Bikky

RIP Lenny. Some here will miss you.

Not exactly a sign but ... there was some graffiti scratched into a condom vending machine in a Broome pub that made me laugh a lot. "For refund, please insert baby"

Missing the point I think. I don't know better, but I'm not going to blindly accept that god did it and close the door to any further investigation.

Sorry GG. I think you have it a**e about here. It's difficult to have an inquiring mind when you think you already know the answers. "Nah, it just happened", is just as ignorant as proclaiming, "God did it!" It just closes the door on the topic. Fortunately, atheists are permitted to ask "why?" because they don't have a religion to stop them.

Awful, faithless, evil, sinful babies! They choose to be born atheist. May they burn in hell for all eternity for this blasphemy, this heresy! It's not chosen and it's even less a faith. Belief is chosen. If you don't choose to believe, you are atheist. Go figure! I don't know why this s such a difficult concept to grasp.

Darwin is more contentious than invisible sky friends ... Stop the world please, I want to get off.

The problem with histories is that there are too many of them. We choose which to believe, invariably the one that supports our opinions. If you want to believe in a god, you can find proof in the texts you want to believe in - just ignore the rest. I wouldn't call it a chip on the shoulder. Subjective view is a probably more accurate description. Now, where did I put my unicorn book?

Correct me if I am wrong, but weren't people worshiping nature long before the concept of a single god? Not exactly a new trend. I can't see a problem with regarding nature as a sacred thing. In my opinion, things started to go downhill rapidly when we were given an excuse to dominate rather than respect it.

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Jebus is the name illegiterates (bastards that can't read or write) use.

In Brazil, people recommend burying your mother-in-law this way (after she's dead!), but head first. That way she can't dig herself out ...

Sure it would cost a heap, but ... how much does it currently cost to keep troops in Afghanistan? Imagine having to send more to other potential trouble-spots in the ME. I don't think brute force would do the job. We're not looking at identifiable targets here. Turning the local population against these ratbags by showing the west isn't all bad may be a more desirable goal. Look at it as an investment.

Pro-wrestling is more believable.

You did all that yourself Marty? One man on his own destroyed a state's economy! Wow!

Oh dear! Back to square one again ... My life has meaning and purpose - I try to do the right thing for my own peace of mind and because it 's part of my personal philosophy, NOT for some imaginary reward in the afterlife. I can't imagine that the world would be a worse place if more did the same. Be a good boy and Santa will leave you a present. Yeah, sure! Being good for the sake of being good seems far less selfish to me. Don't have a god, don't want one and I don't need one.

"Rational" and "religious" are two words that shouldn't be used in the same sentence ( ... except this one). If a rational person is considered an impious fool by a religious person, it should be taken as a compliment of the highest order.

I worked with a rather volatile bloke once. His wife came into the office one day and asked me what her husband was doing. His office door was shut and he was on the phone. I told her, "I think he's having phone sex". She looked rather startled and asked me why I thought that. I replied, "Well, he said he was ringing Tel$tra but I'm not so sure because he's using the 'F' word more than he usually does".

1. The cosmos is a gigantic fly-wheel making 10,000 revolutions a minute. 2. Man is a sick fly taking a dizzy ride on it. 3. Religion is the theory that the wheel was designed and set spinning to give him the ride. – H L Mencken

I have to agree with you there - unless it refers to a trip to the bathroom. The shorter the journey, the better!

He he! Aah Bex ... "the or some" and you saw the word threesome? Freud could explain this is if he were alive!

Trains were condemned because people thought we would all die if we traveled over 25 mph. We've come a long way haven't we?

Perhaps it would be good to be specific and determine which non-atheist atheists you are referring to. A non-believer is just that. No more, no less. Give us an example please.

The or some?

I hope the statistics are right and they could well be. Given the almost rabid religiosity here, atheists tend to keep a low public profile. It's actually dangerous to profess non-belief. On reflection, most atheists and doubters are of the younger generation. They're also the ones rebelling against littering - an unbelievably common event here perpetuated in the main by those of my generation, hypocrisy, sexism, racism, corruption, drink-driving and the other ills that plague society. I get the opportunity to meet them because I teach them English. Gives me some hope.

Marty, I wish that were true but what I see on a daily basis doesn't confirm this. Buses here aren't air-conditioned. They don't need to be. Every time a bus passes a catholic church (every two minutes it seems), hang on to your hat because 90% of the passengers start genuflecting wildly creating a cooling breeze. Most trucks here are owned by Jesus as evidenced by the large decals on the windscreens. Every second car proudly displays a "present from god" sticker on the rear window. On last count, 94% of the population are believers and I think that's true. Being an atheist here, I am very much in the minority.