Hi all,
I attended the Rise of Atheism conference over the preceding few days. I've been moved by speeches from great atheists like Richard Dawkins, PZ Myers, AC Grayling and Peter Singer. But the conference also surprised me at a couple of moments. Surprise standouts were
> Taslima Nasrin, a woman who has spoken out against Islam and since been persecuted both by Islamists and governments that fear them.
> Dan Barker, once an evangelist, "the kind of guy you would not want to sit next to on a bus.", described by Dawkins as "The most eloquent witness of internal delusion that I know".
> Max Wallace, an economist who outlined that public money is diverted to religion
> Jamie Kilstien, a potty-mouthed comedian (is there any other kind?) and others.

One of the great things about conferences is even if you cannot attend (especially if you cannot attend?) you can get a lot out of it because all the greatest speakers are in town and doing their thing in the media. New or old videos that I find enjoyable at this time, I'll share below:

Richard Dawkins and atheist radio host, Robyn Williams
Jamie Kilstein on gay rights (NSFW)

An Atheist's worst nightmare, which provides context for...
PZ Myers with Mr Deity

feel free to share your own clips or tangentially related musings! :p

Hey, those later videos are hilarious! Cock sucking jokes, they never get old. And the delusion of bananas purposely fitting the human hand, analogies with cock are inevitable.

The question remains, if God really created the universe, why would he have done it in a way that it seems as though he didn't. Atheism is perfectly justifiable and defensible, deserves as much consideration as any religion.

As a canis lupus lover anyhow, I do not share the enthusiasm Richard Dawkins and Robyn Williams have with Neoteny (juvenilization, pedomorphosis). If juvenilization is an inseparable consequence of cognitive desired abilities, so be it, but I am not particularly proud of humans being physically weak, child-like, in comparison to other mammals. The effects of Neoteny are most visible in dogs; dogs aren't as sturdy, resistant, as wolves, many breeds have physical inconveniences or high health risks. The tamed silver fox experiment was an aberration. And Neoteny may very well be behind the need of most adults to resort to religions to give a sense of purpose or calm their fears, just like children resort to fairy tales to make sense of the world.

Oh BTW I love how Dawkins portrays bisexuals as possibly smart flamboyantly gay in order to have sex with the ladies when macho men are not around, evolutionary benefit being obvious. I shall be so queer, then! Viva la butt sex! ROTFL!