FPGA Central

Now that I've got your attention, please join with me
in mourning the passing of George Carlin.
--
% Randy Yates % "The dreamer, the unwoken fool -
%% Fuquay-Varina, NC % in dreams, no pain will kiss the brow..."
%%% 919-577-9882 %
%%%% <[email protected]> % 'Eldorado Overture', *Eldorado*, ELO
http://www.digitalsignallabs.com

Randy Yates <[email protected]> writes:

> Now that I've got your attention, please join with me
> in mourning the passing of George Carlin.

How about his marketing names for birth control:

"Papa Stopper"
"Baby Maybe"
"Embry-No"

....
--
% Randy Yates % "The dreamer, the unwoken fool -
%% Fuquay-Varina, NC % in dreams, no pain will kiss the brow..."
%%% 919-577-9882 %
%%%% <[email protected]> % 'Eldorado Overture', *Eldorado*, ELO
http://www.digitalsignallabs.com

Randy Yates wrote:
> Now that I've got your attention, please join with me
> in mourning the passing of George Carlin.


Here is a nice write up about him. I also like the photos a lot,
especially the last one:

http://www.sacbee.com/833/story/1032273.html

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Randy Yates <[email protected]> writes:

> Now that I've got your attention, please join with me
> in mourning the passing of George Carlin.

A true loss for American culture.

Ciao,

Peter K.

--
"And he sees the vision splendid
of the sunlit plains extended
And at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars."

"Peter K." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]..
> Randy Yates <[email protected]> writes:
>
>> Now that I've got your attention, please join with me
>> in mourning the passing of George Carlin.
>
> A true loss for American culture.
>
> Ciao,
>
> Peter K.
>
> --
> "And he sees the vision splendid
> of the sunlit plains extended
> And at night the wondrous glory of the everlasting stars."
>
>
I saw him a few years ago. He will be missed.

Phil Martel

On Jun 23, 8:40 pm, Randy Yates <ya...@ieee.org> wrote:
> Randy Yates <ya...@ieee.org> writes:
> > Now that I've got your attention, please join with me
> > in mourning the passing of George Carlin.
>
> How about his marketing names for birth control:
>
> "Papa Stopper"
> "Baby Maybe"
> "Embry-No"
>
> ...


Baby Maybe was the brand of birth control that didn't work all of the
time.

A real man's product: "INconceivable"
Something for the women: "Nary-a-Carry"

Kitty Kill
Womb Broom
Humpty Dumpty

Classic AM-FM record that i still have, but it's very crackly.

on another note, was the forecast of the Hippie-Dippy Weatherman.
i've actually used that as an illustration for how the Shannon measure
of information contained in a message is. how much information is
contained in

"Tonight's forecast: Dark. Continued darkness 'til widely
scattered light in the morning."

?

you could put it right into an Information Theory textbook. and
someone should.

r b-j

On Jun 24, 12:12 am, robert bristow-johnson
<r...@audioimagination.com> wrote:
> On Jun 23, 8:40 pm, Randy Yates <ya...@ieee.org> wrote:
>
> > Randy Yates <ya...@ieee.org> writes:
> > > Now that I've got your attention, please join with me
> > > in mourning the passing of George Carlin.
>
> > How about his marketing names for birth control:
>
> > "Papa Stopper"
> > "Baby Maybe"
> > "Embry-No"
>
> > ...
>
> Baby Maybe was the brand of birth control that didn't work all of the
> time.
>
> A real man's product: "INconceivable"
> Something for the women: "Nary-a-Carry"
>
> Kitty Kill

duh. it's "Kiddie Kill". we ain't felines.

then there's Fetus Fail, that's a good brand name for non-prescription
birth control.

> Womb Broom
> Humpty Dumpty

Something lofty and poetic: "Nay, Family Way"

Something earthy and crude: "Mom-Bomb"

and the initial "Preg-Not!"

Thanks for bringing this up, Randy. George Carlin was to Yes what
humor is to music.

Randy, this might be a little challenging for you, but this is what
George thought about faith:

http://www.rense.com/general69/obj.htm

a salient quote:

Religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible
man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute
of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten
things
He does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things,
He has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and
torture
and anguish, where He will send you to live and suffer and burn
and
choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time!

