Friday, May 18, 2007
"Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions."
According to Mark Morford at SFGate.com, the above quote can be attributed to the late and - unfortuantely - lamented Jerry Falwell.
It's out of context, of course. I don't personally know what the Reverend Falwell was yammering about when he said that. But I'm willing to bet that I disagreed with it. I disagreed with just about everything I've ever heard him say, so I figure it's a safe bet. Jerry believed - or said he believed - that God had revealed a truth to him, and that this truth involved hating gays, liberals, foreigners... everyone who wasn't Jerry Falwell, basically. A lot of his stronger statements drew protests, but never an apology. Not even this one, form the 13th of September 2001:
I'm happy to say the opposition to this kind of hate-mongering in the name of religion is seriously stepping up. The glorious interweb is a hotbed of valid Skeptic dialogue (as well as less-valid dogma-bashing), and the Agnostic and Athiest segments of society are finally finding a voice. Please do yourself a favour, and check out the following:
Kirk Cameron and his banana-loving buddy Ray Comfort are challenged to present scientific evidence of the existence of God (challenged only because they claimed they could) and are given no less a platform than ABC's Nightline from which to do it. They are opposed by The Rational Response Squad, a pair of outspoken skeptics. ABC's website offers the entire "debate" as free (with commercials) streaming video.
Christopher Hitchens is nearly impossible to argue against. It doesn't matter if you think he's right or wrong, he simply knows more than you do, and is much, much better at speaking to his point. His skills as a debator are enhanced by a dry, acerbic wit that can be devastating to those he deems unworthy, which seems to be almost everyone. He has at times said things as least as offensive as Falwell's comments, but unlike the late Reverend (an honourific Hitchens abhors) Christopher can usually back his statements up with case study and precedence. His new book "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" is at least as provocative as the title suggests, and he got a chance to defend his point of view against another Reverend, erstwhile Presidential Candidate Al Sharpton. Slate magazine, for which Hitchens writes a regular column, has complete video of the event.
Hitchens has his own take on Jerry Falwell, as well. Quite the Eulogy, Chris.
But the biggest anti-God guy of the year has got to be Richard Dawkins. The Oxford University professor, sometimes called "Darwin's Bulldog" has been doing a world tour to promote his book, "The God Delusion", in which he uses many tools, not least his own considerable scientific knowledge, to refute the idea that God exists at all. His two-part BBC documentary "The Root Of All Evil" explores similar themes to Hitchens' "God Is Not Great", and a new documentary is apparently in the works. Recently he stopped by CBC's the Hour.
There's a lot of video out there. Unedited, free and unabashedly skeptical. Spread the word.
rAmen, brothers.
It's out of context, of course. I don't personally know what the Reverend Falwell was yammering about when he said that. But I'm willing to bet that I disagreed with it. I disagreed with just about everything I've ever heard him say, so I figure it's a safe bet. Jerry believed - or said he believed - that God had revealed a truth to him, and that this truth involved hating gays, liberals, foreigners... everyone who wasn't Jerry Falwell, basically. A lot of his stronger statements drew protests, but never an apology. Not even this one, form the 13th of September 2001:
And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way — all of them who have tried to secularize America — I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen.Yep. Nearly 3000 Americans died because, in part, of Jm J Bullock and Ellen Degeneres.
I'm happy to say the opposition to this kind of hate-mongering in the name of religion is seriously stepping up. The glorious interweb is a hotbed of valid Skeptic dialogue (as well as less-valid dogma-bashing), and the Agnostic and Athiest segments of society are finally finding a voice. Please do yourself a favour, and check out the following:
Kirk Cameron and his banana-loving buddy Ray Comfort are challenged to present scientific evidence of the existence of God (challenged only because they claimed they could) and are given no less a platform than ABC's Nightline from which to do it. They are opposed by The Rational Response Squad, a pair of outspoken skeptics. ABC's website offers the entire "debate" as free (with commercials) streaming video.
Christopher Hitchens is nearly impossible to argue against. It doesn't matter if you think he's right or wrong, he simply knows more than you do, and is much, much better at speaking to his point. His skills as a debator are enhanced by a dry, acerbic wit that can be devastating to those he deems unworthy, which seems to be almost everyone. He has at times said things as least as offensive as Falwell's comments, but unlike the late Reverend (an honourific Hitchens abhors) Christopher can usually back his statements up with case study and precedence. His new book "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" is at least as provocative as the title suggests, and he got a chance to defend his point of view against another Reverend, erstwhile Presidential Candidate Al Sharpton. Slate magazine, for which Hitchens writes a regular column, has complete video of the event.
Hitchens has his own take on Jerry Falwell, as well. Quite the Eulogy, Chris.
But the biggest anti-God guy of the year has got to be Richard Dawkins. The Oxford University professor, sometimes called "Darwin's Bulldog" has been doing a world tour to promote his book, "The God Delusion", in which he uses many tools, not least his own considerable scientific knowledge, to refute the idea that God exists at all. His two-part BBC documentary "The Root Of All Evil" explores similar themes to Hitchens' "God Is Not Great", and a new documentary is apparently in the works. Recently he stopped by CBC's the Hour.
There's a lot of video out there. Unedited, free and unabashedly skeptical. Spread the word.
rAmen, brothers.
