That quote from Dawkins - the guy is clearly deluded. "so when you die you can say to yourself I have led a good life." According to him you cant even say that when you die because there wont be a "you" to say that. So it is pointless to even think that. You can only say you have had a good life from the other side when you look back.Turgonian wrote:Right. Anything non-material doesn't exist, but excitement does.Canuckster1127 wrote:Richard Dawkins wrote:The word atheism sounds negative; let me call it rationalism. It is a rational view of the world where you stand up proudly, in your humanity, you look life straight in the face, you look the universe straight in the face, you do your level best to understand it, to understand why you exist, what the universe is about, you recognise that when you die that's it, and therefore life is very, very precious and you devote your life to making the world a better place, to leading a good life so when you die you can say to yourself I have led a good life. Now, that seems to me to be a worthwhile goal to put in place of the medieval superstition which is religion. Belief in God doesn't have to be a bad thing, but I think it's a very demeaning thing to the human mind to believe in a falsehood, especially as the truth about the universe is so immensely exciting.
By the way, Terry Eagleton's article is very misinformed.
I wonder where the author gets the idea that Jesus was casual about sex and disapproved of the family. Nonsense. He made clear that He was to be given priority even above the family, but He was not against the family which He Himself instituted.Terry Eagleton wrote:Jesus hung out with whores and social outcasts, was remarkably casual about sex, disapproved of the family (the suburban Dawkins is a trifle queasy about this), urged us to be laid-back about property and possessions, warned his followers that they too would die violently, and insisted that the truth kills and divides as well as liberates. He also cursed self-righteous prigs and deeply alarmed the ruling class.
I know I am being slightly pendantic here but I am trying to make a point. Saying that - is pointless because in Dawkins world it makes absolutely no difference if you have led a good life or not. When you die thats it. The people that remember you will also die. THe things you have done will be forgotten and eventually the whole human race will be gone and the universe as a whole will burn out - leaving us with a rather bleak future. Better to sod everyone else and get as much money sex and pleasure as you can before you die.