My audio-book "The Unreasonable God" :
http://soundcloud.com/zomgitscriss
If you would like to support it with paypal donations : http://tinyurl.com/ZOMGitsCriss-paypal
Another (older) video I made on free will, if this wasn't enough (notice the self irony?) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBXRCqDvxGU...
A response to Variablast's science study tag:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FAnYianvDc
Had to include more than one study! Sorry Variablast — couldn't help myself!
Sherif, M. (1935). A study of some social factors in perception. Archives of Psychology, 27(187), pp.17-22.
Asch, S.E. (1951). Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgment. In H. Guetzkow (ed.) Groups, leadership and men. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Press.
Asch, S.E. (1955). Opinions and social pressure. Scientific American, 193(5), pp.31-35.
Berns, G.S., Chappelow, J., Zink, C.F., Pagnoni, G., Martin-Skurski, M.E., and Richards, J. (2005) 'Neurobiological Correlates of Social Conformity and Independence During Mental Rotation' Biological Psychiatry, 58(3), pp.245-253.
Weaver, K., Garcia, S.M., Schwarz, N., & Miller, D.T. (2007) Inferring the popularity of an opinion from its familiarity: A repetitive voice can sound like a chorus. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(5), 821-833....
Since it's formation in 2009, the EDL have been highlighting the problem of islamofascism within the UK and the mainstream media are now catching up with them. Channel 4 TV Dispatches goes undercover to investigate muslim teachers who regularly assault young children in the 2,000 Muslim schools in Britain run by Islamic organisations. The programme also show that, behind closed doors, Muslim secondary schools teach a message of hatred and intolerance....
On June 9, 2011, the Center for Inquiry-New York City and NYC Skeptics hosted noted skeptic and bestselling author Michael Shermer for a talk about his new book, "The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies—How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths." The event was held at the Auditorium on Broadway. This is the full video, including both the talk and question-and-answer session.
Correction: Michael Shermer is not executive director of NYC Skeptics, but of the Skeptics Society. Our apologies.
For more:
www.centerforinquiry.net/nyc
www.nycskeptics.org...
Neil deGrasse Tyson on "Stupid Design". A little bit longer excerpt from Session 2 of the Beyond Belief conference, that includes remarks about the economic impact of "Intelligent Design".
Please contact me if you are willing to translate the subtitles into different languages.
Source: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=275693092937060684 (32:00 min - 37:42 min)...
Science & Reason on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/ScienceReason
Criticism On Religious Scientists - Sam Harris @ The Science Network.
The Science Network: "Facts, Values and a Place for the Profound". A conversation with Sam Harris (Oct. 3, 2008).
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1) Delusion And Happiness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lK_TETvL1Q
2) Will Religion Ever Disappear?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PKAULFkZrU
3) Islamic Humiliation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuuKItF_xJo
4) Christian Apologetics And Critical Intelligence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M4i0mwBuoM
5) Criticism On Religious Scientists:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH005Zi7nvg
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Sam Harris is the author of The New York Times bestsellers, "The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason" which won the 2005 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction, and "Letter to a Christian Nation". His writing has appeared in Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, The Times (London), The Boston Globe, The Annals of Neurology, and elsewhere. He is currently researching the neural basis of religious belief while completing a doctorate in neuroscience. He is also a Co-Founder and Chairman of The Reason Project.
• http://thesciencenetwork.org/
• http://www.samharris.org/
• http://www.reasonproject.org/
....
Bestselling author Sam Harris describes an experiment many have run on themselves to get at a truer version of happiness.
(Note: I do not own the copyright to the images or audio. Will remove if asked.)...
Palestra realizada nas dependências do Centro Espírita Luz e Amor, no dia 15/01/09, em Franca, SP. Nesta oportunidade o Prof. Moacir explanou sobre o seu mais recente livro "A Nova Ciência e a Fé - O Elo Primordial"....
As a child I was taught that the bible was the perfect word of God. This became my starting position for evaluating all other information. I compared everything against my holy book. If anything contradicted my "Perfect Book", then I rejected the information or found loop holes to explain away the inconsistencies. I realize now this evaluation technique is quite flawed. It stopped me from seeing things with an open mind. I wonder how ridiculous a book could be before people would realize that the book is not perfect and not a good source of judgment.
If the Bible stated "All men are held to the earth by God's hand" Then the theory of gravity would be disputed just a strongly as the theory of evolution is today. Christians would be trying to get the "Intelligent Hand Theory" taught in the classroom alongside the theory of gravity?
If the Koran said "All sicknesses are demons, exorcism is the only true cure." Would Muslims go to the doctor? We might have two sets of medical schools and two sets of doctors. One based on faith and exorcisms, one based on science and technology. Even in the face of statistical evidence showing that a larger percentage of the patients in the faith based hospital were dying, would they keep their faith in their book?
If the book of Mormons said "The moon is made of wood." How would Mormons cope with all the moon rocks brought back from the Apollo missions? They would have to claim the rocks were put there by Satan to fool humans or some other rationalization. How many of them would continue in their beliefs with this overwhelming evidence?
These seem like silly statements and that no book with these statements could be taken seriously. But these three books have statements that are just as ludicrous.
The bible states that the human body was formed because a magic being breathed on some dirt and that millions of species of animals all fit on a boat for over 100 days. It has stories about talking donkeys and men being swallowed by whales. Yet most Christians do not question these stories.
