The Root of All Evil? - Richard Dawkins

This guys an idiot. When he was speaking of darwins theory against religions and said “Its like someone taking a leap form the bottom to the top of the cliff”, as a medaphore explaining religion and how we became, WHHHHHAAAAT!!!. If we really did evolve from a cell why is there no proof of it. No remains of bones, nothing of evolution. This guys going off no proof and hes trying to justify his means of thought. The only thing he spoke about when in the middle east is war. I figured if your really going to “affend”, nearly the whole world by what they believe. At least come with more proof, a better arguement. Now Im a Muslim, and I felt affended when he was sitting there “whispering” about the catholics while video taping the sick and mocking them. That piece out the whole documentary is the only real part that disturbed me. BUT then again that is his opinion. IDIOT! and thats mine.

i much enjoyed this video. A reconciliation between the sciences and religion is sure to happen some day; but not soon.
Religion is still the best method for social cohesion and order. The morality police cannot be everywhere all the time. It is coming though. Heaven and hell may not be geographic sites. they defenitely exist. I would enjoy having a conversation/dialouge with someone like sir/mr. Richard Dawkins. He has tremendous courage to debate those fellows and on their territory. I say he has much faith in his beliefs. Religion isn’t evil. He did find the weaknesses in religion(the strengths outnumber them though) and exposed them. As he should in an enlightened post renaissance global society.
That religion should be reduced to being an evil concoction developed by mans thoughts and scribbled into books for the generations; is simply wrong. Religion is the source of faith acquired by men to study the unseen bacterias in medicine. To ponder the spheres of the globe once believed to be flat. Religion is however a work in progress. A foundation for mankind. Unfortunately, it has also become the breeding ground for terrorism. All relgions have been. It is because of the susceptible masses yearning for knowledge about themselves and life. seeking to complete themselves and become injected with hate by men with their own political agendas and vendettas.
In short; don’t throw out the proverbial baby with the religious bath water.

I enjoyed the part when he told the Rabbi that the world could not possibly be 5,000 years old. Religion, because it has such primitive roots can not possibly answer the most basic scientific questions regarding the evolution of life.
I am sorry to the Muslim who may be offended from this statement, but there are fossils, there is proof of evolution.

Your religion may serve you well as a moral compass or as a source of spiritual strength, but to presume that an age old religion can surpass scientific experimentation and study in regards to the origins of life is some what dillusinal. I have nothing against religion because I personally believe it is what keeps a lot of fucked up people from going over the edge (the fear of their own eternal demise). However, I think Dawkins is right on for pointing out that religious education is miseducationg our children.
If someone today, given all of the scientific evidence to the contrary truly believes that human beings and other extremely complex life forms on the planet were created in a matter of hours, days, then I am sorry but that is dillusional.

People need something to follow and belong. There is nothing wrong with people supporting a motivational person. The pastors are working as esteem supporters, for those that don’t have selfesteem. A policeman patrols, a baker bakes, a teacher teaches, a preacher gives emotional support.

I don’t need religion, because I don’t need faith.
Once I hit rock bottom, you might see me in at the New Church. =)

Finally

In my life time I am seeing the defense and support for the reasoning man over the believer whose position is based in indoctrinated bigotry rather than evidence.

I happy to see finally in my life time people starting to speak out against superstitious bigotry and the dark veil it has put over man’s minds for centuries continually rising against and putting down the thinking man who stands on evidence rather than brainwashed belief which is forever pitting man against man.

Thank you Rrichard Dawkins for your courage and lucidity against the darkness of ignorance
which pervades all of man because of religion.

The first half of this was stimulating but I couldn’t take the confrontational shit. I am not religious. The journalist scientist made no effort to find common ground with religious people & went straight for their buttons. No effort was made here to say the obvious that science and religion both look at ways of grasping reality. Their questions overlap but not all questions can be answered by both science and religion. I do like the freedom of the fellow’s thought to be bold enough to say that religion and science cannot co exist. Religion and science will have to find a way to co-exit or there will just be more political instability.

This guy literally has no idea what he is talking about. he obviously doesn’t know that there is a good and bad side to everything. self righteous basterd.

Let me say this to all. First when trying to prove points of an intellectual argument use spell check. Affend is offend and medaphore is metaphor. Just a little tip.

On to the subject of this film. Yes Richard Dawkins is a hypocrite. He’s failing to see he is being just as much of a fanatic about science and it’s purity of fact. I personally believe there should be a compromise between science and religion. I believe in a higher power. Something had to create the two particles of dust or whatever it was that collided and started sciences big bang theory. Which remind you theories are not facts either. Yes science does prove many things to be fact, but there are many more scientific theories than facts.

