"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life"Apparently, they had to insert "probably" at the behest of the bus company, who do not accept advertisments that could offend the religious community. Of course, offending Godless heathens is just fine and dandy, as all those endless adverts for the "Alpha Course" prove. I was most amused to see Christian Voice claim that humanists, "who aren't known for their generosity" won't fund the campaign - it seems that those ungenerous humanists had the impertinence to raise the full amount needed in ten hours.
I knew this was happening, as I drop in to Richard Dawkins' web site periodically. Of course, I think this is a great idea. Of course, I'm unsurprised that it's being condemned, but I was thrilled to read that, according to Stephen Green of the Christian Voice,
"People don't like being preached at. Sometimes it does them good, but they still don't like it." (via the BBC coverage)Something of a problem there, then, as I seem to recall that that's your business model. He also says
"Bendy-buses, like atheism, are a danger to the public at large." (again, via the BBC coverage)I had no idea that bendy buses are responsible for so many of our social problems... er, no, that's wrong, it's atheism, isn't it, which is cutting greenhouse gas emissions... er, wait, this is harder than it seems, isn't it?
Actually, no. It's very simple. Yes, your belief system is entitled to some respect. About as much respect as, say, your belief that your wife is pretty and your kids are cute. But I don't have to live my life according to your belief system, and, crucially, neither does anyone else. Or, to put it another way:
It's your Hell. You burn in itDo I sound angry? I am, but I am not attacking anyone personally, I'm annoyed at the attitude of "We're going to control your life because of what we want". But what do you think? Leave me a comment - there's no comment moderation, and I'd like to know what everyone says.
2 comments:
You're right, of course. I'm a bit suprised that Dawkins has got involved with all this nonsene.I'd prefer him to concentrate on writing a book that isn't just rehashing the arguments he's been making for the last 30 years. Has anything he's done since "The Selfish Gene" really amazed you? Dawkins fans still love him: his oponents hate him. I wonder if he's 'converted' any fence sitters?
I can put up with religious types until it starts getting into "My god is bigger than yours" territory. Also, wouldn't a merciful god love us unconditionally, regardless of whether we believed in HIM or not? Even if I am wrong (and I'm not), come judgement day I'm quids in on account of me "being nice to people".
My difficulty with Dawkins is that he's attempting to turn Atheism into a Religious movement, with himself as it's chief Prophet. Looking at his website you'd have to be blind to ignore the symbolism :)
He was once a voice of reason but to read his recent stuff or listen to him speak - there's little difference between a Catholic Priest delivering a sermon about sinners and hell and the self annointed Dawkins thundering away about the evils of religion.
What saddens me is that intolerance is something that atheism has always criticised, quite rightly, about religions in general. Yet that same intolerance is now at the heart of the atheist movement spearheaded by Dawkins.
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