But He loves you. ...


actually, being both a liberal and a believer, i appreciate the
observations from George. theists need to hear such critique, ponder
them, and come to an understanding of their faith that isn't the
bullshit that Carlin refers to.

i don't think i could learn much from Richard Dawkins (it's just too
easy to expose and refute his vitriol and argument), but i can from
George Carlin.

r b-j

>On Jun 24, 12:12 am, robert bristow-johnson
><r...@audioimagination.com> wrote:
>> On Jun 23, 8:40 pm, Randy Yates <ya...@ieee.org> wrote:
>>
>> > Randy Yates <ya...@ieee.org> writes:
>> > > Now that I've got your attention, please join with me
>> > > in mourning the passing of George Carlin.
>>
>> > How about his marketing names for birth control:
>>
>> > "Papa Stopper"
>> > "Baby Maybe"
>> > "Embry-No"
>>
>> > ...
>>
>> Baby Maybe was the brand of birth control that didn't work all of the
>> time.
>>
>> A real man's product: "INconceivable"
>> Something for the women: "Nary-a-Carry"
>>
>> Kitty Kill
>
>duh. it's "Kiddie Kill". we ain't felines.
>
>then there's Fetus Fail, that's a good brand name for non-prescription
>birth control.
>
>> Womb Broom
>> Humpty Dumpty
>
>Something lofty and poetic: "Nay, Family Way"
>
>Something earthy and crude: "Mom-Bomb"
>
>and the initial "Preg-Not!"
>
>Thanks for bringing this up, Randy. George Carlin was to Yes what
>humor is to music.
>
>Randy, this might be a little challenging for you, but this is what
>George thought about faith:
>
> http://www.rense.com/general69/obj.htm
>

%%%%%%

Nice link.....after long time, or may be for the first time, I am readin
something like this.....

Chintan

cpshah99 wrote:

>>Randy, this might be a little challenging for you, but this is what
>>George thought about faith:
>>
>> http://www.rense.com/general69/obj.htm
>>
>
> %%%%%%
>
> Nice link.....after long time, or may be for the first time, I am reading
> something like this.....

Then you should read "The God Delusion" by Richad Dawkins:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion

It might help to open an eye or two.

bye
Andreas
--
Andreas Hünnebeck | email: [email protected]
----- privat ---- | www : http://www.huennebeck-online.de
Fax/Anrufbeantworter: 0721/151-284301
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Andreas Huennebeck <[email protected]> writes:
> [...]
> It might help to open an eye or two.

In any argument, the more you depend on ad-hoc criticism
to make your point, the weaker your position appears to
be.
--
% Randy Yates % "The dreamer, the unwoken fool -
%% Fuquay-Varina, NC % in dreams, no pain will kiss the brow..."
%%% 919-577-9882 %
%%%% <[email protected]> % 'Eldorado Overture', *Eldorado*, ELO
http://www.digitalsignallabs.com

>cpshah99 wrote:
>
>>>Randy, this might be a little challenging for you, but this is what
>>>George thought about faith:
>>>
>>> http://www.rense.com/general69/obj.htm
>>>
>>
>> %%%%%%
>>
>> Nice link.....after long time, or may be for the first time, I a
reading
>> something like this.....
>
>Then you should read "The God Delusion" by Richad Dawkins:
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion
>
>It might help to open an eye or two.
>
>bye
>Andreas
>--
>Andreas H�nnebeck | email: [email protected]
>----- privat ---- | www : http://www.huennebeck-online.de
>Fax/Anrufbeantworter: 0721/151-284301
>GPG-Key: http://www.huennebeck-online.de/public_keys/andreas.asc
>PGP-Key: http://www.huennebeck-online.de/publ...gp_andreas.asc
>
>
%%%%

Thanks for the link, but I have come accross plenty of people who teac
and preach about religion from hinduism to islam and christianity.

One day one girl came to me and said they are giving lecture abou
christianity and she asked which religion i follow. I said I am hindu an
she asked me to attend that lecture with the hope that i might star
following christianity. I said even tho i m hindu i believe in all religio
as long as they teach good things.

In hinduism, there is one famous book 'Bhagwad Gita' or 'Gita' for short
told by Lord Krishna. In that he says no matter which religion u follow
ultimately ur prayer will reach to me.

But then it entirly depends on the person.

