=
×

Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

Head To Head
Log In
Register
U-Know! Forum »
Dawkins seems a bit *confused* here
Log In to post a reply
47 messages
Topic View: Flat | Threaded
Merrick
Merrick
2148 posts

Re: Dawkins seems a bit *confused* here
Jul 01, 2009, 11:29
I picked Bill Hicks, Kurt Vonnegut and Nelson Mandela off the top of my head. There are thousands upon thousands of others it could apply to, but in order to keep this envisionable I'll stick with naming them.

handofdave wrote:
I don't like preachy dogmatic types who use emotional exploitation in the service of self gain, is all.


That would certainly include Hicks and Cope, I think it'd take a strong and wriggly argument to exclude Vonnegut (fiction is *designed* to manipulate the emotions of the reader), and if we scrape away the canonised veneer it can readily apply to Mandela.

What do you mean by self-gain? You imply that it's anything that beings money and fame. So, again, I point to Hicks, Mandela and Vonnegut, as well as thousands of others. Let's add Cope to the list while we're here.

handofdave wrote:
in acting under the banner of science, he's betraying a sacred trust


Even if we agree that to be the case, it does not in any way prove he does it to gain wealth and status.

handofdave wrote:
It may just be that this whole business is too emotionally volatile to discuss without it getting heated.


Perhaps if you didn't characterise one of the most prominent atheists as a hoodwinking charlatan liar without offering any evidence it might make people less irate and more reasoned.

handofdave wrote:
Vonnegut was an Xtian, for example


No he wasn't, you're simply wrong there. He made it very very clear over and over. He was deeply moved by the words attributed to Jesus, especially the sermon on the mount, but he specifically rejected the idea of Jesus as divine. He was long-time president of the American Humanist Association, and repeatedly said that we invent religions as a way to get ourselves an artificial extended family.
In reply to:
Re: Dawkins seems a bit *confused* here (handofdave)		 Replies:
Re: Dawkins seems a bit *confused* here (stray)
Re: Dawkins seems a bit *confused* here (handofdave)
Topic Outline:
U-Know! Forum Index