Richard Dawkins - Letter to his daughter

[Dillinger]

I very much admire Richard Dawkins and his super keen intellect.

The attached is a short extract from his book A Devil's Chaplain. It's a very simple bit of writing (aimed at a 10 year old) dealing with good and bad reasons for believing anything; the good being evidence the bad being authority, tradition and revelation.

Now, as diabetics we don't get much in the way of revelations to support why or how we should treat our condition; the message on the tablets was not metformin after all, but we do get a great big dose of authority (hello dieticians, hello practice nurses) and tradition (hello high carb low fat diets). The evidence that we need to use comes through blood testing strips; without them we are in the dark and will be trampled by authority and tradition.

Have a read of this and arm yourself against that type of thinking.

Best

Dillinger

http://openparachute.files.wordpress.co ... ughter.pdf

 

[librarising]

You've gotta love that final sentence

And, next time somebody tells you that something
is true, why not say to them: 'What kind of evidence is there for that?' And if they
can't give you a good answer, I hope you'll think very carefully before you believe a
word they say.

Thanks for the link, Dillinger.

Geoff

 

[Momblegoose]

+1 Geoff!

.. and thanks for the link Dillinger

 

[Patch]

Richard Dawkins should rule the world.

 

[al_leister]

Thank you for posting this letter.

Quote: "Now that you are ten"

If only more "grown-ups" lived by this beautiful, sensible, intelligent approach; the whiff of war in the world would gradually dissipate.

 

[tree-peony]

Amen!

 

[angieG]

Brilliant :!:
What a thought-provoking letter.

Angie

 

[borofergie]

Where is the evidence for the "50% carbohydrate diet", the "food pyramid", or the "Eatwell plate". It's all just religious dogma.

 

[hanadr]

Dawkins makes me mad and makes me laugh at the same time. Whereas I agree that some matters demand evidence [I am after all a scientist myself] and that evidence needs testing. There are matters which depend on faith. [I am a convinced Christian]
Dawkins, despite his intellect doesn't seem to grasp the differences. He's an atheist of the worst sort. he belittles people of faith regularly and yet I've always suspected that he is afraid of God. Why else would he be so violently anti?
As to children making up their own minds. Doesn't his way work against that? Are his children not distanced from ideas offaith and belief and not given a chance to find something there that might enrich their lives?
As to children saying things like" We Muslims believe..."
I expect a child when asked about magnets to say"the magnet attracts metals" I don't expect a treatise on magnetic fields and forces or a list of which metals are ferromagnetic. Equally I believe that as children grow in faith, they come to understand why they believe. The "Why" of science isn't understandable by everybody as the "Why" of Faith isn't.
Ask an NHS dietician about a diet for diabetes and what you get is a belief system NOT an analysis of evidence.
Dawkins Go figure.
Hana

 

[borofergie]

I've always suspected that he is afraid of God.

For Dawkins, or any other avowed atheist, to be afraid of God would, by definition, make them not an atheist. I think that a more likely explanation is that he is angry at the liberties taken in the name of religion.

 

[noblehead]

I can concur with a lot of what Dawkins says in that letter.

 

[borofergie]

I expect a child when asked about magnets to say"the magnet attracts metals" I don't expect a treatise on magnetic fields and forces or a list of which metals are ferromagnetic. Equally I believe that as children grow in faith, they come to understand why they believe.

I'd expect a child to work out that magnets attract (some) metals by empirical observation, not because someone told them it was true. That's the whole point.

 

[hanadr]

borofergie
I rarely disagree with you and I'm not doing so now.
You are simply restating my points. I do think that Dawkins believes himself to be an atheist, but has a niggle in the back of his mind that here could be something.
My late mother in law was an avowed atheist. She never felt any need to push her point of view on to anyone else, although she could hold her own in an academic discussion without demeaning the other party. She "knew" there is no God, so didn't see any reason to argue about it. Interestingly, both her sons and several of her grandchildren have become active in church matters.
And as to children and magnets. The children use the evidence of their eyes. Or at least the ones I taught did
Hana

 

[Patch]

I do think that Dawkins believes himself to be an atheist, but has a niggle in the back of his mind that here could be something.

Funny think, beliefs. We all have them - but it seems that the stronger certain people hold their own, the less likely they are to allow others to do the same...

 

[noblehead]

Funny think, beliefs. We all have them - but it seems that the stronger certain people hold their own, the less likely they are to allow others to do the same...

:thumbup:

 

[Patch]

Afterthought: If, on your deathbed, all of your beliefs are proven to be incorrect, what have you lost in believing them all of your life?

Absolutely nothing. Aren't beliefs great!

 

[viv1969]

Beliefs ARE great! If you have them then woohoo for you...Have at 'em.
However beliefs based on fear are not great; and aren't religious beliefs fundamentally based on what will happen if you err from the path? Do christians not live in the fear of god?

 

[hanadr]

Viv
. It's part of my belief that The Higher Being offers infinite forgiveness to all those who truly repent of their sins. That certainly isn't anything to scare me. I would seriously doubt the depth of faith of anyone who felt it their right or even obligation to harm another being.
and what about those who would kill to protect their beliefs? Those Iwould class as unbelievers.
So NOT all belief is based on fear!
Hana

 

[noblehead]

I was listening to a debate on the radio a few years back about people believing/not believing in God, they interviewed a Vicar who said that those who went through life as atheists often changed their mind when on their deathbeds.

 

[Dillinger]

I was listening to a debate on the radio a few years back about people believing/not believing in God, they interviewed a Vicar who said that those who went through life as atheists often changed their mind when on their deathbeds.

That's the famous 'no atheists in a fox-hole' statement, but who knows how true it is? I always liked the story about David Hume the 18th century Scottish Enlightenment philosopher who was widely held to be an atheist. On his death bed he received many letters challenging his views and opinions on this and instead of answering directly he would just correct the spelling and grammar and send them back.

Hitchens of course was just as avidly atheist as Dawkins and he didn't renounce his views on his death bed. It would seem a bit futile repenting at the end; because if there were an omnipotent God he'd see through that wouldn't he? So, you may as well stick to your guns...

Best

Dillinger