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	<title>Comments on: Commenting on Comments</title>
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	<link>http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/</link>
	<description>Challenging the Zeitgeist</description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:40:37 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>By: Challenge Religion - Today&#8217;s Top Blog Posts on Atheism - Powered by SocialRank</title>
		<link>http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8575</link>
		<dc:creator>Challenge Religion - Today&#8217;s Top Blog Posts on Atheism - Powered by SocialRank</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Oct 2007 10:03:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8575</guid>
		<description>[...] TW : Commenting on Comments [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] TW : Commenting on Comments [...]</p>
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		<title>By: TW</title>
		<link>http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8419</link>
		<dc:creator>TW</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 Sep 2007 18:04:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8419</guid>
		<description>I never meant to "gloss over" the last two points CC made and, in a different context, they may well be considered not-drivel. In this context, though, they were irrelevant and to save space I summarised them as drivel, which I still think they are. For example:
&lt;blockquote&gt;2. Although we as humans have made fantastic progress is medicine, we are still only tinkering. Until we can CREATE life from the basic elements I remain unconvinced that we can ever do it.&lt;/blockquote&gt;
On its own, this is perfectly fine. I too am unconvinced that "we" can ever ever create life from the basic elements. However this is not a weak argument for or against atheism. It is irrelevant to the debate - there are many things humans can not do, none of which point towards the existence of a creator.

Statements like this - out of context "truisms" - are largely (IMHO) drivel.

&lt;blockquote&gt;3. The human state of consciousness, how a body gets life in it cannot be reproduced by humans ‘artificially’.
I feel that if I say I am an atheist then I it would be naive&lt;/blockquote&gt;

Again, point 3 carries as massive "so what." It doesn't lead to the conclusion stated and adds nothing to the debate. The fact humans are unable to create artificial conciousness is another irrelevant "truism."

Also, as an aside, I am not a big fan of Dawkins' scale of atheism. People believe something or they dont, at best the scale describes someone's relationship with a particular deity. Every atheist I know accepts that if sufficient evidence is produced then they will accept what ever deity is being proven exists, anything else ventures into the realm of religious belief.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I never meant to &#8220;gloss over&#8221; the last two points CC made and, in a different context, they may well be considered not-drivel. In this context, though, they were irrelevant and to save space I summarised them as drivel, which I still think they are. For example:</p>
<blockquote><p>2. Although we as humans have made fantastic progress is medicine, we are still only tinkering. Until we can CREATE life from the basic elements I remain unconvinced that we can ever do it.</p></blockquote>
<p>On its own, this is perfectly fine. I too am unconvinced that &#8220;we&#8221; can ever ever create life from the basic elements. However this is not a weak argument for or against atheism. It is irrelevant to the debate - there are many things humans can not do, none of which point towards the existence of a creator.</p>
<p>Statements like this - out of context &#8220;truisms&#8221; - are largely (IMHO) drivel.</p>
<blockquote><p>3. The human state of consciousness, how a body gets life in it cannot be reproduced by humans ‘artificially’.<br />
I feel that if I say I am an atheist then I it would be naive</p></blockquote>
<p>Again, point 3 carries as massive &#8220;so what.&#8221; It doesn&#8217;t lead to the conclusion stated and adds nothing to the debate. The fact humans are unable to create artificial conciousness is another irrelevant &#8220;truism.&#8221;</p>
<p>Also, as an aside, I am not a big fan of Dawkins&#8217; scale of atheism. People believe something or they dont, at best the scale describes someone&#8217;s relationship with a particular deity. Every atheist I know accepts that if sufficient evidence is produced then they will accept what ever deity is being proven exists, anything else ventures into the realm of religious belief.</p>
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		<title>By: potentilla</title>
		<link>http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8418</link>
		<dc:creator>potentilla</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:54:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8418</guid>
		<description>The problem for some of the more sane ones is that they haven't read the bit in TGD where Dawkins sets up a scale of 1 (unshakeably convinced believer) to 7 (unshakeably convinced unbeliever) and says he's a 6.  In other words, he's not an atheist at all by the definition some of them (Chie, for instance) are using.  As a scientist, he couldn't be.

