Richard Dawkins - Atheism and Faith

[alhocarmine]

get a life Dawkins

[ThinkerResearcher]

I'm a strong atheist. I think anyone who claim to be in the other categories are in fact trying not to upset theists. The fact is, every idea of god that has been presented until now makes no sense, and was based on fear of death and trying to satisfy curiosity. In the other hand, if there is another deity whose existence hasn't been proved to interact with human beings, it's useless, and a waste of time, to say "meeh, it could exist". The very concept of god is flawed.

[joinery11]

Dawkins refers to god as a man? God is subjective!! Its man made isnt it? In the mind? Dawkins is a mere man himself and no more important than anyone who has set foot on this planet. He spends a lot of his energy trying to prove that something doesnt exist !! Keep searching Mr Dawkins and good luck, this man makes a living out what ifs, besides it gives me something to do in the evening when im bored i guess. I tell you one thing its really great when you stop searching for the answers. Peace

[XepicmeauX]

i think i would say im a 5-6, this world interests me and i base my beleifs on what i can perceive with the senses i have been given, god seems too simple a notion to beleive in, it raises more questions than are ever answerable, time better spent helping our understanding of this world, or helping each others journeys

[boshea8498]

i consider myself an atheist but i think dawkins is a joke. his arguments are silly and argues stupid shit. i love his probability shit. there is no room for probability in a cause and effect world(which is his view of the world). there is just the state of not knowing because of lack of understanding. i wish he would just shut up.

[MrMalcie]

I am not certain Dawkins exists. I have seen his name in books. I have seen still images (photographs like the one above). I have even seen and heard video footage (moving images) but I have not seen Dawkins in real life. He probably does not actually exist.  I guess that makes me a number 6 also 'I cannot know for certain but I think Dawkins is very improbable, and I live my life on the assumption that he is not there.'

[XepicmeauX]

@MrMalcie are you implying we see signs of god all around us? if so i would like some examples, or are you trying to prove his whole system of ratings is flawed?

[ThinkerResearcher]

@MrMalcie if Dawkins existance is important to you, book a plane ticket and try to go at one of his apparitions on universities, or check a phonebook, his personal informations on a website etc... I don't know if you can do the same with god, though. A "Dawkinist" would probably be satisfied with someone telling them they have a personal experience with Dawkins, and that people had to believe he existed if they couldn't disprove him. Weird right ?

[kurdistan101]

777777777777777777777777777777­7777777777

[butobuto1]

does it matter if a god (or more gods for that matter) exists? it (if there's an absolute god like in judaism, christianity or islam, it wouldn't have sex now would it?), so IT would clearly be not a subliminal being watching over us and guiding us, let alone judging us. the key for humanity is morality and morality is nothing but extended logic, extended survival tactics in a broader sense. being empathetic is what counts, something religion seems to rule out

never mind 'god'

[kookyuke]

This "probability" analysis lives and dies by rationalist and materialist beliefs. A "construct" of the western mind. Be mindful that this "construct" rationalism is often mistaken for mind itself which might/might not transcend our bodies but is definitely more than just this constuct we call rationalism. It fails to analyse or even accept realised theology...and yet quotes Jung who says that he doesn't believe in god he KNOWS!

[OddPersona]

You just don't get it at all, Dawkins. When I say I "know" God exists, it isn't based on my fallible intellect, but a deeply felt, profound certainty.

Militant atheism is based on the supremacy of the intellect and the mind, which will always fall short.

When you know of God inwardly it isn't about forcing that knowledge on others, it is about surrendering to a higher Power, and allowing yourself to directly experience Divinity.

[Keysteeze]

God's existence and his/her/it's non-existence is equiprobable. Strong Atheism is not the absence of a claim, it is a claim. Complete agnosticism is more intellectually honest than atheism.

[snozbunsen]

If I was living in a jade mine in Burma, with no earthly hope, or in Darfur, Afghanistan, Haiti etc etc, I'd go for the big guy over Dawkins in his glass house, throwing stones, any time. He hasn't thought through the NEED, just his own shallow desire.

