Straw dollies

It's the usual "straw dolly" ...set up a false assumption and then knock it down..How clever are you!

There are/is at least one/or more alternatives.
1) The Heimlich is not without consequence...and can cause damage.
Inappropriate intervention..particularly by amateurs can/could/perhaps should leave you open to assault charges
2) Not all "choking" is appropriately treated by the HM..eg. serious internal regurgitation and vomiting. However
3) I would say the BEST treatment is to:
Perform the appropriate action, (if you know how/are qualified/can actually accurately diagnose the condition)
and ALSO pray.
Most good doctors get this!

Some would say..'well prayer can't hurt'
Others, myself included have experience which suggests that when I put my arrogance aside; Prayer does considerably more than just 'not hurt'

As for the esteemed Professor Krauss, one would expect considerably more intellectual integrity than the establishment of such straw dollies ( I do recognise that he may not have been specifically responsible for this meme...but I suspect he did say the words!)

a classic straw dolly

just bash it and it will fall apart!

aka The Easy Target

Atheists can be pretty dumb!

I don't decry anyone's right to be an atheist what I often find extraordinary is their critique of the "religious" as being narrow and bigoted when they often appear to be incredibly prejudiced against the faintest whiff of faith. Hence a letter I penned to the Advertiser yesterday

I never failed to be amazed by the contradictory nature of the comments of the many dogmatic atheists who declare all religious belief to be irrational, without any substantial analysis or argument. Their comments are so often based on sweeping generalisations such as "the religious ....can't distinguish between reality and fantasy" and "the world would be better off without them" (The Advertiser 29th October).

When we start declaring who we would be better off without we are in the realm of something quite sinister.

They would seem to know little of the disciplines of theology and textual criticism. If they did they would realise that religious thinkers are meticulous in their scrutiny of discipline, argument and theory and are not in the least inclined to live in the world of fantasy. They are at the very least trying to recognise that the world is complex and profound, it is spiritual as well as material.

In a world where universal tolerance is a declared value, it seems the atheists' dogma (and I use that term advisedly) is that we should tolerate everything except religion. Doesn't seem particularly rational to me