On to religion. If everyone believes there is a God, whether it’s the Catholics God, the Muslims Allah, or say the Buddhists Buddha, how does anyone know they are following the right God? Who’s honestly to say who’s right or wrong? Imagine the shock of any religious fanatic upon entering the after life only to find out they chose the wrong religion. That’s why I choose to follow simple moral law in my life. I treat other life forms with respect, don’t commit malicious acts such as murder and rape. Simply because if there is an afterlife which in my opinion there is I’ll go to a good place. Because if there is a God do really think he or she would want us all running around killing each other over slight differences in beliefs?

MISSING THE POINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do some reading. Anyone who thinks science and religion are against each other simply don’t get it. They are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other. As for science and religion finding a way to coexist… Religion and science aren’t people with personalities they are just ways of seeing the world, it’s the people who claim to speak for them that the problems lay with. Religion and science have worked fine in other cultures like Buddhism and Hinduism for ages. On that point, Darkins talks about religion but only mentions christianity, judaism and Islam. christianity, judaism and Islam are not the only religions. I would think that Dawkins would have understood that simple point.

Root of all evil? Stalin, Hitler, Pole pot, Mao? They wern’t religious were they? Wow!! non religious mass murderers!!

As for Dawkins, People shouldn’t listen to this pop-theorist. His theories are based on the worse side of religion. Any sensible person would see that he is not being objective.

To be honest, I’m not sure that atheism can work. Surely to say something doesn’t exist it is to invite it’s existence in one form or the other. Imagine saying to someone who has no knowledge of any god or religious believe system (possibly an alien or someone from a ‘lost’ tribe)

“I’m an atheist” says Darkins
“Oh really! What does that mean?” asks the alien/lost tribe member
“I don’t believe got exists” Darkins replies with smug self back patting tones
“What is god then?”

The stranger now is thinking about god and the whole god debate continues because of atheists.

The part that really gets me is this. the debate is presented like this:
–You believe in god (Implying you’re a brainwashed idiot) OR
–you think for yourself and are an atheist.
——————-THERE IS NO THIRD OPTION———————

well actually there is. There is a third option, you could come to your senses, open your mind and leave the arguing to idiots. Accept there is no scientific proof that god exists (if you believe enjoy your faith) and accept that there is no scientific evidence that god DOESN’T exist (Read Popper and Thomas Kuhn on theory of falsification of which atheism is not subject to). Have a look at a third option and read about agnostic thought.

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”
” Love is the law,love under will.”

And god is death, we have created and this is time to realize he never existed. At this point, which is the next step. The strange horizon, black and cold, but so much to see, so much to walk; happyness and pain.

the challenge is yours, you can acepted it or keep warm and ignorant in religion
really you lost your life, becoming convinced that your faith is correct.
I am sure, we do not know nothing, but science make an aproximation of how the world is, thru reason and logic, is a tool not a intention like faith. And certainly it can only investigate some aspects of the world, but do not put attention on it, is insane, a madness.

I proclaim the god’s death and religion, and the emergence of a free being , free to think and make, owner of an individual law.

Religion will always bring on the most passionate of debates, confrontations, wars, division etc… these are FACTS!!!! proven by history and is on show every day of our lives if we chose to open eyes. Guess this is why it is often good advice to withheld opinion on religion outside the actual place of worship…. so just like death and taxes it will sure create a ripple of some manitude! P.S Any religion that can waive taxes sign me up!!!!!

Without faith its impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him….you can’t speak about someone you’ve never met personally. Grace is a gift and is only received through faith. The word of God says that he who is ignorant, let him be ignorant still. We are not to give that which is holy to dogs nor cast our pearls before swine. Strange thing to me that so many believe in things they’ve never actually seen, yet exert plenty of effort to fight against belief in God simply because they’ve never met him. Its been said that ignorance is bliss, but not when it pertains to an eternal soul. Can you prove he doesn’t exist? I remembered an old saying…a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. There are thousands of religions, but only one true God. Forget what everyone else says and find that proof yourself…before its to late. You deserve the truth.

