Re: Heads Up: THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL? by Richard Dawkins


"NashtOn" <nana@xxxxx> wrote in message
news:Eicsf.145862$Ph4.4455144@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Ian H Spedding wrote:
>> To be broadcast on UK Channel, 4 Monday January 9 2006:
>>
>> 20:00 THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL? 1/2: The God Delusion
>>
>> Professor Richard Dawkins, Chair of the Public
>> Understanding of Science at Oxford and world-renowned
>> evolutionary biologist, is no stranger to controversy. His
>> outspoken views on religion and his championing of
>> evolutionary theory have earned him the nickname of
>> "Darwin's Rottweiler", an epithet he wears with pride. In
>> this controversial two-part series, Dawkins describes God
>> as the most unpleasant fictional character of all and
>> launches a wholehearted attack on religion as the cause for
>> much of the pain and suffering in the world. In the light of
>> overwhelming scientific evidence that shows a supreme
>> being cannot exist, and in a world in which religious conflict
>> and bigotry are increasingly centre stage, he believes that
>> for the good of humanity, religion needs to be challenged
>> and dismissed. In this first film, Professor Dawkins confronts
>> the march of militant religious belief across the world. In
>> the American "Bible Belt", he meets Ted Haggard, the
>> President of the American National Association of
>> Evangelicals, who believes that science will one day
>> prove the Bible's Creation story right. In Jerusalem, where
>> the terrible certainties of faith began and still rage, he
>> challenges the Grand Mufti of Palestine and discusses
>> with Yousef Al Khattab, a Jewish settler turned Muslim
>> fundamentalist, the implacable hatreds that faith has thrown
>> up in this blighted city. The 21st century, Dawkins argues,
>> should be an age of reason but we are threatened by those
>> who see unreason as a positive virtue. Faith is an indulgence
>> of irrationality that is nourishing extremism, division and terror.
>> Dir: Russell Barnes; Prod: Deborah Kidd; Prod Co: IWC
>> Media
>>
>> http://www.channel4sales.com/programming-and-schedules/channel4-schedules.aspx?date=09-01-2006
>>
>> or
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/cb53u
>>
>> To be broadcast on UK Channel, 4 Monday January 16 2006:
>>
>> 20:00 THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL? 2/2: The Virus of Faith
>>
>> ...In this second film, Professor Dawkins explains how
>> religious faith acts like a virus which is particularly virulent
>> to the young. In challenging interviews with a Hasidic rabbi
>> and the head of a city academy, which has adopted the
>> American 'Accelerated Christian Education' curriculum, he
>> tackles the rise of faith schools in Britain and argues that
>> religious education saddles our children with evident
>> falsehoods and an inflexible moral outlook. Dawkins goes
>> on to examine the underpinnings of Judaeo-Christian
>> morality, analysing the so-called 'Good Book' and
>> questioning how the idea of hell is used for moral policing.
>> He takes on an American pastor who stages 'Hell House'
>> morality plays and a Reverend who believes the Bible
>> sanctions the murder of abortion doctors. He questions
>> Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford on how the moderate
>> Anglican Church can justify being part of the same religious
>> fabric that derives morals from a Bronze age text. Dawkins
>> shows how the true roots of human morality lie in our
>> evolutionary past and not in Holy Scriptures which actually
>> reveal God to be a rather nasty character.
>> Dir: Russell Barnes; Prod: Deborah Kidd; Prod Co: IWC Media
>>
>> http://www.channel4sales.com/programming-and-schedules/channel4-schedules.aspx?date=16-01-2006
>>
>> or
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/7bqd4
>>
>> Ian
>>
>> --
>> Ian H Spedding
>>
> Of course, you need to dis religion/spirituality in order to make your
> beloved ToE and naturalistic crap seem more plausible.

No, that's not necessary. The evidence speaks for itself. Also keep in mind
that many, if not most, evolutionists are Christians.

> This individual seems to have some kind of following and is starting to
> believe that
> anything he says has any impact on how Christians feel about their faith.

I don't think that's what he said. He says religion needs to be
"challenged." He is probably well aware of the fact that he's not going to
have an enormous impact on Christianity.

> I can see why he was given the nic "Darwin's dog" because he is rabid,
> disingenuous and highly suspect.

I agree that he has a tendency to get carried away at times. I think his
being so nasty at times is actually counterproductive. His hatred of
Christianity only works to reinforce the erroneous belief held by many
religious people that evolution is "anti-God," making it even more likely
that they won't accept the theory.

> Where the hell a biologist gets off writing this crap on religion is
> beyond me and for the real thinkers in this ng (alas, not too many),
> what would you say if a Bishop spoke so rabidly against biology and
> evolution?

What pisses people off is when people who don't know anything about biology
and evolution (or science in general) attempt to criticize it, or when
people who _are_ knowledgeable about the subject intentionally lie. If
someone actually had a legitimate argument against evolution, he or
she--bishop or not--would more than likely be taken more seriously.

> I always disliked Dawkins since I first read The Selfish Gene and
> subsequently more of his works. He always came across as arrogant and
> full of crap. His latest entry into the fray of religion vs science
> proves that he's again reaching beyond what he can comprehend.

I agree somewhat. It's not very becoming of him, as Oxford's Chair of Public
Understanding of Sciencem, to actually turn people _off_ to science by being
so volatile.

> Oh and the G_d of Christianity is a loving, charitable G_d

The same God who destroyed the human species with a global flood?

> and his followers are doing his work the world over in the form of charity
> and
> help towards the disadvantaged proving beyond a doubt that Dawkins is
> definitely full of CRAP!

And more than a few have used Christianity as a reason for senselessly
killing millions.

> Nicolas
>
> Nicola
>


.

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