Archive for July, 2012

This post is part of an ongoing discussion between Russell Glasser and Pastor Stephen Feinstein. Here are all the previous posts in the series. Stephen 1 Russell 1 Stephen 2 Russell 2 Stephen 3 As before, I’ll be disabling comments in this post, as it is supposed to be a conversation only between the two of us. Stephen, I hope you’ll excuse the amount of time it took to complete this post; your last post was about twice as long as the one before it.  Also, you appear to be getting frustrated by the conversation, and I think I’ve identified a significant source of miscommunication between us. It seems to me that your continued efforts to prove God are based on a serious double standard, and in this post I intend to point out where this lies. Before I get to that though, I’d like to invoke a rule that we discussed before we started.  Since I don’t intend to continue this conversation indefinitely, I propose that we wrap it up after a total of five rounds.  That means after this, you and I will each write two more posts, with the last ones being dedicated to closing statements.  Is that acceptable to you?  I could see reducing it to one more, or extending it to three, but I really don’t want to go much longer than that, so it’s your call from there. With that bit of bookkeeping out of the way, I’ll begin. Read more

As some of you might recall, Dennis Markuze, the Montreal troll who spent literally years and years sending increasingly unhinged and violent rants and death threats to atheists online (usually under the nym David Mabus), was finally arrested. Pleading guilty, his behavior was put down to drug and alcohol abuse and he received a suspended 18-month sentence, part of the terms of which were that he was to “abstain participating in a social network, blog and discussion forum.” This was just under two months ago. Last night, this comment popped up on the AXP Facebook page. The link leads to a forum post containing one of Markuze’s trademark rants, posted there in 2010. “THE BOOBQUAKE – 911″ was a subject line used by Markuze frequently in the last barrage of emails he sent prior to his arrest. Ditto the YouTube link, which goes to the usual JREF/atheist/skeptic bashing lunacy he’d post there as well. The Facebook account “Ftbullies Ftbullies” was created just before midnight last night. So while this isn’t slam dunk proof Markuze himself posted the comment, common sense makes me ask, who else would have any reason to link to Markuze’s ravings, and why? So I’m making this public, and as I don’t know who exactly to contact with the Montreal authorities so they can look into it more (I would imagine that as part of his suspended sentence, they’d have the right to seize his computer and do a little forensic work on it any time they chose), maybe someone reading this who does know that information can pass it along. Busted. Markuze just tried posting two comments to this thread. One came from IP address 174.142.32.173, which resolves to Montreal. The second, 74.198.165.48, is also Canadian. I’ve grabbed screenshots of both in the moderation queue, and am forwarding them on. That’s it for old Dennis.

You know, sometimes I almost feel cruel. But yes, kids, this… …is a real book, by one Ernest Angley, an Ohio evangelist. Its story, apparently, “reveals the overwhelming fear, torment, death and unimaginable destruction that will take place on Earth after the Rapture. This gripping story is based on 100% Bible truth, and the end times have never before been written about in such shocking reality…” “Shocking reality” is not, I must honestly confess, the phrase that’s evoked by that cover. We have aggro, laser-eyed WWF Jesus — wearing Elvis pants, and either a crown or a golden skullcap that’s straining to contain his exploding brain — astride a Riverdancing horse who’s got to be voiced by Eddie Murphy. Also, I think Jesus is meant to be holding the horse’s reins, but the artist either forgot to include those or his PC crashed after adding his 103rd Photoshop layer. So it looks more like Jesus is about to left-hook Horsey for a particularly lame wisecrack. “Dayum, Boss! Dat hurt!” In short, THIS IS THE FECKING AWESOMEST SHIT EVER, and if I didn’t think my own brain would go on strike and possibly divorce me for cruel and unusual punishment, I’d read it yesterday!

Q: “The Non-Prophets”?  What is that? A: The Non-Prophets is a live internet show that is broadcast regularly in addition to the Atheist Experience TV shows.  It is not a call-in show, so we tend to focus on news and philosophical discussions instead of debunking Pascal’s Wager over and over again.  The current hosts are Matt Dillahunty, Denis Loubet, and Russell Glasser Q: There have been no updates to the podcast since May.  Or am I crazy? A: You are not crazy, there have been no updates to the podcast since May. Q: Did you guys quit? A: Nope, we’ve done four new episodes since June. Q: But I thought you said the podcast wasn’t updated? A: Correct.  We’ve started doing the shows as live Google Hangouts, which means they are now available as YouTube videos.  You can see them all on Matt’s YouTube channel, sansdeity.  Individual episode links: 11.6 11.7 11.8 11.9 Q: But I really like listening to it as a podcast.  Are you planning to put the audio versions on the podcast feed? A: Yeah.  Eventually.  When we get around to it.  Thanks for your concern. Q: Can I still listen and participate live when it’s on? A: Currently the show is scheduled to be on every Tuesday at 7:30 PM CST.  However, since this is The Non-Prophets we’re talking about, it’s subject to not happening at all for totally random reasons.  Go to the sansdeity YouTube link listed above at the appropriate time, and hit refresh a few times when the time is approaching.  If it’s on, there will be a live video at the top of the feed which you can watch.  You can still participate in the IRC that takes place at irc://irc.wikkedwire.com:6667/nonprophets. Q: Any other ways I can be alerted about whether a show will happen? A: If you’re Facebook friends with Matt or Russell, we’ll usually announce it on our feed.  You can also keep an eye on the Atheist Experience page for announcements,...
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I participated in another Freethought Blogs hangout tonight with Kylie Sturgess, Dan Fincke, Ophelia Benson, and PZ Myers. Kylie hosted the conversation.  Thanks, Kylie!