Bigger, longer, uncut

I was sent this news story today, and was asked to comment on it.


My response was:

I don't support the idea that a parent has the right to mutilate their children's bodies without a solid reason for doing so.

From what I have heard and read (podcasts, books etc) the health claims made about circumcision are all either false, or negligable when compared to the possible defecits.

If a person chooses to get a circumcision for cosmetic or cultural reasons, I believe that they should be able to choose when they are capable of doing so, with all the relevant information at their disposal.

At the heart of it, circumcision is a cultural/religious practice which may have come from many ancient sources, including health, identifying races, and spiritual beliefs. The modern medical claims seem to be an attempt to justify the practice post hoc, and to me, that's not good enough.

I believe that laws protecting male children from circumcision are a good move, and may help to break down an outdated, irrational practice.

You can read a much better response to the circumcision debate by Harriet Hall, the Skepdoc here: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=269

Richard Dawkins is interviewed for Australian ABC TV Compass

A handful of comics

A selection of comics, cartoons and funnies

Open Mindedness

This video is a really good explanation of some of the logical fallacies applied to skeptical thinking. It's really worth checking out.

Open-mindedness
Uploaded by totocacapouet - Discover more science and tech videos.

Seth macfarlane and Bill Maher. It's about F#$king time!

A Dawkins/Darwin double-dose delight!

The first video is Richard Dawkins in an interview on Belgian TV. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Antwerp.

The voice-over is not in English, but the interview is.




The second video is "Darwin: The Legacy BBC 1998 Documentary about the historical and future influence of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection on human behaviour, society and culture. Contributors include evolutionary biologists Edward O. Wilson, Richard Dawkins and John Maynard Smith."

Why We Believe in Gods: Dr Andy Thompson. American Atheists '09

Panel Debate

A panel debate featuring William Lane Craig, Christopher Hitchens, Douglas Wilson, Lee Strobel and James Denison, moderated by Stan Guthrie. The topic is "Does the God of Christianity exist, and what difference does it make?"




(Or the link to the video is also here).


There is also an Mp3 of the debate here.

Via Apologia Podcast/Blog (One of the BEST podcasts out there for both theists and atheists),

The Pope is Wrong, Put a Condom on!

It seems that there has been a whole lot of discussion about the intersection of sex and religion doing the rounds recently.

The Sydney Atheists recently participated in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, wearing buses with slogans including 'Keep religion out of the bedroom', 'Out of the atheist closet' and 'Queer and happy without god'.

Also at the mardi gras were nuns (1, 2), Jews, devils, angels, and of courde, the Raelians. It looks like they had a lot of fun and it was a good opportunity to reach out to a portion of the population which is generally frowned upon by organised religion.

The pope publicly announced that that condoms could make the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa worse.

Which has been reported much better than I could by the BBC (1, 2 3), Guardian, Times, and the Age , among many others.

Basically, with over 22 million African people infected with AIDS, it is criminal to be putting forward such unfounded crap. I agree with the 'experts' quoted in the video below, who say "People really just need to listen to the healthcare workers and experts of the community leaders on how to avoid HIV infection."

Listen to religious experts for religious advice, listen to health experts for health advice.




I came across this little Jesus and Mo 'toon which helps to unearth the real problem.
But I guess things could be worse... this guy probably just needs a good shag! (the xtian gay-fixer, not Sascha Baron Cohen)

What's in the news?

Obama has lifted funding restrictions on stem cell research which is good, seeming that there is very little reason to cut funding. It seems to be more of a religion vs medicine controversy than a controversy amongst medical ethicists.

More suicide bombings in Iraq it's sad that we are hearing this kind of news so regularly these days. "Person from (x religious group) had killed (#)people from (y religious group)". I know that there's more politics to it than that, but it seems that religion plays a major role in this kind of nonsense.

Man shoots a pastor mid sermon it'll be interesting to find out more about this as it develops. I wonder what the guy's motivation was? Was he just mad, or was he a fan of the Insane Clown Posse?

Percentage of non-religious Americans rises which isn't too surprising. This has been happening steadily over the last few census'. It seems that the numbers in most denominations are dropping off, but pentecostalism is remaining steady. I guess more people just want to sing and dance than sit solemly in pews.

Spiritual assessment in British hospitals condemned they wanted to put a question of spiritual belief on the intake survey, so that your spiritual needs could be catered for. I see that as an opportunity for allowing discrimination. I'm glad there's a backlash.

Worshiping Darwin can be dangerous though I'm not sure that worship is the right word, and I wonder who it's dangerous to? Probably the intelligent design crowd most of all.

9 year old's abortion causes controversy for church little kid gets raped, becomes pregnant, needs abortion or she will die, gets abortion, family and doctors excommunicated from church. This is completely ridiculous! The social support falling out from under them when they need it most. More on this here

Australia wasn't mentioned in the bible, so it doesn't exist! well, I guess you can't argue with that logic!

