# Richard Dawkins calls on atheists to ridicule Christian beliefs



## jmharris23 (Apr 12, 2012)

Good for him 

http://online.worldmag.com/2012/03/...ges-atheists-to-mock-and-ridicule-christians/


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## Four (Apr 12, 2012)

I can have some sympathy for this approach. If you stop taking things seriously just because its labeled as "spiritual" or a"religious belief" people will be less likely to keep it up.

We laugh at people who think Elvis is still alive, we laugh if an adult believes in Santa Claus, we laugh if someone is superstitious, why not religion?

edit: that's a pretty editorialized article.


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## jmharris23 (Apr 12, 2012)

Four said:


> I can have some sympathy for this approach. If you stop taking things seriously just because its labeled as "spiritual" or a"religious belief" people will be less likely to keep it up.
> 
> We laugh at people who think Elvis is still alive, we laugh if an adult believes in Santa Claus, we laugh if someone is superstitious, why not religion?
> 
> edit: that's a pretty editorialized article.



Here's a link to a different one if it helps: 

http://www.digtriad.com/news/article/221775/176/Atheists-Hold-Reason-Rally-In-Washington


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## Four (Apr 12, 2012)

jmharris23 said:


> Here's a link to a different one if it helps:
> 
> http://www.digtriad.com/news/article/221775/176/Atheists-Hold-Reason-Rally-In-Washington



Thanks, i read the only one too. I'm watching the video now, i haven seen it. Although I've read / watched about the stance the article is referring to. The idea is just to not give religious beliefs special treatment anymore.

Instead of someone saying something crazy to you and you just nodding your head and thinking "holy crap this is nuts" just go ahead and say "holy crap this is nuts"


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## JB0704 (Apr 12, 2012)

Four said:


> I can have some sympathy for this approach. If you stop taking things seriously just because its labeled as "spiritual" or a"religious belief" people will be less likely to keep it up.



....in doing so, is he guilty of prosthelytizing also?


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## jmharris23 (Apr 12, 2012)

Four said:


> Thanks, i read the only one too. I'm watching the video now, i haven seen it. Although I've read / watched about the stance the article is referring to. The idea is just to not give religious beliefs special treatment anymore.
> 
> Instead of someone saying something crazy to you and you just nodding your head and thinking "holy crap this is nuts" just go ahead and say "holy crap this is nuts"




Yeah I do that all the time


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## Four (Apr 12, 2012)

JB0704 said:


> ....in doing so, is he guilty of prosthelytizing also?



webster 
1: to induce someone to convert to one's faith
2: to recruit someone to join one's party, institution, or cause

wikipedia
Proselytizing is the act of attempting to convert people to another opinion and, particularly, another religion. 

That word has heavy religious / spiritual weight, which i suppose is why you used it (the whole, atheism is a religion bit)

If we go ahead and remove the religion from the definition, we're left with "to attempt to convince" or some such, which isn't really what he is doing, nor do i see it as a bad thing anyway.

The main drive in the atheist community hasn't been so much to convince people to stop believing in god / supernatural, as much as to support people that already atheists / agnostics / secularists to admit it publicly, and to "come out of the closet" so to speak. Letting people know its OK to be an atheist. So this is really all about just being honest with what you believe in, instead of hiding it.

Much like when Harvey Milk was running for office, he tried to get homosexuals to admit it publicly, tell your family / friends, hoping that it would make the public realize that its not a big deal.


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## JB0704 (Apr 12, 2012)

Four said:


> webster
> 1: to induce someone to convert to one's faith
> 2: to recruit someone to join one's party, institution, or causewikipedia
> Proselytizing is the act of attempting to convert people to another opinion and, particularly, another religion. .



The words in read is why I used the word.  The way I read the commentary, the intent is to drive folks away from religion by changing perception by changing the dialogue.


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## Four (Apr 12, 2012)

JB0704 said:


> The words in read is why I used the word.  The way I read the commentary, the intent is to drive folks away from religion by changing perception by changing the dialogue.



Most of his 16 minute talk was about yay evolution, and it talked about the % of people in the USA that think the universe is 10k years old, he made the comparison to thinking the united states is 12 yards wide. He also talked about how most people he finds that refer to themselves as a christian and/or religious aren't really. He says to ask people who say there christian why. He finds most people say something like "well i was baptised" or "well because i think im a good person"

He also pointed out that only 10% of Christians polled said that the first place they go for a moral problem is the bible, most identified Christians say they go to friends / family, or "an inert sense of rightness"

Only at the end does he talk about the ridiculousness of Catholics thinking wine can turn to blood by a priest etc, calling on people to ridicule anyone who actually thinks blood turns to wine when blessed. Basically saying, dont be afraid to call a spade a spade.


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## stringmusic (Apr 12, 2012)

Four said:


> Most of his 16 minute talk was about yay evolution, and it talked about the % of people in the USA that think the universe is 10k years old, he made the comparison to thinking the united states is 12 yards wide. He also talked about how most people he finds that refer to themselves as a christian and/or religious aren't really. He says to ask people who say there christian why. *He finds most people say something like "well i was baptised" or "well because i think im a good person"*


Which is rediculous.



> He also pointed out that *only 10% of Christians polled said that the first place they go for a moral problem is the bible*, most identified Christians say they go to friends / family, or "an inert sense of rightness"


Which is sad.

