Posted on 05/18/2007 9:06:58 AM PDT by Jakarta ex-pat
ROOT OF ALL EVIL?
THE God Delusion - based on Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion - is the best documentary I've ever seen. And, I imagine, will ever see. No jokes. No smart-arse cracks. No witty asides.
Dawkins is a scientist and passionate atheist who has produced a stunning, thoroughly researched and expertly executed work that flatly denies the existence of God and illustrates what a destructive force religion is. Even in its mildest form. This provocative and entertaining ride will have some believers coming out the other end as atheists. And every Bible basher, Torah toter and Koran carrier calling the ABC to complain.
As I watched this masterpiece unfold, I couldn't remember the last time I had seen something so brilliant on the idiot box. Dawkins unapologetically refuses to treat religion differently to any other subject. There is no tiptoeing in fear of "offending" anyone (how you can offend people with truth is beyond me). Dawkins has harnessed his skill as a scientist, his hunger for truth and his rage to prove that God is a delusion that's infecting the world. He refers to "the process of non-thinking called faith" and bemoans "that the idea of a divine creator belittles the elegant reality of the universe". He liberates the viewer with the conclusion that "atheism is life-affirming in a way religion can never be".
Atheists will watch this show and feel as if they have died and gone to heaven as they see a bloke far more smarterer than themselves poke that animal in the cage. The fundamentalists, the evangelicals, the dabblers and the moderates all cop it. Dawkins dismembers the lot with a scalpel. It's intoxicating for born-again atheists like myself. I have taken the Flying Spaghetti Monster as my Lord and personal saviour. That's right. I am a Pastafarian.
Atheism is, it seems, the new black. Dawkins' offering will not simply be preaching to the converted but actually convert fence-sitters with truth and reason.
Dawkins describes the God of the Old Testament as "the most unpleasant character in all fiction. Jealous and proud of it. Petty, vindictive, unforgiving and racist. An ethnic cleanser urging his people on to acts of genocide."
Then Moses cops it. Dawkins quotes a Bible story and asks: "How is this story morally distinguishable from Hitler's rape of Poland or Saddam Hussein's massacre of the Kurds or the Marsh Arabs?"
Dawkins' masterful command of the language and his glorious Britishness is a delight throughout: "So Jesus had himself tortured and executed for a symbolic sin by a non-existent individual. Nobody not bought up in the faith could reach to any verdict other than barking mad." He tells us that "killing for God is not just hideous murder but utterly ridiculous".
On Sunday night, if you listen carefully, you'll hear atheists all over Australia leaning back in their chairs, putting their feet on the coffee table and saying, "I'm with him." And I'll be one of them.
I wouldn’t waste my time reading his crap. Anyone who is that obsessed with what others believe has some problems(and I say that as an atheist myself).
See post 39.
With respect, I don't believe that's true. Mao and Stalin both committed democide against groups who didn't believe in Communism and Collectivisation - such as the Kulaks and the bourgois farmers.
Only a fool saith in his heart there is no God.
“The continuous disasters of man’s history are mainly due to his
excessive capacity and urge to become identified with a tribe, nation,
church or cause, and to espouse its credo uncritically and
enthusiastically, even if its tenets are contrary to reason, devoid of
self-interest and detrimental to the claims of self-preservation. We
are thus driven to the unfashionable conclusion that the trouble with
our species is not an excess of aggression, but an excess capacity for
fanatical devotion.”
— Arthur Koestler
I wonder if Dawkins is a democrat?..
OK, but what does the second part have to do with the first part? Big Religions with their fear-based belief systems and horifying imagery - all projections of the collective human ego - really don't have anything to do with the existence of a Creator or the belief therein. There are many people who believe in God, find that faith life-affirming and real, and at the same time have no use for the current crop of rent-seekers and divisive hate-peddlers who operate in His name and quote moldy, mistranslated, and misunderstood tomes to justify their actions.
Not everyone loves God against human beings.
Yes, Atheism- the bet of a lifetime- Yup- I’ll throw away the ONLY chance EVER of spending time with God and wager my soul’s eternal existence on the slight chance that there might not be a God- BRILLIANT!
Are these Atheist people complete idiots? Hey Atheists- When you can explain to me what I’ve lost by acceptign a FREE gift from God that will have eternal consequences for my soul, and when you can detail exactly how denying God is a more sure bet in the face of the uncertain prospect of eternity, then Yall come on back- till then- Keep your moronic reasoning to yourself.
