tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9684236.post116490222360618907..comments2023-10-16T06:10:24.969-04:00Comments on Julie Unplugged: Dawkins calls out weak-willed atheistsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00088119765077193302noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9684236.post-1165192908152927642006-12-03T19:41:00.000-05:002006-12-03T19:41:00.000-05:00It would help if Dawkins had substance. He is such...It would help if Dawkins had substance. He is such a philosophical lightweight that Stephen Colbert, joking around, made points Dawkins could not refute. Now, I will be the first to admit that there are some philosophically valid forms of atheism. Dawkins, however, doesn't seem to have discovered any of them.<BR/><BR/>Furthermore, he doesn't seem to grasp what the issues are, let alone counter them, like those made directly against his clumsy metaphysical assertions by Alistair McGrath, a scientist and theologian and Stephen Barr, a particle physicist. I mean Dawkins fails to recognize the simple distinction between physics and metaphysics and how, even logically, his sweeping metaphysical assertions simply do not and cannot follow from only empirical premises. He doesn't seem to understand that so-called <I>facts</I> are not as value neutral as he thinks.<BR/><BR/>Since he so clumsy at logic, it is difficult for me to even take him seriously as a scientist.Dcn Scott Dodgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09994604395739905637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9684236.post-1165003942368749492006-12-01T15:12:00.000-05:002006-12-01T15:12:00.000-05:00Are atheists really despised? unelectable? Maybe ...Are atheists really despised? unelectable? Maybe I'm living in a different time zone (or probably thinking of the one I grew up in), but atheism or at least agnosticism seems the default position or most people -- even some who would call themselves "Christian." As a Christian, I don't see why the position should be any more scary than any other. It's faith position like any other, one that could held with as much humility or arrogance as the one I happen to believe in.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9684236.post-1164946902827814102006-11-30T23:21:00.000-05:002006-11-30T23:21:00.000-05:00Julie:(This has nothing to do with this post.) Yo...Julie:<BR/><BR/>(This has nothing to do with this post.) You've been tagged for a fun holiday exercise -- details on my blog!<BR/><BR/>- MattNoVA Dadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16661990626635939447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9684236.post-1164940346988684492006-11-30T21:32:00.000-05:002006-11-30T21:32:00.000-05:00I like what Joseph Campbell said when asked if he ...I like what Joseph Campbell said when asked if he believed in God by Bill Moyers. He answered that he didn't beleive in a "personal God." From what I gathered I think he did admit to believing in the Mystery and something bigger than ourselves.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9684236.post-1164924243382551982006-11-30T17:04:00.000-05:002006-11-30T17:04:00.000-05:00Dawkins takes himself and his cause too seriously....Dawkins takes himself and his cause too seriously. I saw some clips of him debating Ted Haggard in the "Jesus Camp" video and thought to myself "here are two guys with a lot of clout and influence, neither of whom really get it."David Blakesleehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12167200509158903679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9684236.post-1164916977399308972006-11-30T15:02:00.000-05:002006-11-30T15:02:00.000-05:00I will only speak up for Dawkins, et.al. when he a...I will only speak up for Dawkins, et.al. when he admits atheism is a position of faith arrived at by examining evidence and then taking a leap of, well, faith. You cannot *prove* a negative in the way he insists has been done and it is intellectually dishonest to say otherwise.<BR/><BR/>OTOH, we all know that where I come from atheists are not by any means a dispised group. Far from it; throw an atheist and an Independent Fundamental Baptist into a UU group and see which one gets despised first ;-)<BR/><BR/>Rebecca <BR/>(who has never speak even an enjoyable 5 minutes listening to ranting so maybe I just can't identify. . .)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9684236.post-1164905486501595452006-11-30T11:51:00.000-05:002006-11-30T11:51:00.000-05:00Perhaps he could speak in a less fundamentalist ma...Perhaps he could speak in a less fundamentalist manner. :-) However, I think if more aetheists and agnostics were free to share openly, it would change the landscape in America. For the record, I don't think it would be for the worse. Maybe if we can accept aetheists and agnostics as normal human beings, some kind and some not so kind-- just like Christians,it would help us accept people of all races and belief systems. I think we (myself included) are so afraid of anyone who looks and thinks differently than we do. I'm hopeful that change is coming and I know it begins with me. So, I'm educating myself on whether people that look different than me are really that different. For the most part, I'm finding we have a lot more in common than I thought. Currently reading the simple book "Oneness" and that is helping.<BR/><BR/>SusanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com