Write on, Mr. Dawkins! I read your book “The God Delusion” and loved it. You make the clear distinction between belief and evidence. As the 17th Century Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens said: “The world is my country, science my religion”. Religious denominations are “irreligious” because the word ‘religion’ means to tie the spirit back with the Atman of Universal Consciousness: to bring us together, not to separate us! In this cinéma-vérité documentary, Jerusalem, the city of the “Holy Land” is shown for what is really is: full of racial hatred and religious bigotry. When young minds are indoctrinated with dogma that teaches them NOT to ask questions about the world in which we live and where we come from, it is denying us and stripping our children of our rightful place in humanity, to be curious and to learn, not to accept on blind faith. And the so-called “great mono-theisms” are Earth-bound. How does any religious worldview “deal with” the reality of the billions and millions of other suns, planets, and galaxies in our Universe as shown in evidence by the Hubble Telescope? Perhaps Buddhism encompasses the entire physical cosmos while asking one to raise his or her consciousness through becoming in tune with one’s breathing. The fact that the Reverend Timothy Haggard kicked Mr. Dawkins off of the premises in the video does not exemplify Christian brotherly love, does it? What a crock. As Carl Sagan said along with Paul Tillich: “God didn’t create man, rather man(kind) created God”. Organized religion is mere organized superstition.

Is he aware that catholicism has excepted evolution and I think the big bang aswell they just think them the acts of god, “now isnt that just the root of all delusional evil”

Who has read and STUDY the Quran here that left a comment? And if you had, you would see the scientific revelation truth, way before these “scientists” with all kinds of theories. Why were we put here? To just live and die? And if so, its useless to what we do or accomplish while here on earth. A lot of people ONLY hear and read one sided opinions and agree to it cause most likely they are just confused, don’t really know and accept the first so called logical concept that’s in front of them (and say “man that makes sense so it must be”, when it might just only sound good). So again do your study, read and view both sides of the spectrum and don’t believe everything you see on t.v. (or the internet). Couple more things…. You can’t say or put blame on religion for individual actions. See would it makes sense to say all fathers are f!?cked cause someone had a bad father who beat them. I can bet if you were drowning all by yourself in the middle of the ocean, who would you call upon? Yeah. And when on your death bed, do you really think your not going to be questioning yourself whether there is a HELL or HEAVEN, after life? Where will you be heading? Do you really know if there’s a GOD? And do you really know if there isn’t? I do, “you can tell the existence of a man in the sand by his foot print and you can tell the existence Allah سبحانه وتعالى‎, by just looking all around you.” study what the real message of what Islam is about and stop watching so much CNN and taking and accepting what the next person says about a people or a country you never been in. Allah سبحانه وتعالى‎, guides who he wills. Walk towards him and Allah سبحانه وتعالى‎, will run towards you……in shalaah.

It is true that there are two sides to every argument. That, however, does not automatically mean that the answers lie in the middle. There is a good amount of time when one side is flat out wrong. It would be a disservice to say that without any evidence backing it, but the fact is that there is evidence. Yes, catholicism may have ACCEPTED evolution and the big bang (25% of the population that make up evangelical christians still choose not to), but that does not automatically mean that a god simply set both of these things in motion. (And yes, there IS an immense amount of hard physical proof of evolution, so debating so with things such as irreducible complexity and fossil gaps is basically a waste of time, being as though the opposite side provides NO evidence). The complexity and improbability of existance itself is outnumbered FAR greater by the improbability of whatever the creator of that existance would be.
Yes, religion provides a great deal of consolation to a lot of people in need; but the fact of the matter is, religion is consoling is NOT equivelant to it being correct. With this stated, why not live and let live?
Things such as the 9/11 attacks, the majority of genocides (other than political), discrimination, and other such evils are the reason. Religion does WAY more bad than good, and we do not NEED religion in order to keep order. Saying that we need to believe in falsisms in order to function is condescending and pathetic, and not true. Just think: how many religious people today can look at their bible or holy book and seperate what is acceptable now versus what was acceptable when it was written (i.e. death penalty for stealing and adultery, etc.) THE MAJORITY CAN. Given this information, it is plain to see that our morals naturally evolve and broaden with time, and we can use our own intellect to decide what’s right, rather than believing everything we read. This shows me that we really dont NEED it at all and there would be less evil without it.
Nothing is the root of ALL evil, and Dawkins agrees. He clarifys this, and the reason for his passionate disdain for religion in his book The God Delusion, which i highly recommend for people who loved this, hated this, want more information or anything else.

**shit i meant “clarifies”

this guy is the biggest idiot i ever seen. he flippes out at the christian guy, even the christian guy thinks he’s the best or something. this guycouldnt answer many times against the believers, but still ignores. and he insults religion, but tries to look nice. but actally he’s stupid.

I dont think i can ever accept the things religions and its priest (etc) proclaim. This is simply because most of it is just plain lies and speculation that they cant prove. Science itself is based on hard facts and getting those facts trough contanstly testing and researching. This is the biggest gap with religion and science if we want to compare them. Other is based on simply believeng something without proof while at the others core is the need to have the proof to believe in it.