The Koran states that if you get dirty by touching a woman, and can't find any clean water around at prayer time, you can clean up by rubbing your face and hands in some dirt. Muslims have come up with ways to rationalize this and many other ridiculous statements in their book.
The book of Mormon's has a story about flying serpents of fire. Why are these stories not obvious fiction to the believers? Just how unbelievable can a story be before a person stops and says "Wait, that doesn't make any sense?" It seems that just about any story could pass as acceptable no matter how outrageous when it is called a religious book. These faith driven beliefs seem to override any form of questioning or rational thinking.
People believe these stories for different reasons. Some are taught to believe with childhood indoctrination. When we are young we are pre-programmed to believe what our parents tell us. Another method is when a person feels helpless or depressed. Religions can bring comfort to some, but belief in the ridiculous stories comes as a side effect in joining these groups. I believe we can have support groups that are just as comforting without superstitious beliefs.
If you believe in a holy book, try to put your book in perspective with any other story you hear. Most of the stories in these books are just as fictional as jack and the beanstalk. Instead of reading your book from the mindset that the book must be perfect, try reading it with a questioning mind. Try asking questions like, does this make sense, could this really happen, and keep in mind the identity of the authors. Don't simply think the book must be from God. It came from a man that is just as flawed as you and I and lived long ago in a time when knowledge was just a fraction of what it is today. You may be surprised at what you find. Your mind just might open to the reality of "It is just a book."
A special thank you to my friend Dr. Scott for this video's inspiration
Action are more important that beliefs....
"The Relation of Science and Religion" is a transcript of a talk given by Dr. Feynman at the Caltech YMCA Lunch Forum on May 2, 1956.
http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/49/2/Religion.htm
I present it here in its entirety. Warts and all. I particularly enjoyed his insight into why scientists tend to leave their religious views behind....
Channel 4 News 04 January 2011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12116764
Assassination of Pakistan's Salman Taseer condemned
There has been strong international condemnation of the assassination of one of Pakistan's best-known liberal politicians in the capital Islamabad.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regretted the death of Salman Taseer, governor of Punjab province, saying he had promoted tolerance.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called his death "a loss for Pakistan".
Mr Taseer was shot dead by one of his bodyguards angered over the governor's opposition to blasphemy laws.
The governor - a senior member of the governing Pakistan People's Party (PPP) - had recently angered Islamists by appealing for a Christian woman, sentenced to death for blasphemy, to be pardoned.
"I had the opportunity to meet Governor Taseer in Pakistan and I admired his work to promote tolerance and the education of Pakistan's future generations," said Mrs Clinton in a statement.
"His death is a great loss. The United States remains committed to helping the government and people of Pakistan as they persevere in their campaign to bring peace and stability to their country."
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was "shocked" by the killing.
Pakistan's high commissioner to London, Wajid Shamshul Hassan, told the BBC's Newshour programme that the assassination exposed the divisions in his country.
"It has shown that you can be held hostage by a minority of religious people and they can do whatever they want. That is not the way we are going to allow in the country," he said.
"We will be tough on them. Unless we get rid of such people in our society, unless we purge them from the various security agencies, you can't feel that justice will be done."
Witnesses said Mr Taseer, 66, was riddled with bullets from an automatic rifle as he returned to his car at the Kohsar Market, a shopping centre in Islamabad.
Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik said the guard - named as Malik Mumtaz Hussein Qadri - had confessed to the killing.
Mr Malik told a news conference: "The police guard who killed him says he did this because Mr Taseer recently defended the proposed amendments to the blasphemy law. This is what he told the police after surrendering himself.
"But we are investigating to find out whether it was his individual act or whether someone else was also behind it," he added.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani declared three days of national mourning and appealed for calm. He also ordered an immediate inquiry into Mr Taseer's killing.
Mr Taseer's body has been taken to Punjab's capital, Lahore, where a state funeral will be held.
Mr Taseer - a close associate of President Asif Ali Zardari - made headlines by appealing for the pardon of Christian woman Asia Bibi who had been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Pakistan instability
Friends of the governor say he knew he was risking his life by speaking out.
"Salman's murder has given [us] an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to his ideals," Mr Hassan told the BBC.
"He talked to [Asia Bibi] because he wanted to send a message of assurance to the minorities that we will not allow injustice to happen against them."
Mr Taseer's death is the most high-profile assassination in Pakistan since former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed in December 2007.
The BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says Mr Taseer was one of Pakistan's most important political figures and his death will add further instability to the country.
PPP supporters wept and shouted as the governor's coffin was driven away from a hospital in Islamabad.
Dozens took to the streets in Lahore, burning tyres and blocking traffic. There were also protests in the central city of Multan....
Stewart Lee, Robin Ince, Josie Long, Ben Goldacre, Richard Herring, Mitch Benn and more discuss making social resolutions for New Year, backstage at Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People 2010. For tips on how to make effective resolutions, more ideas and a planner which helps you stay on track - see http://resolution-revolution.org.uk and resolve to do something for someone else this New Year....
BBC2 04 December 2010 Using remarkable archive footage and eyewitness testimony, this major three-part series explores the realities behind the idea of the 'American Dream' from the 1940s to the 1970s. 3/3. The final episode looks at the role faith has played in American notions of a new world.
