The Atheist Blogger » videos

YouTube Thursday – Faith, Derren Brown, & Bibleman

Adrian Hayter — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:08:33 +0000

The main video event this week was dprjones‘ 24 hour blogtv charity drive in aid of Doctors without Borders. The target amount to raise was $10,000 and this was quickly surpassed during the show and reached a final total of $18,761.92. The combination of this total and the amount brought in by the eBay auctions reached over $32,000. Congratulations to dprjones and all his co-hosts for putting on a great show and for raising so much for a great charity!

The first video I want to share is a new one from QualiaSoup, and fans of his videos will know that he always manages to convey complex ideas across in an easy to understand manner. His latest video on “Putting faith in its place” is no exception.

Some of you are probably still trying to figure out how Derren Brown actually managed to predict the lottery, so here is a video laced with helpful hints and annotations (go to the YouTube site to view the annotations).

Finally, I’m not sure how many people will be able to view this due to “copyright restrictions” but here is a clip from a TV show making fun of an American Christian superhero show called “Bibleman”. It really is quite bizarre, and if you want to see more, I suggest searching for “Bibleman” at YouTube; there are plenty of videos to watch!

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Derren Brown Predicts the National Lottery

Adrian Hayter — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:41:21 +0000

Well my flatmate and I are sitting astounded (still) that Derren Brown (a famous atheist skeptic & mentalist in the UK) managed to predict the National Lottery balls (all 6 of them). Here is the video:

We flicked between the BBC live reading and the Channel 4 program which Derren was on, and it was near enough in sync (given the small delay of it coming from the BBC and going through Channel 4). How did he do it? He’ll reveal all (apparently) on Friday night!

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YouTube Thursday – This Has to Be a Joke…Right?

Adrian Hayter — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:00:13 +0000

I’m back from Egypt, and I haven’t had the time to watch any interesting YouTube videos that I could share with people, however I just watched one that I have to make a comment on. It’s called “Converting an indian to christianity -- don’t let the devil win” by some YouTube newbie, and it is either a display of outright ignorance, or a hoax.

The video is a discussion between two American kids and their friend “Saraa” who is Indian. In it, they discuss Indian culture and the Hindu religion, before attempting to “convert” poor Saraa to Christianity. If you don’t have time to watch the video, here are a selection of face-palm quotes you might want to peruse:

This is just an epic fail in geography.

Molly: [Saraa's] Indian. It’s like…an African country in Asia.

This is plain ignorance, not to mention quite racist.

Molly: Do you consider yourself Asian or African?

Saraa: Asian.

Molly: Because you look African…but you’re Asian.

Rachel: Why are you so dark then?

Saraa: Because I’m from Asia!

Molly: Why aren’t your eyes pointy…or slanted?

*pause*

Molly: It’s ok, I know you can be what you want, but it’s not what you look like.

Rachel: Yeah, I think she’s lying to us.

Yet more ignorance regarding race.

Rachel: It’s like, if an African and an Asian had a baby.

Then they move onto religion.

(After Saraa explains she is Hindu and doesn’t believe in Jesus)

Molly: But why don’t you change if you’re wrong? You know that believing in multiple gods is a sin?

No amateur discussion of religion is right without one mention of Pascal’s wager.

Molly: Ok, how about this. There’s a chance…well, a very good chance that Christianity is the right religion, and that’s the religion that has a hell, so if I’m wrong in your religion I don’t go to hell, but if you’re wrong in my religion then you go to hell.

So why do I think the video might be fake? It’s just an inkling I get when watching it, perhaps because I’ve seen so many Poe’s in videos, but it doesn’t come across as how actual conversation goes. Especially at the end when Molly tells Saraa that she can’t be her friend because she’s not Christian, and Saraa sort of just accepts it and says “I need to go home to eat rice”.

I’ll leave it up to you to decide.

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Thunderf00t vs. Ray Comfort

Adrian Hayter — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:00:30 +0000

Earlier this month, Ray Comfort agreed (well, the second time) to a discussion with Thunderf00t. The rules were simple: the two men, one room, and one camera. Any questions were on the floor for discussion, and each man would get a copy of the video to use as they wished. As it turned out, Ray Comfort had a separate cameraman (for higher quality video I guess) in the room, but overall the debate was as stipulated.

Thunderf00t has uploaded the entire discussion, uncut from start to finish, and if you have a spare 90 or so minutes, I advise you watch it all! Ray Comfort’s points are torn apart in front of him one by one, as Thunderf00t explores the deeper meaning of Ray’s arguments (evidently not done by Ray himself) such as the “how do you know it is creation?” rebuttal to any claim of the kind “creation needs a creator” in reference to the universe itself.