[TheNakedAtheist]

@snozbunsen

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. False hope is a poor substitute for action. If I were "living in a jade mine in Burma, with no earthly hope" I'd (as an atheist) be unencumbered by the fear of eternal damnation, and slit my wrists.

[nikola1389]

@TheNakedAtheist you would slit your wrists?Unreasonable,you'd try to break free or whatever you waned much before you'd kill you're self(if reason was the one thing guiding you) better to be in a situation where there is a posibility of happiness rather then a certain death.

[corkboard44]

Athiests pose question to theists that are difficult to answer such as why we suffer, but there are questions that evolutionists can't answer either.

Why has man not evolved any further? why have other animals not evolved, surely apes should be using small tools by now?

Athiests are living by God's law. Are they saying that murder and stealing is one of the lies of God and so ok to do? If their conscience tells them these things are wrong, then where does this conscience come from?

[indrim]

@corkboard44

had to retype reply :)

You do know that evolution takes millions of years right?

You can see evolution when you look at cave species with non-functional eyes.

There are people being born without an appendix / spleen. 1 second ago

[ytbabbler]

@corkboard44 When I read things like what you wrote I get sad, how can anyone be so completely ignorant and misinformed? It's tragic , please leave the ID homepages and read some useful things. First, we ARE apes. Then, we can really see progress, even animals using tools, and evolve is not always to be better as you see it, humans are maybe to smart to survive, making up religions and destruction until only better evolved arts takes over. watch?v=7w57_P9DZJ4 for example, search for more.

[unifiedreality]

I think the creator God comes from a belief in the seperation of "I" from the world around "I". Its a natural feeling about the mystery of life, and life is so personal. But even without any attempt to deify the mystery, the mystery (of existence) is pure wonder and sustenance for the "soul"

[BlankPicketSign]

Level 6 Atheist =^_^=

I love Richard Dawkins! and I wish Carl Sagan were still alive T_T

[lancimouspitt]

Using Jung as an example I think was in bad taste.

When Jung said "He knows" can be interperted in so many ways.

For example,Jung also stated he could not prove God exsist,but the God complex certainly does and can take numerous forms.

[Me0Am0I]

Where can I listen to this whole thing?

[skates89]

You know what the famous last words of every athiest are.........OH GOD  LOL

[skates89]

I tell ya what. Let this fag come down to the Hockey rink and watch me play. when he leaves he will believe he has seen God. He will leave shaking his head in utter disbelief. You know why? Because god is within man. Y Death is Boogyman. life is sacred. The soul is sacred, holy everlasting. That is truth. Athiests are just Poor self pittying souls who have no faith because of their propensity for self absorbtion and inner self hate. This guy even sounds like a fag

[Furl3ssmonkey00]

You sir, are a moron. Why is like sacred? Because they're is a god? No becuase it only happens one. What is ironic and just plain contridicting is the fact that you say "atheists are poor self pitying souls who have no faith becuase of their propensity for self absorption and inner self hate" yet call Richard Dawkins, a man who is way more intelligent then you, a fag. A word that is used with hate. You are just another religious fool who contradicts what they say. Follow what you preach.

[skates89]

What makes you think Dawkins is more intelligent than I am. Are you stoned. Intelligence my friend is defined by adaptabilty with that in mind Im a genious. Relax the guy is a fool all you athiests are as stated above and when die your last words will be Oh God please help me and im sur of that. Last I am not a religious person either so dont try that one on me. I worship a God of My Understanding how does that one work for ya. Not the god of anyone elses. It works out very well for me

[Furl3ssmonkey00]

What makes you think atheists lasts words are "Oh God please help me "? As far as intelligence, you may think your a genius but that is just self proclaimed. I'm sure you lack in categories. Like insulting atheists with a ignorant statement. Atheists believe that there is no god, and thats works very well for atheists.