Andreas Huennebeck wrote:
> cpshah99 wrote:
>
>>> Randy, this might be a little challenging for you, but this is what
>>> George thought about faith:
>>>
>>> http://www.rense.com/general69/obj.htm
>>>
>> %%%%%%
>>
>> Nice link.....after long time, or may be for the first time, I am reading
>> something like this.....
>
> Then you should read "The God Delusion" by Richad Dawkins:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion
>
> It might help to open an eye or two.

There's something a bit out of focus in the concept of a proselytizing
atheist, out to save my soul. Aren't tsunamis, famines, and genocides
ample demonstration of a beneficent god?

Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

Jerry Avins wrote:


>>>> http://www.rense.com/general69/obj.htm
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion

http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/twain/index.htm


> There's something a bit out of focus in the concept of a proselytizing
> atheist, out to save my soul. Aren't tsunamis, famines, and genocides
> ample demonstration of a beneficent god?

Those arguments are neither original nor new. Let's say a religion is
the publicly acceptable form of schizophrenia.

VLV

Vladimir Vassilevsky wrote:
>
>
> Jerry Avins wrote:
>
>
>>>>> http://www.rense.com/general69/obj.htm
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion
>
> http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/twain/index.htm
>
>
>> There's something a bit out of focus in the concept of a proselytizing
>> atheist, out to save my soul. Aren't tsunamis, famines, and genocides
>> ample demonstration of a beneficent god?
>
> Those arguments are neither original nor new. Let's say a religion is
> the publicly acceptable form of schizophrenia.

Possibly. The really bad thing about religion I can think of is that
some adherents are moved to propagate their own by coercion. Otherwise,
I'm cool with whatever.

Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

On Jun 24, 9:24 am, Andreas Huennebeck <a...@gmx.de> wrote:
>
> Then you should read "The God Delusion" by Richad Dawkins:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion
>
> It might help to open an eye or two.
>

i read Ch. 3 ("Why there is almost certainly no God") and found it to
be hyped up and totally unpersuasive. There is no physical evidence
for a Multiverse, there never will be any physical evidence for
universes other than the Observable Universe (just as there is no, and
never will be, physical evidence for God) and it's clear where Dawkins
chooses to places his faith (and "faith" is precisely the correct
word, Dawkins has *faith* in things he knows not of and cannot
observe). he strays from biology and evolution (something he is no
doubt an expert of) to philosophy (something he is no better at than
most of us) and simply fails at it.

it may be persuasive to the "choir". but he doesn't persuade me.

r b-j

On Jun 23, 8:36*pm, Randy Yates <ya...@ieee.org> wrote:
> Now that I've got your attention, please join with me
> in mourning the passing of George Carlin.
> --
> % *Randy Yates * * * * * * * * *% "The dreamer, the unwoken fool -
> %% Fuquay-Varina, NC * * * * * *% *in dreams, no pain will kiss the brow..."
> %%% 919-577-9882 * * * * * * * *% *
> %%%% <ya...@ieee.org> * * * * * % 'Eldorado Overture', *Eldorado*, ELOhttp://www.digitalsignallabs.com

On Jun 23, 8:36*pm, Randy Yates <ya...@ieee.org> wrote:
> Now that I've got your attention, please join with me
> in mourning the passing of George Carlin.
> --
> % *Randy Yates * * * * * * * * *% "The dreamer, the unwoken fool -
> %% Fuquay-Varina, NC * * * * * *% *in dreams, no pain will kiss the brow..."
> %%% 919-577-9882 * * * * * * * *% *
> %%%% <ya...@ieee.org> * * * * * % 'Eldorado Overture', *Eldorado*, ELOhttp://www.digitalsignallabs.com

I have mixed feelings about the praise of George Carlin.

I, (and I think many) bemoan the loss of civility and respect in
society. The George Carlin type figures are the ones who get us to
laugh. In a way they are cheap laughs though, because he was able to
et on an album 30 some years ago and say the seven bad words. Funny?
Yes, kind of like talking about the shapes of your turds is funny ,
but there were always places, in civilized society where "men" talked
like 11 year old boys (in the bars etc) and where they talked like
men.

Now when you walk on a playground, the kids swear and say things with
no sense of when it is appropriate to swear, and when its publicly
unnacceptable. I think that George Carlin (or rather the publics
embracing of George Carlin) was one of the baby steps that we as a
society have gone through that has not been a toally good change.

I guess some people say that we went to seed in 1939 when Clark Gable
said "I don't give a damn".

