polydaidaloi.com

I was not impressed to read that at the 2010 Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne the follow exchange happened:

Rationalist Society president Ian Robinson, asking whether there were any believers in the audience. “OK, I’ll speak really slowly.”

That quote is from The Age’s Barney Zwartz’s reasonably ok piece on the conference.

Ridicule is a very useful weapon in the atheist’s rhetorical armoury. But to be unleashed is such a petty, spiteful way does not serve anyone. As for ridicule being used against Pope Benny and Senator Dimwit, I have no issues with that at all.

An astounding comment that I saw on Twitter and in the MSM a number of times was along the lines of “why do atheists need a conference?” I suspect that some were making the mistake of assuming that atheism is a form of solipsism.
More »

According to sociologist Gary Bouma atheists are fuelling sectarian conflict. According to Bouma’s logic, if atheists just would shut up, religions would hold hands, sing ‘Kumbaya” and there would be no more sad histories like 911, the Irish troubles, the mess in Iraq etc.

What Bouma is actually trying to do is deny atheists the right of a voice. What atheists (well most of us anyway) want is a right to be heard and for the privilege religion has in society to be critically examined and questioned. This is confronting to some as they prefer atheists to be quiet and confine their discussions behind closed doors.

Too bad and too late. Religious freedom and freedom of speech are not just for the devout.

Elsewhere: Russell Blackford takes down Bouma.

Phil has taken Jonathan Green, the editor of The Drum, to task for commissioning a series of pieces by climate change skeptics.

As expected, the first piece off the rank by Alan Moran is a load of climate skeptic bullshit.

It is the intellectual equivalent to “balancing” a piece on the horrors of Auschwitz with a piece by a holocaust denier.

This obsession with balance gives “the other side” (climate change skeptics, creationists etc) a false legitimacy and creates an erroneous impression that their arguments deserve equal consideration. It may sell papers and create web traffic but is simply being intellectually lazy.