Teaching atheism in English schools in religious education is to be introduced. Terrific. It would be great to break down the barriers of misconceptions early in the piece so that children are given the information they need to make an informed decision about their religious stance.

February's Podcasts

Looking back over February, there were a lot of really good podcasts produced throughout the various freethinking groups, and here's a showcase of some of the cream of the crop

American Freethought spoke to:
Neil deGrasse Tyson (awesome science and astronomy communicator),
Ken Miller (literally wrote the book on evolutionary biology) and
Phil Plait (hyper excitable skeptic extraordinaire)

Astronomy Cast spoke to Bob Novella of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe

The Atheist Experience had a double show with a call in theist Matt Slick (#592 & 593), as well as their usual terrific 'Live Calls' show (#590)

Freethought Radio spoke to Charles Darwin's great great grandson, Matthew Chapman (Feb 14)

The Infidel Guy spoke to Neil Shubin, author of 'Your Inner Fish'

Skepticality spoke with Ben Radford

The Skeptics Guide interviewed Massimo Pigliucci as well as their always interesting 5x5 mini show


Other shows worth checking out include:
(I haven't hyperlinked them... I'm heading off to work and don't have time. Just google them, they're out there. If you can't find something, I can provide links)

Australian Shows

Here's Why
Hunting Humbug
Brains Matter
Diffusion Science Radio
Here's Why
Ockham's Razor
The Psuedo Scientists
The Skeptic Zone
G'Day World
Dr Karl (Great moments in science, and the naked scientist, on Triple J)
Sunday Night Safran


International Shows

Another Goddamned Podcast
Are We Alone?
Ask an Astronomer Videos
Atheist Talk
Bad Science
Beyond Belief
Dogma Free America
Geologic Podcast
The Good Atheist
The Non-Prophets
Nova Vodcast
Pat Condell's Godless Comedy
Point of Inquiry
Quackcast
Rearview Radio with Rick Wood
Reasonable Doubts Podcast
Secular Nation Podcast
Skeptoid
Slacker Astronomy
Star Stuff
This Week in Science
Scientific American's 60 second podcasts (Earth, Psych, Science, Video)

Religious Jokes

Just for a bit of light-hearted fun, what's you favourite religious/atheist joke?

Post them in the comments section.

Here's some to get you going:

One day the zoo-keeper noticed that the orangutan was reading two books - the Bible and Darwin's Origin of Species.

Surprised, he asked the ape, "Why are you reading both those books?"

"Well," said the orangutan, "I just wanted to know if I was my brother's keeper or my keeper's brother."

___________________________________________________

Over the massive front doors of a church, these words were inscribed, "The Gate of Heaven." Below that was a small cardboard sign which read, "Please use other entrance."

___________________________________________________

An atheist buys an ancient lamp at an auction, takes it home, and begins to polish it. Suddenly, a genie appears, and says, “I’ll grant you three wishes, Master.” The atheist says, “I wish I could believe in you.” The genie snaps his fingers, and suddenly the atheist believes in him. The atheist says, “Wow. I wish all atheists would believe this.” The genie snaps his fingers again, and suddenly atheists all over the world begin to believe in genies. “What about your third wish?” asks the genie. “Well,” says the atheist, “I wish for a billion dollars.” The genie snaps his fingers for a third time, but nothing happens. “What’s wrong?” asks the atheist. The genie shrugs and says, “Just because you believe in me, doesn’t necessarily mean that I really exist.”

___________________________________________________

A Christian, a Jew, and an atheist are standing in line to be executed during the French Revolution.

The christian is first, and he lays down on the guillotine. Before the executioner pulls the lever he shouts, "My god will save me!". The lever is pulled, and the blade swooshes down, stopping just short of his neck. The executioner, believing a miracle of god has occurred, figures he can't kill this man, as so sets him free.

The Jew lays down on the guillotine. Like the christian, he shouts, "My god will save me!". The lever is pulled, the blade falls, and once again it stops just short of his neck. The executioner, again, believes god is on this man's side, and lets him go.

Finally, the atheist lays down on the guillotine. He examines the guillotine, finds a rock in the gears, and says to the executioner, "Well here's your problem..."

The moral? There's a time and a place for skepticism.

___________________________________________________

I look forward to seeing some of the reader's favourites!

Clearing Up Any Confusion

To help clear up any confusion about our position, please take a look at this wonderful website from our dear friend Dave The Happy Singer.






The website is Answers In Reality, a play on the abortion of a website Answers In Genesis.

Then, if you have any further questions at all about the fossil record, you can visit Transitional Fossil, where all your questions are answered.