Im sure for some people facts arent even needed. Religion and faith bring consolation/happines/peace or whatever you want to call it to many people. And im ok with that. What im not ok with is the fact that these people proclaim things beeing truths without having any kind of facts. For them faith/belief is enough to justify their doings and things they proclaim.

I really hope more people open their eyes and leave religion at its own place where its supposed to be. That is providing care and consolation for the ones that need it. Leave the absolute truths to science.

Last I heard money is the root of all evil not faith. And thats why most wars are not holy wars rather the elite playing there usual games. The atheist will fit in comfortably with the NWO agenda afterall when you place humans on such a low level with no eternal value it won’t be as hard for them to watch the millions be extinguished in the name of population control.

Abdus-Selaam,
Along with forgetting the countless amount of evidence, both genetically and anatomically, in support of the theory of evolution and survival of the fittest; you also seem to have forgotten how to spell offend.

The tea pot is real–I saw it! I <3 Dawkins.

What is interesting is that I am a scientist, like many greater scientists before me I believe in god and that what I am studying is gods beautiful design.
I think he left me a note:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler’s_identity

also I think for those of you who would enjoy a very interestingly absurd but also comically thought provoking 40 mins please watch south park season 10 - Go God go. Can be found here: http://allsp.com/

feel free to personally harass me or compliment me : dmcelroy0408@googlemail.com

First off, Evolution is no longer a theory. It is all but a law. The fossil record shows overwhelming evidence and a recent 20 year study proved beyond a shadow of a doubt the evolution of a species of bacteria.

I admit, Dawkins may sound like a hypocrite, however if you have seen his other stuff, you would know that he admits that science is not perfect but the beauty of it is that it changes as new evidence comes along. This is something that religion has almost never done. The only evolution a religion has gone through was changing the belief that god lived in the sky once the airplane was invented.

As for the theory of falsification of which atheism is not subject to, it is for the same reason that the teapot argument is not. [You cannot prove that there is not a small teapot orbiting the sun between Mars and Earth, however you know it isn't there because someone made it up.] You cannot prove anything in that sense.

For the record, Hitler was very religious. He was a Catholic. Also, a Catholic priest came up with the big bang theory.

For those who say it is useless to just live and die if there is not a god, the same can be said for you. If god exists and is omnipotent and omniscient, then our choices do not matter, and we just waste our time on Earth waiting for something better.

Oh my oh my.. thought there are plenty of idiots in this world but never did I imagine anyone so ignorant as this guy that wrote the first comment, Abdus Selaam.. no evidence? I guess your evidence has to come in the shape of a fairy tale..

sorry but richard is a Scientist, not a moron. i find it sad that people post such lengthy ignorant comments. go do some research, then post proven, documented facts to back up your views…,

arent muslims known for terrorist related beliefs?? i have nothing against their nationality, but i fear their beliefs.

Hmm.. Ted Haggard didnt know what Dawkins meant by Nurnburg rally or even who Goebbles was. Americans really do lack education about the world outside USA. Anyway, Dawkins was correct it sure was a rethorical show and it sacres me that people like Haggard got such a position of power

/Malacoda

OOOOooooowwwwaahhh!! Ted haggard is a true, textbook psychopath!! A calculating, manipulative and horribly cunning person! The passive aggression, the narcissistic attitude, and clearly a complete lack of education and knowledge on anything substantial. Oh, and of course, lets not forget the fact that he was caught with a gay prostitute having sex, and preaches “anti-gay”?? He admitted to buying meth from the prosititute he just had sex with as well?
Has the world had enough of these freaks???
Ban religion for good!!! These assholes have WAY TOO MUCH POWER, and only know how to abuse it!!

@olive:

“You honestly think that you can ban religion for good? You’re delusional, especially for thinking that people take part it in it are assholes. Also, you’re no better than religious fanatics. And by retaliating at them, you’re just as bad as they are. Same thing goes for other anti-religion bigots like yourself.”

@other anti-religion assholes:

“I hope that you read what I typed to olive. You’re making a big mistake if you’re trying to get rid of religion. It’s here to stay.

How would you like it other people got rid of what you like and love? Let people be religious as long as they don’t do anything to you. It’s their choice.

But know this: If you destroy religion forever, then you’ve become the very people you hate. And those people who I’m referring to are closed-minded fundamentalists. See why two wrongs don’t make a right?”

Just in case anyone who reads this wants to know, I’M NOT A RELIGIOUS FANATIC!!! To prove it, I’ll give these these reasons:

1. I don’t obsess over religion because I know that it’s wrong to do that. How is it wrong? It alienates others and damages who I am.

2. I don’t agree with everything about religion.

3. There other things that I like.

So basically, I’m an anti-hero like many real people are.