The point is, whenever any of us old timers bemoan how society has
gone down hill , I think we must also ask ourselves why we openly
embraced the forces that were pulling it down.


Sure, a lot of his stuff is funny. Kind of like talking farts and
buggers is funny. But I'll take Bill Cosby type humor anyday.

Brent

On Jun 24, 10:37*am, Vladimir Vassilevsky <antispam_bo...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> Jerry Avins wrote:
> >>>> * *http://www.rense.com/general69/obj.htm
> >>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion
>
> http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/twain/index.htm
>
> > There's something a bit out of focus in the concept of a proselytizing
> > atheist, out to save my soul. Aren't tsunamis, famines, and genocides
> > ample demonstration of a beneficent god?
>
> Those arguments are neither original nor new. Let's say a religion is
> the publicly acceptable form of schizophrenia.
>
> VLV

Sure, I agree with you.

The one person ( the good one- tries to be rules by principles and a
sense of eternal justice). The other one (the bad one does whatever
he wants whenever he wants regardless of how it hurts others).

I think loooking at communism in the 20th century, where this
shcizophrenic good person was not allowed to exist is very
instructive. I think they killed over 100 million people in the name
of better good.

Heck, the Catholics didn't even approach that when they were behaving
at their absolute worse in the inquisistion!

[email protected] wrote:


> The one person ( the good one- tries to be rules by principles and a
> sense of eternal justice). The other one (the bad one does whatever
> he wants whenever he wants regardless of how it hurts others).
>
> I think loooking at communism in the 20th century, where this
> shcizophrenic good person was not allowed to exist is very
> instructive. I think they killed over 100 million people in the name
> of better good.
> Heck, the Catholics didn't even approach that when they were behaving
> at their absolute worse in the inquisistion!

It is only the question of the opportunities and resources available. No
matter what the idea is (Christianity, Islam, Nazism, Communism,
American Democracy etc.) As soon as the idea dominates over masses, it
starts killing for its own sake. Just look around.

VLV

[email protected] writes:

> On Jun 23, 8:36*pm, Randy Yates <ya...@ieee.org> wrote:
>> Now that I've got your attention, please join with me
>> in mourning the passing of George Carlin.
>> --
>> % *Randy Yates * * * * * * * * *% "The dreamer, the unwoken fool -
>> %% Fuquay-Varina, NC * * * * * *% *in dreams, no pain will kiss the brow..."
>> %%% 919-577-9882 * * * * * * * *% *
>> %%%% <ya...@ieee.org> * * * * * % 'Eldorado Overture', *Eldorado*, ELOhttp://www.digitalsignallabs.com
>
> I have mixed feelings about the praise of George Carlin.
>
> I, (and I think many) bemoan the loss of civility and respect in
> society. The George Carlin type figures are the ones who get us to
> laugh. In a way they are cheap laughs though, because he was able to
> et on an album 30 some years ago and say the seven bad words. Funny?
> Yes, kind of like talking about the shapes of your turds is funny ,
> but there were always places, in civilized society where "men" talked
> like 11 year old boys (in the bars etc) and where they talked like
> men.
>
> Now when you walk on a playground, the kids swear and say things with
> no sense of when it is appropriate to swear, and when its publicly
> unnacceptable. I think that George Carlin (or rather the publics
> embracing of George Carlin) was one of the baby steps that we as a
> society have gone through that has not been a toally good change.
>
> I guess some people say that we went to seed in 1939 when Clark Gable
> said "I don't give a damn".
>
> The point is, whenever any of us old timers bemoan how society has
> gone down hill , I think we must also ask ourselves why we openly
> embraced the forces that were pulling it down.
>
>
> Sure, a lot of his stuff is funny. Kind of like talking farts and
> buggers is funny. But I'll take Bill Cosby type humor anyday.

Good points, all of them, Brent. I find myself in the precarious
position of agreeing with you and still admiring Carlin. Perhaps it is
because I was about 14 (I was born in 1957) when I first started hearing
Carlin's brand of humour and it struck an immediate chord in my immature
mind.

But I would still put Carlin on a different level than, say, Richard
Pryor, whose constant stream of profanity never did a thing for me. I'm
pretty sure Carlin put more thought into his routines.

