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Skybird · 07-18-18, 04:12 PM

"It is often said, mainly by the 'no-contests', that although there is no positive evidence for the existence of God, nor is there evidence against his existence. So it is best to keep an open mind and be agnostic. At first sight that seems an unassailable position, at least in the weak sense of Pascal's wager. But on second thoughts it seems a cop-out, because the same could be said of Father Christmas and tooth fairies. There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can't prove that there aren't any, so shouldn't we be agnostic with respect to fairies?" - Richard Dawkins

"Let children learn about different faiths, let them notice their incompatibility, and let them draw their own conclusions about the consequences of that incompatibility. As for whether they are "valid," let them make up their own minds when they are old enough to do so. (...)
Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that."
- Richard Dawkins

"We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further." - Richard Dawkins

"One of the things that is wrong with religion is that it teaches us to be satisfied with answers which are not really answers at all." - Richard Dawkins

Dawkins must not be introduced, but beside his atheist engagement and publications, in the first he was and is one of the most brilliant biologists of the past generation. His book "The Selfish Gene" got praised by scientific magazine to be one of the most important science books of all times. His introduction of the term "meme" in genetics and the explanation of its theoretical conception is seen as a profound contribution to modern science. I have read three books on Darwin over the past 30 years. His was by far the best.

Like Sailor Steve, Dawkins describes himself as agnostic. He does not rule out with a 100% certainty that a god may exist. He is just quite militant in insisting that the probability for that is damn low, he also furiously objects to claims that the chance for gods existing and not existing are equally distributed. He describes himself further a a radical sceptic and is member in organisations linked to the tradition of British scepticism.

His education surpasses mine by one and a half lightyears, so do his skills to argue and to freeely speak. Else, he could be me.

07-18-18, 04:12 PM	#29
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,767 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	"It is often said, mainly by the 'no-contests', that although there is no positive evidence for the existence of God, nor is there evidence against his existence. So it is best to keep an open mind and be agnostic. At first sight that seems an unassailable position, at least in the weak sense of Pascal's wager. But on second thoughts it seems a cop-out, because the same could be said of Father Christmas and tooth fairies. There may be fairies at the bottom of the garden. There is no evidence for it, but you can't prove that there aren't any, so shouldn't we be agnostic with respect to fairies?" - Richard Dawkins "Let children learn about different faiths, let them notice their incompatibility, and let them draw their own conclusions about the consequences of that incompatibility. As for whether they are "valid," let them make up their own minds when they are old enough to do so. (...) Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that." - Richard Dawkins "We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further." - Richard Dawkins "One of the things that is wrong with religion is that it teaches us to be satisfied with answers which are not really answers at all." - Richard Dawkins Dawkins must not be introduced, but beside his atheist engagement and publications, in the first he was and is one of the most brilliant biologists of the past generation. His book "The Selfish Gene" got praised by scientific magazine to be one of the most important science books of all times. His introduction of the term "meme" in genetics and the explanation of its theoretical conception is seen as a profound contribution to modern science. I have read three books on Darwin over the past 30 years. His was by far the best. Like Sailor Steve, Dawkins describes himself as agnostic. He does not rule out with a 100% certainty that a god may exist. He is just quite militant in insisting that the probability for that is damn low, he also furiously objects to claims that the chance for gods existing and not existing are equally distributed. He describes himself further a a radical sceptic and is member in organisations linked to the tradition of British scepticism. His education surpasses mine by one and a half lightyears, so do his skills to argue and to freeely speak. Else, he could be me. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.