Godulike

seattlegal

"Like computer viruses, successful mind viruses will tend to be hard for their victims to detect. If you are the victim of one, the chances are that you won't know it, and may even vigorously deny it."

Has he been infected with this mind virus? Let's investigate:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Out of one side of his mouth...

Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish.
--Richard Dawkins

...And out of the other side of his mouth:

To describe religions as mind viruses is sometimes interpreted as contemptuous or even hostile. It is both. I am often asked why I am so hostile to organized religion.
-- Richard Dawkins, The Devil's Chaplain (2004)

...And more out of the other side of his mouth:

You cannot be both sane and well educated and disbelieve in evolution. The evidence is so strong that any sane, educated person has got to believe in evolution.
-- Richard Dawkins, in Lanny Swerdlow, "My Sort Interview with Richard Dawkins" (Portland, Oregon, 1996)

...And more out of the other side of his mouth:

To fill a world with ... religions of the Abrahamic kind, is like littering the streets with loaded guns. Do not be surprised if they are used.
-- Richard Dawkins, "Religion's Misguided Missiles" (September 15, 2023)

~~~~~~~
On freedom of speech:

Out of one side of his mouth...

Over the centuries, we've moved on from Scripture to accumulate precepts of ethical, legal and moral philosophy. We've evolved a liberal consensus of what we regard as underpinnings of decent society, such as the idea that we don't approve of slavery or discrimination on the grounds of race or sex, that we respect free speech and the rights of the individual. All of these things that have become second nature to our morals today owe very little to religion, and mostly have been won in opposition to the teeth of religion.
-- Richard Dawkins, quoted in Natalie Angier, "Confessions of a Lonely Atheist," New York Times Magazine, January 14, 2024

there must be a spirit of tolerance in the entire population.

...And out of the other side of his mouth:

If people think God is interesting, the onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about. Otherwise they should just shut up about it.
-- Richard Dawkins (attributed: source unknown)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

On tolerance:

Out of one side of his mouth:

Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish.
--Richard Dawkins
(repeat)

...And out of the other side of his mouth:

It is absolutely safe to say that, if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I'd rather not consider that).
-- Richard Dawkins, quoted from Josh Gilder, a creationist, in his critical review, "PBS's 'Evolution' series is propaganda, not science" (September, 2001)

...And more out of the other side of his mouth:

It is fashionable to wax apocalyptic about the threat to humanity posed by the AIDS virus, "mad cow" disease, and many others, but I think a case can be made that faith is one of the world's great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate.
-- Richard Dawkins, The Humanist, Vol. 57, No. 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~
On science and belief:

Out of one side of his mouth...

To an honest judge, the alleged convergence between religion and science is a shallow, empty, hollow, spin-doctored sham.
-- Richard Dawkins, The Devil's Chaplain (2004)

...And out of the other side of his mouth:

Are science and religion converging? No. There are modern scientists whose words sound religious but whose beliefs, on close examination, turn out to be identical to those of other scientists who straightforwardly call themselves atheists.
-- Richard Dawkins, The Devil's Chaplain (2004)

...And more out of the other side of his mouth:

I suspect the reason is that most people ... have a residue of feeling that Darwinian evolution isn't quite big enough to explain everything about life. All I can say as a biologist is that the feeling disappears progressively the more you read about and study what is known about life and evolution. I want to add one thing more. The more you understand the significance of evolution, the more you are pushed away from the agnostic position and towards atheism. Complex, statistically improbable things are by their nature more difficult to explain than simple, statistically probable things.
-- Richard Dawkins, from The New Humanist, the Journal of the Rationalist Press Association, Vol 107 No 2

~~~~~~~~~~~~
To summarize:

"Like computer viruses, successful mind viruses will tend to be hard for their victims to detect. If you are the victim of one, the chances are that you won't know it, and may even vigorously deny it."
--Richard Dawkins

“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
--Albert Einstein
_________________
The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form.

clabhdhu · Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2023 1:45 pm Post subject:

I can't be bothered to get into repetitive argument about Dawkins, and the mix'n'match of quotes on religion and evolution (See 'Root of all evil?' topic).
I think he was wrong to say that we are all born selfish, but that's a different argument.
I also accept that the comment that those who find God interesting "should just shut up about it" seems intolerant; however, its source is not given and it looks as if the context might have been specifically relating to arguments of proof, which would alter the case. (BTW, what's the W.S. platform?)

I must say that I think it's astonishing to pick quotes from people, some dead before Dawkins spoke, and describe them as "commentary"!

seattlegal · Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2023 2:44 pm Post subject:

Anonymous · Guest

SG,

You can probably prove anything you want with quotes ... for a start how am I supposed to know whether the quotes you give are in context or even (and I don't really think you're doing this, certainly not intentionally) actually by him?

A question though ... have you actually read any Dawkins? I ask because I own 5 books by him and have read more so I have a good feel for the man's style, despite fundy comments to contrary (and I suspect directly or indirectly but not intentionally these may be your source) I consider him to be remarkably intelligent, eloquent and an exceptionally good popular science author (I understand he's a pretty fair scientist too).

Also, on the subject of the "Root of All Evil?" ... have you seen it and if so what did you think of it? If not what do you think he means by the title?

Kyu

seattlegal

Anonymous · Guest

Anonymous · Guest

seattlegal · Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2023 6:16 pm Post subject:

clabhdhu · Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2023 8:11 pm Post subject:

seattlegal · Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2023 8:53 pm Post subject:

Anonymous · Guest

Rat_bytes · Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2023 12:52 pm Post subject:

SG, you can watch The Root of All Evil parts one and two at this site.

Part 1
Part 2

I think you should watch both of them before commenting any further. It really clears up Dawkins' view on religion.
_________________
Las Reglas De la Rata.

Anonymous · Guest

Clab

Anonymous · Guest

seattlegal · Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2023 4:11 pm Post subject: