tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826101215822428783.post8567819113674879955..comments2024-02-24T19:42:39.876+05:30Comments on Bill the Butcher: The New Atheists, Racism and BigotryBill the Butcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08436195659154078021noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826101215822428783.post-17986916110113747292015-05-11T23:44:38.774+05:302015-05-11T23:44:38.774+05:30Chomsky may have done us all a big favour this wee...Chomsky may have done us all a big favour this week by giving Harris the time of day and allowing Harris to make a fool of himself.<br /><br />I'm sure Harris fan boys will forgot all about this drubbing in a month or two and Harris will go back to making silly half developed self-referential 'thought experiments' in the cause of fear, hate, and violence, but in the mean time we can enjoy the small respite from raging 'rational' bigotry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826101215822428783.post-58548136625321105512014-07-10T09:46:04.839+05:302014-07-10T09:46:04.839+05:30I have never cared for Harris. Hitchens DID a grea...I have never cared for Harris. Hitchens DID a great job exposing the fraud Mother Teressa, so I'll give him that, but he was a drunk and became a clown in his last years, and embarrassment to many of his old friends even.I never felt he should have had the stature he was given by many, but, to each his/her own I suppose. Dawkins is good on some things, BUT, to be highly critical of Islam/Muslims and never even bothering to read the Koran? He is supposed to be a "scholar". Not even bothering to read the Muslim holy book at all strikes me, granted just an old former US Marine, Vietnam war combat vet, disabled/retired machinist/mechanic/welder with only three AA degrees from community colleges as very, very un-scholarly. Of course who am I to be critical of a "respected scholar"? Just a lone human being.<br />I have been an atheist in fact since I was 14. Dad didn't care and he was my first hero and even though he died the Saturday after "saint" Ronnie of Raygun was elected as our acting president in November 1980, Dad will always be my hero.<br />The supposed/so-called "new atheists" are, for the most part disgusting to me. They are bigoted and, YES, very racist and I detest racism in ALL its forms. Same with bigotry and stupid. Stupid and ignorance are NOT the same thing. While I cannot find a good definition for stupid, in this instance, being ignorant and being proud of that IS stupid in my view.<br />Ignorance can be over come and we are ALL of us, ignorant on many topics, but, by reading, talking to others who know the subject and research, we can toss off that ignorance. Once ignorance has been lost, it can NEVER, ever be imposed on the person ever again. Stupid, well, as the saying goes, you cannot fix stupid.<br />Harris and his vile comments on Islam/Muslims IS very racist. <br />I HAVE become somewhat more of a militant atheist lately, but that is due to some of the vile, disgusting things some xtians have been trying to force onto the rest of us here in the US of A. The religious Reich wingers and that type of total nutball asshats just really piss me off and yes, at times I DO go out of my way to speak out against their vile crap that they spew even when I am doing such a mundane chore as shopping for groceries at the local market. I will not allow anybody, regardless what brand of doG they are pushing to intimidate me, nor will I tolerate their middle of the store aisle preaching to other shoppers. I can get quite loud vocally when pressed.<br />The sad thing is so many supposed atheists seem to put the likes of Hitchens, Harris, and Dawkins among others on some high pedestal as if THEY are the fount of ALL knowledge. What a load of absolute bullshit!<br />What do I, an atheist need with some self appointed "leader"? Why would any atheist or even an agnostic need a "leader"? We, as atheists, have made up our own minds about doG and we have rejected ALL doGs, so why do we need any "atheist leader" to preach to us? The idea of an atheist leader is to me at least, a totally absurd thing. <br />Just remember Bill, atheists are human beings, they come in various flavors and bring their own political crap/baggage and bigotry, yet they demand their rights. Well, I try and be tolerant of ALL people, but we all have our own personal limits as to what/how much of anything we will tolerate. I have very little tolerance for these "new atheist" types. I do agree with you, we need to speak out against them as in the US of A, a recent poll showed that atheists cannot get elected to any office in this country and also, atheists are despised by a large majority in the US of A.<br />These "new atheists" are NOT doing anything to lessen that at all, they just give fuel to that fire of hatred against all atheists.<br />Sorry for being so long winded, but damn, this got me would up, as if you couldn't tell.charlie ehlenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05584863034307604847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826101215822428783.post-84089900059827413832014-07-09T03:49:12.931+05:302014-07-09T03:49:12.931+05:30Read, or I should say began to read, works by Dawk...Read, or I should say began to read, works by Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I found both profoundly disappointing, for different reasons. Dawkins is not the philosophical atheist Katy mentions, he quickly showed himself to be a bigot and shallow thinker whose problem is not with religion as much as it is with religious people and particularly Muslims. Ali is just boring, mostly, although I plowed though to see what her life was like. The only thing I will credit her with is with stating the FGM is not an Islamic practice but a tribal practice of various areas.<br /><br />Yah, these people are dangerous. benni https://www.blogger.com/profile/09942386013237815777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826101215822428783.post-17766192708670190402014-07-08T21:05:00.499+05:302014-07-08T21:05:00.499+05:30I've been disturbed by the New Atheists for a ...I've been disturbed by the New Atheists for a while (even beyond their right wing political tendencies - mostly because they seem to resort to the same sorts of arguments and advocacy that I have always opposed in believers of the revealed religions ("revealed religions" as opposed to the so-called "natural religions," whose gods don't tell them to murder non-believers quite so often). <br /><br />Daniel Dennett, who is a philosopher on the edges of the New Atheist movement, is great when he's talking science, or discussing development of faith. he follows scientific method and he's as close to objective as I'd hope. But then he goes into atheist advocacy writing and loses it for me. <br /><br />Logically, there ought to be two and only two types of atheists: 1) Passive atheists or secularists, who don't believe because their not convinced but simply go on with other aspects of their lives; and 2) Philosophical atheists, who can take apart arguments for God in the same way scientists discarded the notion of light-bearing aether. <br /><br />Hitchens and company go step further, doing advocacy atheism. As you point out, it really does appear to be a proactive belief system that bears a lot in common with a religion. <br /><br />I've never considered its connection to colonialism before this, though...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16323871207793126503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826101215822428783.post-58613031115821920782014-07-08T20:46:18.096+05:302014-07-08T20:46:18.096+05:30Excellent point, Notty. I've changed it to Big...Excellent point, Notty. I've changed it to Bigotists. I just hadn't thought of that word before.Bill the Butcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08436195659154078021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7826101215822428783.post-65779481738950568172014-07-08T20:06:22.139+05:302014-07-08T20:06:22.139+05:30wow; excellent editorial; I personally have not he...wow; excellent editorial; I personally have not heard of this group emerging,<br />You know there have always been hate groups,who always claim they are for the greater good, I remember the what use to be the K.K.K. and they were in the name of religion. yet I never understood the cross burning. I think you are absolute in your statement ; abut the man being proud of his ignorance; I believe most people are ;no matter what they claim to believe, they have no interest in learning; and the same is sure about the so called christians; I do agree things are changing; regardless of what it is called. and they will do it all in the name of something; and the people will not care, nor act,Tresa’s Placehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09100497890846212557noreply@blogger.com