1. Interviews with Richard Dawkins and Michael Shermer

Comment #164184 by MonkeyMagoo on April 19, 2008 at 5:14 pm

Good for you Vanitas. Same with me (my familiy is Christian).

It's great to look back and see those beliefs for what they are (Christian or other). Those beliefs that seemed so 'solid' for so long are nothing but make-believe.

2. Interviews with Richard Dawkins and Michael Shermer

Comment #164157 by MonkeyMagoo on April 19, 2008 at 4:38 pm

He'sAVeryNaughtyBoy: no worries - I wasn't offended and I doubt anyone else was either! :) Just wanted to make the point that most religious people aren't idiots.

Most people who believe in a god (in the UK I think) only do so because they don't really give it much thought, so they just go with what they were taught at school.

At my workplace (a software house) the whole debate has really sparked up, and you should see how once people start to say "you know what....." their views start moving to atheism.

My uncle is a physics teacher, but he is a creationist. Hard to believe, but I think this is a case of the heart ruling the mind. Scared of death etc etc. I think this is what makes most thinking religious people tick. That's probably quite offensive, so sorry if I've upset anyone.

If you look at the evidence for evolution, then still deny it, you either have a really really good theory that needs publishing, or your one of those 'F' people :)

Either way, Layla, I salute you!

3. Interviews with Richard Dawkins and Michael Shermer

Comment #164134 by MonkeyMagoo on April 19, 2008 at 3:45 pm

Message for 'He'sAVeryNaughtyBoy': I understand your question and I think it's a good one.

"Fucktard" is a bit harsh I think, though. I had a fairly mild Catholic upbringing, and even though I wasn't sent to 'Hell School', the same ideas were drip-fed into me as a child. By the time you are old enough to question them, they are strong enough to make you pretty wary of questioning them.

"Fucktard" implies stupidity. Most people with a religious upbringing are not stupid. They just have 18 or so years of brainwashing to get over. Took me a while...

The stupid ones are those who go on about 'no transitional fossils' etc etc. When you speak to them (as I have) it's clear that they have never opened a science book or visited a museum. They are just repeating parrot fashion what they have read on sites like 'Answers in Genesis'.

I'm, rambling now but that's the wine talking :)