Good Reasons for "Believing" in God - Dan Dennett, AAI 2007

Dan Dennett's talk at the AAI 2007 Conference in Washington, D.C. He is presented with the 2007 Richard Dawkins award at the introduction.

Read Dan Dennett's 'THANK GOODNESS!' artilcle here: http://richarddawkins.net/article,280,n,n

Buy the DVD with all the AAI 2007 videos here: http://store.richarddawkins.net/products/aai-2007-conference-video-by-rdfs

http://richarddawkins.net
http://richarddawkinsfoundation.org
http://atheistalliance.org

Filmed by
JOSH TIMONEN
WAYNE MARSALA

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Daniel Dennett
• Daniel C. Dennett
• Philosophy
• Darwin
• Religion
• Belief
• Atheism

[GrissomLovesSara]

@chromeninjar3d Why did God wait until 2000 years ago to 'give us laws?' Humans have roamed the Earth far longer than that. Didn't God think THOSE humans deserved laws too? Come on! Men wrote the bible; woman-hating men! As a woman, I have zero respect for the bible. It may as well be a rap song. I don't consider myself chattel and I laugh at a book that suggests I should be. Any woman who holds a bible in her hands and gets a good feeling should have her head examined! Seriously!

[GrissomLovesSara]

@chromeninjar3d Sorry to inform you, but racism and sexism are alive and well. If you can't acknowledge that, there's no point. Go read about Female Genital Mutilation then get back to me. It's real and it's going on in the name of God/religion as we speak. It's easy to dismiss it when it's not your genitals getting scraped off with a sharp rock.

[BrunooHenriqueeYT]

The top comment is great, I can't understand a woman who is proud of Bible stuff. I believe in God, but I hate how churches worked to use his name as a way to make people suffer while they make money. Stupid.

[TheSamuraiGoomba]

1:04:55 I just have to say, this quote about "factual realism" and "practical realism" seems moronic. Isn't most factual realism practical in a sense? Isn't "practical realism" another way of saying "a convenient lie?" Isn't the author glorifying ignorance, as long as it is useful to somebody? This seems like social darwinism, and rather stupid.

[pianOracle]

@Jafandahalf finally, for this series, let me point, since I believe you'll ask: who are those rebels? What are they rebelling against???" Well, those rebels simply rebel against God's grace. There is literally no reason in the world why anyone should be lost and go to hell. We were all awaiting the death penalty attached to sin. We have all been given the bail through Jesus-Christ. However! If you refuse to leave the jail, no one can force you out. Rebels chose to stay bound.

[pianOracle]

@Jafandahalf if you're reading this in its entirety, do not look @ it as more than me enlightening you on concepts that perhaps you've always been left in the dark about or just never encountered: Isaiah 66: 22-24, Old testament prophecy on new earth and heaven events. Highlight v. 24, where we'll see (assuming we'll all make it who are sincere) CORPSES of rebels, who's worms will not die, who's fire will not be quenched. NO reference of souls being tormented??? No. None.

[pianOracle]

@Jafandahalf only 3 characters are said to suffer eternal torment in the Bible: Lucifer, the beast (whoever that is) and the false prophet (whoever he is!) Notice how even the demons aren't said to have to suffer eternal damnation THOUGH we know for a fact that they've been (well we Christians. not yall..) contributing to a deceptive story from the foundation of biblical earth. 3 characters. No more! Yet, there is NO turning back from that death. That's why Grace stepped in first!

[pianOracle]

@Jafandahalf you're ABSOLUTELY correct! in other words. eternal punishment indeed still remains heavily in the minds of far too many living (not only Christians) but I'd say PEOPLE in general. It is a spiritual distortion, even an attack on the character of a loving God who desires to save humanity, NOT destroy it. For, had He desired to merely destroy it, He would not logically have sent His only begotten son. Hell is not an eternal torment but a death of eternal length.

[pianOracle]

@Jafandahalf ...enough intelligence to understand. Perhaps, if Christians took science more seriously, their lack of futile acceptance without questioning would lead them to accurately search the Holy Scriptures, instead of merely accepting what has been told to the from generations on & forth. The Bible declares NOWHERE that there is eternal torment for non-believers. It DOES declare however, that once the lost suffer it, there is no more hope for their salvation. No purgatory.

[pianOracle]

@Jafandahalf the point I'm making is the rest are killed, not tormented eternally. Now, check out Revelation 20: 7-10. A resurrection takes place! The lost are resurrected and Ha'satan tempts them once more. Void of the Spirit of God, they fall yet again. V. 9 states that fire will "DEVOUR" those deceived. Again, NO mention of humans being eternally tormented in hell, but LO! Read v. 10, and of course, I need not explain to you which 3 characters are spoken of since you have ..

[pianOracle]

@Jafandahalf I'm not sure if you took time personally to read the Bible (not catechism but the Bible) and see what it has to say on the process of hell. If you would turn the pages of your e-Bible or if u have an actual one, to Rev. 19:17-21, you'll notice that in v. 20, the beast and the false prophet are BOTH cast alive into the lake of fire. The rest are KILLED by the sword. This is not intended to be Bible study, so if you want to find out who the rest is, feel free...

[Jafandahalf]

@mdilla11 The reason behind it is more to counter religion than as to whether or not God exists. As a society, we have witnessed religion used time and time again as a tool to hinder both social progress and scientific exploration. One of Dennett's focusing points in his explanations for his work deal with the (wrong) idea that belief in God is the only way one can have morality, and that religious belief is the driving force behind willful ignorance of science. Is that really so uninteresting?