The Purpose of Purpose - Richard Dawkins

[Sir Humphrey]

spot on as always

[G o a t b o y]

I long for a time when people see religion for what it is:  the attempt of ignorant primitive man to explain the world around him, and to provide psychological comfort in the face of an often difficult existence and with the knowledge of his own mortality.  "Scripture" of all variety is fable, created by ordinary men with no divine insight.  It seems so plainly obvious to me, kind of like a "well, duh!" kind of thing, and I have real difficulty understanding why others don't see it.  Whether there could be a "higher power" beyond us is a separate argument, but the non-divine human origins of all current religious movements should not be in doubt to anyone with an IQ higher than that of a gnat.

It deserves repeating. 

[polychronopolous]

Concessions are only made by people who have misinterpreted spiritual scripture in the first place.

I find this statement very intriguing.

By what criterion does "wavelength" decide which passages of scripture are symbolic and which are literal?

[NarcissisticDeity]

I long for a time when people see religion for what it is:  the attempt of ignorant primitive man to explain the world around him, and to provide psychological comfort in the face of an often difficult existence and with the knowledge of his own mortality.  "Scripture" of all variety is fable, created by ordinary men with no divine insight.  It seems so plainly obvious to me, kind of like a "well, duh!" kind of thing, and I have real difficulty understanding why others don't see it.  Whether there could be a "higher power" beyond us is a separate argument, but the non-divine human origins of all current religious movements should not be in doubt to anyone with an IQ higher than that of a gnat.

I agree

[NarcissisticDeity]

I find this statement very intriguing.

By what criterion does "wavelength" decide which passages of scripture are symbolic and which are literal?

I believe they call that ' cherry picking '

[G o a t b o y]

I find this statement very intriguing.

By what criterion does "wavelength" decide which passages of scripture are symbolic and which are literal?

If one accepts this premise...

"Scripture" of all variety is fable, created by ordinary men with no divine insight.

...does it really matter?

[The True Adonis]

Because upwards of 50% of the United States believe in Creationism in a literal sense.

And millions of them elect their representitives based on this, who in turn push an agenda of teaching this nonsense in schools.

This is why some people care.

The real irony here is that Deicide will readily advocate for and willingly place one of those repersentatives in power who do not believe in evolution, believes in putting prayer in public schools, does not value or really support the wall of separation between church and state and also beleives in teaching creationism and Intelligent Design in public schools whilst getting rid of NASA, NIH, CDC, USDA, etc...and any other science based government based entity.  That religious zealots name is Ron Paul.

Oh the irony is so thick you`d think he is totally misguided.

Richard Dawkins would not approve of Deicides love affair with Ron Paul, nor do I.

Ron Poop is poop.

[G o a t b o y]

The real irony here is that Deicide will readily advocate for and willingly place one of those repersentatives in power who do not believe in evolution, believes in putting prayer in public schools, does not value or really support the wall of separation between church and state and also beleives in teaching creationism and Intelligent Design in public schools whilst getting rid of NASA, NIH, CDC, USDA, etc...and any other science based government based entity.  That religious zealots name is Ron Paul.

Oh the irony is so thick you`d think he is totally misguided.

Richard Dawkins would not approve of Deicides love affair with Ron Paul, nor do I.

Ron Poop is poop.

Sadly, the way the political issues of the day are divided amongst the parties, people like me are left in a quandry as to who to vote for.  I hate the religious right and everything they stand for, and I'm not a fan of "Patriot Act" aggressive law-n-order types either.  I think the war on drugs is stupid, and the bill of rights should be protected.   But, I also hate socialism with a passion, support gun rights and individual rights and responsibilities (as opposed to "group rights", PC is BS), think taxes should be low and government smaller with fewer laws, and believe in a foreign policy that pursues the economic and security interests of Americans, even at the expense of the "rest of the world"...  isn't that what most societies do, pursue their own interests rather than bending over?

[Harry Spotter]

there was somekind of conciousness that was responsible for the quickening, and directed it along the way................maybe it was what some people call "god"........or maybe it was space aliens, who knows

and the evidence for this is..............?


Science has already shown that chemically quite simple macromolecules like RNA can be self-catalytic. From this point on it does not require a leap of faith to get to proteins (translation via tRNAs), which can be more much complex, both structurally and functionally (= enzymes) than nucleic acids. Evidence also suggests that RNA evolved before DNA; for example RNA-only organisms exist (eg RNA viruses), whereas all DNA containing cells need RNA. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenesis

[G o a t b o y]

this is not really true.......athiests like to discredit and humiliate people who believe in god and question the dawkins/darwin paradigm of evolutionary thought...........they say say "these people dont believe in evolution........its been proven look at all the evidence".............when in fact this should be qualified..........some choose not to, based on alot of of evidence, and missing evidence....tons of it.......accept that all varied forms of modern life on earth is drawn from one single, single celled creature which itself just appeared out of entropy and total nothing ness......that life was produced from non-life.  and mind you, the dawkins crowd has absolutely no idea how this happened, not even a working hypothesis.....they just take random guesses when pressed.  no one, except a few on the fringes are arguing that species  do not adapt and change (evolve) over time.

and this is the conflict in the definition of evolution............if you are saying that species over time, adapt to their enviornments, and change based on requirements........ever yone accepts that.............but what they mean is that every form of life came from a single celled creature, which itself came from nothing............so when they say that ID proponents dont believe in evolution.........what they are talking about is their specific brand of evolution

not long ago, maybe it was the movie expelled, which in light of some argumentative fallacies, is a pretty good movie, someone said .............the chance that all modern life on earth is sprung from total disorder, chance, and non-existance............is like a tornado going through a junkyard full of old airplane scraps......an leavign in its wake a brand new, fully functional  boeing 747.

just like ancient earth......of course tidal pool and volcanos were able to thrash some chemicals around...... but that is not a way to create a functional cell........... if 25 years ago we thought that a cell was like a cadillac, today we consider it a fighter jet..........scients still stymied by the milllions of functions it is able to perform and regulate..........its like a supersomputer

remember our universe seeks entropy, things move towards disorder, youu need conciousness and energy to produce extropy from total entropy

While the origin of the species can be debated, the utter stupidity of accepting primitive self-serving human writings ("scripture") as divine truth cannot...  it is self evident.

