[PLUG-TALK] why religion is the root of all evil

Russell Senior seniorr at aracnet.com
Mon Jan 29 10:41:58 UTC 2007


>>>>> "Keith" == Keith Lofstrom <keithl at kl-ic.com> writes:

Russell> He steals my line about the American Taliban, but I guess I
Russell> should feel flattered.

Russell> http://smashingtelly.com/2007/01/19/richard-dawkins-the-root-of-all-evil/

Keith> Interesting - a recruiting talk for divisiveness.  I especially
Keith> noted his attack on the moderate Anglican bishop.  

The Anglican bishop was "moderate", but he also declared his belief in
something patently silly, the actual bodily Ascension of Jesus to
heaven.

Keith> I have read almost everything Dawkins has written, have met him
Keith> once, and there is quite a bit of bully in him. [...]

Maybe so.  The tone was certainly "challenging".  However, I see
nothing fundamentally wrong with people being challenged to explain
themselves.

Keith> [...] Dawkins would pin all the blame on religion.  I would pin
Keith> it on warped indoctrination, and hatred, and a feeling of
Keith> powerlessness that finds its outlet in simple but deadly
Keith> actions *any* individual, religious or not, is capable of.

He quotes Bertrand Russell's famous line, paraphrased "there will
always be evil people doing evil thing and good people doing good
things, but to get good people to do evil things, you need religion."

That is, religion in its generality.  Take our war in Iraq or
wherever.  It requires unthinking people, who are otherwise good, to
believe that what they are doing is right, even when it results in the
death of (our _best_ estimate) hundreds of thousands of others.

Now, for something inspirational, take a look at this:

http://smashingtelly.com/2007/01/09/calatravas-high-speed-train-station/


-- 
Russell Senior         ``I have nine fingers; you have ten.''
seniorr at aracnet.com



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