Now if the school board would just listen to him.

Wow I've never heard this side of him talking about stuff like that. Pretty neat actually I'm glad because before he seemed really just crazy.

If you read any of his early books (before he began focusing on campaigning against religion) you might be pleased. The Blind Watchmaker, for instance provides some very interesting facts I never knew about natural selection.

*quality Dawkins

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by SlipperyPete.

>> ^garmachi:

If you read any of his early books (before he began focusing on campaigning against religion) you might be pleased. The Blind Watchmaker, for instance provides some very interesting facts I never knew about natural selection.


This, however, is an example of a point he makes in The God Delusion and since.

But overall I'd agree that even people who don't like his confrontation of religion might still find his books on evolution compelling. Even his most recent book barely mentions religion.

EXACTLY the thoughts my wife and I have in regards to religion in schools. WHY the hell don't we have comparative religious classes in primary schools? It would be great.

But no, here in Australia, in our supposedly secular public schools, kids are put into Christian religious education classes that you have to opt them OUT of... They have it set up this way because they know if you had to opt IN then almost none would.

It saddens me the number of parents who don't believe in the religion being taught but don't take their kids out of it because, well, it's just 'the done thing' or 'they don't want little Timmy to be left out'... if all the parents who though that DID take their kids out then the ones left IN the RE would be by far in the minority.

And yes, our kids are opted OUT.

As Dawkins says, and as I've been saying for years, teaching about religionS is a very important thing, it gives you a richer understanding of a lot of art and literature (as they are derived from religion), it lets you be exposed to a number of different ways of thinking, and most importantly, it helps you understand and empathise with other people and not see them as strange and unusual.

I actually took Religion in High School. It was an interesting class to say the least, but didn't sway my opinions on anything religion wise.

In fact, it was one of my reasons for becoming an Atheist. It's where I found out that Jesus wasn't the first "Miraculous" birth, in fact, Zoroaster and Buddha were also born in the exact same fashion.

My favourite part of the class, however, was the field trip. We went to three places, a Hindu temple, a Mosque, and a Buddhist temple.

Hindu temple and Mosque were interesting, but nothing special. The Buddhist temple though was nifty, I walked into the main hall and there were 3 giant golden Buddha statues there, with thousands of candles lit around the room. I was amazed by this, and eager to learn about it expecting our tour guide to be a monk of sorts.

Turns out he was a little middle-aged white guy, who turned out to be a dick. When asked "Why did you become a Buddhist?" we all expected some result that included soul searching, or because of it's outlook on everything. The exact answer we got was "Well, my friends were something different, so I decided to be different, too."

Needless to say, by the end of our tour, none of us were too impressed with this guy. Chinese new years was coming up so they showed us the basement that was being decorated in silks and lanterns, and looked pretty cool. The guide asked us "So, any of you know how to say 'Happy new year' in Chinese?" with a slight smirk on his face.

I looked him square in the eye and said "Happy new year in Chinese."

That's when we got kicked out of the temple.

Worth it.

Watch the entire episode of Q&A here.

And cringe as the dipshit Steve Fielding won't give a straight answer about his beliefs as he knows they are ridiculous.

I remember this one girl in high school saying something — during a class discussion about religion — to the effect of "I think religions are like different windows on a building. Each one of them gives a different perspective of the same thing." Despite that having been the dumbest thing I had heard to date, I still wanted to fuck her and her giant titties.

>> ^Yogi:

Wow I've never heard this side of him talking about stuff like that. Pretty neat actually I'm glad because before he seemed really just crazy.


Have you heard Dawkins, or heard people talk about Dawkins? This is the kind of stuff he always says, completely reasonable stuff that simply makes sense and is true...

And then believers and critics translate everything to "I AM MIGHTY HALFGOD DAWKINS WHO KNOWS EVERYTHING EVER AND ALL BELIEVERS ARE ASSHOLES AND STUPID AND DELUSIONAL AND SHOULD BE MURDERED AND EVERYONE MUST BE ATHEISTS LIKE ME AND BECAUSE I WROTE A BOOK CALLED "THE SELFISH GENE" I OBVIOUSLY THINK EVERY HUMAN SHOULD BE SELFISH ASSHOLES AND KILL EACH OTHER AND STUFF AND.... I HATE GOD!!!!"

I think she was correct, also. The human need for order and understanding and structure and to not feel alone? All religions fit in that building.

What about her logical statement do you take exception?

It's an analogy for a complex situation that works very well. If you are religious, you can put your god in there. If you aren't, you can put the human need for religion in there. (I say "human need" based on the evidence that religion has been around since our beginnings, and persists today despite plenty of reason not to believe -- hence "need.")


>> ^rottenseed:

I remember this one girl in high school saying something — during a class discussion about religion — to the effect of "I think religions are like different windows on a building. Each one of them gives a different perspective of the same thing." Despite that having been the dumbest thing I had heard to date.....

The assumption that religion points to some universal truth. That's why she's a big dummy.>> ^bareboards2:

I think she was correct, also. The human need for order and understanding and structure and to not feel alone? All religions fit in that building.
What about her logical statement do you take exception?
It's an analogy for a complex situation that works very well. If you are religious, you can put your god in there. If you aren't, you can put the human need for religion in there. (I say "human need" based on the evidence that religion has been around since our beginnings, and persists today despite plenty of reason not to believe -- hence "need.")

>> ^rottenseed:
I remember this one girl in high school saying something — during a class discussion about religion — to the effect of "I think religions are like different windows on a building. Each one of them gives a different perspective of the same thing." Despite that having been the dumbest thing I had heard to date.....

Ah. I see. Well, I always take these kinds of comments as symbolic, and convert them to something meaningful. And I say again, she is right that there is a universal truth -- humans evolved with the need for something like religion.

But it is also like blue eyes -- some humans have blue eyes, some don't. Just because some humans have no need for religion, that doesn't negate the need for the millions who do need it.

So she's right, universally speaking. You don't happen to be in that building. Me either. But it is profoundly irrational to try to talk a blue-eyed person out of being blue-eyed, just because my eyes are brown.

And yes. Separation of church and state. And yes -- help those poor folks trapped in the religion closet, afraid to speak up and say -- I have brown eyes, stop telling me they are blue.

>> ^rottenseed:

The assumption that religion points to some universal truth. That's why she's a big dummy.

*pssst, you're babbling*>> ^bareboards2:

Ah. I see. Well, I always take these kinds of comments as symbolic, and convert them to something meaningful. And I say again, she is right that there is a universal truth -- humans evolved with the need for something like religion.
But it is also like blue eyes -- some humans have blue eyes, some don't. Just because some humans have no need for religion, that doesn't negate the need for the millions who do need it.
So she's right, universally speaking. You don't happen to be in that building. Me either. But it is profoundly irrational to try to talk a blue-eyed person out of being blue-eyed, just because my eyes are brown.
And yes. Separation of church and state. And yes -- help those poor folks trapped in the religion closet, afraid to speak up and say -- I have brown eyes, stop telling me they are blue.
>> ^rottenseed:
The assumption that religion points to some universal truth. That's why she's a big dummy.

Pssst, you're not listening.

Time to agree to disagree.....


>> ^rottenseed:

pssst, you're babbling >>

*dead

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