15 posts tagged “richard dawkins”

Daniel Dennett's talk at AAI 07 is especially good. I'm loving these videos that are coming out of the conference. Dennett also wins the Richard Dawkins Award. Also features small parts by Julia Sweeney (I am eagerly awaiting her movie Letting Go of God) and Richard Dawkins.

(if you want to skip the introductions and get right to the lecture—I recommend that you don't, but if you do—it starts around 17 minutes)

This is from The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science's AAI 2007 conference. Andy Thomson goes over the motivations of those who engage in Suicidal Terrorism. An eye opening and powerful lecture on an issue that has shaped politics and international relations for the past couple decades.

 

This interview with Alister McGrath was originally intended for Richard Dawkins documentary The Root of All Evil? For those of you who are more interested in a more sophisticated faith this is an interview you would be interested in. The interview is in full and uncut.

I get the impression that McGrath is making unfair assumptions about the nature of God, while Dawkins tries to probe these assumptions he simply dodges the question with some fancy intellectual footwork. Which, indeed, mirrors my own frustrations with dealing with the more sophisticated versions of theology.

Plus, I liked McGrath a lot more before he got on talking about Jesus.

Very short as debates go, but worth a listen.

 

For all the railing I did the other day on journalists not listening to what Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett are trying to say, I feel a bit of obligation to point out when they get it right. This is a recent Times article by Ruth Gledhill, a Religion Correspondent and believer of some sort (it's not clear exactly what her beliefs are, as is far too common with sensible believers), that gets it right. Mostly.

I don't agree with some of her conclusions about Dawkins, or even some of her musings. I think she misses the point just slightly in her zeal to align Dawkins with her "camp." But her attempts to listen to, understand, and have a meaningful dialogue with Dawkins is apparent, insightful, and very refreshing.

For those of you who have only had a brief glimpse into the complex personality that Richard Dawkins is, who have had their opinions of him swayed by slack-jawed articles with no understanding or compassion, this is a marvelous article.

Design geek tangent: I think the Times Online website rivals the New York Times website for best designed newspaper website on the web. It's fantastic.

I hate the way BIll O'Reilly interviews people, it doesn't aid in the understanding of the guest. This interview was a bit too short and O'Reilly dominates most of it rather than allowing Dawkins to make his points. As for the "Hitler and Stalin" argument, I've talked about why that is untrue before (and is personally one of my favorite posts I've written).

Recently posted on the TED website is this video of Richard Dawkins 2002 presentation. Since then, Richard Dawkins has gained worldwide attention for his "militant" brand of atheism, with detractors from both the religious and secular camps. But he also has his supporters, of which, I am one. 

Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and AC Grayling (whom I was unfamiliar with until I found this) debate religion with a "trio of religious authorities" in London. The debate is centered around a discussion of statement, "We'd be better off without Religion." Go to RichardDawkins.net to listen to the debate.

Here are the videos from todays segment on Atheism on Paula Zahn Now. I think Dawkins again shows his composure and cool-headedness (and was still able to deliver a powerful message) while I think Ellen Johnson's was a little to battle-ready. I think she could've used a couple different approaches and I was more impressed with Rachel Maddow's argument. Overall, though, I think the interview with Dawkins was the strongest message to be sending to religious folks.

I just finished watching CNN's follow up report on the report on Atheists & Discrimination. I think it went a lot better this time around. They showed half of the original segment on atheists being discriminated against, a pre-taped interview with Richard Dawkins and a follow up panel that featured Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists.

I think Dawkins spoke very well and I agreed with all of his points. The media is all too hungry for sound-bites and Dawkins clearly has his down pat. The panel didn't go as well, as Ellen Johnson (who I think doesn't spend enough time working on her sound-bites) I think could've been more inclusionary with her points about atheists in the political arena and she wasn't very eloquent when the Christian representative pressed her to explain "where atheists get their morality from."

A lot of the talk against atheists, as always, comes from a misunderstanding of what atheists are and what they want. We don't want to push atheism on other people but we do want to exercise our first amendment rights, particularly the right to speak out for things we believe and the right not to have religion imposed upon us in the public sphere. We don't want to take out god from the pledge and off of money because that somehow forces Christians to accept atheism, we want to do this because it protects everyone's religious freedoms.

The trite example of the pledge saying "under Allah" or our currency reading "In Allah We Trust" carry the same weight as they always have. I'm sure Christians wouldn't accept that if this was the situation. Christians want exclusive rights to have their religion endorsed by the American government, but this is not the system we have set up. If you don't agree with the first amendment, that's fine, but that changes the whole argument.

This isn't a Christian nation, this is a secular nation full of Christians, there is a distinct difference. I'll post the video when and if I come across it on YouTube.