(February 18, 2013 at 2:52 am)naimless Wrote: I understand what you are saying but clearly the ramifications of it being accepted are important if he truly wishes people to see what he sees - a lot of people with and without faith do not. Or they do and it is more suffering than before.
To some people, all of their theistic experiences being untrue is the equivalent to all of his scientific experiences being untrue. Moreover, one cannot talk of the ramifications of religion being accepted without addressing this seriously.
I'd say that people feel worse when their religion is taken away than when science is proven wrong. I don't know what scientific "experiences" are, but when science is proven wrong, it's usually because scientists have found the right way.
When religion is proven wrong, the original notion was so contradictory to reality, that the wrench is understandably greater. Should this excuse Dawkins, or anyone else from informing people of the truth? It'll hurt perhaps, but most people it hurts will simply shut their ears and hum loudly or swear at him. I've heard it happen in his hate mail.
Was it wrong for christians to disillusion the Norse of the Aesir? Or the German tribes of their various gods? I'd say so, but it caused far more harm than what Dawkins is doing, and the christians at the time saw it as a necessary evil for the promotion of a positive future. They were wrong, but it's what they believed.
If you believe it, question it. If you question it, get an answer. If you have an answer, does that answer satisfy reality? Does it satisfy you? Probably not. For no one else will agree with you, not really.
