“We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in..” - says Richard Dawkins

[Anonymous]

Since we care so much about what Dawkins says, he also says:

“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”

“I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.”

“There is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else has a responsibility to give your life meaning and point… The truly adult view, by contrast, is that our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it.”

“Do you really mean to tell me the only reason you try to be good is to gain God's approval and reward, or to avoid his disapproval and punishment? That's not morality, that's just sucking up, apple-polishing, looking over your shoulder at the great surveillance camera in the sky, or the still small wiretap inside your head, monitoring your every move, even your every base though.”

“To be fair, much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and 'improved' by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors and copyists, unknown to us and mostly unknown to each other, spanning nine centuries”

“Faith can be very very dangerous, and deliberately to implant it into the vulnerable mind of an innocent child is a grievous wrong.”

“Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is the belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.”

“The majority of children born into the world tend to inherit the beliefs of their parents, and that to me is one of the most regrettable facts of them all.”

And so many more, if we are to truly understand what he thinks.

[Anonymous]

This all seems heavily influenced/based on Christianity, and then using that to condemn all religion.

[Anonymous]

Most of that, especially the name-calling, is Dawkins' opinion, not his science. He's welcome to his opinion, but don't expect us to be impressed.

[Anonymous]

Yeah. I don’t really GAF what he says.

[Anonymous]

Meh, he’s repeatedly said he likes Christianity. Dude is either lying or grifting about his atheism. Probably grifting.

[Anonymous]

from his website:

Richard Dawkins
Bio
One of the most respected scientists in the world and the biggest draw in secularism, Richard Dawkins always generates impressive crowds when visiting North America. Secularism is sweeping America as a movement, and Richard Dawkins is the catalyst who galvanizes it.

Sure dude.

[Anonymous]

The title quote is so true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meh, he’s repeatedly said he likes Christianity. Dude is either lying or grifting about his atheism. Probably grifting.

The people who complain about donating money to a charity or tithing to church should examine the cost of listening to Dawkins talk for an evening. With taxes and fees and parking it’s probably about $75 per hour, if he speaks for 4 hours, which is highly doubtful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meh, he’s repeatedly said he likes Christianity. Dude is either lying or grifting about his atheism. Probably grifting.

The people who complain about donating money to a charity or tithing to church should examine the cost of listening to Dawkins talk for an evening. With taxes and fees and parking it’s probably about $75 per hour, if he speaks for 4 hours, which is highly doubtful.

You think offering tickets for what is essentially a public performance that people can choose to attend and being told that you need to send a large percentage of your income to a preacher if you want you and your family to go to heaven are the same thing?

That's some TWISTED logic right there.

[Anonymous]

What’s up with all these Dawkins threads

[Anonymous]

From J. Warner Wallace of Cold Case Christianity, who is a former detective:

“In every criminal trial, a jury is asked to evaluate the actions of one defendant related to a particular crime. While there are millions of other people in the world who could have committed the crime under consideration (and indeed, millions of these people were actually available to commit the crime), only one has been charged. If the jury becomes convinced this defendant is the perpetrator, they will convict him based on their beliefs. They will convict the accused even though they haven’t examined the actions (or nature) of millions of other potential suspects. They’ll render a verdict based on the evidence related to this defendant, in spite of the fact they may be ignorant of the history or actions of several million alternatives. If the evidence is persuasive, the jurors will become true believers in the guilt of this man or woman, even as they reject millions of other options.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s up with all these Dawkins threads

He's on a press tour selling tickets to his farewell concert tour before he dies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From J. Warner Wallace of Cold Case Christianity, who is a former detective:

“In every criminal trial, a jury is asked to evaluate the actions of one defendant related to a particular crime. While there are millions of other people in the world who could have committed the crime under consideration (and indeed, millions of these people were actually available to commit the crime), only one has been charged. If the jury becomes convinced this defendant is the perpetrator, they will convict him based on their beliefs. They will convict the accused even though they haven’t examined the actions (or nature) of millions of other potential suspects. They’ll render a verdict based on the evidence related to this defendant, in spite of the fact they may be ignorant of the history or actions of several million alternatives. If the evidence is persuasive, the jurors will become true believers in the guilt of this man or woman, even as they reject millions of other options.”

That's hilarious.

I am God. Investigate me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meh, he’s repeatedly said he likes Christianity. Dude is either lying or grifting about his atheism. Probably grifting.

The people who complain about donating money to a charity or tithing to church should examine the cost of listening to Dawkins talk for an evening. With taxes and fees and parking it’s probably about $75 per hour, if he speaks for 4 hours, which is highly doubtful.

Ooh, the godless heathen and his devilish scheme to make you pay for PARKING.

Tickets prices start at $75, and of course you can see him free on YouTube or pay $5 for copy of one of his books.

[Anonymous]

I have mixed feelings about Dawkins but think all the selected quotes are pretty fair arguments against organized religion as a compelling explanation for where we come from and how society should behave.

I don't think Dawkins really cares if people are religious or have faith except when their beliefs are treated as on par with scientific inquiry or used as justification for major societal decisions.