h/t: Atheism 411
ATHEISM: “When We Landed on the Moon . . .” / Eddie Izzard
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Category Archives: Writing
ORIGINS OF LIFE: “The Difference of Years” / Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, Ph.D., (born 26 March 1941)
Ethologist, Evolutionary Biologist, Author, and Outspoken Atheist
“The difference between 6,000 years and 4.6 billion years it’s equivalent to believing the distance from New York to San Francisco is 7.8 yards. That’s the scale of the disagreement.”
CONSCIENCE: “On Organized Religion” / Christopher Hitchens
INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY: “Explore the World” / Richard Feynman
EVOLUTION: “To Put it Bluntly but Fairly, . . .” / Daniel Dennett
CRITICAL THINKING: “The Religion Virus” / Arthur C. Clarke
CRITICAL THINKING: “Are There Emotional No-Go Areas Where Logic Dare Not Show Its Face?” / Richard Dawkins
Are there kingdoms of emotion where logic is taboo, dare not show its face, zones where reason is too intimidated to speak?
[…]
I believe that, as non-religious rationalists, we should be prepared to discuss such questions using logic and reason. We shouldn’t compel people to enter into painful hypothetical discussions, but nor should we conduct witch-hunts against people who are prepared to do so. I fear that some of us may be erecting taboo zones, where emotion is king and where reason is not admitted; where reason, in some cases, is actively intimidated and dare not show its face. And I regret this. We get enough of that from the religious faithful. Wouldn’t it be a pity if we became seduced by a different sort of sacred, the sacred of the emotional taboo zone?
[…]
I deliberately [want] to challenge the taboo against rational discussion of sensitive issues.
STAR TALK: “Wil Wheaton and Science of Star Trek” / Neil deGrasse Tyson
Always Question Authority 