[TheThrillingTheist]

athiests do not belive there is no God

they only deny his existence

[indrim]

@TheThrillingTheist

haha you ruh-tard, that's the same thing.

[celtic426]

great job spelling "genious", genius.

[TheThrillingTheist]

and what will your last words be?

"i'm a genius"?

[skates89]

Yes

[celtic426]

congratulations, you gave absolutely no reason or evidence for the existence of god, you just made up some "holy" shit.

[skates89]

I never proclaimed to give any evidence nor do I feel the need to. It is just as egocentric to claim the non existence of God or a god or many gods for that matter as it is for the christian to claim with absolute certainty that there is a God. I do not get into the scientific debate and anyone who claims they can prove Gods non existence, or claims he does not exist with absolutism is not very intelligent, that is what makes him so ignorant. Personally I think god laughs at he human condition,

[celtic426]

And I never provlaimed to know for sure that there is no god. I just lack a belief in one becasue I have seen no evidence to support the existence of one. It is impossible to prove that god doesn't exist. It's like saying, prove to me lepracuans don't exist. Or prove that bigfoot doesn't exist. You can't.

/sigh

[skates89]

Fair enough and so true

Isnt ironic however how no one comes back from the grave or can tell what lies behind it. Do you think that is by mistake? I don't. I think there is a perfectly good reason for it. It is all how you look at it. Ill say this also. if you committ a morally curupt act and try to sleep on it,. Who is it that occupies your conscience everynight. It is all how you look at it. ultimatly we get our answers after the grave. I trust the spirit, not mans word and Im not religious

[TheGreatDissolve]

I recommend a book called "The Law of One." It is a book by scientists who studied channeling, and, with 30 years of research going into this, were able to successfully channel a higher light being. You can read it for free online. You'll love it.

The ideas presented in this video are childish. There is a greater reality that exists, love, but within the limitations of instruments one uses it can't be seen. Consciousness itself is the vehicle.

[celtic426]

sorry but there's absolutely no evidence for a higher power. man has been looking for one for thousands of years and the best he have done is make up 1,000s of religions in order to find an explanation.

[practicalmagic9]

i have just requested this book (the god delusion) from my library.

[glork2007]

That comes from the God Delusion.

I loved that book.

[RebelRay]

Why do people still believe in atheism?? Why not turn to Science instead? Science rules!

[Lukas4C756B6173]

RebelRay, I don't know what you are talking about. You sound like you think science and atheism contradict, but science points more to atheism than to theism.

[rorrt]

they do, for the most part.

Ricky Gervais has said on stand up and on radio he is an athiest, when infact he is a naturalist, AKA someone who believes in the law of nature.

and i fall into that camp.

though i am also an athiest.

[smudge6699]

Holocaust is a Jewish word.

It's the name given to the religious sacrifice of children to Baal by fire now redefined to suit their needs.

Faith is a mental illness.

[rorrt]

i thought it was based apon

Holo which in Greek means Burn, or Burnt.

and Cast, means all, from the word Kaust.

[TheArcaneAvenger]

What about 8? I AM GOD!!!

[derre98]

Shouldn't that be 0?-)

[AwYeahBabe]

He is God but He doesn't believe in Himself. Who knew God wasn't confident? :P

[DirtyWhiteGoy]

The jewish scriptures are nothing but a slave manual disguised as a cookbook. The jews were too clever to pass down thru the generations a blatant slave manual for future jews to follow so they built an entire bogus religion around it so that future jews could always learn how to become slavemasters under the cloak of religion.

[FiskPole]

The reason every religion is filled with "miracles" and absurdities such as Noah's Ark or Tower of Babel is because the ignorant masses cannot be brainwashed thru being made to believe in stuff that makes perfect sense. You have to make the ignorant masses believe in stuff that is confusing and totally absurd in order to bring them under psychological control. Once you have the sheep brainwashed, you can syphon all their money and make them do your bidding.

