Thursday, May 23, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
This house believes Organised Religion has no place in the 21st Century
This house believes that Organised Religion has no place in the 21st Century: Cambridge Union Society - Dawkins, Copson, Ahmed vs Williams, Ramadan, Murray
1:40 Andrew Copson:
Clarification: Organised religion not Personal Religion. Org. R should not be banned or persecuted or eliminated or wiped out but the harm it does outweighs the good it does.
3:35 Back of envelope calculations. balance of good : harm of R in the past - hospices, charitable endeavours v Crusades, witch-burning, the Inquisition, 9/11. Avicena v Osama Bin Laden, Francis of Assis v Adolf Hitler
4:11 Context: democratic, existential threats, social media, interconnected . In 21st Century context what is best place to get attitudes, ethics and habits of mind - not from organised R.
4:44 Debunk attitude that R is a special spur to moral or social action. In UK non religious volunteers = religious volunteers. Organised Religion adds nothing to compassion and empathy, R In Group more kindly. Tribalism. Fight your neighbour against your better instincts. Ethics of R is harmful
8:09 What is morality? Artefect of humanity. R have commandments external to reality, dehumanises ethics. Blasphemy as bad as murder. eg birth control, Abortions.
10:30 Democracy instant knowledge free exchange of info. Human freedom advanced. Prop up repressive regimes.
11.40: What is good in R is not unique. Simple human compassion. Decisions based on evidence with the goal of human welfare, global organisation. Sectarianism, fossilised authoritarianism - organised R a force for harm rather than good.
13: 40 - 25:10 Rowan Williams
25: 11 - 29:00 Questions
29:00 Richard Dawkins
Scientific Truth: Is R true? Truth morally is important. Deist god of the physicist - a god not worth praying to but worthy of worship. Obsession of christian god is Sin. God with 100 billions galaxies doesn't care who you sleep with! Sins of non-existent Adam. Original Sin born in sin. Not very moral.
35:50 Own existence is most amazing! Eyes are amazing! Brought about by mechanical processes.
38:20 Design v Evolution Before Darwin, argument for design is fallacious. Gaps shrink - cannot resort to a designer; god requires own designer.
40:00 - 42:00 supernatural explanation explains nothing. Peddles pseudo explanations get in way of real explanations.
1:10:00 Arif Ahmed
No shred of evidence for beliefs of Rowan Williams. Evidence would be valid argument with true premises or empirical evidence eg pharma and planes fly. All Rs are included.
1:16:00 Higher rates of homicide with R. Gay penalties in Uganda.
1:19:20 Freedom of Speech - Danish cartoons
1:22:20 Douglas Murray
I'm an Atheist. Jesus & Mohammed made it up! R is dogmatic. Atheism is quiet in face of death, suffering, reconcilliation, repentance. R is not literally true - can R carry people - yes.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
There Is Nothing Special About Religion, Paul Bloom - HASSNERS Review
Follow conversation to this tweet for the review.
There Is Nothing Special About Religion, Paul Bloom, 1hr 20m via @talksofinterest youtube.com/watch?v=ttSULf…
— HASSNERS Video (@HASSNERS_Video) May 18, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Friday, May 10, 2013
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Sceptics or Skeptics?
Sceptics with a C are usually doubting for the sake of it. Sceptical about 9/11? Use a C. #greenwichsitp
— Live Skeptic(@LiveSkeptic) May 1, 2013
Skeptics with a K espouse evidence based approach #greenwichsitp
— Live Skeptic(@LiveSkeptic) May 1, 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)