And I like Cosby, too. My dad (who was a white, racist redneck straight
off the farm in Mississippi) said many times with much respect in his
voice that Bill Cosby did more to change the way black people are viewed
by whites than just about anyone in history.
--
% Randy Yates % "And all that I can do
%% Fuquay-Varina, NC % is say I'm sorry,
%%% 919-577-9882 % that's the way it goes..."
%%%% <[email protected]> % Getting To The Point', *Balance of Power*, ELO
http://www.digitalsignallabs.com

Randy Yates wrote:
> [email protected] writes:
>
>> On Jun 23, 8:36 pm, Randy Yates <ya...@ieee.org> wrote:
>>> Now that I've got your attention, please join with me
>>> in mourning the passing of George Carlin.
>>> --
>>> % Randy Yates % "The dreamer, the unwoken fool -
>>> %% Fuquay-Varina, NC % in dreams, no pain will kiss the brow..."
>>> %%% 919-577-9882 %
>>> %%%% <ya...@ieee.org> % 'Eldorado Overture', *Eldorado*, ELOhttp://www.digitalsignallabs.com
>> I have mixed feelings about the praise of George Carlin.
>>
>> I, (and I think many) bemoan the loss of civility and respect in
>> society. The George Carlin type figures are the ones who get us to
>> laugh. In a way they are cheap laughs though, because he was able to
>> et on an album 30 some years ago and say the seven bad words. Funny?
>> Yes, kind of like talking about the shapes of your turds is funny ,
>> but there were always places, in civilized society where "men" talked
>> like 11 year old boys (in the bars etc) and where they talked like
>> men.
>>
>> Now when you walk on a playground, the kids swear and say things with
>> no sense of when it is appropriate to swear, and when its publicly
>> unnacceptable. I think that George Carlin (or rather the publics
>> embracing of George Carlin) was one of the baby steps that we as a
>> society have gone through that has not been a toally good change.
>>
>> I guess some people say that we went to seed in 1939 when Clark Gable
>> said "I don't give a damn".
>>
>> The point is, whenever any of us old timers bemoan how society has
>> gone down hill , I think we must also ask ourselves why we openly
>> embraced the forces that were pulling it down.
>>
>>
>> Sure, a lot of his stuff is funny. Kind of like talking farts and
>> buggers is funny. But I'll take Bill Cosby type humor anyday.
>
> Good points, all of them, Brent. I find myself in the precarious
> position of agreeing with you and still admiring Carlin. Perhaps it is
> because I was about 14 (I was born in 1957) when I first started hearing
> Carlin's brand of humour and it struck an immediate chord in my immature
> mind.
>
> But I would still put Carlin on a different level than, say, Richard
> Pryor, whose constant stream of profanity never did a thing for me. I'm
> pretty sure Carlin put more thought into his routines.
>
> And I like Cosby, too. My dad (who was a white, racist redneck straight
> off the farm in Mississippi) said many times with much respect in his
> voice that Bill Cosby did more to change the way black people are viewed
> by whites than just about anyone in history.

I'll hazard a guess that some of what you like about Carlin is what
appeals most about him to me, the social commentary that underlay his
monologues. Some of his manner of presentation was part of that
commentary, and some merely shock value to get people to listen to it.
Humor made his point more effective and allowed those so disposed to
ignore it, thereby increasing its effectiveness.

Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

On Jun 24, 10:37*am, Vladimir Vassilevsky <antispam_bo...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> Jerry Avins wrote:
> >>>> * *http://www.rense.com/general69/obj.htm
> >>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion
>
> http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/twain/index.htm
>
> > There's something a bit out of focus in the concept of a proselytizing
> > atheist, out to save my soul. Aren't tsunamis, famines, and genocides
> > ample demonstration of a beneficent god?
>
> Those arguments are neither original nor new. Let's say a religion is
> the publicly acceptable form of schizophrenia.
>
> VLV


I recall my dissertation advisor saying that while each religion may
seem similar on a big view, a close in look reveals that they are all
different and tend to contradict each other. Thus if each is viewed as
a theory of the universe, then at best only one is correct and at
worse they are all incorrect. Now as the number of religions
increases, the probability that the one you chose is the correct one
tends towards zero.

Jerry Avins wrote:

> Andreas Huennebeck wrote:
>> Then you should read "The God Delusion" by Richad Dawkins:
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion
>>
>> It might help to open an eye or two.
>
> There's something a bit out of focus in the concept of a proselytizing
> atheist, out to save my soul.

