Richard Dawkins to atheist rally: 'Show contempt' for faith

[mr blur]

150. Thank you for your answer.

Yes, I know that the idea of transubstantiation is indeed a bit more than the formulation I gave.

My precise answer to your precise question is "Yes".
I can only look at the world in a rational way. We live, briefly, in an amazing, wonderful Universe. No Magic Thinking is required for the universe to exist or to continue. The universe does not require my belief and does not (can not) care whether or not I believe in it. This does not mean that I can't find meaning or purpose in my time on the planet. Like anyone else, I don't want to die, but I will. That doesn't frighten me.

I am not a scientist but I know as much as I can know anything that it is science to which I owe my continued existence (I have an illness the nature fwhich is of no relevance here). It is science which feeds the world, not prayer. Around the world I see ignorance sheltering proudly under the umbrella of "Faith" . I see people who accept the same doctrine that you do telling the rest of us how we are to live, and die.

Because I view the idea of gods as being generated out of fear, fantasy and superstition, then I must accept the actions performed in the service of gods as being fantasy and superstition. And, of course, fear. In the wake of Dawkins' 'The God Delusion', it's almost a cliche to refer to religious belief as being a form of mental instability. But that's what it is, to me, in the same way that the belief that the world is secretly run by giant shape-shifting lizards is a sign of mental instability. Arguing about the different points of theology is akin to two of those conspracy theorists arguing about whether the giant lizards are 14' high or, indeed, 24' high.

Because people who believe similar things to you and others here have a lot of power and influence, because they are afraid or ignorant of science - and in many cases wilfully and seemingly proudly ignorant - then ridicule and mockery seem to me to be perfectly legitimate responses. A reasoned response is a waste of time to people who do not believe rational things.