Oh God

While I disagree with Dr. Richard Dawkins contention that there is no God period, and would rather take a more agnostic point of view, however, I do agree with a lot of what he has to say.

This is an exerpt from his book "The God Delusion," where he makes some valid and pointed arguments.

America, founded in secularism as a beacon of eighteenth century enlightenment, is becoming the victim of religious politics, a circumstance that would have horrified the Founding Fathers.

The political ascendancy today values embryonic cells over adult people. It obsesses about gay marriage, ahead of genuinely important issues that actually make a difference to the world. It gains crucial electoral support from a religious constituency whose grip on reality is so tenuous that they expect to be 'raptured' up to heaven, leaving their clothes as empty as their minds.

More extreme specimens actually long for a world war, which they identify as the 'Armageddon' that is to presage the Second Coming.

Sam Harris, in his new short book, Letter to a Christian Nation, hits the bull's-eye as usual:

"It is, therefore, not an exaggeration to say that if the city of New York were suddenly replaced by a ball of fire, some significant percentage of the American population would see a silver-lining in the subsequent mushroom cloud, as it would suggest to them that the best thing that is ever going to happen was about to happen: the return of Christ...

Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious.

The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this, purely on the basis of religious dogma, should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency."

Does Bush check the Rapture Index daily, as Reagan did his stars? We don't know, but would anyone be surprised?

My scientific colleagues have additional reasons to declare an emergency.

Ignorant and absolutist attacks on stem cell research are just the tip of an iceberg. What we have here is nothing less than a global assault on rationality and the Enlightenment values that inspired the founding of this first and greatest of secular Republics.

Science education - and hence the whole future of science in this country - is under threat.

Temporarily beaten back in a Pennsylvania court, the 'breathtaking inanity' (Judge John Jones's immortal phrase) of 'intelligent design' continually flares up in local bush-fires.

Dowsing them is a time-consuming but important responsibility, and scientists are finally being jolted out of their complacency. For years they quietly got on with their science, underestimating the creationists who, being neither competent nor interested in science, attended to the serious political business of subverting local school boards.

Scientists, and intellectuals generally, are now waking up to this threat from the American Taliban.

Dr. Richard Dawkins


Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God-101 (what the church doesn't want you to know!) at; www.God-101.com
And the petition to have people mind their own business instead of yours at; http://www.petitiononline.com/moses/petition.html

Oh for God's Sake!

Dr. Richard Dawkins has been one of the leading proponents of the atheistic point of view and according to some articles I have read he is slowly starting to preach atheism with the same feverous zeal that is displayed by some evangelical religious adherents.

He started off slowly with his first book "The Selfish Gene" back in the seventies, but has been gathering up momentum recently in his quest to disprove the existence of God.

He describes his astonishment that, at the start of the 21st century, religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth.

Science based on scepticism, investigation and evidence must continuously test its own concepts and claims.

Faith, by definition, defies evidence: It is untested and unshakeable, and is therefore in direct contradiction with science.

In addition, though religions preach morality, peace and hope, Dawkins says; "They bring intolerance, violence and destruction. The growth of extreme fundamentalism in so many religions across the world not only endangers humanity but, is in conflict with the trend over thousands of years of history for humanity to progress –to become more enlightened and more tolerant."

In his latest book "The God Delusion" he has a few comments that I would like to expound upon, and a few that I would like to refute!

Consciousness is the biggest puzzle facing biology, neurobiology, computational studies and evolutionary biology. It is a very, very big problem. I don't know the answer. Nobody knows the answer.

I think one day we probably will know the answer. But even if science doesn't know the answer, I return to the question, what on earth makes you think that religion will?

Just because science so far has failed to explain something, such as consciousness, to say it follows that the facile, pathetic explanations which religion has produced somehow by default must win the argument is really quite ridiculous.

Nobody has an explanation for consciousness. That should be a spur to work harder and try to understand it. Not to give up and just say, "Oh well, it must be a soul."

That doesn't mean anything. It doesn't explain anything. You've said absolutely nothing when you've said that.

Now, Dr. Dawkins is right when he states that we don't know the answer to conciousness, but I believe he is dead wrong in saying that a religious explanation has no merit. (This in spite of the fact that I have absolutely no use for any mainstream religion whether it be Christianity, Islam or Buddhism. They are just interpretations of the Divine that are flawed by human agendas and purposes!)

We cannot look upon this marvelous Universe without some degree of awe and wonder. The notion that all of creation is only a matter of chance and random luck would be as big a fallacy as as making proclamations of blind faith to a belief system that was thought up by some fast talking shaman.

We have to look upon conciousness as our link with the Divine - since this seems to be the root of its purpose. We are living in the here and now of this Universe and although we have some empirical evidence of other planes of existence they are by their very nature beyond our ken.

This by no means precludes their own reality in a way that is not verifiable by us and this is where conciousness could play a role. It might be a link with other realities and this allows us to make conjectures about their validity.

From the book: "The Plain Truth About God-101" (what the church doesn't want you to know!)

The gulf between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom is so great because of our unique outlook and appreciation of existence! (Conciousness)

As far as we know, not even the great apes, dolphins, whales, dogs, cats, or any other living thing, has ever given even the slightest thought to our reason for being here!

You will never hear fido say to you, "What's it all about - Alfie.”

People, on the other hand, spend an inordinate amount of time and effort on the question of purpose. So much so, that it seems to influence almost every aspect of not only our lives, but everything around us.

We might see flashes of pseudo-cognizance in fido's eyes every now and then, but I can tell you for sure that fido and his buddies do not sit around and discuss the merits of art or literature!

Allan W Janssen is the author of The Plain Truth About God-101 (what the church doesn't want you to know!) at; www.God-101.com
And the petition to have people mind their own business instead of yours at; http://www.petitiononline.com/moses/petition.html

"I'm a little tea pot, short and stout!"

Dr. Richard Dawkins (whose thoughts are also responsible for one whole chapter in my book) is an avowed athiest.

He has come up with a story that has been widely circulated and I feel needs repeating here. (Even though I am just an Agnostic, or maybe Gnostic/Existentialist, or even Unitarian/Universalist! Remember, my book God-101 is about what God is NOT!)

He theory? If there were a "teapot" in orbit around the sun we would have no way of proving it, since it is much too small to see!

None the less that would not stop anyone from "believing" there really is a teapot out there. The fact that we can't see it doesn't automatically mean it doesn't exist!

So, when we get down to a matter of faith, or belief, - facts don't have much to do with anything.

Just because we can't see the teapot doesn't mean there is not one out there. Conversly our "belief" that one is out there has about as much to do with anything - as the price of tea in China!

(Thus the "teapot!" HA HA)

We also at one time or another chosen to beleive in Thor-God of Thunder, Odin, Zeus, (not Dr.Suess) astrology etc. etc.

Dr. Dawkins conclusion was this: "Since what we believe about things is so fluid and subjective we should only go with what we do know."
(Objective Science)

Since I was para-phrasing the good Doctor Dawkins I hope I got his meaning right. But there is one aurgument he has not taken into account and which I talked about in my book - and that was this: "We cannot prove nor disprove the existence of God because the one common denominator in all religions in the World is the NEED to have those beleifs in the first place."

So the end result is that we can in no way prove the existence (or not) of God, it is the common need for God that makes me suspect there is something to it!!!

Your scribe
Allan W Janssen