<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>Christmas <EM>is</EM> quite silly, but most of its effluvia has more taste than, say, porn; which is no longer shocking for its sexuality, but for its general unimaginative tastelessness. As rote, stylized as Christmas. One silliness is traded for another.</DIV>
<DIV>Secular culture isn't much of an improvement over the religious. People want to be young at heart, however they end up being silly in the head instead.</DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR><BR>--- On <B>Wed, 12/9/09, Olga Bourlin <I><olga.bourlin@gmail.com></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><BR>From: Olga Bourlin <olga.bourlin@gmail.com><BR>Subject: Re: [ExI] Tolerance<BR>To: "ExI chat list" <extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org><BR>Date: Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 6:28 PM<BR><BR>
<DIV id=yiv1951037783>
<STYLE>
<!--
#yiv1923104863 #yiv1951037783
filtered #yiv1951037783 {font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
#yiv1923104863 filtered #yiv1951037783 {font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
#yiv1923104863 #yiv1951037783
#yiv1951037783 p.MsoNormal, #yiv1923104863 #yiv1951037783 li.MsoNormal, #yiv1923104863 #yiv1951037783 div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri", "sans-serif";}
#yiv1923104863 #yiv1951037783 span.EmailStyle15
{font-family:"Calibri", "sans-serif";color:windowtext;}
#yiv1923104863 #yiv1951037783 .MsoChpDefault
{}
#yiv1923104863 filtered #yiv1951037783 {margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
#yiv1923104863 #yiv1951037783 div.Section1
{}
-->
</STYLE>
<P class=MsoNormal>Yep, satire. <BR></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><BR>
<P class=MsoNormal>But - and this is no satire - Dawkins is a wuss. ;))
<P class=MsoNormal>
<P class=MsoNormal>He aligns himself with “cultural Christians,” and even goes along with singing those treacly, annoying $$$mas carols.<SPAN> </SPAN>Gads, there’s just no accounting for some people’s taste. <BR>
<P class=MsoNormal>
<P class=MsoNormal><A href="http://richarddawkins.net/articles/2034" rel=nofollow target=_blank>http://richarddawkins.net/articles/2034</A>
<P class=MsoNormal><BR><EM>Pa Ra Pa</EM> Pum Pum!<BR><BR>
<P class=MsoNormal>Olga <BR>
<P class=MsoNormal><BR><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 2:23 PM, BillK <SPAN dir=ltr><<A href="http://us.mc599.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=pharos@gmail.com" rel=nofollow target=_blank>pharos@gmail.com</A>></SPAN> wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class=gmail_quote>On 12/8/09, Lee Corbin wrote:<BR><snip><BR>> But the strategy of alienating religious people yet further<BR>> isn't going to help, except in ways I would not condone.<BR>> They shouldn't be given any reason whatsoever to think<BR>> that life under the atheists has been as bad as (at many<BR>> times) life for us under the religious often was.<BR>><BR>> Alas, this is surely all wishful thinking on my part.<BR>> As soon as we are in the heavy majority, kids will<BR>> hear in school from their PC teachers that, so far<BR>> as religion goes, "there are the brights who don't<BR>> believe, and then, there are the others, less bright,<BR>> who do, and sadly some of you in this very class come<BR>> from disadvantaged
homes..."<BR>><BR>><BR>> > obviously I am not for declaring an intellectual war or anything. But I do<BR>> think that atheists need to not be wishy-washy and somehow give the<BR>> religious the idea we think their ideas about the nature of reality have<BR>> merit.<BR>> ><BR>><BR>> Again, I agree.<BR>><BR><BR>This new article seems relevant.........<BR><BR><<A href="http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2009/12/09/dawkins-offers-delusion-removal-service-for-bereaved-and-dying/" rel=nofollow target=_blank>http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2009/12/09/dawkins-offers-delusion-removal-service-for-bereaved-and-dying/</A>><BR><BR>Dawkins offers delusion removal service for bereaved and dying<BR><BR>‘Face Reality Now’, a new ‘delusion removal’ service set up by Richard<BR>Dawkins, offers the soon to be bereaved an opportunity to confront<BR>their dying friends and relations with their mortality.<BR><BR>‘It’s a scandal
that people continue to die unaware that really is<BR>it,’ explained Dr Dawkins. ‘Now, for a small fee, my service will send<BR>trained atheists to reassure the dying that they can forget about any<BR>after life nonsense.’<BR><BR>The service also offers a comprehensive after death option in which<BR>the funeral cortege is followed by men with loudhailers shouting,<BR>‘Stop comforting yourself with mumbo-jumbo. For God’s sake, he’s dead<BR>– deal with it!’<BR><BR>But the Dawkins service has run into difficulties where some friends<BR>of the dying are believers, but others aren’t. ‘At a recent deathbed<BR>scene,’ admitted Dr Dawkins, ‘my atheists turned up at the same time<BR>as a Catholic priest. Things got a bit out of hand with a fight<BR>breaking out around the dying man. Still, I’m pleased to say ‘Face<BR>Reality Now’ won.’<BR>-------------<BR><FONT color=#888888><BR><BR>BillK<BR>(By the way, this is a satirical
article) :)<BR></FONT>
<DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=h5>_______________________________________________<BR>extropy-chat mailing list<BR><A href="http://us.mc599.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank>extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</A><BR><A href="http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat" rel=nofollow target=_blank>http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat</A><BR></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><BR>-----Inline Attachment Follows-----<BR><BR>
<DIV class=plainMail>_______________________________________________<BR>extropy-chat mailing list<BR><A href="http://us.mc599.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org" rel=nofollow target=_blank>extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</A><BR><A href="http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat" rel=nofollow target=_blank>http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat</A><BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></td></tr></table><br>