A Drunken Madman

Analogy: The argument from scriptural truth

Jason Brown, Bullshitter Emeritus — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:31:58 GMT

This blog post is completely, unimpeachably true. How do I know? Because this blog post tells me that it's true.

The End Is Nigh

Jason Brown, Bullshitter Emeritus — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:49:01 GMT

No, really. It Is.

Honest

Via Frode: The end of the world is right upon us. Any minute now fiery death could rain down from der heavens and fuck us right up.

What? Really? I hear you say.... well, according to Ronald Weinland, YES.

And I quote:

"By the fall of 2008, the United States will have collapsed as a world power, or it will have begun its collapse and no longer exist as an independent nation within six months after that time."

Riiiiiiiight.

OK - Full disclosure:

I'm not American
I'm not pro-american, yet at the same time, I'm not necessarily antiseptic
I'm an expatriate Brit living in Australia

In my own head, the US is a world power only in specific areas. I mean, hell, there are a lot of ways the US can be called third world, for one thing their fucking coffee. However, I think it's a stretch to say, at the start of the northern Autumn, or as the yanks call it, "the fall", that the US is showing signs of a genuine collapse. Sure, the US economy is falling off its training wheels, but I think we're a little short of freakapocalypse. And I'm certainly not convinced that christian nutbaggery, AKA kebab worship, is the best source for ongoing geopolitical and geoeconomic analysis. After all, these guys can't even figure out how old the earth is in the face of megatons of easily digestible evidence. However I digress...

The PDF e-book Ronald is hawking is a seven chapter dip into literary ennui the like of which I haven't seen for several years, in fact, since I left English Literature classes at Tycoch College, however I will, over the next few days, endeavour to read and dissect. That said, though, I'd like also to point the reader toward James Randi's excellent potted summary of prior religious prophecies on the end of the world and invite the reader to draw his/her own conclusion.

By the way, "Hi" to new readers finding their way here from the Lennox/Shermer debate post - welcome!! I will attempt to make the blog regular and relevant, however you may wish to pull up the "beating fuckwits with the ugly stick" category, along with perhaps the "solving the problems of the world" and "sobbing quietly into one's beer" categories, where most atheism/religion related posts end up. Unsurprisingly.

Oh, and please feel free to comment. That is, after all, what free expression is all about. Try to sell me something though and I'm liable to beat you to death with your own leg. Good night.

Shermer vs. Lennox: Does God Exist?

Jason Brown, Bullshitter Emeritus — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:40:58 GMT

Last night I attended the Great Debate at the Wesley Centre in Sydney, where along with an audience of several hundred, I watched Dr. Michael Shermer debate Professor John Lennox on the Subject: "Does God Exist?".

Here is the transcript of that debate:

Moderator: Hello, I'm that bloke from the ABC, you probably recognise my voice. No? Oh. OK then. Anyway, here are the contestants who will enter thunderdome tonight.

Audience: two men enter, one man leave... two men enter, one man leave...

Shermer: Does God Exist? No. Thank you very much I'll see you after the show. No but seriously, try the veal. [introduce self] [introduce science][explain own former christian roots and deconversion] Scientology, Isaac Hayes [cogent arguments for non-existence of god], [conclude opening remarks]

Lennox: blah blah [Sermonise] [argument from design] blah blah [appeal to authority] [appeal to scripture] blah [more argument from authority] [argument from personal revelation] [I'm a scientist, you know] [cosmological tat], [god is great]

[Questions from the audience]

Lennox: [story of personal tragedy and near death experience]

Shermer: yes, that's very moving but still isn't evidence for god, in fact it's a problem [problem of evil explained] [prayer studies]

Lennox: [further appeal to authority], [sermonizing], I've been to Auschwitz you know..

Audience: OOOOH! Godwin's Law is in effect, Lennox loses, let's carry Shermer down the street shoulder-high.

Moderator: I know not of this Godwin of whom you speak. Shut up, you lot.

Shermer: OK, if we're ignoring Godwin: Gott Mit Uns on belt buckles, [slight misspeak]: First World War

Audience: Surely that was the Second World War?

Moderator: I need to wee-wee. Waaah!

Lennox: You go and wee-wee, it's what god wants [sermonize], Dawkins Sucks because he quoted a professor of German! What a Goose!, [Penzias's Nobel Prize] [argument from respected theist scientists, of which I'd like to be one, can I please?] God is Brill!

Nutter in the audience: AMEN!

Audience: Respected scientists such as Anthony Flew? Fuck Off. And besides, Penzias's prize was split with Robert Wilson. What about his view?

Shermer: Yeah, so what? Individual scientists can be wrong about all sorts of stuff and are on a regular basis; [statistics from the NAS showing tiny rates of theism]. Turn your microphone off while you wee-wee. [Douglas Adams, 42]

Moderator: OK, I'm going now...

Lennox: [appeal to majority opinion] surely all those people can't be wrong?

Shermer: Yes, they can.

Lennox: Like, whatever, talk to the hand girlfriend. And Dawkins still sucks. I like E.O. Wilson though, 'cause he doesn't say god's stupid.

Moderator: That was a very nice wee-wee. Can we close now? I want warm milk and a story.

Audience: Shut up. we want more.

Questioner: Question on Young Earth Creationism and some tat about radiation levels in the troposphere

Audience: Uh? [double-take]

Lennox: Oh no, I believe in a 14 billion yeah old universe, [crap on about biblical days not really being days]. [I'm a scientist, honest] [I'm from Aaarmaaaagh, faith and begorrah] [Bishop Ussher's dodgy math] To sum up, I agree with the creationist at the back.

