The Christian who argued to me that Einstein believed in God backed down immediately after I mentioned what TGD said about him. (Before he criticised me for using the Argument from Authority, of course…)

It made me realize Christians can easily be dishonest if defending their religion. There’s a reason there something called Lying for Jesus, isn’t there?

“Both of which are a terrible shame, because the strip itself is always fantastic”

Exactly. Hence my tendency to bore for Britain on the subject of “huh huh huh the barmaid is hawt huh huh huh huh” – I think that stuff detracts from the strip itself, and could repel people who would otherwise like it. I was on the point of abandoning it myself. The strip deserves much better than to be sabotaged by its own fans.

Obviously the list should include Exodus 23:19:
“Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of his dam.”

I am also a bit sick of the pondering about Barmaid’s level of attractiveness, and do worry that this also could lend the site a rather juvenile (at best) and sexist (at worst) quality, especially to the uninitiated.

Both of which are a terrible shame, because the strip itself is always fantastic, and I used to enjoy the quite high-brow discussions that went on (not that I understood all the big words, but at least it was educational). I also liked the fact that all views were tolerated, and that one could be sure that there wouldn’t be a rant-y backlash to anything that wasn’t pulled straight out of the God Delusion (the Atheist’s Bible, perhaps..? Slightly ironic, really…)

It’s sad that some of the old hands who used to comment all the time appear to have moved on, or decided to keep quiet. Not heard from Poor Richard for a while, sigh…

Just my deux centimes.

For the record – @Ophelia: I’m sorry – shall we bury the hatchet … anywhere but preferably not in my sexist head

@ William – I have no problem with your Danish pings. In fact, I think they are rather cool.

@ BJ – not many by webcomic standards. This year’s average is about 4,000 unique visitors per day, plus about 3,700 RSS feed subscribers. They are high-quality readers, though

Apparently the great man DID believe in an IMpersonal God – “I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings.”

I wonder how that compares with Dawkins’s personal philosophy? “The Selfish Gene” and “The Blind Watchmaker” suggest a hard-nosed materialism which leaves no room even for Spinoza’s God. I only skim-read TGD, finding it to be poorly written and rather snide in tone.

Lets agree that any allegations of sexism on either my part or yours will require a slightly higher standard of evidence than a few posts on J&M can deliver.

So I will choose to believe from here on that you’re as level-headed and witty as the barmaid. Not to mention as hot as she is too

“Yep, definitely a chip on that shoulder.”

About sexist condescension? You bet – a chip the size of a house. But guess what – the barmaid has exactly the same chip.

Here’s a hint for you – if a woman is skeptical of the claims of gods, she is probably not the type to welcome sexist bullshit.

Their whole religion is based on logical fallacies – they can no sooner accept reason than deny their god, since to do one is to do the other.

@Aykavil “People don’t count their own kids as converts.”

Children born to Moslem parents are automatically considered Moslem. Mohammed apparently said, “No babe is born but as a Muslim. It is his parents who make him a Jew or a Christian or a Polytheist.”