h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, don't forget to drop by tomorrow for a bit of and some lurve.

besitos,
SIS

As if I would.

"Fundamentalist atheist" is a nonsense term. Fundamentalism is a dogmatic and strict adherence to a set of beliefs. Atheism is the lack of beliefs. You can't have fundamentalist atheists any more than you can have hot ice.

I suppose if one were to chuck a couple of cubes into ones mug of liquid nitrogen, one might consider it hot ice.

Happy holidays everybody.

<<>>And the legs of grand pianos which the Victorians used to cover up

Urban myth, by the way. The Victorians were a racy lot. It was actually puritan New Englanders circa 1810.>>

I am interested to hear that, Edward! (Actually, I thought as much, given that they used to go in for nude sea bathing - the men anyway..)

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Blame Edward, Balthers, he used the term to describe himself, and I was quoting him...

Well blathers hot is a relative term.

So if you were dealing with ice at temparatures of 100 kelvin then ice at -3C could sensibly be described as hot.

I think fandamentalist atheists could be described as people who say all religion is rubbish and there is no god.

As compared to those who say there is no reliable evidence to suggest the existance of a bigG and many religious hieracies are actively engaged in activities detremental to the human condition.

So the covering of piano legs actually appears to be misattributed *fact* rather than an urban myth, which means something that never really happened.

So would anyone care to venture a definition of pornography?

one love

I think the term 'fundamentalist atheist' is a bit of an oxymoron. There is no 'one way' to be an atheist whereas many religions say they are the 'only way'.

Maybe I'm wrong but it seems that being an atheist is an individual stance, not a collective agreement.

Also, all atheists would simply be people living their lives in a manner they prefer *unless* someone asks them their viewpoint on God or gods. It's only this question that makes them 'atheist'.


az the aztheist

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Collins English Dictionary:

pornography n. writings, pictures, films, etc designed to stimulate sexual excitement



az

"Parents need to be educated about the truth regarding the frequency of teenage sexual activity and made aware that a little by little approach starting with facts about men women and babies is better than stories about birds and bees."

tell me, how do you educate the parents? The only certain way of reaching the largest audience would be....when they are at school.
not teaching the pros and cons of contraception is like teaching people to drive without mentioning how traffic lights operate.

Another article about the banned play in Birmingham - this one has a few different takes on the situation which I think are quite interesting.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/focus/story/0,6903,1379786,00.html



az

Thanks for the link, Az. As I mentioned before, it seems to me that the author of the play should have been able to clearly demonstrate why the depiction of the troubling incidents in a temple where necessary to the point of the play. I don't get the impression that she did demonstrate that or make much of an attempt to demonstrate it. Seems to me that if there is no demonstrable reason to set the play in a temple, then it would be simply polite to move it to a community centre or something and there would be no loss to the artistic point. And, for those who would argue that it would be giving into censoring pressure -- no, it would be an artist interacting with the audience to produce a work which more effectively communicates its message.

As I'm sure you know, Az, I'm quite concerned about both the plight of women in society and the plight of minority cultures. I suspect a peaseful resolution to this situation oculd have been reached if both sides had been willing to discuss the real issues in good faith. As it is, both sides end up looking bad, in my view.

As for the comment that there are no extremists in the Sikh community: perhaps not in Birmingham, but: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4067671.stm

There are extremists in every community of sufficient size -- including the artistic community, I'm sad to say.

Ok, it might be me not reading az's link properly, but I'm sure it didn't mention if any of the interviewees had actually seen the thing, or even read the script.
My initial reaction is to tell the (protesting) sikhs to f**k off and just deal with it. Britain is still more or less a christian country and there would have been no problem if it was set in a church. Anyone who says 'I believe in freedom of speech, but...(not in this case)' without seeing the work in question gives me the creeps.

"Rushdie attacks closure of Sikh play"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1380004,00.html



az

<< many religious hieracies are actively engaged in activities detremental to the human condition.>>

Do you think, Blicky, that some atheists aren't engaged in detrimental activities?

Going back to 'miracles' and such:

"How can religious people explain something like this?"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1380248,00.html



az

now how are all you mad people out there in h2 land hope you all had a good xmas and all the best for 2005 it wont be long to the next full moon for you guys lol

most of them don't try, they just point to individual fluke survivals and claim they were miracles
how would a pantheist explain this?
when faced with an event like this I feel either atheism or (much less likely) the Cathar belief that the Earth is the dominion of the evil half of a dualistic theism is the only viable explanation

the earth is round who are you mad people where do you come from man