The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins

Like God will do, until we can come up with something else. That frustrates me. I should read more about this, but I think exams in the next week are probably more important. After that I can spend a large chunk of time sorting my opinions on the subject, and finding out what's going on. I think, as far as I know, most scientists are loath to say anything on the subject until they've gotten somewhere. Until there's something definite and publishable, they don't want a massive hype about it, or people will assume it already happened.

 

Totally agree - language isn't just about being able to order beer and steak in Spain. The essence of a culture is found in its language - when you learn that language and are able to THINK in it (not just parrot phrases) you can see the world from a different perspective - either one close(ish) to our own, e.g German, French, etc. or one completely different - Chinese, Japanese, Tamil, Hindi etc.
"Religious education" should be scrapped in the form it is today. Teachers should be specifically forbidden from allowing a personal bias to intrude - equal weighting needs to be given to the 6 major world religions, with I'd say at least a third of classroom time given over to the less common ones (Shamanism, neo-paganism, Shinto, Baha'i, Jainism etc). Also atheism needs to be presented as a valid perspective, just not as a lack of belief.
On the other hand, kids definitely need to learn more about politics - not just Labour/conservative/Lib Dems, but the essence of politics - making the voice of the people heard, standing up for your rights and freedoms. if they'd done that in the 80s and 90s, Blair and Thatcher would never have been allowed to take root.

 

I dont get atheism It makes me feel really uninetellectual. But i just cant understand it

 

In the book Dawkins makes the point that every member of a religion knows exactly what it's like to be an atheist - about the gods of the other religions. We are all atheists about the old gods of the Romans and Greeks like Thor, Zeus, Apollo etc. Personally I can't fathom theism. To be convinced that your life is secretly influenced by gods and spirits which you have no valid reason to believe exist. I have no idea what that would be like...

"Every religion gets one thing right - that all the others are wrong."
- Richard Herring

 

players in reality, to answer a previous post.

 

For me its not about influence...theres nothing pushing us in one direction or the other, nothing up there looking down lovingly and nurturing or a God causing famine or anything like that, and most CERTAINLY not punishing. So no, its not a guide or an influence and doesnt cancel out free will at all. It saddens me to see people AT WAR because of GOD. Thats insane. And a belief in God shouldnt be tangled up with religion, not for me anyway....

For me, its a being...a presence...just something that IS, in every living thing. I see it everywhere. The patterns of the world...everything in circles and cycles...i see something simple like a leaf or a mouse and its a little miracle, it has...soul. That being. It couldnt be created by man without other organic matter. Its us, its the other animals, and its how we can be so beautiful as to love. And i just cant deny that presence, because for me, its THERE

Religions a totally different thing. Im not religious in a gang of people get together and read from books and "praise" or slag off other peoples Gods kind of way. Its subtle, so hard to explain

I respect atheism, i see the arguments...i just cant FEEL it

 

Nothing in what you say is contrary to an atheistic take on the universe. By the way you struggled to use the word "soul" I think you are using it metaphorically rather than in its stictly supernatural sense. It's possible to be moved with a profound sense of wonder at the deep mysteries of the universe and to be stirred with an awareness of the incredible beauty of life and still be an atheist - I'd say that's what atheism gives you rather than being something it takes away.

People make the mistake of thinking that atheism is cold and 'soulless' and is about rejecting beauty and mystery and awe and wonder. It's really nothing of the sort. An understanding of the physical principles that create our universe and us and an awareness of the mysteries of the universe about which we still know very little can and should drive anyone who considers them for a moment to an incredible realisation about something of the nature of life, the universe and our place in it. Consider the incredible complexity of the double helix of DNA which exists in the cells of every living thing and whose combinations can create an infinite variety of creatures and experience and consciousness itself! An understanding of DNA and genetic heredity is amazing and awe-inspiring: far more so than any talk of "soul".

Atheism opens up a much more profound sense of awe and wonder at the true beauty of existence than superstitions ever can It sounds like you are an atheist but just don't know it yet.

 

Dawkins reads his new preface to the paperback edition of the book, appropriately enough on a boat in the Galapagos Islands where Darwin's studies led him to his discovery of the origin of species by natural selection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGmALkvcG2M

Interesting discussion afterwards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOzziDh-0_Y