Richard Dawkins: The state needs to ‘protect’ children from religion…

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kodiak

Senior Member
Mar 8, 2015
4,995
290
83
#2
It sounds like he is trying to take away the freedom of choice...."They have to believe like I do" is essentially what is being said.He is pushing something with no evidence too...
"And parents of course have concerns and a say, but they don’t have the right to shield their children from knowledge,” Krauss said. “That’s not a right any more than they have the right to shield their children from health care or medicine. And those parents that do that are often tried and imprisoned when they refuse to allow their children to get blood transfusions or whatever is necessary for their health. And this is necessary for their mental health.
Too bad they don't use science to defend their position. There has been a lot of studies showing religion is good for mental health...but the religion has to have specifics....like not hating unbelievers...
 
M

Miri

Guest
#3
Umm but atheism is a religion too, a belief in evolution and science and that
we all evolved from some sort of primordial stew.

So if Richie is going to teach his children about his religion, then why
shouldn't every other parent be afforded the same courtesy.

Just for the record I hate "religion" too. :p
 
S

Siberian_Khatru

Guest
#4
"We want to protect up and comers against indoctrination by inculcating them ourselves," is essentially what they're proposing.

The sentiments expressed in that article by Dawkins and Krauss don't scream objective reasoning so much as they do atheistic bias, as far as how I infer this. Both intelligent, respectable guys in their own right, still. The passive aggressive virulence just seems kind of palpable to me. This is the kind of behavior that would lead me to home school my offspring (if I ever had any of my own) - this coming from someone who's not a Christian, even.

I respect their position, but it's like... you guys don't like religion. You don't like Christianity or the Bible. We get it already. Can you get back to science and maybe take a backseat to trying to destroy people's faith?
 
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Oncefallen

Idiot in Chief
Staff member
Jan 15, 2011
6,031
3,261
113
#5
"We want to protect up and comers against indoctrination by inculcating them ourselves," is essentially what they're proposing.

The sentiments expressed in that article by Dawkins and Krauss don't scream objective reasoning so much as they do atheistic bias, as far as how I infer this. Both intelligent, respectable guys in their own right, still. The passive aggressive virulence just seems kind of palpable to me. This is the kind of behavior that would lead me to home school my offspring (if I ever had any of my own) - this coming from someone who's not a Christian, even.

I respect their position, but it's like... you guys don't like religion. You don't like Christianity or the Bible. We get it already. Can you get back to science and maybe take a backseat to trying to destroy people's faith?
This is surprisingly becoming more common.

Although home-schooling is a movement that was predominently founded by evangelical parents and picked up by other religious groups, it seems that more and more "secular" families are beginning to home school. I think it's partially because the numbers definitely support that home schooled kids tend to get a better education, but also even some secular families are unhappy with the clear indoctrination that happens within public education.
 
Jan 9, 2016
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#6
This is surprisingly becoming more common.

Although home-schooling is a movement that was predominently founded by evangelical parents and picked up by other religious groups, it seems that more and more "secular" families are beginning to home school. I think it's partially because the numbers definitely support that home schooled kids tend to get a better education, but also even some secular families are unhappy with the clear indoctrination that happens within public education.
me and my wife have decided to homeschool for this exact reason.
 
Dec 18, 2013
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#7
This is how they operate. They introduce their old earth mythology and atheist fantasies as facts. First they manipulate secularism to gain acceptance. Then they start claiming you're delusional if you don't believe in their atheist fairytales. Then they start trying to brainwash your children. Then they push the truth from the schools and society. Then they start impressing upon the State to persecute you for not letting your own children get brainwashed by them. This is what happens when you let all these damnable heresies in. It's the give a mouse a cookie parable. You gave them the cookie by letting them teach their heresies as if they were truth, but it does not stop there, they want more than the cookie.
 
S

Siberian_Khatru

Guest
#8
This is how they operate. They introduce their... mythology and atheist fantasies as facts. First they manipulate secularism to gain acceptance. Then they start claiming you're delusional if you don't believe in their atheist fairytales. Then they start trying to brainwash your children. Then they push the truth from the schools and society. Then they start impressing upon the State to persecute you for not letting your own children get brainwashed by them. This is what happens when you let all these damnable heresies in...
You know... you sound a bit like them. :p
 
Jan 9, 2016
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#10
This is how they operate. They introduce their old earth mythology and atheist fantasies as facts. First they manipulate secularism to gain acceptance. Then they start claiming you're delusional if you don't believe in their atheist fairytales. Then they start trying to brainwash your children. Then they push the truth from the schools and society. Then they start impressing upon the State to persecute you for not letting your own children get brainwashed by them. This is what happens when you let all these damnable heresies in. It's the give a mouse a cookie parable. You gave them the cookie by letting them teach their heresies as if they were truth, but it does not stop there, they want more than the cookie.
reminds me of how Nazi Germany was able to get so many people to turn against the Jews.
 
