Vlad the Impala
Moderator
Karma: 162
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Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/11 07:27
Just a reminder - Richard Dawkins will be on CNN on Monday night (in the US).
Apparently he'll be on the Paula Zahn show, the show that gave us this classy piece of in-depth discussion.
I can't wait...
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Jersey Nick
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/11 09:27
Thanks for the heads-up, Vlad.
That video is something else - Debbie Schlussel makes my frickin' blood boil.
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RobMac
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/11 10:37
Thanks, I'll set my TiVo.
That clip about Atheism makes me laugh.
The black chick kept saying Atheists should "shut up" and not impose their beliefs on her, yet in the same sentence she's advocating forcing a Christian belief upon everyone!
Just one more example of religion's intolerance on those who "don't believe" in their "God" - or rather (perhaps more correctly) people using religion as the excuse for their own hatred and intolerance of others.
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Vlad the Impala
Moderator
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/11 15:24
That's Karen Hunter, Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Film and Media Studies at Hunter College.
I quote from a (deleted) part of her Wikipedia entry:
In response to the viewer's comparison of sectarian prayer in school and slavery as equally illegal under the Constitution, Hunter said, "[D]on't compare your plight to some sort of civil rights issue. It's not. You choose to be an atheist. I didn't choose to be black. I have never seen a sign that read: Christians Only."
"You're still white and will never know what it feels like being black. You can only sympathize, you cannot empathize. And that you still insist to compare [slavery and religious instruction in government education] underscores my point."
more here
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Snerd
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/11 15:30
The Jewish woman said that freedom of religion isn't freedom from religion... Yes, it is. Do I need to go into Penn's "America is like a club" speech? And all of this can be solved by Hallmark cards? I think it's funny that both of the people that are against the atheists are part of groups that have been discriminated against. And you know what? Ever since prayer was taken out of schools, things have gotten bad. I mean, nothing prevents teen pregnancies like a daily dose of Jesus... 'cept condoms... and pills... and... Okay, so it doesn't work in that instance, but surely it'd help with the drug use. No? Okay... prayer doesn't do a goddamn thing, we know that and you know I'm merely trying to be satirical. The problem with the Christians in this country is that they're number one. If they didn't swing any weight, they'd cry "foul" just as much as we do. And as far as taking "God" off the money, yeah, it shouldn't be on there, but you have to pick your battles. I don't honestly think anyone's found religion after they put a $1 in a stripper's thong. I know I'm "preachin' to the choir," so to speak, but I just felt I needed to say this.
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teen
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/11 17:16
Hey did you know Dawkins has a documentary "The Root Of All Evil?"
http://www.mininova.org/search/?search=root+of+all+evil
I didn't know it existed.
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unigolyn
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/11 17:36
Either Paula Zahn is a complete idiot, or at least she plays one on TV. Whatever the case, I find it physically painful to watch her disgusting "Racism: Out in the Open" show, the thesis of which seems to be that isolated incidents of racism means that the entire country is a bunch of Kluxers. I'm tempted to tune in, though I fear Dawkins will be surrounded by people with the intelligence level of Kirk Cameron, if not the Banana King himself, treated as Dawkins's intellectual equals by Zahn.
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Snerd
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/11 17:47
unigolyn wrote:
Either Paula Zahn is a complete idiot, or at least she plays one on TV. Whatever the case, I find it physically painful to watch her disgusting "Racism: Out in the Open" show, the thesis of which seems to be that isolated incidents of racism means that the entire country is a bunch of Kluxers.
Nigga please.
unigolyn wrote:
I'm tempted to tune in, though I fear Dawkins will be surrounded by people with the intelligence level of Kirk Cameron, if not the Banana King himself, treated as Dawkins's intellectual equals by Zahn.
I would watch that, though, because I know Dawkins is intelligent and I also know that Cameron isn't. Also, Dawkins would bludgeon him with a copy of "The God Delusion".
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Fishfarm2
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/11 19:23
I'm convinced that Debbie Schlussel is Rachel Dratch doing an SNL character.
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mddawson
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/11 20:26
When I saw this I thought this is "must watch TV" - but I live in Australia and we get CNN-Lite here so there will be no Richard Dawkins to watch tonight 
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Aston14
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/11 23:23
No worries Mddawson, I am sure it will be up on youtube or on CNN's website. At the very least they make transcripts available on the site.