[MethodGNA]

i agree compleatly.......scriptu re is pure fairytale at its worst and decent metaphore/parable at its best........i am not part of any religion, they are human constructs in place to keep the masses in line..........if there is a god, his nature would be so far beyond us that it is not even worth mentioning, like i said us trying to understand the motivations of a god would be like an ant trying to understand a human, totally impossible/........so i cast shame on those who pervert the god concept to exploit dumb people here on earth, and all the atrocities commited in his name..........but i personally still believe in some kind of higher power, it cant imagine that everything i see around me is just a random anomoly in a dark void of nothingness.

[grab an umbrella]

Wow, I was truly impressed with your post before this one.  I agree 100% with intelligent design, but not neccesarily with what religious people view as a god.  Its just difficult for me to imagine the world just "happening".

My lame 2 cents

i agree compleatly.......scriptu re is pure fairytale at its worst and decent metaphore/parable at its best........i am not part of any religion, they are human constructs in place to keep the masses in line..........if there is a god, his nature would be so far beyond us that it is not even worth mentioning, like i said us trying to understand the motivations of a god would be like an ant trying to understand a human, totally impossible/........so i cast shame on those who pervert the god concept to exploit dumb people here on earth, and all the atrocities commited in his name..........but i personally still believe in some kind of higher power, it cant imagine that everything i see around me is just a random anomoly in a dark void of nothingness.

[MethodGNA]

Wow, I was truly impressed with your post before this one.  I agree 100% with intelligent design, but not neccesarily with what religious people view as a god.  Its just difficult for me to imagine the world just "happening".

My lame 2 cents

yeah sometime organized religion kind of hijacks the concept of ID because they will grasp on to anything that contradicts the dawkins athiest crowd........but in truth the designer could be really anything, because we have no chance of comprehending it anyway..........maybe it was aliens, maybe an omnipotent and benevolent force (a god), or maybe we are akin to an ant farm or fish tank for powerful trandimensional beings............but my gut tells me the we are not here because some carbon and nitrogen mixed together in a mud puddle

the farther we, as humans progress in science.......the more blown away scientists are at how complex and perfectly designed we are..........the human cell, information encoded in DNA....these things were engineered with purpose.

[Deicide]

The real irony here is that Deicide will readily advocate for and willingly place one of those repersentatives in power who do not believe in evolution, believes in putting prayer in public schools, does not value or really support the wall of separation between church and state and also beleives in teaching creationism and Intelligent Design in public schools whilst getting rid of NASA, NIH, CDC, USDA, etc...and any other science based government based entity.  That religious zealots name is Ron Paul.

Oh the irony is so thick you`d think he is totally misguided.

Richard Dawkins would not approve of Deicides love affair with Ron Paul, nor do I.

Ron Poop is poop.

We have been through this before Adam, I guess you didn't pay attention, or maybe you are just trying to be irritating on purpose?

[webcake]

That's all well and good, but will this disrupt dinner?

[Deicide]

That's all well and good, but will this disrupt dinner?

Maybe not, depends on the dump...

[webcake]

Maybe not, depends on the dump...

Meat pie + tea & biscuits for dessert = good dump

[Deicide]

Meat pie + tea & biscuits for dessert = good dump

Sure sounds like it.

[webcake]

Sure sounds like it.

Yes, was probably one of my better dumps. This morning was very good too. Coffee and cardio = winner. 

[Deicide]

Yes, was probably one of my better dumps. This morning was very good too. Coffee and cardio = winner. 

You have cardio machines in your house?

[webcake]

You have cardio machines in your house?

Yeah, but i prefer walking outdoors. Going for a walk early in the morning is one of those simple pleasures i have always enjoyed.

[Deicide]

Yeah, but i prefer walking outdoors. Going for a walk early in the morning is one of those simple pleasures i have always enjoyed.

Sounds amazing...load up on food and coffee, go for a nice walk in a posh Sydney subburb, come back and have a nice, relaxing dump. That is living the dream my friend.

[webcake]

Sounds amazing...load up on food and coffee, go for a nice walk in a posh Sydney subburb, come back and have a nice, relaxing dump. That is living the dream my friend.

Yes, walking the dog along the esplanade and taking a quick dip in the ocean or the pool afterwards is nice. I shall enjoy it whilst it lasts.

[Deicide]

Yes, walking the dog along the esplanade and taking a quick dip in the ocean or the pool afterwards is nice. I shall enjoy it whilst it lasts.

Living the dream baby, living the dream!

[webcake]

Living the dream baby, living the dream!

It almost makes up for my horrible genetics........almost (sigh)

I did some cardio at home after the gym today and now i feel kinda sick. Indoor cardio = gay.