Questioner: Neat question about why god would forbid adam and eve from eating the fruit of knowledge

Lennox: I notice that question was first asked by a snake! Ho Ho Ho! [platitudes about that not being a personal slur], [appeal to scripture] [smug grin]

Christian Audience: Hahahaha! 0wned! Amen!

Rest of audience: WTF? I thought this was part of science week, how did we get to talking snakes? Hello?

Lennox: Bible doesn't really say that anyway. Wrong tree! haha, I'm funny and I'm scientist, you know.

Questioner: Actually it does say that, numbnuts [semantic explanation of the hebrew original]

Audience: Nice fuckin' work, that'll shut him up

Lennox: Oh, err... yeah, I wasn't aware of that. [argument from personal incredulity] Chomsky! Did I mention I'm a scientist?

Shermer: Uh, are you crazy?

Moderator: You know, I could really do with that warm milk and bedtime story. Nursey is waiting for me. Closing arguments please?

Shermer: Fact is god doesnt exist, we don't need him, and anyway we're more awesome than he is anyway [genetic engineering, regeneration of limbs] Salamanders! Hello row 2! God's a nasty fucker anyway. [awe and wonder at the universe]

Lennox: [appeal to vague emotional need for god] [even more appeal to authority] [smug grin] [sermonize], [check time limit], [spend some time sermonizing and praising jeebus] God invented science when he told Adam and Eve to name all the animals. [no, really, I'm a man of science, and if I repeat it often enough it'll be true]

Audience: double-WTF? You're claiming taxonomy was a gift from god now? how the fuck did we get here??

Lennox: Tonight's episode was brought to you by the word: hope and the letter: J

Moderator: Thanks everyone, by the way I hope you like my coat. kthxbye.

That's how it really happened. I was there, I should know.

UPDATE 28/8/08 - The debate recording is now available via CPX as an iTunes podcast, and I'll shortly get around to transcribing and critiquing the actual content. I promise, though, that it won't be that far off the summary above.

Wednesday Musical Madness?? The dead rose, and told me I had to do it today

Jason Brown, Bullshitter Emeritus — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:22:07 GMT

Zombie. Ghost. Train.

First, the official video

Then, something a little more live

Enjoy!

Finally, some Youth Day/NoToPope photos are up

Jason Brown, Bullshitter Emeritus — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:00:38 GMT

After intermittent struggling with SubText, I've finally managed to get the photo upload functionality working on this blog (with the assistance of Live Mesh, more on that later). To this end, I've added some photos from last month's No To Pope Rally. Yes, I know it's been a month, but this site's been playing silly buggers and I had an overseas trip and everything else to deal with - quit yer whinin'.

For those who were living under a rock at the time, or have serious Short Term Memory Issues, Sydney hosted World Youth Day recently, an event more properly titled World Catholic Youth and Some Other Not So Youthful Catholics Week And A Bit. But I guess that was too much of a mouthful even for them.

So, anyway, we demonstrated. I went along as part of the contingent from Sydney Atheists to the No To Pope Coalition's Rally at Taylor Square. Along with the rational contingent, we had Raelians, Gay Activists, University groups and nutters a plenty, all primed to march down South Dowling Street to meet the Catholics at Fitzroy Street.

Getting the march started was a little disorganised, but then - as I noted at the time - we're not really the following kind. A short march down South Downling later, the police blocked the Pilgrimage route so we could pass into Moore Park and "meet the godly ones".

For the most part, it was good natured. Sydney Atheists staked out an early spot where we'd be among the first groups spotted by the pilgrims, and proceeded to welcome the pilgrims to Sydney in our own special way. There were a LOT of vacant blank looks, quite a few pilgrims though were quite hostile. The police, of course, were facing us, the protesters, which proved to be significant later on. On more than one occasion I yelled "Arrest the abusive pilgrim!". The police didn't even turn round.

One particularly weird individual tried to exorcise us with, of all things, Mount Franklin water. I'm sure Coca-Cola Amatil will be very pleased with the endorsement.

Some condoms were thrown, of course, and I was surprised at the number of pilgrims furtively retrieving them and stashing them away for later. Perhaps the message isn't all in vain after all.

Still, time ticked on and things remained for the most part jocular, until one pilgrim decided God wanted him to take some action. He strode from the parade route, straight through the police line, and laid a (fairly ineffective) punch on Stefan Joksic, who was standing a couple of feet away from me. The resulting crush was, at first, mainly protesters restraining the nutter in question, until he was wrested away by police, handcuffed, and thrown into the paddy wagon. We learned later the idiot in question is 19 years old and from Newcastle, NSW. Well done Newcastle, the only arrest of World Youth Day and it was one of yours.

The Pope's Official News Outlet^TM, somewhat predictably played down the incident. I can say without reservation that the article is wrong, wrong wrong. The pilgrim in question was loudly, verbally abusive, then deliberately strode into the protesters' lines and laid a punch on a protester. He didn't simply run in and run back out, and it's a matter of documented fact that the guy was abusive and violent, quite aside from being delusional about the state of reality as it stands. And News Corp wins another plaudit for news outlet most likely to obscure the real facts. Well done Tele.

Still, I got a photo published via Reuters which was picked up by a few outlets, having been lucky enough to be on the scene at the arrest.

Not long afterwards we were marshalled back through the pilgrimage route by police and made our way back to Taylor Square, where some beers were had and a good afternoon enjoyed. An excellent day's activism was had, and I went home quite happy.