Welcome legionaries! Before we get to things I have a couple of public service announcements to make. January’s Skeptics in the Pub at Joyce’s on 4th in Calgary will be on the second and not the usual first Tuesday of the month, that being January 8. Coming up later this week is a date very important to the atheist community. December 15 marks first anniversary of the day we lost Christopher Hitchens, an unparalleled voice of reason against religion. Remember to hoist a glass of scotch in his honor and remember how much our lives were enriched because of his time on this planet. So don’t mourn the loss. Celebrate the life. Also, Imagine No Religion 3 (http://imaginenoreligion NULL.ca/) is coming up May 17-19. The speaker list is even better than last year’s, which I thought was going to be very tough to beat. Amongst those coming to Kamloops BC this time are philosopher Daniel Dennett (this year’s keynote speaker), Victor Stenger (author of such books as “God: The Failed Hypothesis” and “God and the Folly of Faith: The Incompatibility of Science and Religion”), historian Richard Carrier (author of “Proving History: Bayes’s Theorem and the Quest for the Historical Jesus” and “Not the Impossible Faith”), outspoken atheist advocate Aron Ra (when’s he writing a book?), Brian Dalton (aka Mr. Deity), and for us X-Files fans, William B. Davis. The lineup is simply fantastic! You can register at imaginenoreligion.ca.
On to this week’s episode. I said last time that it’s important to hear the stories of those who have walked the road leading away from religion in the shoes they wore. This is one I’ve been wanting to do for some time and took the plunge on Saturday. Helen, Haysn and I sat down over scotch and talked with Rainer Rohr, a former Pentecostal minister who has only recently found his way out and has entered the atheist/skeptic community with great enthusiasm and you can meet him at pretty much any get-together. We even get a crash course in speaking in tongues! His story is particuarly moving and it’s important we hear about it. And so without further delay…
Book Suggestions
G. Elijah Dann, Leaving Fundamentalism: Personal Stories (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/Leaving-Fundamentalism-Personal-Stories-Writing/dp/1554580269/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292428820&sr=1-1)
Tom Harpur, The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=tom+harpur)
Tom Harpur, Born Again (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/Born-Again-Journey-Fundamentalism-Freedom/dp/0887627382/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355077927&sr=1-4&keywords=tom+harpur) (My Journey from Fundamentalism to Freedom)
Mark I. Pinsky, The Gospel According to Disney: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust (http://www NULL.amazon NULL.com/Gospel-According-Disney-Faith-Trust/dp/B008SLHTIY/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355079019&sr=1-1&keywords=pixie+dust+walt+disney)
Podcast: Play in new window (http://media NULL.blubrry NULL.com/legionofreason/p/www NULL.legionofreason NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/LoR-044 NULL.mp3) | Download (http://media NULL.blubrry NULL.com/legionofreason/p/www NULL.legionofreason NULL.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/LoR-044 NULL.mp3)
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“Casting a critical eye on a less-than-critical world… ”
I’m going to cast one on you because you surely appreciate criticism. This is the ugliest website I have visited. You loose all credibility based on it. You are an awful interviewer and journalist. If you did this blog yourself you suck at doing websites too. Congratulations.
I am an anti-theist vegetarian if you must know.
It is impossible to take anyone seriously who can’t tell the difference between “loose” and “lose”. Seriously, that’s so grade school, as is your mentality. I take your criticism as a compliment, since it means our content is above your ability to comprehend. You suck as a commenter since what you gave is not criticism. Rather, it was just a bunch of whiny bitching with no suggestions as to how we can improve things.
And why on earth would I care if you are an anti-theist vegetarian? But since you have shared this irrelevant information, I look forward to eating a Big Mac in your honor when next I visit McDonalds. And I will praise your name over a Baconator at Wendy’s. Oh, and my next Whopper at Burger King I will also dedicate to you.
Now, THAT’S how you trash talk. Consider yourself schooled. Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time.
No that was exactly how I wanted you to react fool. You did great.
Enjoy the big mac.. entertaining you would think your are hurting anyone accept yourself lol
crit·i·cism [krit-uh-siz-uh m] Show IPA
noun
1.
the act of passing judgment as to the merits of anything.
You are thinking constructive criticism.
However unsurprisingly your narcissistic personality expects I owe you something and should fly out and give you a free consultation or tell you to stop stuttering over your questions or something.
I can’t comprehend your content because I think your design and journalistic qualities suck? What an arrogant assumption.
I never – NEVER – claimed to be a journalist. I don’t know where you got that idea from. And yes, I do occasionally stutter because I am constantly trying to find the right word, and it’s something I am working on.
Who says I expect that you owe me anything? You’re the one that put in a useless, vapid comment. You don’t like the podcast? Don’t listen to it. I don’t give a rat’s ass. Really, I don’t. But all you did was bitch. That makes your comment was purely self-serving, so who’s really the narcissist here?
So since you are incapable of actually contributing things and would rather be a total “looser”- ***BANNED***
Mmmmm….. BACON!
I quite like the format of this website. Easy to find crazy comments like this
I wonder what really set him off?
The mind of an asshat is as unfathomable as that of a young earth creationist… Thanks for creating some balance!
“This is the ugliest website I have visited. You loose all credibility based on it.”
That’s one Peter that ought to be panned….
Heh. Well, change the “p” in “panned” to a “b”, and that’s what he got. It was an exquisite example of how to write a childishly vapid comment. I was willing to accommodating him for a while, but not when multiple comments were coming in without first waiting for a reply. He needs help.
“Enjoy the big mac.. entertaining you would think your are hurting anyone accept yourself lol”
Did no one else notice his OTHER big error? ACCEPT yourself? Not EXCEPT yourself? (I’m not even going to mention the “your are…”)
Dumbass.
A