worth looking out for is "In God we Doubt - Confessions of a failed atheist" by John Humphrys. It is basically some pondering on God from an agnostic's perspective. When I picked up the book I considered myself an agnostic, and I agreed...

Let's face it, the Bible is quite clear on the subject. Marriage is the union between a man and one or more women.

Really? They sounded like deists to me. However, I agree that there was a certain irony to their complaining about militant atheists, and then going on to mock Jesus in virtually the next breath.

No, don't tell her that. Tell her what she wants to hear. Say that Australia's public health care has an 11 month waiting list for maternity services. In all seriousness, the Australian public health care system is not ideal. The best doctors go to the US where better wages are paid, and...

I found an article that talks about this: http://www.ahmadiyya.org/islam/number.pdf . It is from a Muslim website.

I got thirteen hits for land by the time I reached book 5. It's hard to tell though, because I went to a translation. Anybody want to try another one? I used http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/index.htm and ctl-F a lot.

Personally I would recommend you read an entire book of the Old Testament, such as Genesis. I would also advise you read at least one of the four Gospels, most likely John, which is the one that tries to convince you that Jesus is the literal son of God. The problem is that you can either go to...

I did not say that we should call people idiots. I just said I understood the desire to do so with something so patently in breach of common sense. I'm pretty sure I was clear on that point, and I'm not sure how you managed to misread me.

That assumes that at the age that they become aware of Santa Claus that they will be mentally able to comprehend what you tell them. The Santa Claus thing is very much in your face, and pretty much everyone conspires to tell your kids that he is real. You know that all through December there are...

I don't think anybody here has said that there is a cosmic reciprocal force acting in a spooky way on your life. The first post posited a correlation with worldview, while the other two talked about reciprocal altruism. You would have noticed that if you were wearing your lucky underwear. :)

If you are realistic about the fact that people are going to occasionally take advantage of your better nature, and are willing to bear that cost as the price for becoming the person you want to be, then I agree with something like karma. While we have evolved to be greedy, we have also evolved...

I am reminded of a quote from The God Delusion: "I mean it as a compliment when I say that a philosopher is someone who won't take common sense for an answer." On a philosophical level, the only thing that we can be certain of is our own existence. Everything else relies on assumptions, such as...

And yet an inner glow of satisfaction that lasts much longer :)

He quite likes that quote and has used it on at least one other occasion. You may also recall from "The God Delusion" his examples of hate mail. He has also reads that out loud, and seems to take a certain amount of joy in clearly enunciating each profanity. My original intent with the top video...