Hemant Mehta… I believe you owe everyone an explanation.

I delete comments that look like spam or proselytizing. That’s it. If people want to disagree and discuss like adults, I’m all for it.

So why hasn’t this been deleted?

Because you replied to it!

What this is about is free speech/hypocrisy and the bus ads and that’s it.

The rest of your comments…ummm well basically go against the ACLU and their goals.

As a Guest this is not the place to string together examples for us to debate… but…. if…. if you…. if you really , and I mean REALLY want to get a different perspective…. google “Silencing the Christians” and watch the videos. Many Networks will not even allow those episodes to be show… but hey that’s FREE SPEECH in America and Canada Today!

I am all for a balanced perspective even if it does not agree with my beliefs… I just can stand hypocrites (especially those found IN the church)!

Agnostics usually resort to “civic” name calling when they are offended. I understand, but for now on it will be Mr. Troll to you! OK! I will go to your site and log in… I have no problems discussing with you. However, lets be clear… That Free Speech does not exist so long that we are all guests.

What about Visitors to your country? Do they have any rights because they are guests. How about a visitor in your home? If you are fighting for freedom of speech and you delete those who express a different point of view then you are a hypocrite… perhaps a friendly hypocrite.

Hemant can delete my comments if he wants to… it is afterall his dime. But lets just admit that there is a certain amount of irony to this.

And I do not support the fairy tale of evolution being taught in schools let alone the Dawkins Delusion.

My intentions is support OC Transpo in their original decision to not run the Bus Ads.

Perhaps because it’s on-topic?

I honestly think you’ll get zero traction with the news media with your story “an atheist website deleted my post!”

The fact that you think you will makes me think you’ve got a persecution complex. If the news media doesn’t bite on your story, will you also claim they are part of this movement to silence you?

Those were the two thoughts (Bible in Classrooms and Creation) that were deleted… what’s wrong with that?

Were they ON TOPIC to the thread posted? Were they long rants or cut and pasted from elsewhere?

If this Bus Campaign is really about protecting Free Speech why not also defend the right to have Bibles in Schools…

Who doesn’t have the right to bring their bible to public school? I don’t know about Canada, but here in America anyone can bring their bible to school. We even have classes where people read the Bible and study it. Totally legal.

What we DON’T have is GOVERNMENT LED Christian class. And that’s because our Constitution forbids it.

or the right to teach Creation?

You have the right to teach creation. It’s the GOVERNMENT who doesn’t have that right.

Creationists just can’t get that through their noggins, can they?

The government is not funding this Web site.

Hemant can delete whatever comment he wants. This is essentially his private property and we are all his guests. At first I thought you were just confused but now I think you’re confused and a troll.

Maybe I’m wrong about that last point but you don’t understand what atheism is, you don’t understand separation of state and freedom of speech and how they work, you’re threatening to contact the media about a deleted comment on a personal blog.. you quote song lyrics as legal writ..

Then there’s this gem…

“…why not also defend the right to have Bibles in Schools… or the right to teach Creation?”

Because neither of those are rights? Do you support the “right” to force grade 3 children to memorize passages from The God Delusion in school?

Point is, I think someone seriously wishing to discuss these issues would a) know them, and b) be civil about it. If you just want a free-for-all religious discussion, maybe this isn’t the place for you.

Now again, I’m agnostic about your true intentions here so I could very well be wrong. In fact, I’d like to give you the opportunity to prove me wrong. I just posted a new entry on my blog (click my name) for you. If you want you can post your deleted comments there and we’ll see if we can’t figure out the problem.

Do you know for a fact that the God you believe in exists?

YES

On your other point… belief has to have some sort of foundation in the form of knowledge. An absence of knowledge means you can not know and therefore can not have a belief.

Atheism and agnosticism are answers to two very different questions.

Do you believe in a god, deity or divinity? If the answer is yes, you’re a theist; if it is no, an atheist. Theism/atheism is a question of belief.

Do you have special knowledge on the existence of gods? In other words, do you know for a fact that god does or doesn’t exist? If the answer is yes, you’re a gnostic (not to be confused with a Gnostic) but if the answer is no, you’re an agnostic. Agnosticism/gnosticism is a question of having knowledge. This word is usually used about religious or spiritual matters but it doesn’t have to be. I think you’re probably male given your stated name, but I don’t have that knowledge so I’m agnostic about your gender.

Agnosticism is not some fuzzy middle ground between theism and atheism. You either believe or you don’t and you either have that special knowledge or you don’t.

Personally, though an atheist, I’m agnostic about pretty much everything. There is something quite humbling about saying, “I don’t have this knowledge.” I also have an insatiable curiosity. Combine those two traits and I’m always seeking new knowledge, information and wisdom.

So now let me ask you this…

Do you know for a fact that the god you believe in exists?

Please carefully consider the philosophical implications of your answer.

If you do “know it as fact” then you must be able to prove it as facts can be demonstrated. The only alternative is that you must be all knowing to know something that is not provable.

If instead you don’t “know it as fact” that does not at all question your belief or strength of devotion. Consider a married couple… who is more devoted, the person who believes their spouse is being faithful, or the person who knows they are?

Kristy… Please understand that there is nothing that you can say to shake a true believers faith. This ad it an attack on the Creator and the giver of Life. Although, God does not need anyone defending him… I will nonetheless defend Him.

How would you feel if you saw an ad saying “Kristy Schut is probably a prostitute now go find someone else”?

If this upsets you… good it should. It is slander and it is wrong and is not free speech.

If this does not upset you… what is wrong with you? Perhaps an attack on your Mother would be more justified… after all she is just a primitive advanced form of an ape or animal that according to natural selection should have eater her young (evolution in a nutshell).

I However, believe that you and and your mother were created in the image of our God and he lovingly knit you together in your mother womb.

Many supporters of the campaign are writing to the City of Ottawa demanding that Free Speech is being violated… yet by the same token Mr. Mehta is ok deleting other peoples perspectives. How often does he do this.. Who knows? The point is that all it takes is one time to discredit his integrity. I have 6.

This issue has been in the media in Ottawa, and I will use the deletions to make a point.

If this Bus Campaign is really about protecting Free Speech why not also defend the right to have Bibles in Schools… or the right to teach Creation?

The Reason is that Free Speech is not on Trial…

Those were the two thoughts (Bible in Classrooms and Creation) that were deleted… what’s wrong with that?

Free Speech is only Free Speech for those controlling the conversation.

GOD KEEP OUR LAND GLORIOUS AND FREE!… words from The Canadian National Anthem.