Just finished "The God Delusion", and I have to say that I don't find Dawkins strident. I, in fact, thought he was polite. As he pointed out the deference to "religion" as an unassailable concept in society today I just kept getting madder.
Posted by charlie at December 6, 2007 02:32 PM"Freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone," the GOP contender said.
Even the Islamic religion of Middle Eastern countries, Mitt?
I hope the GOP keeps talking. The hole just gets bigger and bigger.
Posted by Seven of Six at December 6, 2007 02:38 PMDawkins is much more abrasive in his appearances than he is in "The God Delusion". Which is a very good book.
Posted by snark at December 6, 2007 02:48 PMthe GOP is the refuge for Bigots and Racists.
Posted by T2 at December 6, 2007 02:49 PMAnd I think Mitt might be done.
Posted by snark at December 6, 2007 02:51 PMI've come to accept the Marxist doctrine of religion as my own:
"I would never belong to any organization that would have a person like me as a member."
~Groucho Marx~
Besides, ALL religions are just cults with large memberships. Cult, religion, whathaveyou ~~ they're all abominations of the first commandment. "Thou shalt have no false gods before me" includes Moroni, the Pope, Britney, Oprah. You get the drift, no? (:>
Posted by Donald Cormca at December 6, 2007 03:26 PMHad he said that freedom requires one or another religion, he'd have been vilified. For this, he won't be. Bigotry against atheists and agnostics is still allowed, in modern theocratic America.
All I can say is, "yep"....
Posted by bartcopfan at December 6, 2007 03:48 PMHow did that last guy that "communes with God" work out?
If Mitt was raised as a Muslim, he would be on his knees facing East 5 times a day.
And cosidering the stupid Godbots that Dr. Dawkins has to put up with, I think he is rather mellow. Now Hitchens can get mean depending on how much he had to drink.
Posted by TIKI AL at December 6, 2007 05:01 PMWell, they have found several candidates that are stupider than Bush, and one of them will get the nomination. And with a choice in Nov '08 between rationality and stupidity - once again - half of the people will supposedly have voted for stupidity. Put up a dunce, manipulate the vote count, grab another 4 years of profits, while hollowing out the federal government even more, by farming its functions to Halliburton, et al, who will amazingly fail to fulfill those functions while the money gets lost 'somehow'. A President who won't pursue the thieves is necessary for them to steal the wealth of the nation.
The greedy Friedmanite bloodsuckers (refer to Naomi Klein) handling Bush's strings need another dumb f___ puppet to manipulate, someone who, when informed that there are no WMDs in Iran, will still pull shock and awe on the Persians - just because the string-masters say they want the oil and the $$$.
Romney is, amazingly, twice as stupid as Bush, which makes him the perfect front.
Posted by SteveGinIL at December 6, 2007 05:07 PMHey, o/t but over at FDL, Swopa picked up on a piece at the Providence Journal that Valerie Plame gave a speech today at Brown Univ. and dropped the bombshell at the end that just before she went on stage she had a call that Pat Fitzgerald had agreed to hand over the transcripts of the Bush, Cheney interviews to Waxman! Score!
Posted by mainsailset at December 6, 2007 05:08 PMI don't think Romney or Bush are stupid, I think they have average intelligence but are demented. The Dems should be running ads asking "Do you want this religious fanatic to control our nukes?" Right now, I'm afraid Bush or the next nut will jump start the Rapture.
Posted by Mel at December 6, 2007 05:31 PM"Freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone,"
First, Mitt is a Mormon, which is a cult. He has no idea what the fuck he is talking about, especially when the cult he belongs to does not allow freedom, especially for women. The last thing in the world that we need in this Country is another religious wacko like Bush.
Past Presidents believed and worshipped God, but saw their belief system as one of a personal nature. Let's keep it that way Mitt.
Posted by Judith at December 6, 2007 05:34 PM
Romney's dumber than I thought if he thinks he can fool Goober Godbot into thinking he's one of them. 'Course they'd be willing to overlook his cult background if he promises to attack Iran and kill more brown people.
Posted by iamcoyote at December 6, 2007 05:45 PMMitt has left non-Godbots such as myself out of the American dream. That's OK with me, because if he gets elected it will be an American nitemare, and I will move to Aruba or Cancun.
Please note: Goober Godbot is a pet name for Huckleberry Thin.
Posted by TIKI AL at December 6, 2007 08:03 PMGahlleeee! I want Romney! He's my kind of Republican. Enough of them raketeers like Giuliani and Thompson. Enough of them former POWs like that pussy McCain. Gih me sum ROMMMNEE. Praise fuckin' Jesus!
Posted by NealB at December 6, 2007 10:01 PMFunny headline: "Mitt Romney Did Not Have Lawn Relations With That Immigrant."
Posted by Judith at December 7, 2007 12:37 AM
Damn Judith, how insulting for the poor 'immigrant'!
Posted by Seven of Six at December 7, 2007 07:24 AMFreedom requires religion.
It's contingent freedom
... as opposed to free freedom
Apparently, the US has more atheists and agnostics than Mormons, so really, by throwing us "free from fear of a bossy and vengeful invisible sky wizard" people under the bus, he's lost more votes than gained. How he thinks being told what to do by some archaic book o' rules is being free, I'll never know.
Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God
Maybe someone should tell him that good drugs'll do this quicker, cheaper, and is lots more fun!
Posted by iamcoyote at December 7, 2007 09:19 AMBless you, coyote, but you have just exercised your non-religious freedom to tell the truth, which is verbotten. Look to the sky for lightning bolts, you are doomed.
And add all of the non-Godbots that are in the closet just to get and keep their jobs and the numbers could be astronomical.
Posted by TIKI AL at December 7, 2007 09:53 AM"Romney rooted the speech in the literature of America’s civil religion. When he said "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom," he was paraphrasing Tocqueville: "Despotism may be able to do without faith, but freedom cannot."
His criticism of "the religion of secularism" recalled a radio address by President Reagan. Banning school prayer, Reagan said "is seen not as the realization of state neutrality, but rather as the establishment of a religion of secularism."
Romney invoked John Kennedy’s famous speech to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association. He also alluded to other remarks by JFK. "When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office," Romney said, "that oath becomes my highest promise to God." In 1960, Kennedy said that anyone who takes the presidential oath "is swearing to support the separation of church and state." A president who broke that oath, Kennedy said, would be committing a sin "for he has sworn on the Bible.""
Romney said: “Americans acknowledge that liberty is a gift of God, not an indulgence of government.” In his inaugural, Kennedy proclaimed that “the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.”"
Posted by josh at December 7, 2007 10:41 AMAfter reading these comments, I am quite concerned about the future of this country. I have never seen such a display of ignorance!
Posted by at December 11, 2007 05:37 AM