Homophobia, not injustice, is what really fires the faiths.

Outside parliament tonight the intolerance that comes with religion's moral certainty will be on display for all to see

The religious are rallying by torchlight outside parliament this evening. In the Lords they are trying to strike out regulations in the new equality act that outlaw discrimination and harassment of gays, making it illegal to discriminate in providing any goods and services to anyone, from healthcare to hotel rooms. This is a mighty test of strength between the religious and the secular. Any peers against discrimination, get on down the Lords: the vote is at 7.30pm. Will the Tories prove to be gay-friendly?

Christians, Muslims and Jews are all fighting against the sexual orientation regulations with a wrecking clause that would render them meaningless: "Nothing in these regulations shall force an individual to act against their conscience or strongly held religious beliefs." Anyone could use their "conscience" to discriminate against gays.

More: http://richarddawkins.net/article,508,Homophobia-not-injustice-is-what-really-fires-the-faiths,Polly-Toynbee-The-Guardian

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In his view, you absolutely must be either a creationist, or an atheist. This confirms for people the same dichotomy that the RW churches present - either you're with us or the godless liberals. So people who might otherwise think of Pat Robertson and such as the loonies that they are, believe the lie, and overwhelmingly choose creationism and the general ideology of the religious right along with it. If you love Bush's presidency you ought to thank Richard Dawkins and his ilk, because they, whether they know it or not, are a huge help to his largest voting bloc.

denigrate his works based on opinions of other braindead idiots who also haven't read him. You're appearing to support some sort of 'middle ground' between creationism and atheism which in my opinion is even less supportable than either. It's like wanting broiled, well-done ice cream.

My point was that people shouldn't have to choose either. It is possible to accept science without being forced to become a member of the least trusted religious group in America, which is exactly what Dawkins tells people they can't do.

If you believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, supernatural and eternal (imaginary) deity, you can't in good conscience at the same time deny a belief in creationism. That's probably the ultimate oxymoron.
Maybe I'm completely misreading what you're getting at...I am only an egg.

You seem to be making unwarranted assumptions about me... but anyway, why would a deity have to micromanage the universe to that extent? Besides, there are tons of apparent contradictions you can get when you posit an all-powerful being ("Can God create a rock so big even he can't move it?") and those haven't diminished the popularity of religions that do so, so one more wouldn't make a difference.

you actually -were- saying. :D

There are some believers who DO think their deity micromanages the universe "no sparrow falls...", that sort of malarkey. To which of course the obvious follow-up is "Does She also mourn every bacterium or virus that transitions from living to detritus?"

And I still think Dawkins is right.

http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com

I do not subscribe to or support BushCo on any platform. It seems to me that you would rather sit back and take what religious loonies give, which really isnt anything at all.

I do not see how Dawkins or his "ilk" had anything to do with Shrubs presidency in the least. As of recently, the voice of secularism has began to be heard on a large scale and its about time too. Its finally time for religion dogmatist, shamen and sheeples to realise that the world does not belong to them alone and that their ideology has caused far more harm then good.

Voicing opposition to religion is a much needed remedy, if you see it as secular fundementalism (which it is not)then you need to re-evaluate the situation. Religion has caused enough grief and dispare.

Religion is rapidly regressing to the point of not offering humanity anything of worth. Only a small minority of religions have a real conscience that isn't contrived anymore it seems. I wasn't like this before these last six years, but militant religion is becoming dangerous.

If all religion disappeared from the US today, tomorrow the talking points would be about how those God-loving liberals are trying to undermine our atheist heritage. The GOP doesn't care about religion. They just get the left associated with the unpopular position, and unfortunately all too many take the bait.

And the only people they hate as much as atheists and gays are CHRISTIANS who are not FUNDAMENTALISTS.

So your BS idea is not the answer.

Fascinating reading!

...I also suggest THE SHELFISH GENE. I started reading it the other day and it is very, very interesting.

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In general, they are quiet. Not militant, not proselytizing, not fire and brimstone, etc. And most of them seem to (in my experience) want to live and let live. There are many other denominations which are the same way.