Elsewhere
2. How far does it extend?
To the end.
3. How long has it existed?
Since the beginning.
Bonus question:
4. How high is 'up'?
125 miles. After which it becomes 'out'...
Noone ever accused Dawkins of applying simple logic- simple logic is apparently too deep a goal for him- Dawkins is blinded from simple logic by his seethign hatred and contempt for God and God’s people.
We’ll see how brilliant Dawkins feels about himself when He’s gnashing his teeth in agaony IF he doesn’t repent before he dies. He has wagered his soul’s existence on a losing bet and isn’t even brilliant enough to figure that out
"Dawkins has harnessed his skill as a scientist, his hunger for truth and his rage to prove that God is a delusion that's infecting the world."
Umm...sounds like it to me. Bet he doesn't much like the First Amendment, either.
*********
However.... IMHO...
1. Dawkins is serving up a whole lot of warmed over Nietzchke... Likewise Sam Harris, et als... There is nothing new under the sun!
2. Dawkins keeps trying to prove-- at least "preach" the certainty of a negative...
IOW, he is trying to convince the world:
There is no________ [God!]
The mental gymnastics of this "proving a negative" have been long-recognized; and remains today a philosophical and scientific absurdity!
One might simply and legitimately inquire whether or not the existence of "the negative" alas "proved" by Dawkins' own rants and railings are simply yet beyond the scope of his human experience.
I haven't yet heard any of the neo-militant atheist crowd try to claim their own omniscience... (Only their supposed superior reason and intellect!?)
Hmmmm.... What then could be their motive$ -- to $ell a lot of book$.. and make a lot of $peeches for large $ums??
3. What if...
Despite their sophistry, "superior intellect" and articulate philosophical arguments, they are simply wrong --
AND.... The LORD -- the God of the Bible is the Sovereign of all Creation?? -- and Jesus Christ of Nazareth the only begotten Son?... And the Holy Spirit remains Present on the earth in this day to instruct our souls in the knowledge of the Eternal One??
What then have they chosen for an eternal destiny -- biblically speaking??
And even more relevant -- How many others have they stumbled into a similar dismal and eternal error??
**********
A FEW THOUGHTS -- QUITE CONTRARY TO DAWKINS' LINE OF REASONING! ISAIAH 45:5-7
I am the LORD, and there is no other;
apart from me there is no God.
I will strengthen you,
though you have not acknowledged me,
so that from the rising of the sun
to the place of its setting
men may know there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
I form the light and create darkness,
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the LORD, do all these things.
*******
PSALM 53:1-2
The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;
there is no one who does good.
God looks down from heaven
on the sons of men
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
*******
ISAIAH 55:9-10
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
*************
The man with an experience -- is not at the mercy of the man with an argument.
Keep seeking...
Not thaT i believe in the idea that people’s souls can be prayed for after they die- but soem religions do, and wouldn’t it be the ultimate cruelty if atheists died and enough people prayed for their souls that the atheist went to heaven lol?
On another note I would add that when these folks, Sam Harris, Dawkins etc.., get together they tend to group all religions as equal, which they are clearly not. This, I think, is a symptom of the liberal media and education system that reinforces a politically correct world view complete with its moral relativism and multiculturalism.
There was a conference at the Salk institute called “Beyond Belief” where these anti-God folks and leading scientists got together to discuss how hard they should bash religion.
When I am told how much of a destructive force religion can be, I often agree. But religion is a man-made concept, and actions taken in the name of religion are not necessarily going to be in line with the desires of the deity or deities being worshiped.
Free will can have some rather unfortunate results, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
So all we have to do is get a definition such that killing that is not motivated by a belief in god is OK, but killing that is motivated by a belief in god is not OK and then proclaim that disbelief is superior?
Cool.
Funny thing is....everyone has a religion. Some have a religion where the God is beyond themselves. Others have a religion which is themselves.
That all religions cannot simultaneously be true does not reflexively mean that they are then all false.
One thing that has been consistently true is that people tend to make poorer decisions when they make them in a highly emotional climate.
If Dawkins is full of rage, I am not inclined to trust that is is his intellect that is being vented. In a rage, it is usually a spleen that is being vented.
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