An alternative Richard Dawkins Resource

This entry, which shall no doubt be subject to numerous edits over time, is an attempt at an alternative resource to all those pro "Richard Dawkins Resource" pages out there. After all, not all of us are fans of that particular Fanatical Religious Zealot and his Atheistic Evolutionists Uniformatism (AEU) cause, right ?

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Credit where credit is due, as per the links.

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From an interview between Steve Paulson and Richard Dawkins, 13/10/2006

SP: Why do you call yourself an atheist? Why not an agnostic?

RD: Well, technically, you cannot be any more than an agnostic. But I am as agnostic about God as I am about fairies and the Flying Spaghetti Monster. You cannot actually disprove the existence of God. Therefore, to be a positive atheist is not technically possible. But you can be as atheist about God as you can be atheist about Thor or Apollo. Everybody nowadays is an atheist about Thor and Apollo. Some of us just go one god further.

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David Quinn debates (read as "trounces") Richard Dawkins regarding "The God Delusion"

http://catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0086.htm

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Richard Dawkins And The 11 Second Pause

http://www.tccsa.tc/articles/dawkins_pause.html

Includes direct corrospondence from Richard.

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Arthur S. Lodge on "Richard Dawkins: Designer!"

From: http://members.tripod.com/aslodge/id96.htm

Dawkins' famous computer example is an argument for design, not for the NDT!

Richard Dawkins (1987) describes a computer example of changing letters, one at a time at random, in a string and shows that, after only 41 generations of "breeding", the desired Shakespearean phrase is obtained. At each stage, however, the criterion for retaining a new letter is that it shall agree with the letter in the corresponding place in the final design!

Dawkins chose the Shakespearean sentence at the outset. He then used it as a template for accepting or rejecting all subsequent letter changes. This is a clear example showing the influence of a designer. The fact that each letter change was made using random choices (continued until the template-approved letter was found) addresses only the question of efficiency.

Reference: Richard Dawkins The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design (W. W. Norton, New York)

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Richard Dawkins, Hyper-skeptic

http://www.errantskeptics.org/DawkinsR.htm -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Dawkins the Dogmatist" A review by Andrew Brown.

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7803

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Phil Dwyer opinions on Richard Dawkin's "Gerin Oil" ("Religion") article.

For anyone who doesn't know him, Richard Dawkins is the biggest intellectual fraud and academic charlatan currently active. His work consists of a thinly-veiled apologia for market capitalism couched in the populist jargon of pseudo-science. It is of sociological rather than intellectual interest: future generations will marvel at how such a transparent ideologue could have been taken seriously.

They will conclude that only the present climate of Darwinist fundamentalism and scientistic imperialism could have allowed such an exotic, arcane and frankly weird person to become a public figure. In other words, he's rubbish, and anyone who takes him seriously is an idiot. Sorry to be so frank, but that is the simple truth. This is opinion.

I think Dawkins is dropping his guard, and openly revealing himself as the atheist fanatic he was all along. The man simply hates God. Atheism is an article of faith for him, quite as much as belief is for a religious fundamentalist. But articles like this do have the virtue of discrediting by association Dawkins's absurd meanderings about memes and genes, and if he is allowed to continue in this vain he will quite possibly ruin the carefully-constructed credibility that Darwinism currently enjoys among the half-educated. I say we should give him all the rope he needs.

A few more articles like this, and people will begin to wonder why they took his crap about genes so seriously. In 20 or 30 years, Dawkins's contemporary popularity will be held up as the prime example of our era's irrationality and superstition.

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regarDS

Hangin' around for The Rainy Days.

A break from machinery for the moment. Time for a waffle. This one is inspired by the plight and challenges faced by most of us in Oz society in its current form. The stuff being endlessly repeated in our news media with no apparent happy ending in sight.

Yeah, "Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down" type stuff.

The secular humanist society promoted in these ~enlightened~ (~ = sneer quotes) times by the likes of Dawkins, most of standard left-wing academia, and the public school system is clearly showing the kind of fruit it bears, and the grafting going on exchanging branches within the same tree ain't going to make it any better either.

Lately I've been personally lamenting the plight of our young, our brethren in remote Aboriginal communities, and the apparent sickness of the soul of our whole nation. I have been wondering what it would take to turn people around and if such a turn around will happen.

I know I can be extremely negative and critical of the time and age we have no choice in partaking in, and I am generally and usually of the view that not much can be done about it and that it is better to hasten the end rather than patch up something doomed to fail.

However, I am also reminded that we are not abandoned nor forsaken and that the proliferation of hopelessnes, pointlessness, wickedness, and all the things reported in our news media, etc, although are very distressing observations and relatities for any parent, are still serving a useful purpose and aren't impossible to turn around.

Part of the useful purpose I reckon, is that it serves as an example to Dawkin's crowd that they are just plain wrong, wrong, wrong about most things and that their brave new world built upon subjective morality and base self interest is doomed to failure that can easily be extrapolated by what we are currently already seeing. I won't go on. Heh.

Not impossible to turn around ? See: http://www.welshrevival.com/ from which I'll quote a tiny bit from the "history" section.

SOQ

"a storm had hit the churches yet for so many it was a storm of love and power which completely transformed their lives.

People were changed in so many ways. The crime rate dropped, drunkards were reformed, pubs reported losses in trade. Bad language disappeared and never returned to the lips of many – it was reported that the pit ponies failed to understand their born again colliers who seemed to speak the new language of Zion – without curse and blasphemy – even football and rugby became uninteresting in the light of new joy and direction received by the Converts.

Colliers and tin-men of the working classes expressed their joy in so many ways – so many original prayers

But perhaps the song that captures what most of these felt was a song sung by Sam Jenkins a tin plate worker from Llanelli – a song translated at the time from English to Welsh – Can y Rebel “Am Achub hen rebel fel fi” - "For saving an old Rebel like me"."

EOQ

You see, I'm reminded that in the final days before God is obliged to step in an put things right again with mankind having been given all the chances due a rebellious child by a patient parent, the promise is to pour out His Spirit on all flesh - and when that happens, I reckon the likes of the Welsh Revival will be small potatoes !

Apparently during the times of Welsh Revival, people were even falling over in the streets overcome with a sense of their need of God's love and forgiveness. Imagine the turn around and return to hope in remote Aboriginal communities should that happen ? Same too in our city's "night spots" ?

How long does it take to turn people around ?

Surely but a blink of an eye once the choice is made ?

On a more secular level, look how easy it is to shape the public view of an entire nation if not tongue ? A couple of newsprint articles, a bit of 6 oclock news time, then the odd collection advertisements, and wallah ! Done !

I reckon BRING ON the last days outpouring of the Holy Spirit as prophecised by Joel (2:28) ala "It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions."

"After this" ? After what ? Heh. I'll let the interested go look that one up ...

Anyway, Dawkins and crowd not withstanding, I'd rather see us all, especially our young and our Aboriginal brethren, and our leaders under the influence of the Holy Spirit rather than what seems to be the norm at the moment.

That kind of Rainy Day (regardless of what day it falls on) certainly won't be getting me down.

Other than on my knees in thanks that is.

regarDS