Richard Dawkins interview with Bill O'Reilly

[hipeter924]

Re: Richard Dawkins interview with Bill O'Reilly

The religious also start wars, torture, murder, rape, lie steal, commit genocide, ethnic cleansing, engage in drug trafficing, destroy education and progress and justify it all cause they claim it is done in the name of god.

True, but so can any belief system or ideology. I don't agree with Dawkins in the respect that religion can be rooted out or eliminated by logic and reason, that is simply impossible. Religion will always be here in one form or another, whether due to stupidity, arrogance or dislike of scientific thought and reasoning.

But in the end it is best to have a secular system that doesn't discriminate against religions or science. Religious teaching should always be optional, and so should scientific teaching. The best way to do this is for the public system to teach science, if people desire to give their children a religious education it seems far better to send their children to a private school. This is how it works in New Zealand, and I see no problems with it, because there have been no complaints.

[Siggie]

Re: Richard Dawkins interview with Bill O'Reilly

True, but so can any belief system or ideology. I don't agree with Dawkins in the respect that religion can be rooted out or eliminated by logic and reason, that is simply impossible. Religion will always be here in one form or another, whether due to stupidity, arrogance or dislike of scientific thought and reasoning.

But in the end it is best to have a secular system that doesn't discriminate against religions or science. Religious teaching should always be optional, and so should scientific teaching. The best way to do this is for the public system to teach science, if people desire to give their children a religious education it seems far better to send their children to a private school. This is how it works in New Zealand, and I see no problems with it, because there have been no complaints.

You think science education should be optional?! That's crazy. Should history be optional? How about math? Science is how we acquire information about the world and how it works. It cannot be optional.

[Haykakan]

Re: Richard Dawkins interview with Bill O'Reilly

Fed makes good points. Hitler was religious and the murders in question were not fueled by atheism. It is undeniable, on the other hand, that murders, wars... have been and still are fueled by religion. Since religion does not function on rational thought, it makes itself very vulnerable to manipulation and many have taken advantage of this vulnerability to further their own agendas through religion. Religion itself contributes to racism and wars and many other things because it is based on a us vs them mentality and it discourages variations from the theme, add to this its vulnerability to manipulation and it is easy to see why people like me oppose any kind of organised religion. I do not consider myself a atheist but this is only because i cannot prove god does not exist not because i think he/she/it does exist. It can be easily proven however that if there is a god he/she/it is nothing like what the major religions describe-not even close.

[Stark Evade]

Re: Richard Dawkins interview with Bill O'Reilly

True, but so can any belief system or ideology. I don't agree with Dawkins in the respect that religion can be rooted out or eliminated by logic and reason, that is simply impossible. Religion will always be here in one form or another, whether due to stupidity, arrogance or dislike of scientific thought and reasoning.

But in the end it is best to have a secular system that doesn't discriminate against religions or science. Religious teaching should always be optional, and so should scientific teaching. The best way to do this is for the public system to teach science, if people desire to give their children a religious education it seems far better to send their children to a private school. This is how it works in New Zealand, and I see no problems with it, because there have been no complaints.

People like Richard Dawkins do not promote discrimination against religion. That is a common misconception people have about those individuals who merely actively seek to change peoples minds or dispell myths. Changing peoples minds is not the same as taking away peoples' freedom to opine and force secularism. I have never read anything that suggested Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, Hitchens, or the like would support the criminalizing of religion or any similar action. Even if -- and I know it is the case with someone like Hitchens -- someone thinks religion is overall a bad thing, that still does not imply that they would take away peoples freedom of choice. And since such a belief hasn't been expressly stated by any of the prominent advocates of non-theism, there's really no reason to believe it. As a matter of fact Dawkins stated in a televised interview in Ireland that he felt religion should be taught to preserve peoples ability to understand and appreciate the countless religious allusions in art and literature. I would go so far as saying such a belief would be in strong dischord with the character of these individuals.

