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| quote: | Originally posted by Krypton
1. Hitler was a mystical atheist. His nazi ideology says it all. MASTER RACE. Did you forget about that? Did you forget about the Nazi doctrine of the inferior races need to be euthanized? Did you know that Hitler consulted astrologers? Seems a lot like social natural selection. And all this IS fact, whether you choose to know it or not. |
You keep on using the phrase "natural selection" with regards to Hitler and I keep on calling you on it. When will you learn?
Natural selection is a descriptive theory, not a prescriptive one. The idea that those organisms best suited to their environment are most likely to survive and pass on their genes to the next generation is almost tautologically true, and I'd be interested to hear you argue against it. By confusing this description of morality with a moral imperative, you are committing Hume's "Naturalistic Fallacy", which I want you to read and understand why this argument of yours is so stupid.
| quote: | | 2. Communists...hhmmmmmm...ARE OFFICIALLY ATHEISTS!! Between our three atheistic subjects, Moa, Hitler, and Stalin, more people died between them than all religious wars of inquisition, witch hunts, jihads, revolutions, and any other conflicts COMBINED! Take a closer look at the historical FACTS that make it plain and clear. You CANNOT separate their ideology from their actions, as much as your beloved Dawkins tries to do. Otherwise, he would be completely wrong in his assumptions that theistic religion causes wars and conflict, when in reality, it isn't about the religion, it's about the WORLDVIEW, WORLDVIEW!!! |
Find me one public speech in which any of those leaders even mention their theological position (or lack there of), let alone link it to any of the terrible decisions they made when in power. Like pkc and Dawkins have said, trying to link the attrocities committed under communism to atheism is like trying to link them to facial hair. Correlation does not equal causation.
Marxism doesn't contain a philosophical objection to theism, it contains moral objection to theism. When you read Marx's thoughts on religion (and, by extension, his followers'), it's clear that he isn't interested in whether God exists or not, he's only intersted in how religious organisations might affect his vision of the world. He saw churches and religion as dulling the proletariat to their exploitation, hence the "religion is the opiate of the masses" line. Why do you think, for instance, that Buddhism - a notionally atheistic religion - was outlawed in China under chairman Mao, if his primary concern was spreading atheism?
| quote: | | 3. Holy books are NOT untouchable, as any can be opened, studied, criticized and reinforced. |
They can also be rewritten, added-to, subtracted-from and censored, hence why the Koran (in this particular case) or any other "holy" book should be given no more credence as a moral authority than any other book. The fact that an entire country basis its legal code on the moral philosophy of a small, isolated band of 7th century nomads is so fucking insane it makes my head spin.
| quote: | | Contrary to the rosy picture that humans are rational, common sense really is not that common. How many times has common sense been wrong? I'm surprised you have such faith in such an unreliable concept. Common sense can never make sense of why the universe is |
Agree with you entirely up till this point...
| quote: | | niether can naturalistic science. |
What? Where did that come from? What does science have to do with "common sense"? Much scientific knowledge is distinctly counter-intuitive and really tests the boundaries of what we call "common sense". Common sense told us that the Earth was flat, that the sun orbited round the Earth and that a giant man in the sky created everything by clicking his fingers - what does any of that have to do with science?
Science concerns itself with empirical fact, the artefacts of reality. It is the theists who mistakenly assume that just because something "makes sense" that it must be true, as I tried to explain to you in this thread.
| quote: | | I'm continually surprised to be told, "You're close-minded", when in fact, many scientists themselves are close-minded to the implications of a symphonic universe. Simply put, physics in my opinion is the music sheet of symphony of the universe. Who is the composer? You're totally entitled to believe there is no composer, but many many others believe it so and not just because some holy book tells them to, though I'm not denying it doesn't happen. For those who really seek out the answers do not limit themselves to the tangible because as we know, our reality is not tangible, no matter how much we try to make it so. |
You're starting to sound like a Zen Buddhist. :-/
Firstly, physicists do use the analogy of a "cosmic symphony", but at the same time they recognise it as just that: an analogy. Giving something a name does not give it an objective reality. Saying that the "cosmic symphony" of the universe must have a conductor makes as much sense as saying that New York - i.e. "The Big Apple" - must have fallen from a giant tree.
Secondly, I don't accept all this mealy-mouthed nonsense about any two competing views necessarily being inherently equal. One view here has basis in reality, the other does not. Given the language you use, however, this seems to be something that you've already come to accept?
| quote: | | 4. Wars may not be fought over atheism, but what are the social systems that such a belief would entail? Communism has been fought over many times. The Nazis began a program of extermination of "inferior races". Sounds pretty natural (artifical actually) selection to me. Social darwinism in practice. |
Aaaaand we're already resorting to repeating ourselves.
| quote: | Most certainly...
The Dawkins Delusion? by Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath. The Dawkins Delusion? is a non-fiction book by the biochemist and Christian theologian Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath, written as a critical response to Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion.
My interest has been very sparked by these delusional books . I might join you in reading both of them. |
Sounds like a pretty convincing read:
| quote: | McGrath attempts to destroy Dawkin's arguments. I think he is saying:
- Many more scientists believe in God than Dawkin's claims. Therefore, there is a God.
- We are here, however improbable, so the improbable is not impossible. Therefore, there is a God.
- Dawkin's fails to prove the nonexistence of God. Therefore, there is a God.
- Believing in God is good for society. Therefore, there is a God.
[...]
Bottom line... if you are waiting for a critical dissection of The God Delusion, no matter what your beliefs, this is not it. |
http://www.amazon.com/Dawkins-Delus...81978178&sr=8-1
And a more comprehensive review:
http://aloadofbright.wordpress.com/...lister-mcgrath/
Sounds like the same old apologetics rehashed, to be honest. Oh, and I haven't listened to it yet, but here's a debate between Dawkins and McGrath earlier this year:
http://richarddawkins.net/article,8...Richard-Dawkins
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