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Atheism didn't influence Richard Dawkins' books
April 23, 2013 at 10:42 am
(This post was last modified: April 23, 2013 at 10:43 am by Dawud.)
Hi I am a Muslim and I don't hate atheists.
I just want to check this to be certain.
Richard Dawkins was in no way influenced by atheism when he wrote the God delusion - this is because he was really reacting to theism (and not atheism)!
Is this really what most atheists here believe? That atheists are never motivated by atheism?
I'm not going to respond - I'm just checking that there is a consensus on this issue...
Atheism doesn't motivate
Kudos given by (1): Dawud
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RE: Atheism didn't influence Richard Dawkins' books
April 23, 2013 at 10:46 am
(This post was last modified: April 23, 2013 at 10:51 am by Whateverist.)
(April 23, 2013 at 10:42 am)Dawud Wrote: Hi I am a Muslim and I don't hate atheists.
I just want to check this to be certain.
Richard Dawkins was in no way influenced by atheism when he wrote the God delusion - this is because he was really reacting to theism (and not atheism)!
Is this really what most atheists here believe? That atheists are never motivated by atheism?
I'm sure I don't speak for all atheists. But I can be motivated to preserve the rights of atheists against attempts by religious groups to enshrine the rules of their sect into secular law or custom.
I haven't read the Dawkins book but it is possible that it is similarly motivated to demarginalize atheists.
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RE: Atheism didn't influence Richard Dawkins' books
April 23, 2013 at 11:09 am
Dawkins wrote the book from his perspective as an evolutionary biologist who has seen evolution first hand and is fully aware of all the evidence in favor of the theory.
The book was probably written as an outburst, after being badgered by theists who keep interfering with his work.
If there were no theists, the book would not exist.
At most, atheism motivates to debunk theism.
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RE: Atheism didn't influence Richard Dawkins' books
April 23, 2013 at 11:11 am
(April 23, 2013 at 11:09 am)pocaracas Wrote: At most, atheism motivates to debunk theism.
^This.
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RE: Atheism didn't influence Richard Dawkins' books
April 23, 2013 at 11:16 am
The God Delusion struck me as a sort of primer for those new to atheism. It is mostly a discussion of the arguments in favor of theism and his response to them, though he does have a chapter where he discusses why he thinks it's almost certain that god does not exist. The motivation for the book strikes me as a way to collect the most common arguments for and against god into one volume.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
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RE: Atheism didn't influence Richard Dawkins' books
April 23, 2013 at 11:27 am
(This post was last modified: April 23, 2013 at 11:28 am by The Grand Nudger.)
(April 23, 2013 at 11:09 am)pocaracas Wrote: At most, atheism motivates to debunk theism.
Nope, something else is required. Plenty of atheists really don;t give a shit about "debunking theism" or even find the notion that it needs any debunking to be absurd (me).
I do not believe therefore I must debunk. Doesn't follow, we're missing something somewhere.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Atheism didn't influence Richard Dawkins' books
April 23, 2013 at 11:34 am
(April 23, 2013 at 10:42 am)Dawud Wrote: Hi I am a Muslim and I don't hate atheists.
Then why do you lie about them even after they correct you a dozen times over in the same thread?
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RE: Atheism didn't influence Richard Dawkins' books
April 23, 2013 at 11:36 am
I did say, "at most"... it's not the same for everyone.
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RE: Atheism didn't influence Richard Dawkins' books
April 23, 2013 at 11:40 am
It wasn't so much for you, as for Dawud, who can't seem to distinguish between people agreeing with him and people correcting his trash assertions.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
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RE: Atheism didn't influence Richard Dawkins' books
April 23, 2013 at 11:47 am
(April 23, 2013 at 10:42 am)Dawud Wrote: Hi I am a Muslim and I don't hate atheists.
I just want to check this to be certain.
Richard Dawkins was in no way influenced by atheism when he wrote the God delusion - this is because he was really reacting to theism (and not atheism)!
Is this really what most atheists here believe? That atheists are never motivated by atheism?
I'm not going to respond - I'm just checking that there is a consensus on this issue...
Atheism doesn't motivate
Hey, Dawud. I think it might be more accurate to say that someone's reasons for writing a book like that and someone's reasons for being an atheist may be related. Dawkins seems to come to atheism by way of scientific skepticism, and that same skepticism combined with frustration over dealing with creationists led to him writing The God Delusion.
Neither atheism nor theism of themselves can motivate, but atheists and theists can have motivations that aren't entirely divorced from their atheism or theism. No one becomes a missionary just because they're a theist, but they might because they're a particular kind of theist, combined with a personality willing to go through with it.
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