To address your earlier point, I think logic and reason can do much to decrease the presence of extreme religious thought over time. Providing lasting resources of information such as books, interviews, webpages, etc. will expose people to certain information more frequently and at younger ages allowing for critical thinking to take hold at an increased rate. Human beings are naturally skeptical. They apply the principles of the scientific method constantly in their daily lives to make sense of everyday occurences and things. It is a natural position to be agnostic and questioning and curious. And being in an age where science has accomplished so much, that skepticism can be nurtured.

[Muhaha]

Re: Richard Dawkins interview with Bill O'Reilly

if there is a god he/she/it is nothing like what the major religions describe-not even close.

This.

[Haykakan]

Re: Richard Dawkins interview with Bill O'Reilly

This.

What about that?

[HyeClown]

You think science education should be optional?! That's crazy. Should history be optional? How about math? Science is how we acquire information about the world and how it works. It cannot be optional.

History should definitely be optional. Especially if it's being taught by the Turkish government.

The Soviet and Chinese communists' murders were not fueled by their atheism but by politics. It has no relation. It is the same argument O'Reilly used in the clip when he told Dawkins that Hitler and Stalin killed a lot of people and they happened to be atheists (Hitler was in fact not but that is beyond the point). These two also have mustaches, does this mean there is a correlation between having a mustache and being a mass murderer?

No relation? In order to implement state atheism in the USSR, they shut down churches, mosques, synagogues and murdered bishops and priests.

Albania is also another example of state sponsored atheism. it was part of the constitution.

http://bjoerna.dk/dokumentation/Alba...nce,%20Culture


EDUCATION, SCIENCE, CULTURE
Article 37

The state recognizes no religion whatever and supports atheist propaganda for the purpose of inculcating the scientific materialist world outlook in people.


Using atheism to control a population is no different than a government using religion to control the population. As hipeter pointed out, a secular government (if there really is such a thing) is the best way of ensuring that there are an array of ideological groups so that not everyone is herded like sheep brought to slaughter.

Religion will always be here in one form or another, whether due to stupidity, arrogance or dislike of scientific thought and reasoning.

I wonder how many doctors, physicists, scientists and other brilliant members of society you have insulted with that single statement.

[Stark Evade]

Re: Richard Dawkins interview with Bill O'Reilly

The atheism in Albanian and the USSR is a byproduct of Marxism/communism.

[hipeter924]

Re: Richard Dawkins interview with Bill O'Reilly

History should definitely be optional. Especially if it's being taught by the Turkish government.



No relation? In order to implement state atheism in the USSR, they shut down churches, mosques, synagogues and murdered bishops and priests.

Albania is also another example of state sponsored atheism. it was part of the constitution.

http://bjoerna.dk/dokumentation/Alba...nce,%20Culture


EDUCATION, SCIENCE, CULTURE
Article 37

The state recognizes no religion whatever and supports atheist propaganda for the purpose of inculcating the scientific materialist world outlook in people.


Using atheism to control a population is no different than a government using religion to control the population. As hipeter pointed out, a secular government (if there really is such a thing) is the best way of ensuring that there are an array of ideological groups so that not everyone is herded like sheep brought to slaughter.



I wonder how many doctors, physicists, scientists and other brilliant members of society you have insulted with that single statement.

I don't agree that history should be optional, if you don't know about the world's history and your nations history it just makes you ignorant and racist, lack of knowledge is dangerous...if you want evidence look at what happened to Turk's in Turkey. I would say you can never learn enough history, and its important to have at least a little history in your head (and in your heart).

Also you are incorrect to blame atheism for the political and economic system of the USSR, it was communist and communist atheists have a different ideology to capitalist atheists, and democratic socialist atheists.

In addition atheism is not a system of control it is simply the idea that there is no god. Communism, Capitalism and Socialism are forces that can control and shape society, simply having no belief in god doesn't cause the world to come to the end.

Also that statement I made is not insult but fact, ignorance and stupidity is one thing that will always exist, regardless of how well we try. If you don't believe me look at history, we have had more genocides, events of mass murder, terrorism, and genocide denial in the last 2 centuries than in the entire history of the world, even though we have the internet and greater access to knowledge and information.

[Muhaha]

Re: Richard Dawkins interview with Bill O'Reilly

What about that?

I'm saying I agree with that part of what you're saying.