[LINK] atheism

[Craig Sanders]

On Thu, Mar 01, 2007 at 04:49:16PM +1100, Frank O'Connor wrote:
> And finally ... I can't for the life of me see why anybody should so 
> virulently oppose that by which of their own admission they concede 
> doesn't exist. I mean ... logically, what is the point?

one of his points is that religion is dangerous even to - perhaps
especially to - those who don't believe. it doesn't matter that religion
is false, what matters is that people believe it...and worse, that
lunatics believe it and are willing to go to extreme lengths to impose
their belief on others.


i read Dawkin's _The God Delusion_ book recently. it was entertaining
light reading...didn't convince me of anything (but i'm already an
atheist and have been since childhood). i doubt whether it would convert
anyone who was a real believer, but it could convince someone who was
wavering or had serious doubts about the credibility of what their
religion asked them to believe.


it did, however, change my mind about one thing. in the past, i've
mostly dismissed moderate, mind-their-own-business religion as being
"mostly harmless".  Quaint, possibly amusing, but not really dangerous.
Dawkin's book made me realise that even that kind of religion is
dangerous because it provides a breeding ground and a disguise for
extremist forms of religion.

craig

-- 
craig sanders <cas at taz.net.au>

The Universe is populated by stable things.
		-- Richard Dawkins