Here is the entire debate as a YouTube playlist, so sit back and watch the Bananaman get defeated by common sense and logic, as played by Thunderf00t.

Enjoy!

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YouTube Thursday – Mr. Deity, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Richard Wiseman

Adrian Hayter — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:00:57 +0000

The internet was screwy yesterday so I didn’t get to make this post, but this morning we got 50MB internet in the house, which is amazing! So anyway, here are the videos I meant to post yesterday but didn’t:

Mr .Deity is a hilarious series of shorts that gradually but effectively tear apart Christianity and the Bible. This one (from series 3) deals with the contradictions in the Bible such as the virgin birth, and the multiple genealogies of Jesus.

Second up is a great explanation from Neil deGrasse Tyson about why the world will not end in 2012…or any other year in the recent future for that matter.

Finally, a video by Richard Wiseman explaining a quick personality test to do right in fron of your computer. Richard Wiseman is a celebrated psychologist who performed a test of psychic power over Twitter about a month back. You can follow him on Twitter as well as read his blog!

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The Abrahamic God

Adrian Hayter — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 22:00:56 +0000

Series 3 of “That Mitchell and Webb Look” is definitely more anti-religious and atheistic than previous seasons. Last week I blogged about two sketches they’d done; one mocking the religious’ ability to spot godly messages in pieces of toast, and the other a blatant criticism of the unscientific nature and sheer mystic nature of Homeopathy. This week, they made a great attack on the god of the Old Testament:

My favourite bit? When Abraham says…

If I thought it was wrong?!? Like I’d know! Like I have any chance of forming an independent basis of right and wrong outside the instructions of some supervisory being! No Lord, I am your bitch!

A very good summation of the position the God of the Old Testament plays in the Bible I thought. I mean here is a God who supposedly gives us our moral values, and yet sets us up in the Garden of Eden so that our God-given curiosity gives him a good excuse to chuck us out. He then proceeds in a way that would be even the most thieving, scheming, adulterous murderer blush, before coming down to Earth in human form to tell us to stop acting so horribly to one another…

I mean, talk about hypocritical; the God of the Bible could be beaten in a morality contest by every single human being on the planet. Even Hitler would have a hard time losing to such acts of genocide; in fact I’d go as far to say that even if you combined all the immoral actions of humans into one universal immorality score, it would be a fraction of the value the Abrahamic god would get.

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YouTube Thursday – Edward Current

Adrian Hayter — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:00:16 +0000

I haven’t been watching many videos over the last few weeks, but when I finally sign back into YouTube, I discover that Thunderf00t has gone on his trip, and a load of atheists I subscribe to are making videos on…well, nothing to do with atheism.

I did notice however that Edward Current had some new videos out, so I thought I’d dedicate this entire blog post to him! Edward Current is not a Christian, but a very clever and amusing comedian, who parodies religious thought on YouTube.

So, just why does the Earth support life? Was it chance, or was it…God? Edward Current tackles this question with his astounding…erm…logic.

What do you do when your “Christian soldier” is standing to attention? Using his experience as a Christian Youth Councillor, Edward Current explains why it is wrong to play with this “throbbing vessel of sin” (unless you are a Catholic priest of course).

Finally, do you think a cat can’t play Amazing Grace? Well, you’d be wrong. Through faith, everything is possible:

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That Mitchell & Webb Look

Adrian Hayter — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:04:48 +0000

A few clips have been going around the internet in the last week, due to the almost radical turn of the new series of “That Mitchell & Webb Look”, a comedy sketch show starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. The first two seasons were filled with hilarious sketches, but the third has some absolute gems surrounding issues of skepticism, such as this sketch mocking religious zealots and their passion for finding messages in pieces of fruit (or anything else for that matter).

In the same episode, they attacked the pseudoscience of homeopathy with a sketch called “Homeopathic A&E”.

On the subject of David Mitchell, I was rather surprised to find an article he wrote a week ago in the Guardian that spoke out against the “Camp Quest” summer camp for children of atheists. I’m not sure if he has ever stated his religious beliefs, but evidently he doesn’t support the “new atheist” ideals. I wouldn’t suspect him to be a Christian (or even a believer given the content of his shows), so perhaps he’s on the same line as Julian Baggini?

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Ray Comfort is Still a Coward…

Adrian Hayter — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:00:34 +0000

…but at least Thunderf00t will get his discussion.

Yes, it’s (kinda) official now. Ray Comfort phoned up Thunderf00t and accepted his proposal for a discussion. This can only be good news, as it means we actually get to see Ray try to make up some arguments without appealing to emotion. It will be one room, with only a camera and the two men.

