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Stories and comments across the archive that link to americanatheist.org.

Comments · 11

  1. Vatican history by Just+some+bastard · · Score: 0, Flamebait · on Will the Pope Declare Google Evil?

    I'll have to watch the popes speech so I can laugh at the hypocrisy.

  2. Re:Flawed... even down to the analogy. God? by Phroggy · · Score: 1 · on Perpetual Energy Machine Getting Lots of Attention

    You may find this interview with Douglas Adams relevant. He described himself as "a radical atheist".

  3. Re:Ahh... by c0d3h4x0r · · Score: 1 · on Time Travelers' Convention

    Your argument reminds me of this bit from a Douglas Adams interview:

    I don't accept the currently fashionable assertion that any view is automatically as worthy of respect as any equal and opposite view. My view is that the moon is made of rock. If someone says to me "Well, you haven't been there, have you? You haven't seen it for yourself, so my view that it is made of Norwegian Beaver Cheese is equally valid" - then I can't even be bothered to argue. There is such a thing as the burden of proof, and in the case of god, as in the case of the composition of the moon, this has shifted radically.
  4. Re:Censorage by UserGoogol · · Score: 1 · on Ask 'Hitchhiker's Guide' Exec. Producer Robbie Stamp

    Granted but, he was very much an atheist as noted in several places

    (Although according to that article when he did the first radio series he was more along the lines of one of those wishy-washy agnostic types.)

  5. Adams was not agnostic by evenprime · · Score: 1 · on More on H2G2, Including an Early Review

    Perhaps you could call THHG "The Agnostics Bible."

    In his interview with American Atheist magazine, Adams said that he usually told people he was "a radical atheist" to make sure they understood that he was convinced that there are no gods. His "Is there an Artificial God" talk at Digital Biota 2 is a great read.

  6. Re:Richard Dawkins goes in depth in his book by hanssprudel · · Score: 2, Interesting · on The Eye: Evolution versus Creationism

    No "atheist" means "not a believer", rather than, as you claim, "a believer in nothing". An atheist rejects the idea of religious belief entirely, and judges the world according to reason rather than dogma.

    If anybody wants a good discussion of this, they should read this remarkable interview with Douglas Adams (which is also printed in "A Salmon of Doubt").

    For an atheist belief does not enter into the picture. If asked whether there is a god, he will most probably answer, as Adams does, that he is convinced that there isn't. It requires neither belief, faith, nor dogma to be convinced about something you cannot know for sure (you cannot know ANYTHING for sure).

  7. Rabid Atheism by Plugh · · Score: 1 · on What You Can't Say
    Sayeth Rick Hunter:
    The only "acceptable" choice right now seems to be to be an agnostic...
    It's worse than that. The only way to avoid getting people all worked up is to be tepidly agnostic.
    Myself, I am convinced that blind faith and religion are significantly, demonstrably Bad Things. Not appropriate for young children, and worth proselytizing against.

    I think Douglas Adams summed up my sentiments quite well with the term "Radical Atheist".
    From the interview:

    Some people will say, "Don't you mean 'Agnostic'?"
    I have to reply that I really do mean Atheist.

    I rather like what Richard Dawkins and friends are doing to remove this particular taboo. Hopefully soon teenagers all over the world will be unashamed to say:
    "Mom and Dad, I'm a Bright!"

  8. spectacular book by evenprime · · Score: 2, Informative · on Hitchhiker's Guide Movie Greenlighted
    This book is a collection of the stuff off his hard drives from right after his death. The title "Salmon of a Doubt" is from a beginning Adams had written for another novel. (The novel-in-progress was originally supposed to be about Dirk Gentley, but that might have changed if he had lived to finish it.) That partial story is part of this book, but that's a very small portion near the back. The bulk of Salmon of a Doubt is essays , speeches and interviews on a variety of topics. This is a great book for someone who wants to know more about the way adams thought, and how he was thought of by his friends. The non-eulogy at the end by biologist Richard Dawkins is really touching. That, and several other portions of the book, are already available online: The essays cover everything from a hilarious step by step guide to making the perfect cup of tea to a story about what it is like to climb mt. kilamanjaro(sp?) while wearing a rhino suit (He was very passionate about environmental causes, and was one of the people doing this to raise money for rhino conservation.)

    BTW, Adams said that of all the book he had written, his favorite was Last Chance To See. I'd even recommend this book to people who don't care about environmental causes, because Adams talking about biologists is just as funny as him talking about sci-fi. Some of the descriptions in LCTC (e.g. traveling on a boat with chickens who eye you warily because they suspect you will be eating them later) are priceless.
  9. And it's about time, no ? by dargaud · · Score: 1 · on Pledge of Allegiance Ruled Unconstitutional
    When I first set foot in the US, I couldn't believe that on each banknote and coin was written "In god we trust"... In the supposedly most advanced country in the world !?! A lot of other countries chopped priests heads off two hundred years ago to get rid of this nonsense, and now, in full control there's still remnants of the darkest times of mankind. What's wrong with the US that they can't leave this behind ?

    But read what one of the best of all, Douglas Adams, had to say on the subject.

  10. Re:I live in Alberta by EvilAlien · · Score: 3, Interesting · on Baked Alaska
    Ya, me too... and I would like to know where you get the facts to support your claims.

    <humor>Unless you experienced a vastly different winter than I did, I'd say getting warming is a good thing. Sucks for Alaska tho =)</humor>

    As for actual scientific support for the assertion that our society's fossil fuel use is "warming the planet", I'd sure like to see some. If I'm expected to take it all on faith, I won't. I didn't ignore the bits in science class where they talk about climatic change cycles, so I'm not convinced. I don't see these effects you refer to, every day or any day, and unless you have a Ph.D. or three in whatever it takes to be an expert in global climatic change, it is intellectually dishonest to claim that you see alleged effects due to global warming.

    Of course, you could argue that it is in our best interests to find an alternative for a non-renewable resource. I would probably agree with that, because it is a logical idea, and therefore has merit. There are facts to support the assertion that these resources are non-renewable. If you want to push the idea that we should change our habits "just in case the global warming theory is correct", I would say thats akin to agnosticism... "better sorta believe in a god just in case he/she/it is real... wouldn't want to go to hell"... go read Life, the Universe, and Everything: An Interview with Douglas Adams.

    However, I suspect your views are merely formulated to support an anti-free market political stance, in which case you might have more luck in Eastern Canada or in BC. I don't see Alberta embracing socialism any time soon.

  11. Re:about God's existence by GnrcMan · · Score: 1 · on Evolution is a Myth in Kansas

    Regardless of a humorous argument against the existence of god. Douglas Adams is a self described "rabid atheist". Check out this interview in American Atheist magazine.