Richard Dawkins

admin · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:33 am Post subject: Richard Dawkins

Question and answer session by Richard Dawkins. He is an outspoken atheist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR_z85O0P2M&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fricharddawkins%2Enet%2Fhome

I have heard a fair amount of talk about Richard Dawkins in church circles lately. So I am opening up this atheism forum for related discussions.
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Ana · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:08 am Post subject:

Cool!
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P1234567890 · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:33 pm Post subject:

If I wasn't already dedicated to worshiping Charles Darwin, I think that I would name Richard Dawkins as my God. Wink

One thing I really like about him is that he's so eloquent. I watched his documentary a while ago. In it he goes and talks to Rev. Haggard. The contrast between them is just wonderful. It's transparently obvious which one is smarter and also which one is more honest.

Another famous atheist to keep an eye on is Victor Stenger. Check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_J._Stenger

I just love how all of the famous atheists are accomplished and educated academics, whereas it seems like all of the famous creationists out there are criminals and hypocrites! Wink

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RevJP · Moderator Joined: 18 Apr 2003 Posts: 7005 Location: USA

apocatastasis · King of the Jungle Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1827

P1, I don't think it fair to say that the most famous creationists are criminals. Hypocrites? Maybe, maybe not. Intellectually dishonest? You bet!
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P1234567890 · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:18 pm Post subject:

Two names: Kent Hovind and Ted Haggard.

Or more succinctly, Dawkins has never been sent to jail for committing a felony, and (to my knowledge) Stenger has never been involved in a hypocritical scandal involving illegal drugs and a homosexual prostitute...

Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying that all creationists are criminals and hypocrites. I'm just saying that it seems that way. At the very least, I'd say that creationists have a serious PR problem...

It's like with Muslims... Are they all evil? No, of course not! But it just so happens that the three most famous Muslims on the planet during the past 5 years (I nominate Osama, Amadinejad, and Saddam) were / are all very evil men. So it SEEMS like Muslims are evil because their leaders are.

The same goes for creationists; rightly or wrongly, all creationists get tarred by the same brush by Hovind and Hagard's antics... Much like the Muslim world, you guys should do a better job choosing your leaders!
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"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."
-Blaise Pascal
"...with or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil -that takes religion..."
-Steven Weinberg
"I would bless my children with your destruction instead."
-Someone who shall remain anonymous.

admin · Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:59 pm Post subject:

I would recommend keeping the conversation focused on the facts and debates each person in question generates. Their personal lives are largely immaterial in my opinion.

I found a portion of the Haggard - Dawkins conversation here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YjqUmuMhTsM

Here is a fuller version:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OnbcHa3TSVo

I like Dawkins. But he comes across pretty arrogant in this particular video, I agree with Haggard in that estimation.
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apocatastasis · King of the Jungle Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1827

Admin, wasn't it Haggart who was authoritatively speaking on a subject that, as Dawkins put it, he knows nothing about? That is arrogance if I ever saw it...
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Ana · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:23 am Post subject: Re: Richard Dawkins

admin · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:26 am Post subject:

I was very impressed with Dawkins' responses as well. I've been mulling it over for several days. What made me start looking into this, is a guest preacher mentioned Dawkins in his sermon last Sunday. The preacher said that Dawkins is making valid arguments that Christians need to think about and respond to.
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apocatastasis · King of the Jungle Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 1827

admin, that sounds like a good preacher. What sort of Church does he preach at?
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P1234567890 · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:44 pm Post subject:

Dawkins has a fantastic documentary which goes along with his God Delusion book. It comes in two parts:

1. The Root of All Evil
2. The Virus of Faith

One of the highlights for me is when he goes and talks to an extremist Muslim in Jerusalem. The exchange is really interesting. Part of it goes something like this:

Crazy Muslim (Ranting): "You dress your women like whores."
Dawkins (Bewildered): "I don't dress 'my' women at all; they dress themselves!"

The guy also goes on about how he wants Islam to conquer the world and how we'd better clean up our acts at home in preparation for their coming...

It was also in this documentary where I learned that Fundamentalist Christians aren't the only ones who believe in Young Earth Creationism... Fundamentalist Jews also believe that the Earth is only about 6000 years old.
_________________
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."
-Blaise Pascal
"...with or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil -that takes religion..."
-Steven Weinberg
"I would bless my children with your destruction instead."
-Someone who shall remain anonymous.

Ana · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:45 pm Post subject:

P1234567890 · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:46 pm Post subject:

admin · Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:15 pm Post subject:

I should be more clear. It was actually a guest speaker who took the sermon slot at a service. He is a retired Phd professor of Linguistics.

He mentioned Dawkins in passing. He mentioned things he felt contemporary Christians should truly be concerned about, like slavery still existing in the world. He also mentioned many roots of current words and traditions that came from Pagan practices - this offended many in the congregation. I am guessing the name Joseph Campbell is not one that is familiar in these circles.

I should also note that although his presentation excited many people, it also offended many in attendance. I haven't heard any rumblings after the sermon, so perhaps it fell on deaf ears.
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