Why? Is he no longer a "skeptic" (as you define it)?
Mojo
Mostly harmless
You know, I think we may actually have learned something about T'ai's definition of "skeptic" here.
elaine
Killer Squirrel Killer
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- Jul 15, 2005
- Messages
- 4,145
Hmmm...I think I'm going to start a thread on this topic...what a skeptic is.
Just a quote-mining expedition really. 
It just serves to show that the word 'skeptic' really only means 'has doubt in at least one area'.
Some nagging things:
-How has Jesse Venture "changed the world"?
-Woody Allen, he marries his adopted daughter. Eww.
-Charles Darwin, believed in God.
-Einstein, deist
-Thomas Edison, reportedly experimented to communicate with the afterlife
-Stephen Hawking, evidence to say deist
-Carl Sagan, 'if there is no evidence, then forget about it'. Let's take that viewpoint, apply it to any endeavor. OK, so no new research should ever be done since there is no evidence for it before experiments are done.
-Galileo, believed in God
-Freud, a lot of his work is regularly denounced as psuedoscience, especially in the organized skeptical movement literature
-Arthur Clarke, apparently has some interest in cold fusion (http://www.randi.org/jr/102204the.html)
-On Oscar Wilde's deathbed, he was reportedly received into the Catholic church
-Ayn Rand, teacings often denounced in organized skeptical movement as being cult-like
-Thomas Paine, deist
-Thomas Jefferson, deist
-James Madison, deist
-John Adams, Congregationalist
-Lincoln, deist
-Benjamin Franklin, deist
-Ulysses S. Grant, many sources say Methodist. Did believe in an afterlife
-Teddy Roosevelt, Dutch Reformed
It just serves to show that the word 'skeptic' really only means 'has doubt in at least one area'.
Some nagging things:
-How has Jesse Venture "changed the world"?
-Woody Allen, he marries his adopted daughter. Eww.
-Charles Darwin, believed in God.
-Einstein, deist
-Thomas Edison, reportedly experimented to communicate with the afterlife
-Stephen Hawking, evidence to say deist
-Carl Sagan, 'if there is no evidence, then forget about it'. Let's take that viewpoint, apply it to any endeavor. OK, so no new research should ever be done since there is no evidence for it before experiments are done.
-Galileo, believed in God
-Freud, a lot of his work is regularly denounced as psuedoscience, especially in the organized skeptical movement literature
-Arthur Clarke, apparently has some interest in cold fusion (http://www.randi.org/jr/102204the.html)
-On Oscar Wilde's deathbed, he was reportedly received into the Catholic church
-Ayn Rand, teacings often denounced in organized skeptical movement as being cult-like
-Thomas Paine, deist
-Thomas Jefferson, deist
-James Madison, deist
-John Adams, Congregationalist
-Lincoln, deist
-Benjamin Franklin, deist
-Ulysses S. Grant, many sources say Methodist. Did believe in an afterlife
-Teddy Roosevelt, Dutch Reformed
The Atheist
The Grammar Tyrant
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- Jul 3, 2006
- Messages
- 36,364
Cheers, grayman - very well put-together piece.
Bit of a cheek having Freddie's song but no Freddie in the list!
Bit of a cheek having Freddie's song but no Freddie in the list!
It just serves to show that the word 'skeptic' really only means 'has doubt in at least one area'.
Wrong. The Skeptical Manifesto.
Wrong. Woody Allen never adopted Soon-Yi Previn. Her adoptive parents were Mia Farrow and Andre Previn.
What does that have to do his arguments? I thought you were opposed to ad homs?
Where do you have that from?
"Reportedly".
Evidence?
That is absolutely not what Sagan says. Sagan was definitely in favor of exploring everything. What he did was insist on evidence.
What does that have to do his arguments? I thought you were opposed to ad homs?
Yes, indeed. That only shows how willing skeptics are to evaluate old evidence in the face of new.
I thought you had just argued that one is a skeptic if one only doubts in one thing? You want to argue both sides now?
"Reportedly".
Wrong. It isn't her teachings, but the way she and some of her followers behaved.
What does that have to do their arguments? I thought you were opposed to ad homs?
You have no idea what you are talking about, you misrepresent other people's stance and you argue both sides. Way to go, T'ai.
The Atheist
The Grammar Tyrant
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Ok. "The Skeptical Manifesto" tells us what it means and they're right. The Roman Catholic Church tells us god is real. Does that mean they're right, too?
Jesus, unter, you're either a hardcore Woody Allen fan, a Jew, an idiot or any combination of those to try and defend that. LEGALLY, sure. MORALLY, if you think it's ok for a man to have a young woman living in his house - more or less as a foster/adoptive daughter - then end up ####ing her, then you do indeed have an argument.
(psst:[stage whisper] I think T'ai was pointing out that the tape, while labelled "skeptics", appears to have more than a little atheistic slant to it - or maybe you didn't read the quotes, which spoke about their beliefs, not their achievements, and Darwin was a deist. Ok, say no more, eh.)
Hey, you got one right, well played.
Many theists are vicitms of an urban legend which has not only Einstein, but also Russell, recanting atheism. Ugly, defensive, ridiculous myths that they are, these are the ones you should be jumping on - the mere fact of their persistence in the face of irrefutable evidence shows how uncomfortable christians are with two of the very greatest minds of the 20th century being avowed atheists. People who still spout that puke are either unable to read and understand what Einstein actually said, or are typically brainwashed fools.
... those, or similar comments would just about cover everyone in your post.
Unter, as usual, you've had an opportunity to attack someone and taken it. The bad news is that, also as usual, you've totally messed it up. Give the game away, mate - if you can't whip T'ai on his own words, you should become a lurker.