Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 260 Editor's Choice: 22
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For the strawmanologians out there
[Read the article: The atheist delusion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]John Haught: “Nietzsche, Sartre and Camus would have cringed at "the new atheism" …The new atheists don't want to think out the implications of a complete absence of deity.”
Or they might have said, “Hey, why didn’t I think of that”.
Seriously though, I read the books in question by Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, Hitchens and Stenger and they did think out the implications of a complete absence of a deity. But Haught is so invested in his own fuzzy thinking that he can’t refute them intelligently or with any solid evidence. Instead he retreats into the same “They just don’t understand” stance that Karen Armstrong pulls every time Dawkins name comes up.
If Haught and Armstrong really want to play with the big boys then they are going to have to play by big boy rules and actually state evidence for their claims. Let’s face it; the “Your mean and I’m going to take my ball and go home” argument just isn’t working.
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Paul Sherard
[Read the article: The atheist delusion]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]“I put “atheist” in quotes because they tend to be the strongest believers (in denying anything spiritual in this universe). Sad (but true) irony.”
I’m not a “believer in denying there is anything spiritual in the world”. I’m mearly asking for some sort of empirical evidence to substantiate the claims of “believers.
An atheist is pure an simple one who is ‘a’ (without) ‘theist’ (god). I’m not trying to deny or disprove anything because the burden of proof isn't on me.
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ChrisWren
[Read the article: TV Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]They're great! And I got my box set for under five bucks in Shanghai!
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What about Amy?
[Read the article: The Bhutto test]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What's all this blubbering about Bhutto? For goodness sakes people- don't you realize that Amy Winehouse is in trouble in Norway?
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Hayseeds for Huckabee
[Read the article: Mike Huckabee's leap of faith]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"This country is in desperate, dire need of Christian leadership."
"He fears God, said Scott Bailey…Apart from that, nothing else matters to me in a candidate."
These quotes from the article underline the two predominant characteristics of fundamentalist thinking; fear and ignorance!
What these poor rubes seem to have forgotten is that for the past eight years this country has been under the boot of ‘god fearing’ ‘Christian’ leadership and it has been an unmitigated disaster on all fronts. A two trillion dollar war, a collapsing dollar, a foreign policy that practically guarantees a rise in terrorism and the continued dismantling of democracy are just a few of the many highlights of this ‘end time’ mindset’ leading our country.
I thinks it’s probably to much to hope that the rubes in Iowa and New Hampshire that are being hornswoggled by Huckabee’s ‘down home’ affability and easily digestible piety will wake up and realize that in a country that derives a great deal of it’s GDP from innovation, science and technology, there’s a genuine danger in endorsing another corn pone simpleton with a fundamentally medieval worldview.
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They're all suits with haircuts
[Read the article: Mike Huckabee's leap of faith]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have to disagree with the letters stating that we should hope that Huckabee wins because he’s the “one candidate the Dems can surely beat”. He may be the easiest one to beat but they all have their own Achilles heels and far as Republican support goes. The fact is that all the candidates the republicans are fielding this season are nothing more than suits with haircuts. If you combined all the character and substance from Romney, Huckabee, Thompson and Guiliani there wouldn’t be enough between them all to make one good candidate. Thinking Americans can see that—unfortunately that excludes the 40% that believe the earth is 6000 years old.
Of course putting your faith in the intelligence and good judgment of the populace is still a dicey proposition these days. Especially since our current president was able to steal at least one—if not more—elections from the Democrats. I guess what I’m trying to say is that we can beat any of them. We just need to figure out a strategy to counter the election fraud, dirty tricks, lies, vicious propaganda and character assassinations that are the hallmark of all successful Republican campaigns.
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episcomom
[Read the article: Mike Huckabee's leap of faith]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]“This is churchspeak. "Fear" in this context means "respect and honor." It doesn't mean "be scared of" and it's not incompatible with love.”
Yes, it can mean ‘respect and honor’ but it also means exactly what it says- FEAR. Fear is what herds many Christians into doing what is so called ‘right’. Fear of hell fire and damnation, fear of not going to heaven, fear of anything the ecclesiastical authorities can make you afraid off. As I said in an earlier post, fear is one of the chief characteristics of the fundamentalist mindset. I think you do violence to the idea of fearing God when you misrepresent it as being just about respect and honor.
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There is life outside of New Hampshire!
[Read the article: Can money buy Mitt Romney love in Iowa?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I know it's election season so I suppose that we have to put up with a certain amount of this campaign nonsense. However, with that said, how many lead stories about these numbskull Republicans do Salon subscribers really need to see?
There are things going on outside of the borders of Iowa and New Hampshire that are infinitely more interesting and engaging than what Mitt or Huckabee are prattling on about this week.
Can we please get back to some more balanced coverage of what is happening elsewhere?
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File Under Horror
[Read the article: TV Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I put all my DVD's in a little book and classify them by genre.
'Jesus Camp' is under horror.