I would ask Mr. Dawkins, if I turn away from God, where do I then turn? Or, to what do I turn? My whims? Society? Where do I go? Up? Down?


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## Four (Apr 12, 2012)

stringmusic said:


> Which is rediculous.
> Which is sad.



I agree, i likely see it from a different angle though. I see people who don't really know anything about religion, but just follow the majority because they think that's what they are supposed to do. I remember as a child calling myself a christian because everyone else did, simply to fit in, if you weren't a christian, you were an outsider. Some people hold onto this survival technique longer.

I wonder how many of the billion or so people that identify Christians are more than the "i was baptized" crowd.



stringmusic said:


> I would ask Mr. Dawkins, if I turn away from God, where do I then turn? Or, to what do I turn? My whims? Society? Where do I go? Up? Down?



Sometimes i wonder if you're only a deist because you are afraid to / cant make important moral decisions for 
you-self.


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## TheBishop (Apr 12, 2012)

stringmusic said:


> Which is rediculous.
> 
> 
> Which is sad.
> ...



Your family, friends, and other ones we trust.  The ones that can help us, now, here, and who need us to be there for them.  You move forward. Taking the days as they come. Handling the situations as they present themselves.


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## bullethead (Apr 12, 2012)

Four said:


> Sometimes i wonder if you're only a deist because you are afraid to / cant make important moral decisions for
> you-self.



You are not alone in those thoughts.


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## stringmusic (Apr 12, 2012)

Four said:


> I agree, i likely see it from a different angle though. I see people who don't really know anything about religion, but just follow the majority because they think that's what they are supposed to do. I remember as a child calling myself a christian because everyone else did, simply to fit in, if you weren't a christian, you were an outsider. Some people hold onto this survival technique longer.
> 
> I wonder how many of the billion or so people that identify Christians are more than the "i was baptized" crowd.


I would agree with your angle.





> Sometimes i wonder if you're only a deist because you are afraid to / cant make important moral decisions for
> you-self.


I could, and am not afraid to make moral decisions on my own. I am not going to get on the merry-go-round again in this thread, my point was and is, atheism is hollow.


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## stringmusic (Apr 12, 2012)

TheBishop said:


> Your family, friends, and other ones we trust.  The ones that can help us, now, here, and who need us to be there for them.  You move forward. Taking the days as they come. Handling the situations as they present themselves.



I see your point very well, I would say it is nice to put my hope in a God who will never let me down, unlike family,friends and others who will let you(collective you) down in almost every way possible at some point or another.

"Ho-hum" going through life would not be very fulfilling.

"Handling the situations as they present themselves" was kind of the point in my questions, the word "handling" in that sentence, what does it mean? Does it mean what your going to post that it means?


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## TheBishop (Apr 12, 2012)

stringmusic said:


> I see your point very well, I would say it is nice to put my hope in a God who will never let me down, unlike family,friends and others who will let you(collective you) down in almost every way possible at some point or another.
> I glad god has never let you down.  But I know many that has prayed and he not answer.
> 
> "Ho-hum" going through life would not be very fulfilling.
> ...



I don't have a clue what your asking.  Handling- control, making things happen, solving problems, I.E. I had a snake in the garage and I handled it.


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## TheBishop (Apr 12, 2012)

stringmusic said:


> I would agree with your angle.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I think what you meant to say is that you _believe _athiesm is hollow.  You just have no way to prove it, becuase the arguments you make can be turned against you to show you that religion is equally hollow.


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## centerpin fan (Apr 12, 2012)

Four said:


> He also talked about how most people he finds that refer to themselves as a christian and/or religious aren't really. He says to ask people who say there christian why. He finds most people say something like "well i was baptised" or "well because i think im a good person"




Holy blitzkrieg, Batman!  That means that maybe -- just maybe -- Hitler wasn't really a Christian!


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## bullethead (Apr 12, 2012)

centerpin fan said:


> Holy blitzkrieg, Batman!  That means that maybe -- just maybe -- Hitler wasn't really a Christian!



It will be interesting to see who else is and who isn't.


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## Artfuldodger (Apr 12, 2012)

Well that Richard dude needs to find something else to do since Family Feud is no longer on TV.


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## Asath (Apr 12, 2012)

Well, if you think about it, anyone who can be made to believe in parthenogenesis and transubstantiation can pretty much be talked into anything . . .

I think much of the point is that substantial portions of the ‘Christian’ dogma, as expressed, ridicule themselves, and need no help from the rest of us.  

Remember here that the stars in the sky were once part of the Christian ‘firmament’ of the God-given heavens, and brooked no argument.  The point, of course, is that ‘Believing’ is not a substitute for ‘Knowing,’ and we’ve reached a point where Knowing has all but left Believing a few hundred laps behind in the race, with no hope of catching up.  The moment someone discovered that the Earth revolved around the Sun, and that the ‘Sun’ was merely one of thousands of billions of similar stars, just about everything in the ancient Book went out the window.  

Angrily waving the buggy-whip at the Corvette as it streaks by may satisfy some traditionalist sensibilities, but it won’t make the Corvette untrue, or an illusory object of ‘disbelief’ in the buggy-whip.


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## Six million dollar ham (Apr 14, 2012)

Artfuldodger said:


> Well that Richard dude needs to find something else to do since Family Feud is no longer on TV.


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## Artfuldodger (Apr 14, 2012)

I was thinking about Richard Dawson.


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