Great Review. Nintendo should hire this guy.

Wow, is that REALLY what Reagan said? Scary stuff.

Nice to see the dude railing on about society's problems from the back of his limo.

I agree with gwiz665 that the at the heart of the problem is a stubborn belief that there must be something out there that we can attribute qualities such as love and compassion to, instead of just admitting that these -as well as all of the other emotions and motivations- are part or our nature as living creatures.

quoting Persephone:

"As parents, the ultimate challenge is to raise children who are compassionate and free-thinking. It's the ultimate challenge, because we have to be aware of how we, ourselves are not compassionate or free-thinking, admit it and openly discuss this with our kids."

I agree with the compassionate part, and free-thinking in the "open-minded" sense of the word, but there are certainly values and beliefs that I think are important and I want to impart to my kids.

The question is, where do we cross the line? While saying "it's those fucking Jehovah's Witnesses again" may not be constructive, I'd like my kids to understand that there are a lot better things you can do with your time than dedicate it to a faulty belief.

quoting xxovercastxx:

Children should be encouraged to seek their own answers rather than inherit their parents opinions.

But what if you really believed in hell and eternal damnation and all that? Wouldn't it be terrifying for you if you thought your kids were going to go to hell? I'm just saying, regardless of the validity of the belief, we've got to see it from their point of view.

quoting stayinlf:

I agree with what the priest said to some degree.

What part do you agree with? Or what part to what degree?

quoting jwray: "I agree, whether or not religion consoles people is irrelevant. Truth is more important than consolation."

To you and I "the truth" may seem more important, but people gain power, confidence, consolation, etc. from their beliefs regardless of their validity. So from that perspective, the truth is less important to the outcome than the believer's belief.

What this interview mostly shows is that on the topic of religion, like so many others, we're just not interested in listening to the other side.

For example, at the very end of the segment, the priest claims that atheists believe that "science can explain everything," -clearly a foolish idea- when the fact is, most atheists readily admit that science can do no such thing (but lack of understanding doesn't necessitate a higher power).

So the priest is arguing against his own ideas of what an atheist is, not what atheists actually are, and he isn't listening to what atheists are actually saying. The reverse could be said for how many atheists think about theists

Doesn't the very existence of Phelps and his church disprove the existence of God?