I'll start. This is strictly for original quotes you have made yourself.

" Religion is like insisting on using a kaleidoscope in place of a telescope. I am not against human rights for being pro reason and pro questioning. I am merely anti absurdity." Me

"Any religion that cant or wont allow girls or women to make their own life choices deserves nothing but scorn and contempt." Me

Excerpt:

The new law considers a terrorist anyone who:

Calls for atheist thought in any form, or calling into question the fundamentals of the Islamic religion on which this country is based;

Anyone who disregards their loyalty to the country's rulers;

Anyone who aids [terrorist] organisations, groups, currents [of thought], associations, or parties, or demonstrates affiliation with them, or sympathy with them, or promotes them, or holds meetings under their umbrella, either inside or outside the kingdom;

Those who seek to shake the social fabric or national cohesion, or anyone who harms the unity or stability of the kingdom by any means;

Attends conferences, seminars, or meetings inside or outside [the kingdom] targeting the security of society, or sowing discord in society;

Incites or make countries, committees, or international organisations antagonistic to the kingdom.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/saudi-arabia-new-law-sees-atheism-terrorism-1442819

When the war starts in earnest, Saudi Arabia will make a good target for a few nukes.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

 I've been looking for words to replace the terms "spiritual" and "materialist" as to me, they seem to be becoming obsolete. Science has been moving into the "spiritual" realms, or what was once thought to be spiritual or "supernatural/paranormal" realms for years. Not so much to debunk anything as I think that term is misleading as it usually applies to fraud, but more to grasp an objective outlook.

"Spiritual" has too many new agey, woo woo overtones for me and "materialist" is too confining and grossly inaccurate.Moreover, there a million and six shades of grey in between the two polar opposites.

 I used to spend some time on  forums like this and while many would say that such is a waste of time, I have to disagree because it taught me what the root of the disagreement was and it sort of sent me back to school to learn some things I didn't know before so that I could offer an intelligent rebuttal. One of the things I didn't know much about was classical philosophy. Many of the educated fundamentalists and more liberal Christians alike are very educated in philosophy and I had to go back and read up on philosophers like Kant, Descartes and Nietzsche and for me, such was an enlightenment as it didn't change any of my beliefs, but rather taught me of motivations I could never "get". I could now see where they were coming from. Kant is a biggie,he's their go to guy. Its easy to see why this 18th century German philosopher is appealing to the religious and spiritual. Kant espoused a very staunch, objective morality, a true 100% good and 100% evil and this is where the crux of many of the theistic camp's sympathies lie. If you ask them why they believe such, you're either likely to get an in depth dissertation on Kantian philosophy or you will get a reply that suggests this opinion came to them by way of something other than their 5 senses, though they all differ or are very vague on the source.

 I wrote an app that guides the user through the application of Bayes' theorem to the God hypothesis. I think it might be useful for off-line discussions between theists and atheists, as it goes through many of the major arguments.

The app allows the user to define their God (e.g., "loving and unlimited power" or "evil and waning power" ), then presents a series of factual observations. For each observation, the user is asked to rate the consistency of the facts with the existence and non-existence of God. After going through all the observations, the user is given the odds of the existence of such a God. From what I can tell, when atheists run the app, they get results like a-million-to-one against, while theists get odds like 10:1 in favor. 

Feedback is welcome. I've had great feedback from both atheists and theists, but I've also been berated and insulted by both atheists and theists. Apparently, some atheists are offended by the idea that the probability has to be calculated, and think I'm a theist trying to convert them. Some theists claim that the app is biased against theism, but I think that's just the facts speaking. 

In any case, if anyone is interested, the app is at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=borland.doesgodexist

Full disclosure: the app is ad-supported. My still-distant financial goal is to make enough to buy a bag of cat treats (about $3). If the app is reasonably popular, I'm contemplating other skeptic-oriented apps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rhdl0rdht8

I like Bill but I don't think it should take place at the creationist nauseum. I understand their "donations" are off. Also, I think Bill feels a need to be in the limelight.

I will still have to watch it when it is available and hate myself for doing it. It will be like watching him on "Dancing With The Stars".

http://www.christianpost.com/news/atheist-leader-auctions-off-chance-for-highest-bidder-to-invite-her-to-church-112005/

Ebay auction

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Take-an-Atheist-Leader-to-Church-/281239072497?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item417b27aef1

Auction ends Jan 11 5:41 am PST

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/01/03/seventh-day-adventist-pastor-plans-flirt-atheism-12-months/

As a former SDA pastor I hope it sticks like it did for me.

 Before you shout at me about winter solstice and saturnalia I am not an ignorant person, I do not deny they were origins of most of our Christmas traditions like most Christians do. HOWEVER, these adoptions happened long before any of us can remember and they are so ingrained in our culture and have BECOME Christmas. Is a Christian inviting paganism into their home by doing these things? No, not at all. It is a matter of the heart. A Christian celebrates Jesus, the creator of the universe, humbling Himself by taking on flesh. Adopting traditions such as decorating trees and giving gifts does not make Him any less real.