The God Delusion

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

Anyone read Richard Dawkins (professor of public understanding of science at Oxford University) book? Seen his tv interviews? He makes some convincing arguements.:thumbup1:

[Isaak Brodsky]

I read it. His discussion of the concept of memes is looney. I thought that the recently published "The Dawkins Delusion" is better, certainly a more rational discussion of the both fields of inquiry or worldviews.

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

Yeah, that's a hard chapter to follow. He's trying to explain one possible way disasterous ideas can get passed from generation to generation. While he can't completely clearly explain how these maladaptive concepts perpetuate, he's very convincing on why they are incorrect and dangerous.

[TheNoNamedOne]

I have been planning to order this book from Amazon but just have not done so yet. On YouTube there are Part 1 and Part 2 of his public reading of some parts of The God Delusion by himself at a U.S. college campus (east coast somewhere), and he takes questions from the audience at the end. Each clip is around 30 mins.

Some of the audience members which posed questions to him were clearly Bible skeptics just asking him to clarify some points in the book or to ask his opinion on other things related to religion or Christianity, but if my memory is correct, there were a good number who took issue with him and their exchanges were somewhat more like debate. Very interesting.

I have come to believe, that the louder Christians squeal when their delusions are exposed, the closer to the heart of the matter the truth has hit. Quite painful for them.

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

He is usually very good in debate. Even when stuck with Bill O'Reilly or enduring Steven Colbert's efforts at parody.

http://www.reitstoen.com/dawkins.php

You may enjoy this link to Richard Dawkins multimedia :8

[TheNoNamedOne]

Eelecurb, thanks for that link. Gonna check that out. Looks good.

I saw him on the O'Reilly show. Wish he wouldn't have graced that show with his presence. Bill just tried his usual tactic of shouting him down and talking over him without giving him much time.

[DougP]

I like what he said about people getting offended.

"Offense is what people take when they can't take an argument. Its a kind of last resort."

Also I agreed with him on this topic.
In accordance with the 1990 federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the government is expected to classify Kennewick Man as Native American. Under NAGPRA, any person or descendant of a person who lived in North America before European settlement--generally 500 years ago--is considered legally Native American. According to a January 13, 2000, memo from the National Park Service, this designation is "irrespective of when a particular group may have begun to reside in [the present-day United States], and irrespective of whether some or all of these groups were or were not culturally affiliated or biologically related to present-day Indian tribes."

Stupid just plain stupid

[TheNoNamedOne]

I like what he said about people getting offended.

"Offense is what people take when they can't take an argument. Its a kind of last resort."


I've stated nearly the same thing about indignance HERE (http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13863&postcount=17). Read the whole post and pay special attention to the bullet points. All examples of how people react when they take offense, rather than putting forth an argument to address the points brought up.

Looks like I, Richard, and DougP, who agrees with Richard, think alike on this point.

We are in good company, DougP.