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unigolyn
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/13 10:43
Well, I watched the thing, which amounted to something like a three minute long recorded interview with Dawkins, after which they cut back to their panel that included a not terribly well-spoken atheist, a snarky liberal, and some preacher who proceeded to yell over everyone else, declaring America to be a Christian nation founded on Christian principles, and evil, amoral atheists should crawl back in the closet with the fags. Then they were all forced by the host (not Zahn) to agree that, yes, rape is a terrible thing. Having used their Powers of Journalism to bring peace to warring factions, CNN could safely return to their 24/7 coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's refrigerator.
I learned something today. I learned not watch CNN, even IF they claim to have Richard Dawkins as a guest (who, it should be said, managed to be well-spoken and get a good message across). I also learned that a solid hour of Mythbusters is a good way to wash the ick of CNN off of one's retinas.
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Snerd
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/13 12:03
I missed it. I fell asleep around 7:45 and didn't wake up until 9:00. Anyone got the youtube?
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Sc00ter
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/13 12:24
I think this is it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR6Mu5JULBo
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Jersey Nick
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Re:Dawkins on CNN, Monday - 2007/02/13 12:26
The atheist portion of the show was less than 1/3 of the hour. Dr. Dawkins only had a few minutes and a grand total of 375 words. That having been said, Dr. Dawkins his usual self, and they didn't seem to have edited him much. Ellen Johnson was on the panel discussion and she was awful - at one point even saying she disagreed with Dawkins. American Atheists really needs a better mouthpiece. Rachel Maddow from Air America was the only panel member that was worth 2 cents.
I'm not hooked up to get my recording onto youtube, but you can read the full transcript here.
Here's the Dawkins interview:
ROBERTS: Well, after we first brought this topic out in the open, most of the e-mails that we received were from people who thought that we should have included an atheist in our discussion.
So, now we're going to turn to one of the world's most prominent atheists. Richard Dawkins is an Oxford University professor whose bestseller sparked worldwide controversy. "The God Delusion" argues that belief in God is not only irrational, but it can be deadly. Paula spoke with him just a couple of days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD DAWKINS, AUTHOR, "THE GOD DELUSION": Why don't you believe in Thor? Why don't you believe in Zeus? Nobody believes in most of the things that you could believe in. You're an atheist with respect to the flying spaghetti monster.
I am an atheist with respect to the Judeo-Christian God, because there is not a shred of evidence in favor or the Judeo-Christian God, or, indeed any other God.
ZAHN: It strikes me that the atheist message is particularly threatening to some Christians because they believe, in some way, you're trying to compromise their ability to have this stuff out there on the public stage.
Is there any public role, as far as you're concerned, for religion?
DAWKINS: I think people should be free to believe whatever they like, to write whatever they like, to say whatever they like, within -- within reason.
But the problem is that religious people, I think especially in America, and also in the Islamic world, are in the habit of getting it all their own way and are remarkably intolerant of atheists.
ZAHN: But why do you think they are so remarkably intolerant of atheists?
DAWKINS: Well, I think there's a sort of historic misunderstanding of what atheism is.
For some reason, people have been brought up to believe that atheists have two horns and a tail. I mean, there are figures that show that atheists are the most mistrusted group in America, which is pretty astonishing, considering, as I say, the innocuousness of what they actually are. They are just people who hold a different belief system.
ZAHN: Certainly, you have encountered people, though, who are intimidated by your message, that, in some way, it puts perhaps their own faith in doubt?
DAWKINS: Well, why would anybody be intimidated by mere words?
I mean, neither I, nor any other atheist that I know, ever threatens violence. We never threaten to fly planes into skyscrapers. We never threaten suicide bombs. We're very gentle people. All we do is use words to talk about things like the cosmos, the origin of the universe, evolution, the origin of life. What's there to be frightened of in just an opinion?
ZAHN: Final question: How would you characterize the overarching public reaction to atheism?
DAWKINS: Misunderstanding, and really missing an awful lot of what's valuable, because, if you're an atheist, you know, you believe this is the only life you're going to get. It's a precious life. It's a beautiful life. It's something that we should live to the full, to the end of our days, whereas, if you're religious, and you believe that there's another life, somehow, that means you don't live this life to the full, because you think you're going to get another one.
That's an awfully negative way to live a life. Being an atheist frees you up to live this life properly, happily, and fully.
ZAHN: Richard Dawkins, we really appreciate your time tonight. Thank you so much for joining us.
DAWKINS: Thank you.
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