I literally could not say it better myself

Sep 28, 2009 17:04

I urge everyone and I mean EVERYONE to take just under one half hour out of their lives to watch this video. If you already are an atheist or agnostic, it will galvanize you. If you are a "believer" of some sort, Dawkins states the case for atheism here far more eloquently than I am capable of doing. I am a MILITANT ATHEIST. I will not back down, I ( Read more... )

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inlaterdays September 28 2009, 21:24:50 UTC
The video won't work for me, and I think I'm glad...Dawkins's sloppy "research", glaring omissions, and overgeneralizations drive me nuts in his prose. :/

(Sorry.)

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radixx September 28 2009, 21:32:34 UTC
Well if you could see the video you'd know what this is actually about before you dismiss it so tritely. Strange too, because I've found the TED's video streaming tech is the best I've seen. I'm curious as to what "sloppy research" you refer? This is philosophy and equality he's speaking about here.

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inlaterdays September 28 2009, 21:56:23 UTC
I'm running Firefox under Ubuntu Linux (9.04), and I can't see anything. I just checked my updates and I'm fine, but if this is cutting-edge, there might be a codec that's not available for my OS/browser yet.

Actually, I'm not being trite, but I apologize if I came off sounding that way. I'm talking about the way any scientist who writes pop-culture books seems to let his/her standards slip alarmingly when they stray out of their own field. (Carl Sagan was the same way, according to my dad, who knew and liked him but thought his later, non-astophysics-related books, weren't up to par.) Dawkins is a fine geneticist. But a theologian/religious historian he's not. I found The Selfish Gene interesting, but The God Delusion was so slanted, riddled with errors, and full of axe-grinding I couldn't get through it. :/

I actually thought I was alone in the universe in finding Dawkins annoying, but recently Jessica Crispin of bookslut revealed that she feels similarly. [Link.I think it's his "if you believe differently than I do, you're wrong ( ... )

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radixx September 28 2009, 22:06:10 UTC
Again, examples? Your link to Crispin is just an offhand comment made about Jeffrey Skilling taking Dawkins out of context. And again, you're commenting so negatively about a video that you admittedly have not seen and apparently cannot see. I think you may very well be the one with an axe to grind here Lid. See my reply to another comment below with more detail about the crux of the point.

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twistedcat September 28 2009, 21:34:21 UTC
i have no problem with atheists.

i just wonder why the begrudge me something that, with my medical issues, keeps me from killing myself and instead helps me be a useful member of society.

i vote pro choice, pro sane gun laws, pro science, pro separation of church and state.

so why are some people so hell-bent (for lack of a better off the top of my head term) on getting me to believe differently than I do?

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radixx September 28 2009, 21:56:14 UTC
Well, rather than go into what I feel are the outstanding harms done by religion over the centuries, I'll go into the meat of what his point is in the video. That basically as atheists we have been told by society (often under penalty of death in the past) to keep our views and arguments on and with religion to ourselves. That it's not polite, and downright taboo to question faith. Yet to malign an atheist for their lack of faith has been portrayed as not only holy, but patriotic. As I stated in the post, disagree all you want, but I will as well. And further, I refuse to be quiet about it and I refuse to live by faith based mores when they have no tactile worth outside of scripture, faith and the further subjugation of the "flock". And as far as him being "hell bent" on getting you to believe differently, isn't that what a thousand score evangelists do on television, in tents and online every waking moment? His (and my) voice are part of only a handful of people brave enough to publicly, sanely and politely disagree and not be ( ... )

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twistedcat September 28 2009, 22:01:04 UTC
i have a problem with anyone who proselytizes at me, whether it's catholic, islamic, atheist or other.

And honestly, do you really feel that faith in something supernatural is the only thing that makes you a "useful member of society"?

no. but it is my faith in something bigger than me that gets me out of bed and keeps me from offing myself when the pain gets too bad and gets me to work in whatever capacity I can, thereby allowing me to earn money and spend it, keeping the economy going.

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puffenstein October 8 2009, 15:37:52 UTC
Funny, my lack of faith in "something bigger" is generally what keeps me going at my lowest points. I don't believe this life is a test or precursor, it's all we've got and I'm damned sure gonna make the best out of it and not cut out early.

And to the guy who said: "Personally, I can't see man as being the ultimate being" Me either. I don't believe there is such a thing as an "ultimate being" but I do think there are likely far more advanced beings out there than us. Hopefully, someday we as a species will get a chance to meet some of them.

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