I don't think that Dawkins wants you to believe in him or in atheism.
I understand him that he wants to show you not to believe at all, but to
think with reason.

> Aren't tsunamis, famines, and genocides
> ample demonstration of a beneficent god?

This depends on who the shall benefit ;-)

bye
Andreas
--
Andreas Hünnebeck | email: [email protected]
----- privat ---- | www : http://www.huennebeck-online.de
Fax/Anrufbeantworter: 0721/151-284301
GPG-Key: http://www.huennebeck-online.de/public_keys/andreas.asc
PGP-Key: http://www.huennebeck-online.de/publ...gp_andreas.asc

On Jun 25, 2:21 am, Andreas Huennebeck <a...@gmx.de> wrote:
> Jerry Avins wrote:
> > Andreas Huennebeck wrote:
> >> Then you should read "The God Delusion" by Richad Dawkins:
> >>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion
>
> >> It might help to open an eye or two.
>
> > There's something a bit out of focus in the concept of a proselytizing
> > atheist, out to save my soul.
>
> I don't think that Dawkins wants you to believe in him or in atheism.
> I understand him that he wants to show you not to believe at all, but to
> think with reason.

oh, c'mon. Dawkins has an axe to grind:

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most
unpleasant character in all of fiction. Jealous and proud
of it; a petty, unjust unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive,
bloodthirsty ethnic-cleanser; a misogynistic homophobic
racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential,
megalomaniacal….

i was listening to him recently on NPR (show: "To the Best of our
Knowledge"), and he didn't have much different sentiments about the
New Testament, which didn't bother me one way or 'nother, i've heard
it all before. but it just confirms to me that Dawkins has a
personal, philosophical agenda (that he is unmistakably
proselytizing). it's not just the curiousity and objectivity of a
scientist.

Camus and Nietzsche are, i think, in a much more defensible league
than "The New Athiests" (Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, Dennett, Quentin
Smith, etc.). the latter are about as persuasive as O'Reilly or
Hannity or Limbaugh. there's just no introspection. their agenda is
obvious.

r b-j

robert bristow-johnson wrote:
> On Jun 25, 2:21 am, Andreas Huennebeck <a...@gmx.de> wrote:
>> Jerry Avins wrote:
>>> Andreas Huennebeck wrote:
>>>> Then you should read "The God Delusion" by Richad Dawkins:
>>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion
>>>> It might help to open an eye or two.
>>> There's something a bit out of focus in the concept of a proselytizing
>>> atheist, out to save my soul.
>> I don't think that Dawkins wants you to believe in him or in atheism.
>> I understand him that he wants to show you not to believe at all, but to
>> think with reason.
>
> oh, c'mon. Dawkins has an axe to grind:
>
> The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most
> unpleasant character in all of fiction. Jealous and proud
> of it; a petty, unjust unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive,
> bloodthirsty ethnic-cleanser; a misogynistic homophobic
> racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential,
> megalomaniacal….
>
> i was listening to him recently on NPR (show: "To the Best of our
> Knowledge"), and he didn't have much different sentiments about the
> New Testament, which didn't bother me one way or 'nother, i've heard
> it all before. but it just confirms to me that Dawkins has a
> personal, philosophical agenda (that he is unmistakably
> proselytizing). it's not just the curiousity and objectivity of a
> scientist.
>
> Camus and Nietzsche are, i think, in a much more defensible league
> than "The New Athiests" (Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, Dennett, Quentin
> Smith, etc.). the latter are about as persuasive as O'Reilly or
> Hannity or Limbaugh. there's just no introspection. their agenda is
> obvious.

Those who believe that they have proven the existence or non-existence
of any particular god have so deluded themselves as to make their
arguments unworthy of consideration. I put Nietche in that camp. (I
don't need to analyze the details of a particular purported
perpetual-motion machine's embodiment to dismiss its validity.) On the
other hand, Many of us have good reason to believe what we can't (and
don't pretend to) prove. Some, like Dawkins choose to discuss those
reasons. I don't take issue with him, but he doesn't interest me much.

Jerry
--
"Man is the measure of all things, of things that are, that they are,
and of things that are not, that they are not.” ... With regard to the
Gods, I cannot feel sure either that they are or that they are not, nor
what they are like in figure; for there are many things that hinder sure
knowledge, the obscurity of the subject and the shortness of human
life." -- Protagoras
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