[dechha1981]

Me;

Deist God, something so far beyond us that our existance is irrelevant to eachother; 4

Cthulhu,Q, Unicron, some kind of God-like alien; 5

Zeus, Thor, Ra, Khali, Pan, the other gods of Earth mythology; 6

Jehovah, the god of Judo-Christian mythology; 7

[JohnTraviss]

I'm the same with the deist god. Though all other gods are 6. God-like aliens are also 4.

[topbluffa1]

5 and 6 are about where i am and make sense.

1 and 7 are just as bad as each other in my opinion as they both claim to KNOW somthing they cannot.

[joshsowords]

So there are only seven interpretations that are relevant to the belief in divinity? Sureeeeeeee, Mr.Dawkins it might be time to read an introduction to post-structuralism (don't worry its not a religious text).

[BryanAJParry]

TheNakedAtheist, you made a typo! Your points 4 and 5 are identical!

[shanejacobus]

I don't believe in God. I hope there is a heaven and if there is indeed a God at the forefront of it all, I hope he judges us by what we do as opposed to what we believe. But I would never count on it. What does that make me?

[skates89]

An agnostic

[shanejacobus]

I was inquiring as to where that puts me on Dawkins' scale.

[Hexachloraphine]

3.99

[HandsOffJimmy]

There isn't a single sentence in the Old or New testament that couldn't have been written by someone alive during the mid-Bronze Age or the late-Bronze Age which should clue people to the fact that it is all the result of human invention. Just like people during the Dark Ages should have been clued to the curvature of the earth by watching outgoing ships disappear from bottom to top. But people today have the same cephalic index as 50,000 years ago so the nonsense continues.

[PWE1980]

To be a number 7 is to claim knowledge that no body can ever know. It is taking a leap of faith, precisely what atheists are against.

[TheNakedAtheist]

On one hand I agree, on the other we have to consider the origins of the god concept. Invented by primitive man with no answers for anything. I would consider myself a 7 regarding the flying spaghetti monster. I don't know that any god concept deserves more consideration.

[PWE1980]

I think you are missing Dawkins' point here. Like Bertrand Russell's flying teapot, Dawkins is saying (in a purely philosophical sense) that it's impossible for a human being to ever 'know' anything 100%. The moment you claim to know something 100%, whether it be a positive assertion or a negative one, you have injected an element of faith into your reasoning. I can only be a no.6 with regards to the flying spahetti monster. If I claim 7 I am claiming a philosophical impossibility using faith.

[TheNakedAtheist]

"I think you are missing Dawkins' point here. Like Bertrand Russell's flying teapot, Dawkins is saying (in a purely philosophical sense) that it's impossible for a human being to ever 'know' anything 100%"

I understand the point. I can state many things with 100% certainty. Perhaps not from a philosophical standpoint, since even my existence can be questioned, but from a practical one. I wouldn't call myself a 7, but I can understand why some people do.

[PWE1980]

But even with practical points, the moment you claim 100% certainty you pay a price. You lose credibility as a speaker, your assertion can be mistaken for arrogance (theists are all too eager to point out arrogance), you are seen as non-compromising and fundamental. There really is no harm in saying "There is a chance I could be wrong". Let the argument turn on the shading of evidence-based probability. You still arrive at the same destination and you won't have employed any faith to get there.

[TrevorKingKwong]

@TheNakedAtheist

What is your 'practical standpoint?'

[Hexachloraphine]

Why do you say to the previous comment "on the one hand I agree" and then go on to make it obviously clear to everyone that you don't.

You sevens are totally Illogical, you are completely fuzzy brained Illogicalnl actually.

[KasparHauser4]

Well I am a 7

[NragedXX]

im tryin to get the word out, is it helping are they finding u??

[nicanicabad]

I'm an 8

[Katatawnic]

Nah babe, you're a 10! ;)

[nicanicabad]

Love and spoons! Be well, ok?

[Katatawnic]

Workin' on it, and back atcha. :)