http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7390941.stm
Christians should respect atheists, says the Archbishop of Westminster. I heard an interview he did on the radio (Today Programme, Radio 4) and he seemed to distance religion from the idea of objective evidence. Or maybe it was just me - after all I'm a confused atheist.
Dawkins had claimed earlier that interviewers give religious professionals an easier time than other professions. They are, for instance, generally not asked to back up their points with evidence.
Here's an interview you'll never hear broadcast (yes, this bit is completely imaginery, made up by me!):
Interviewer: 'So, Bishop, you claim there is a god. Some people have questioned that idea. So, on what evidence do you base your claim?'
Bishop: 'Well, can I start by saying ...'
Last edited by Mulder; 9th May 2008 at 08:25 AM.
I heard the interview as well and what a big old melting pot of fallacies the the cardinal is. "Atheism = Stalin and Hitler" and "violent fundamentalist 'don't have god in their hearts'" was trotted out in the same breath.
Made me very angry.
Me too, on all counts.Originally Posted by filippo lippi
John Humphris did give the bishop a bit of a grilling on evidence for the existence of God, but let him get away with evasions and platitudes in his responses. As a result the interview missed (in fact it illustrated) the main point which Dawkins strives so hard to make - why should our society give religious belief a different status to any other matter of personal opinion?
I do not expect special treatment from society because I am a vegetarian, or a single father, or on account of my guilty secret affection for the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. Why should bishops get special treatment because they believe in God, go to church, or get off on hymn music?
Special Pleading, Special Pleading. The bishop doesn't know what it means, and wouldn't see the problem with it even if he did.
The Bishop and his ilk start from the premise there is a God and then work back. Hence he can be patronising to us atheists and then believe his is being charitable. The fact is that what the Bishop says means absolutely nothing to me one way or the other. His reverence is an irrelevance.
Now Jocky, Gilbert and Sullivan, that's more like it.
Thats an interesting point, and not one I'm sure I agree with. I wonder sometimes whether they have always really known this, and now they know that increasing numbers of people also know. And in the past, they were never ever challenged, especially on the pious BBC.
Nowadays they are having to a be a lot more savvy about things to keep the illusion going, and I think that's why we are seeing more speeches like this. Secularism is hurting them - and the old argument that secularism = evil no longer holds any water. We're still stuck with the Hitler/Stalin comparisons, but that angle is also looking increasingly desperate.
The more news stories I see like this, the more I think that secularism is winning in this country. Winning but still got a lot to do.
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