Dec 1, 2014
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#12
Dawkins is a joke. We'll see how long he remains a staunch atheist once he endures that first crack of chest pain and the overwhelming feeling of impending doom. Happens all the time.
 

Dude653

Senior Member
Mar 19, 2011
12,312
1,039
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#13
my conversation with an atheist
atheist.."im an atheist"
Me "Bye"
 
Dec 1, 2014
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#14
my conversation with an atheist
atheist.."im an atheist"
Me "Bye"
My conversation is similar:

Atheist: "I'm an atheist."

Me: "Ha ha, you lose."
 

notuptome

Senior Member
May 17, 2013
15,050
2,538
113
#15
Typical they will not enter and want to make every effort to prevent anyone else from entering just in case they are wrong.

Implore the state to silence the right of free speech to others so the only voice to be heard is the voice they choose.

For the cause of Christ
Roger
 
C

coby

Guest
#16
my conversation with an atheist
atheist.."im an atheist"
Me "Bye"
Oh I always say I'll let you know when an arm has popped out or a dead one is raised after 3 days. That'll silence them.
 
K

Kisses1990

Guest
#17
^^ Probably silences them because what you just said made no sense.. "an arm popped out or a dead one is raised"?? What are you talking about?
 
K

Kisses1990

Guest
#18
Umm but atheism is a religion too, a belief in evolution and science and that
we all evolved from some sort of primordial stew.

So if Richie is going to teach his children about his religion, then why
shouldn't every other parent be afforded the same courtesy.

Just for the record I hate "religion" too. :p

I'll address only this one because it summarizes what a few others had said anyway. Atheism is NOT a religion (why is that hard to understand?), and neither is evolution. It's not some kind of "mythology" or "fantasy". Evolution is a fact as strong as anything we know. We must really try and start educating ourselves about it. It really is true and has multifarious evidence from totally different branches of science. It's quite amazing, actually. If you'd just bother to learn something about it from a legitimate evolutionary biologist, not some kind of loopy interpretation from Ray Comfort or some other dope, you might be really impressed by it. I was when I started learning about it. Also, evolution and atheism are two different things. Many Christians accept evolution. I can see why learning evolution might make some people more atheistic, but it certainly does not have to be the case.
 
K

Kisses1990

Guest
#19
Sorry, wasn't able to edit my above post, so please allow me to make a succinct caveat to my above post: Also, Richard Dawkins happens to be an amazing writer on the subject of evolution. I'm not going to comment on his atheistic God Delusion book, but if you actually read works like The Selfish Gene or The Ancestors Tale, I can't imagine how someone couldn't not only be impressed by the skillful manner in which he writes (almost poetic), but also be persuaded into accepting evolutionary theory. Those that don't accept it, I'm just curious where you got your PHD in evolutionary biology? You may THINK you understand it, but do you really? A great book to start with would actually be Dawkins' "The Greatest Show On Earth" which is a guide through the evidence and the reason why 99.999% of biologists accept it as fact. He shows his masterful teacher skills by raising questions and letting you come to your own conclusions, not by telling you how to think. A great companion piece is Jerry Coyne's "Why Evolution Is True". Those books, among many others, changed my life. And I really hope none of these words come across as invidious. Thank you.
 
T

Tintin

Guest
#20
Sorry, wasn't able to edit my above post, so please allow me to make a succinct caveat to my above post: Also, Richard Dawkins happens to be an amazing writer on the subject of evolution. I'm not going to comment on his atheistic God Delusion book, but if you actually read works like The Selfish Gene or The Ancestors Tale, I can't imagine how someone couldn't not only be impressed by the skillful manner in which he writes (almost poetic), but also be persuaded into accepting evolutionary theory. Those that don't accept it, I'm just curious where you got your PHD in evolutionary biology? You may THINK you understand it, but do you really? A great book to start with would actually be Dawkins' "The Greatest Show On Earth" which is a guide through the evidence and the reason why 99.999% of biologists accept it as fact. He shows his masterful teacher skills by raising questions and letting you come to your own conclusions, not by telling you how to think. A great companion piece is Jerry Coyne's "Why Evolution Is True". Those books, among many others, changed my life. And I really hope none of these words come across as invidious. Thank you.
Evolution is a load of bollocks, mate. The philosophy finds its foundation in Hindu Brahmin teachings from 1200BC. Maybe do some research before you bash biblical creationists and trumpet the nonsense that is evolution. Evolution and Christianity aren't the least bit compatible. Evolution wouldn't be any more true if every Christian in the world but one believed it, because consensus science isn't science. The teachings just don't square with the Bible.