[QUOTE="Dr_AlanGrant"]he is sort of militant.bean-with-bacon

Ok, not to derail a thread but this is really bugging me, I mean come on, militant? WTF, he makes speeches and writes books for god sake, saying he is militant makes him sound like he's bombing churches or something. Can we drop this whole "militant" title already?

To be honest, I probably shouldn't have used militant but I do find him sometimes aggressive and arrogant in his approach (which, I suppose, is not really a bad thing).  

BTW, sorry the edits... :oops: 

Agnostic Atheist

-Are you a naturalist? naturalism is synonymous with materialism and physicalism which state that physical matter is the only reality. This view denies that anything supernatural exists.

Yes

-Do you believe that evolution by natural selection accounts for the diversity of life on earth?

Yes

-Do you believe that abiogenesis ocurred on earth?

Yes

-How old do you believe the earth is?

Around 4 billion years.

-Do you believe that morality is absolute or relative?

Relative

-Do you believe that the universe is deterministic?

I'd say no but I haven't given it to much thought.

-Do you believe that we have free will?

Yes

-How would you label yourself in regards to the abortion debate? This debate is often too complicated for labels so feel free to elaborate on your standpoint.

I'm pro-choice.

-Democratic or Republican? This one won't apply to many people (including myself) so either put not applicable or give us your political views

I'd consider myself left wing. 

-Do you believe in any conspiracy theories? Biigfoot, aliens at Roswell, 9/11 government conspiracy, faked moon landing etc

No.

-What do you think of Richard Dawkins?

I enjoy his books (I need to pick up more of his other books) and listening to him. I also agree with him on most things. Though, like people have said, he is sort of militant and he is not much of a philosopher.   

-Cake or Pie? (inb4lies)

Cake by far.

[QUOTE="Dr_AlanGrant"]I saw it a couple days ago and I sort of felt physically ill watching them. I can't imagine people are actually like that. I think the worst part was when Louis asked the kids if they knew what they were picketing and what the signs meant and they didn't know at all what they were doing it for...GabuEx

Actually, I would rather prefer that to the alternative of having them fully understand exactly what's going on and still be doing it. :P

Ha, yeah. I guess it is better. It's just sad to see those kids brainwashed. After the kids didn't answer and Louis told the mother that they didn't understand the signs and such, the mother came over and tried to coax an answer out of them and they still couldn't answer. 

Well what first got me into philosophy was a classcal studies class in highschool which studied Socrates (hence the avatar). We read "The Last Days of Socrates" which is a collection of Plato's works that included the Euthyphro, the Aplogy, the Crito and the Phaedo. Pick up that and give it a read.

domatron23

Thanks, I'll look around for it. Yeah, I took an Introduction to Philosophy class about 2 years ago but I can't find the books we used or my notes and I've forgotten a lot from the class. 

I'm trundling through David Hume's Treatise of Human Nature for an essay right now. If you're a philosophy nerd like me its well worth your time.domatron23

What would you recommended for someone just getting into philosophy? I was planning on picking up "Basic Writings of Nietzsche" and "Great Dialogues of Plato" when I get the chance. Would those be a good start?

Punk isn't dead, it never was you just gotta look for it. 'Propagandhi' for example i believe are not only the most important current punk band but the most important band today, i recommend looking them up. Then there's a bunch of other bands like The lawrence arms, Leftover Crack, American Steel, Good Riddance, Strike Anywhere and even newer bands that have only just started like Banner Pilot, Flatliners, The Real Deal. And then Bad Religion have been around for almost 30 years which is just insane. I could list bands all day, anyway here's some Lawrence Arms. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qslj96inMTY&feature=fvst

ZanyIce

Basically this ^

There are still plenty of punk bands. Just to name a few, check out bands on No idea records and Red Scare.

I've just started reading the Da Vinci Code. I've had the book for a while but just recently started reading it.

Anyway, does anyone recommend any good books on atheism or creation vs evolution or anything relating to those subjects? Thanks.