35 replies to this topic

[Hasan]

I have come watched and read a few things by him. And I can come up with two possibilities. either D'Souza is a charlatan who is willingly taking advantage of people, of he's just stupid. Honestly, I think he's just stupid.

[HisChildForever]

no u

[Hasan]

no u

How come you can be such a cruel and biting person and still get pink gummy-bears from your great boyfriend, while I am kind-hearted and uplifting and my boyfriend gets me nothing?


I'm like the pretty girl who never gets asked to the prom

[HisChildForever]

How come you can be such a cruel and biting person and still get pink gummy-bears from your great boyfriend, while I am kind-hearted and uplifting and my boyfriend gets me nothing?


I'm like the pretty girl who never gets asked to the prom

There there, one day he'll surprise you with tickets to Broadway or something

[Hasan]

There there, one day he'll surprise you with tickets to Broadway or something

[Laudate_Dominum]

He doesn't really do it for me as an apologist. Not my fave. He could be worse though. Yeah, that's for damm sure.

[Amppax]

I have come watched and read a few things by him. And I can come up with two possibilities. either D'Souza is a charlatan who is willingly taking advantage of people, of he's just stupid. Honestly, I think he's just stupid.

From the little bit I've seen from him, I'm not impressed. Stupid? Doubt it.

I fully admit the first I heard of him was in a rap song.

Edited by Amppax, 31 May 2012 - 10:36 PM.

[Laudate_Dominum]

For the sake of civility I'm not going to name names, but there are a couple apologists who make my skin crawl. This one guy gave a 60 minute talk and spend about 40 of those minutes committing character assassination on Dawkins and amateur psychoanalyzing him in an absurdly condescending way. Never mind that Dawkins wasn't even there to defend himself and it's unclear why he was brought up at all. It was bizarre and kind of creepy actually. Worst part was that a lot of people seemed to like it. Hee-haw!

[Laudate_Dominum]

But yeah, that's the kind of croutons I really don't like. I've probably watched around a dozen of D'Souza debates and he sometimes does kinda go there, but not as bad as the example above. The "atheists can't have real morality" type arguments also rub me the wrong way. I'm not crazy about apologists with a self-assured, pontificating tone either. I'm impressed by intellectual humility, fairness, and sincerity; and I'm apprehensive when those qualities seem to be lacking. And that applies especially when the person is championing the cause I believe in. Thanks, but no thanks.

[Laudate_Dominum]

This is the most recent D'Souza debate that I've watched.



I thought D'Souza was relatively good (as far as it goes--the bar was set very low), but Hutchinson didn't really meet my expectations. I read Sean Carroll's blog and found it neat to hear him debate. He's a naturalist/atheist but this has never offended me. The sense I have is that he would really listen and consider reasonable arguments for the supernatural, unlike some who I imagine would scoff at the suggestion.

Edited by Laudate_Dominum, 31 May 2012 - 11:27 PM.

[Laudate_Dominum]

I've got that debate playing in the background and around 16:30 Hutchinson starts talking about Dawkins.
Start "debating" an imaginary Richard Dawkins for no apparent reason? I can recall D'Souza doing this on multiple occasions. Realizing this is a pet peeve and I think by now a terrible cliche.

On the other hand, I am curious to read Hutchinson's book. The terms like "culture war" and "scientism" turn me off a bit (plain old honest inquiry please; no need for -isms, epithets, and team psychology), but I'm thinking it makes some important points.

Monopolizing Knowledge

Edited by Laudate_Dominum, 31 May 2012 - 11:49 PM.

[Lil Red]

L_D, have you ever listened/read anything by Msgr. Alabacete? I think you would enjoy doing so.

[Laudate_Dominum]

L_D, have you ever listened/read anything by Msgr. Alabacete? I think you would enjoy doing so.

Yeah, he's razzle dazzle shyte. God at teh Ritz, the movement, and all that. Thanks, Red! :-D

[USAirwaysIHS]

Might be the first time I've ever propped HCF. Also, D'Souza? What language abbreviates before a consonant. Dumb.

[Innocent]

Might be the first time I've ever propped HCF. Also, D'Souza? What language abbreviates before a consonant. Dumb.

That Portuguese surname was introduced into India during the colonial period.

Edited by Innocent, 01 June 2012 - 01:50 AM.

[USAirwaysIHS]

Eu falo um pouco do portugues e esta palavra nao parece que isso. E De Souza o Da Souza o talvez Do Souza mas nunca D'Souza.

[Innocent]

From my bookmarks, here is a hatchet job on one of D'Souza's famous articles .

[Winchester]

[Innocent]

Google Translate: I speak a little Portuguese, and this word does not seem that. And the Da Souza De Souza From the maybe but never Souza D'Souza.

Be that as it may, Wikipedia states that he is of Goan ancestry, and Goa was indeed one of the major areas under Portuguese colonial control. And the Wikipedia page for the surname that I linked to above does list D'Souza as a prevalent abbreviation. This name is common among the community of descendents of mixed marriages from those days. As you will see if you Google the name, there's also a famous actress with this surname, whose Wikipedia page comes up above that of Mr. Dinesh D'Souza. ( On second thought, I'm not sure about this; perhaps Google is giving me country specific results. You may not get the same result. In case you don't get the result I describe, this is whom I'm talking about. [Men, custody of eyes is your responsibility.] )

Edited by Innocent, 01 June 2012 - 03:59 AM.

[Ice_nine]

On the other hand, I am curious to read Hutchinson's book. The terms like "culture war" and "scientism" turn me off a bit (plain old honest inquiry please; no need for -isms, epithets, and team psychology)

why? Isn't scientism a useful term to define the wide swath of atheists and their com-box followers?

and what is team psychology?

u r over my head all de time