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Original poster

The God Delusion

61 replies

LoveAngel · 03/10/2007 16:02

Anyone read it? Thoughts?

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cuppycakesong · 08/01/2009 13:47

Hi everyone. I have started a thread in a different forum but having read your comments here, I think you might be able to help me. I am an agnostic and want to find a way of answering my dc's questions in a satisfactory manner. I know I can always say 'some people believe...' but I think the vagueness of agnosticism is frustrating to young children. I am talking about 4/5 year old children who come home with questions like 'what is an angel?' 'what is heaven?' and so on. Thank you all.

FootyMom · 30/05/2008 11:26

Hi there,

Newbie here!!

First off it was Voltaire who said this and I have to agree with him. I read the God Delusion twice.I was fascinated with Dawkins arguments and done my thesis on human society evolving beyond religion. You still have to have a certain amount of faith in his arguments though too!! He made alot of good points in particular about children being born to catholic parents etc....

We need a new world order/religion.

FootyMom

Elasticwoman · 12/04/2008 17:15

Yes, Trolley, I suspected you thought that.

Trolleydolly71 · 12/04/2008 17:05

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Elasticwoman · 12/04/2008 16:54

Trolleydolly, the blind faith you describe is not faith at all but superstition.

Trolleydolly71 · 12/04/2008 16:37

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Doobydoo · 12/04/2008 15:09

Dp has read it.I have read a paragraph so far.I am looking forward to it.Dp is reading God is not Great by Christopher Hitchins at the moment.

DaddyJ · 12/04/2008 14:51

I am tempted to carry on posting (have not debated religion for yonks)
but I am about to leave for a business trip abroad.
Thanks for your thoughts, TD, maybe we can pick this up in the future.
It's certainly thought provoking!

Trolleydolly71 · 11/04/2008 21:31

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barnstaple · 11/04/2008 15:13

Walnutshell: sorry I haven't looked at this thread for some time. I would love to know what my dad would recommend too, but he died 15 years ago!

DaddyJ · 11/04/2008 15:00

Those are excellent examples:

The belief in humans to do good.(I share that belief)
Is that a certainty based on fact? Or merely a desperate, naive wish?
Is the notion of 'good' not hugely subjective?

The belief that science and technology will improve our lives/ our health. (I share that one, too)
Are you sure about that? Is there not increasing evidence that 'progress' in fact comes at a price we cannot afford?

I share those beliefs because otherwise I would turn into a miserable, pessimistic misanthrope -
but I am painfully aware that I have no conclusive proof for any it.

In other words: blind faith in order to make my life bearable.

Trolleydolly71 · 11/04/2008 14:30

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Trolleydolly71 · 11/04/2008 14:27

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DaddyJ · 11/04/2008 14:00

It goes way beyond that, TD.
Look at your own life and you will find alarmingly important aspects
that are essentially governed by belief.

My view is that you are deluding yourself if you think
that you are free from superstition.
None of use is.

Trolleydolly71 · 11/04/2008 13:38

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Bridie3 · 11/04/2008 12:29

Those last beliefs belong with tea-leaves and crystals.

DaddyJ · 11/04/2008 12:11

I have largely made my peace with organised religion
and, at least in the UK, organised religion does not strike me as a source of apocalyptic danger.
(the lads from Leeds notwithstanding)

What am I much more fascinated (and concerned) by is to what extent
our lives are still governed by beliefs that come in a rational guise.
Which in my view makes them much more dangerous.

Say the belief that house prices will always go up and the UK economy is essentially sound!

Bridie3 · 11/04/2008 11:55

I don't think there's any doubt that many religious people would think their lives empty without religion. This may seem incomprehensible to non-believers but understandable to, say, a pianist who was told that his piano was going to be taken from him and he'd never be able to play again.

I think a lot of people feel awe when they see, for example, a huge starry sky (providing you don't live near those bloody orange streetlights which completely ruin the experience and should be ripped out) and knowing that we're just tiny little blobs.

Trolleydolly71 · 11/04/2008 11:23

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Bridie3 · 11/04/2008 11:06

No--Trolleydolly71, I'm sure you don't. You probably have a rich inner life (doesn't have to be the preserve of the religious, does it?) You may have a sense of the spiritual which isn't religious in tone. Some people feel a strong connection with the natural world, for example, or with music or art. I don't know you so I don't know what makes you tick but I'm betting there's something which takes you out of yourself.

Unfortunately many people do not have that. A quick glance at the TV listings most night shows that.

UnquietDad · 11/04/2008 10:58

I wasn't there, no. Not a regular although I do look at his site.

Trolleydolly71 · 11/04/2008 10:57

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Trolleydolly71 · 11/04/2008 10:54

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UnquietDad · 11/04/2008 10:53

trolley - that's the same one I link to above, I think.

Trolleydolly71 · 11/04/2008 10:52

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