The Virus of Faith (5/5) - Richard Dawkins

Fifth (and last) part of the 2006 documentary The Virus of Faith. Biologist and professor Richard Dawkins opines that the moral framework of religions is warped, and argues against the religious indoctrination of children. The title of this documentary comes from The Selfish Gene, in which Dawkins discussed the concept of memes.

Dawkins also argues that the process of non-thinking called faith is not a way of understanding the world, but instead stands in fundamental opposition to modern science and the scientific method, and is divisive and dangerous.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Altruism
• Chimpanzee
• Chimps
• God
• Pope
• Muslims
• Christians
• Nature
• Evolution
• Animals
• Islam
• Religion
• Christianity
• Allah
• Mohammed
• Faith
• Science

[rarehman]

I just fell in love with Richard Dawkins. He is an awesome teacher of science. Thank you so much for being our voice.

Sincerely,

A self made and happy Atheist from a muslim background.

[Fragem420]

So the bible is basically about this concept.

If you don't sieg Heil Jesus he will send you to an eternal fiery concentration camp.

[TheHolyLuc]

"There's no real huge difference. It's just that you can think of chimps as MS-DOS and humans as Windows 2000."

I love that quote.

[Fashion4life]

This is so true, my fascination for nature, and to ask questions made me see that this world could not have been created by some type of deity, when it's so much more complex than any scripture ever written. Oh how I wish more people could see this and ask questions! I wish my bf, could see this documentary and have a change of mind, I know he wont though.=)

[weaseldragon]

@blackflashist There is a belief that the tendency to hold stronger religious beliefs has a genetic component (i.e., "the God gene"). Ironically, that makes me much more sympathetic to believers.

[leafblight27]

@cyprokka >thinks im trying to get into an internet argument. -_-

[cyprokka]

@leafblight27 Oh I see, blame it on the victims because one day when the world shits on them one too many times, they become desperate to find a way out and look for the nearest exit. Obviously thats not the smart thing to do, but can you really blame them? I mean when your life is down the toilet, are you gonna turn to someone who says "what more do you want?" or someone who says "blow up the world trade center for us, and get 70 virgins!"

[cyprokka]

@Denladouceur Certainly true in that religions discourage contraception, but that doesn't change the fact that those affected by it are victims and to ask them "what more do you want?", would be a grave insult. And how about the homeless people who are just victims of an unfair capitalist system? Those people are not rare to come by. I'm not standing up for religion, it is dangerous and deeply insulting. But that doesn't make the question asked by Dawkins any less insulting.

[bijoukaiba]

8:11 - 8:37 It really does make one reflect on their life.

VoF's earlier discussion on indoctrinating children is a very powerful point. As silly as it may seem to bring childhood shows into this, I grew up watching shows like "Beakman's World", "Bill Nye the Science Guy", and "The Magic School Bus" as an impressionable 5-7 year old, and my family started to attend church regularly by the time I was 7-8. Without that exposure to science, I might not be watching this video as an atheist today.

[LordSolarAwesome]

OK, who's the ass hat that handled the background music? It seems so inappropriate at times...

[leafblight27]

@cyprokka those are the very same people that see a way out of their hell hole of a life when people spout crap like "Blow up the world trade center for us, and get 70 virgins!"

[famousgirl9x9]

That last saying at the end of the video from him was simply brilliant.

Bless this man.