tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9695096.post3421034812516429192..comments2024-02-14T03:56:12.027-08:00Comments on La Salette Journey: Richard Dawkins and the Battle for Humankind's FuturePaul Anthony Melansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08455719838570381999noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9695096.post-68963219967556763962010-08-18T21:05:46.244-07:002010-08-18T21:05:46.244-07:00Can't wait for Dawkins to debate Dr. William L...Can't wait for Dawkins to debate Dr. William Lane Craig.<br /><br /><br />Oh wait. Dawkins won't debate him. He knows he is outmatched.He wouldn't fare any better than "God is Not Great" himself, Chris Hitchens who quite frankly looked foolish in his debate with Craig. <br /><br />So much for the irrationality of Christianity ey?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9695096.post-28075859999450712622010-08-18T16:50:42.958-07:002010-08-18T16:50:42.958-07:00The termite colony cannot sustain itself so it mus...The termite colony cannot sustain itself so it must "appropriate other people's children" to survive. Good thoughts anonymous.Paul Anthony Melansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08455719838570381999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9695096.post-46991272116068641972010-08-18T15:51:42.500-07:002010-08-18T15:51:42.500-07:00A school on the West Coast is holding up Lucifer a...A school on the West Coast is holding up Lucifer as a model:<br /><br />http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/<br />Default.aspx?id=1126896Paul Anthony Melansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08455719838570381999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9695096.post-88924242433880465272010-08-18T15:46:22.133-07:002010-08-18T15:46:22.133-07:00I think I've got Dawkins' motivation.
The...I think I've got Dawkins' motivation.<br /><br />The brute truth is that, at all income levels, the more religious you are, the more children you have.<br /><br />Immigration? That comes from countries with high birth rates, which, you guessed it, are religious countries.<br /><br />So, the demographics are quite stark for humanists/atheists like Dawkins, so they must appropriate other people's children to even have a chance of competing in the democratic stakes.<br /><br />So, note how he seeks to undermine parents' rights to educate their children and tries to impose nebulous children's 'rights', ones they obviously are unfit to exercise until they have completed their primary and secondary education.<br /><br />One thing I find odd about Dawkins. As religious education is so weak at the tertiary level in the UK, why doesn't he have greater confidence in secular education at that level?<br /><br />Something I found unpleasant about the programme was the focus on veiled Muslim women. They are far, far less common than bare-headed or merely scarfed Muslim women in the UK, so why emphasise the point? To scare the horses?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9695096.post-42303081456338153242010-08-18T15:35:31.874-07:002010-08-18T15:35:31.874-07:00Anonymous writes, "More pathetic is the attem...Anonymous writes, "More pathetic is the attempt to characterize our disbelief in your gods and goddesses as a religion."<br /><br />First of all, we do not believe in "gods and goddesses." Secondly, Secular Humanism has been labelled a religion notonly b Secular Humanists as Paul noted, but by the United States Supreme Court. From Wikipedia:<br /><br /><br />The phrase "Secular Humanism" became prominent after it was used in the United States Supreme Court case Torcaso v. Watkins. In the 1961 decision, Justice Hugo Black commented in a footnote, "Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism, and others."<br /><br />The footnote in Torcaso v. Watkins referenced Fellowship of Humanity v. County of Alameda, a 1957 case in which an organization of humanists sought a tax exemption on the ground that they used their property "solely and exclusively for religious worship." Despite the group's non-theistic beliefs, the court determined that the activities of the Fellowship of Humanity, which included weekly Sunday meetings, were analogous to the activities of theistic churches and thus entitled to an exemption.<br /><br />The Fellowship of Humanity case itself referred to Humanism but did not mention the term Secular Humanism. Nonetheless, this case was cited by Justice Black to justify the inclusion of Secular Humanism in the list of religions in his note. Presumably Justice Black added the word secular to emphasize the non-theistic nature of the Fellowship of Humanity and distinguish their brand of humanism from that associated with, for example, Christian humanism.<br /><br />Another case alluded to in the Torcaso v. Watkins footnote, and said by some to have established secular humanism as a religion under the law, is the 1957 tax case of Washington Ethical Society v. District of Columbia, 249 F.2d 127 (D.C. Cir. 1957). The Washington Ethical Society functions much like a church, but regards itself as a non-theistic religious institution, honoring the importance of ethical living without mandating a belief in a supernatural origin for ethics. The case involved denial of the Society's application for tax exemption as a religious organization. The U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the Tax Court's ruling, defined the Society as a religious organization, and granted its tax exemption.Stewartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9695096.post-72277899539738541712010-08-18T13:57:43.031-07:002010-08-18T13:57:43.031-07:00The fact that secular humanism is a religion is a ...The fact that secular humanism is a religion is a point recognized even by secular humanists. Again, as humanist John Dumphy said, "I am convinced that the battle for humankind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity that recognizes and respects the spark of what theologians call divinity in every human being. These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preacher, for they will be ministers of another servant, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subjects they teach regardless of the educational level - preschool daycare or large state university. The classroom must and will become and area of conflict between the old and the new - the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery and the new faith of humanism resplendent in its promise of a world in which the never realized Christian idea of 'love thy neighbor' will finally be achieved." (The Humanist, January/February 1983, p. 26).<br /><br />In other words, Humanism is an intolerant religion which seeks to engage in indoctrination and coercion and to eradicate Christianity.Paul Anthony Melansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08455719838570381999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9695096.post-75540283544425375912010-08-18T09:07:58.092-07:002010-08-18T09:07:58.092-07:00Nonsense. A/As don't care a BIT whether you be...Nonsense. A/As don't care a BIT whether you believe in imaginary gods and goddesses. What we DO care about is you attempting to indoctrinate our hildren into your ridiculous beliefs, especially in the public school science classroom.<br /><br />"Devastating critique"? LOL! More like "pathetic whine."<br /><br />More pathetic is the attempt to characterize our disbelief in your gods and goddesses as a "religion." It would, in fact be laughable if it weren't so sad and ridiculous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9695096.post-25686460911628409912010-08-18T08:55:24.348-07:002010-08-18T08:55:24.348-07:00Dawkins wants primacy for his religion. He is, li...Dawkins wants primacy for his religion. He is, like Terry Sanderson, a religious proselytizer preaching an atheistic humanism which offers mankind not hope but only despair. He is a bigot who is intolerant toward religion.ACatholicinClintonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9695096.post-36281591655352856812010-08-18T07:33:45.267-07:002010-08-18T07:33:45.267-07:00What a devastating critique of the religion of Hum...What a devastating critique of the religion of Humanism. These people hate the Catholic Church because she alone stands effectively in the way of their religion and their desire to create a "utopia" of free sex and a godless state.Ted Loiseaunoreply@blogger.com