Of course, what Comfort did originally (attempting to get Thunderf00t to pay the fee for Richard Dawkins) is utterly reprehensible; it was a cowardly attempt to use Thunderf00t (who was the person offering the discussion in the first place) to get a debate with Richard Dawkins.

So maybe Ray is slightly less cowardly now, but to be honest, knowing Ray, I have my doubts. I predict he will still try to pull someone on this one. Whether it involves having an actual audience (so he can use appeals to emotion) or just being dishonest concerning the actual discussion plan. I hope he doesn’t, but over a year of reading Ray Comfort’s blog has left me with a distinct level of distrust surrounding the man; everything he does seems to have an ulterior motive.

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Ray Comfort is a Coward

Adrian Hayter — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:22:58 +0000

A few months back, Ray Comfort asked Richard Dawkins to debate with him. Dawkins agreed, but requested a $100,000 donation to his foundation for reason and science (the standard rate he requests), and that the debate would be recorded. Ray offered $20,000 instead, and Dawkins refused. Ray could have left it at that, saying he was not able to pay anything higher, but instead he released a video with a futile attempt to mock Dawkins over a quotemined section of “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed”. That alone was cowardly, but what happened a few days ago is enough to disgust any upstanding member of society.

As most people know, Thunderf00t is a very popular atheist YouTuber, and also a commentator on science, mainly evolutionary biology. He has been featured on many blogs, including Pharyngula, on certain issues such as the VenomFangX DMCA debacle and his popular “Why do people laugh at creationists?” series. Thunderf00t is, by all accounts, a mainstream and prominent atheist. He might not have books, but he has over 50,000 subscribers and the entire atheist blogosphere behind him.

So Thunderf00t decided to ask Ray Comfort to a discussion, since he was going travelling and would be close to where the Living Waters ministry is based. He dutifully contacted Living Waters, but they told him to contact Ray directly on his blog. This is the comment (now removed from Ray’s blog as requested) that Thunderf00t left:

For the attention of Ray Comfort,
Your staff (T Ramos) suggested I post this here.

I run the popular pro-science youtube channel under the screen name of Thunderf00t.

For context.
Thunderf00t 54 000 subscribers
Thewayofthemaster 9 000 subscribers

This summer I will be touring the US and should passing near to LA (the Mnt Wilson Observatory).

You have previously stated that you wish to have a public discussion with “prominent atheists.”;

My proposal would be simple and honest.
You and me, one room, one camera. Through civil discourse we examine our points of contest and points of agreement. We both then take a copy of the video. I will put it up uncut on my channel.
You are free to do with your copy as you wish.

If you have an interest in such a project, let me know some windows of opportunity and we will see if we can converge on a date.

If you accept or decline the offer, please delete this post. To otherwise will lead to pointless speculation about motives.
I would rather not have made such an invitation in public but it was suggested by your staff

Best wishes,
Thunderf00t

Polite, honest, and with all good intentions. Thunderf00t established himself as a popular science-minded atheist, and proposed a simple format for discussion. He didn’t even want a debate! He just wanted the two of them to sit down and discuss their views as any two men would do in a polite conversation. He requested it be recorded, so that others may watch, and Ray can do whatever he likes with his copy. The key thing to note at this point is that Thunderf00t demanded no money.

Ray Comfort accepted the proposal, but with his sick and twisted sense of morality:

Regarding your request for a debate. I would be more than happy to do this. The only condition would be an honorarium of $US100,000, payable to “Professor Richard Dawkins,” on my behalf.

In other words, Ray wants to use Thunderf00t to get to Richard Dawkins. He gets a decent and well-thought out proposal to a discussion, and Ray turns it around and throws back an insult. This is a despicable act of cowardice, and is deeply unfair to Thunderf00t, who was willing to give Ray the discussion he wanted, for free, and by means of a civil conversation. What kind of morality is that? Punish a person who comes to you with an honest request in order to get back at someone who you failed to meet the requirements of before? It’s beyond Ray’s usual ridiculous nature; this was pure greed, coupled with the kind of scheming you get from stereotypical “evil geniuses” in films.

Ray once agreed with Ben Stein’s criticism of Richard Dawkins, that he was fine with Intelligent Design, just not certain designers, like God. Well now Ray has shown his true colours, we can say a similar thing about him. Ray is not interested in debate or discussion with “prominent atheists”, only discussions with certain prominent atheists…namely Richard Dawkins.

Of course, who better to explain this than Thunderf00t himself:

Do Thunderf00t a favour and favourite his videos, rate them with 5 stars (it counters the votebotes that attack his account regularly), and leave a comment on his channel. He certainly deserves it.