New Dawkins Videos

Richard Dawkins on The Big Questions - 28th Dec 2008
Description: The Big Questions BBC1 9:00 Sunday 28th Dec 2008 The Big Questions returns for a second series of topical live debates. Nicky Campbell is at Whitgift School in Croydon to preside over a panel including former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, Oasis Trust founder Steve Chalke, Queen's Chaplain the Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, and evolutionary biologist and campaigning atheist Professor Richard Dawkins. Topics: Should unfit parents be stopped from having more babies? Is Britain a christian country? Are manners overrated? *PLEASE NOTE - Richard Dawkins is only called upon to actively contribute in parts 2 & 3 of the 6.




Richard Dawkins interviews Nicholas Humphrey
Description: This is the full uncut interview originally filmed for Channel 4's "The Enemies of Reason." Nicholas Humphrey is a Professor of Psychology at the London School of Economics. This video is brought to you free online by The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. If you enjoy the video, please consider supporting our work by purchasing "The Enemies of Reason: The Uncut Interviews" (which includes 8 other interviews) through our website here: http://richarddawkins.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=72
From:richarddawkinsdotnet
More playlists by richarddawkinsdotnet

Critical Mass Podcast #3

The Critical Mass Podcast #3 is fresh off the presses, download it now before the ink dries!

On this months panel we have:

• Dave the Happy Singer as host
• Jason Brown
• Ian Woolf
• Alan Conradi
• and Anthony Englund
  

And the topics we cover include:

• Exorcism in Western Sydney
• Hindu rape shame
• Calvinists beating Atheists at scrabble
• and a whole lot of other stuff!
  

Download the show directly here (34mb)

Subscribe to the podcast rss

Or find us on iTunes


To dive a bit deeper into the subjects we cover, here's some links...

Expelled!

Lie correcting subtitles YouTube teaser


Download the lie correcting subtitles torrent and add it to your DVD to vastly improve it's quality.

You can still watch the movie here (sans lie correction though)


The Bethlehem Experience

Read our blog about it, or check out the flikr set


Hindu Rape story

News report here


Clean feed

Visit the no clean feed site or the no censorship site

Read about Dave the Happy Singer at the rally here


Exorcism in Western Sydney

The Mercy Ministries exorcism links:
‘Restoring the foundations’ pages photocopied
Curing anorexia with exorcisms
Exorcism in the suburbs
Exorcism books leaked here and here

Other Mercy links
>Nancy Alcorn Mercy Ministries (1hr)

Cynic Sage questions mercy ministries


Baby hammer kill:
Couple bit child more than 20 times in fatal exorcism here and here
Man charged with exorcism death should have been in jail

Richard Dwakins Channel

Check out the Richard Dawkins Channel on T5M.com there are a collection of interviews explaining his stance on a number of topics, like the word 'Atheist', setting up the RDF, religious morality and having Jesus over for dinner (seriously!)

Check out all the videos here

Don't click here

Richard Dawkins Interviews Father George Coyne

This is the full uncut interview with Father George Coyne which was omitted from Richard Dawkins' television program "The Genius of Charles Darwin" for Channel 4 in the UK.

The Richard Dawkins Foundation will be releasing many more uncut interviews from "The Genius of Charles Darwin" on DVD soon through http://RichardDawkins.net/Store

We need to call ourselves atheists

This video from the Beyond Belief (2007) series really encapsulates my feelings about the label 'Atheist'.



There are some people out there that would prefer to relabel non-belief to escape the negative connotations that are popularly associated with it, but I would much more prefer to retain the label and show, through my actions, that the popular myths are untrue. This is the basis of the Sydney Atheists 'Good Without God' slogan.

I feel that if we can show that there is nothing that the church can deliver that cannot be obtained through secular means, while also exposing the damage that religious belief can cause, we will be able to show the community that to believe in a god offers no merit and only muddies the waters. By offering the same positives as religion does, along with encouraging clear thinking, inquisitiveness and rationality, we would actually be offering people a chance to grow and improve upon themselves.

I am happy to call myself an atheist.

I am a proud atheist.

I feel so full of life and excited that through reason, evidence and rationality we can further our knowledge of the world and beyond, without needing to rely on a supernatural proposition to help make sense of it all.



You can watch the Beyond Belief videos and a bunch of other stuff at the science network.

You can go straight to the Beyond Belief programs here:

Beyond Belief (2008) Science as a candle in the dark

Beyond Belief (2007) Enlightenment 2.0

Beyond Belief (2006) Science, Reason, Religion & Survival

Podcast #1 out now!

The first Critical Mass podcast is available now!



You can get to it via this site,

or you can just download the file here (high quality 47 MB) or here (med quality 23 MB)

On the show are Anthony, Ian, Dave and myself

We talk about

• What the Sydney Atheists have been up to
• What we're all about
• Religion invading schools
• Kevin Rudd's argument from design
• The London buses

Also, Dave does the topical song, On the buses 'Freethought Bus'

Check it out now!

You can subscribe to it by clicking the feedburner link at the top of the page.