Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
stri·dent
Pronunciation:
\ˈstrī-dənt\
Function:
adjective
: characterized by harsh, insistent, and discordant sound ; also : commanding attention by a loud or obtrusive quality
Famous atheist Richard Dawkins objects to being called “strident”; that’s supposed to be an unfair stereotype.
And yet he also objected, at first, to the word “probably” inserted into the slogan “There’s Probably No God, Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life,” complaining that it was a bit too soft.
Hmm. I realize he’s “come around” since then, but how else would you characterize that?
In fact, the act of raising a large amount of money to try to make people stop believing in something. Surely, an articulate and intelligent fellow like Dawkins should be able to explain to me what exactly is the point there? I mean, while putting it in terms that aren’t strident. Looks to me, to my untrained, knuckle-dragging, rock-banging-together, mud-hut-living-in God-believing mind, like that’s an exercise in sacrificing material wealth to try to make complete strangers engage in your own belief system. If that isn’t strident then I don’t know what is. It also bears some telltale signs of being a kind of — GASP! — Religion! All the ones that matter, anyway.
And please walk me through the logic — the secular mind is supposed to be obviously logical, but this doesn’t look logical to me, and if it is, it’s anything but obvious. As I pointed out at Rick’s place when guest blogger Big-Tee Tim Chesterton dredged up this gem…if you do believe there’s a God and we’re all going to be judged by Him after shucking the mortal coil, it makes complete sense to sacrifice your material possessions to get the word out to total strangers. Absolute, total, complete sense…not only to sacrifice some of your material goods, but perhaps all of them.
Now doing the same thing if you don’t believe — that’s just nuts. Sorry, but if this is all about equalizing both sides and achieving some kind of symmetry, this is taking it into the realm of lunacy. And I’m not saying that to be judgmental, I mean that really is the case. There’s no way to explain this in a sensible way. I mean, why stop there? Quick, I need to log in and check my bank balance, I’ve got a lot of money to spend on things because there are many things in which I don’t believe. Got to make sure nobody else believes in ’em either! How many days ’til payday?
How do we sum up this special kind of thinking in one or two sentences? I got an idea. Wait for it…wait for it…here it comes…
“I’m not strident. I just don’t believe in some things, and I’ll never rest until I make sure you don’t either.” That just about covers it, right?
Yeah Doctor Dawkins, I have no idea why people think you’re strident. I really don’t know where you picked up that rep. Honestly, I have no idea.
</sarcasm>
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