While the world's religions have inspired stunning acts of creation, they also have been implicated in some of the darkest deeds in human history.If God cannot be blamed for such moments of evil, His priests and prophets at least have a case to answer.
So what might they say? That religion is unfairly blamed -- and that we should look to other factors? Admit that there are problems but argue that on balance the good outweighs the bad? That there is no alternative; that people need religion like they need air?
Video recorded: August 19, 2008
St James Ethics Centre - Sydney, Australia
For the motion: Lyn Allison, Richard Ackland, and Vic Stenger
Against the motion: Ian Plimer, Suzanne Rutland, and John Lennox
Debate amazingly had no effect to change minds?
After viewing this thorough, lengthy and convincing debate, I was shocked that more people didn't change their viewpoint. The people attending must have "fossilized" their views. If this were shown in schools among younger audiences, I think the conviction and knowledge shown by the debaters for the motion would win "converts" over from the religious camp. No one mentioned Bertrand Russell's book "Why I Am Not A Christian", or that morals and ethics evolved in our animal forebears millions of years before religion entered the picture. Religion has traditionally been used as a crutch to support some notion of purpose where none exists. Religion has always backpedalled as science has advanced. From geocentrism to heliocentrism, ethics as solely the domain of religions to a true understanding of its origins in the animal kingdom, religious arguments have failed to convince the real thinkers out there. Please see http://www.edge.org to see where modern thinkers stand on this issue. Become informed, for mental vacuousness breeds propaganda and dogma.
Darwin was a keen observer and theorist and his theory is PROVEN beyond a shadow of a doubt. The only reason it is still called a theory is because it can't be proven in the same way a mathematical theorem can. That is a problem with semantics, NOT the science!