The two points you gloss over that are made by the engineer from Cardiff are actually perfectly reasonable, and not dribble at all.  Abiogenesis and "the hard problem" (consciousness) are, as yet, not explained by science, which is a perfectly good reason not to be a "7", although one might still reasonably be a 6 or a 6 point something, as I am.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The problem for some of the more sane ones is that they haven&#8217;t read the bit in TGD where Dawkins sets up a scale of 1 (unshakeably convinced believer) to 7 (unshakeably convinced unbeliever) and says he&#8217;s a 6.  In other words, he&#8217;s not an atheist at all by the definition some of them (Chie, for instance) are using.  As a scientist, he couldn&#8217;t be.</p>
<p>The two points you gloss over that are made by the engineer from Cardiff are actually perfectly reasonable, and not dribble at all.  Abiogenesis and &#8220;the hard problem&#8221; (consciousness) are, as yet, not explained by science, which is a perfectly good reason not to be a &#8220;7&#8243;, although one might still reasonably be a 6 or a 6 point something, as I am.</p>
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		<title>By: TW</title>
		<link>http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8413</link>
		<dc:creator>TW</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:51:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8413</guid>
		<description>Peter / Mana, Thanks for the comments and the trackback.

I will keep an eye out for similar bouts of theistic madness in the future.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Peter / Mana, Thanks for the comments and the trackback.</p>
<p>I will keep an eye out for similar bouts of theistic madness in the future.</p>
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		<title>By: Commenting on excuses &#187; Why Dont You Blog?</title>
		<link>http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8412</link>
		<dc:creator>Commenting on excuses &#187; Why Dont You Blog?</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:37:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8412</guid>
		<description>[...] case commenting on comments isn&#8217;t pleasingly toroidal enough for you, this post is a comment on the BBC&#8217;s comments [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] case commenting on comments isn&#8217;t pleasingly toroidal enough for you, this post is a comment on the BBC&#8217;s comments [...]</p>
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		<title>By: How to Make a Saint</title>
		<link>http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8408</link>
		<dc:creator>How to Make a Saint</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Sep 2007 18:18:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8408</guid>
		<description>[...] Why Don&#8217;t You Blog I came to read a whole string of anti-atheist comments to an excerpt from John Humphrys&#8217; soon [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] Why Don&rsquo;t You Blog I came to read a whole string of anti-atheist comments to an excerpt from John Humphrys&rsquo; soon [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Mana</title>
		<link>http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8405</link>
		<dc:creator>Mana</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:31:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8405</guid>
		<description>This is priceless. It's an anthology of atheism bashing through inane arguments and hell (or a depressing concept of nothingness) promotion. It truly stood out to me that there are a lot of statements in there that simply promote the concept of hell as if without hell there could be no gd, and if there is a gd there has to be a hell. Which is a very nice way for all the peeps who posted to convince us, the non-believers that they're hell worshipers. We believe in nothing, they believe in hell. I'd be dammned but this proposition looks better every day!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is priceless. It&#8217;s an anthology of atheism bashing through inane arguments and hell (or a depressing concept of nothingness) promotion. It truly stood out to me that there are a lot of statements in there that simply promote the concept of hell as if without hell there could be no gd, and if there is a gd there has to be a hell. Which is a very nice way for all the peeps who posted to convince us, the non-believers that they&#8217;re hell worshipers. We believe in nothing, they believe in hell. I&#8217;d be dammned but this proposition looks better every day!</p>
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		<title>By: Peter</title>
		<link>http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8404</link>
		<dc:creator>Peter</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Sep 2007 13:18:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8404</guid>
		<description>The question I find confounds believers is" 'Where is he then? Why did he do all his personal appearances and miracles before the appearance TV cameras?'

Answer usually comes there none.  Bluster aplenty.

Good blog</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The question I find confounds believers is&#8221; &#8216;Where is he then? Why did he do all his personal appearances and miracles before the appearance TV cameras?&#8217;</p>
<p>Answer usually comes there none.  Bluster aplenty.</p>
<p>Good blog</p>
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		<title>By: Atheism &#187; Atheism September 9, 2007 6:25 pm</title>
		<link>http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8401</link>
		<dc:creator>Atheism &#187; Atheism September 9, 2007 6:25 pm</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 09 Sep 2007 22:29:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.whydontyou.org.uk/blog/2007/09/09/commenting-on-comments/#comment-8401</guid>
		<description>[...] Commenting on Comments For the intellectually honest, atheism is also a matter of faith. It is difficult to prove a negative. There is no absolute proof of the non-existence of god(s), though the lack of proof for his/her/their existence is suggestive. &#8230; [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] Commenting on Comments For the intellectually honest, atheism is also a matter of faith. It is difficult to prove a negative. There is no absolute proof of the non-existence of god(s), though the lack of proof for his/her/their existence is suggestive. &#8230; [...]</p>
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