Another excellent Hitchens appearance is his debate with Al Sharpton. Sharpton and Hitchens are both wonderful speakers -- but it's interesting to me that Sharpton keeps modifying the definition of religion in order to support his points. His own view of religion might match exactly what he says, but he cannot claim that he represents all religion. It reminds me of the Kansas board of education that tried to redefine 'science' to allow for the teaching of ID.
Bligbi has also collected a good list of longer format videos, such as Dawkins' The Root of All Evil? and the recently viewed-in-america A Brief History of Disbelief. Thank you, Bligbi!
The importance of these videos cannot be understated. As I and other atheists frequently claim, misunderstanding is one of our greatest challenges. People are more likely to try to understand a person when they can see them face to face, rather than just read what they have written. It is easy to take a statement out of context, but not so easy in a video segment. The visual cues of a speakers face, inflection, gestures, etc. gives enough clues to get past trivial misunderstandings. A viewer can see the honesty, passion, and intelligence of a speaker. This opens the floodgates of empathy, and the easier for a viewer to understand the speaker by personally relating to individual statements. And through this, breaking down the misunderstandings that are causing atheists so much grief.
And finally, for a bit of fun:
You scored as Spiritual Atheist. Ah! Some of the coolest people in the world are Spiritual Atheists. Most of them weren't brought up in an organized religion and have very little baggage. They concentrate on making the world a better place and know that death is just another part of life. What comes after, comes after.
What kind of atheist are you? created with QuizFarm.com |
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6 comments:
At least we now know why we really *can't* get along as atheists. I turned out to be a Scientific Atheist 58% I don't consider myself the least bit agnostic, but the quiz declares me to be 42% It also says that I am more apathetic than angry. Silly quiz.
You scored as Scientific Atheist. (92 percent)
These guys rule. I'm not one of them myself, although I play one online. They know the rules of debate, the Laws of Thermodynamics, and can explain evolution in fifty words or less. More concerned with how things ARE than how they should be, these are the people who will bring us into the future.
My second highest score was angry which is probably true.
You scored as Scientific Atheist: 83%. My second highest score was Militant Atheist: 50%. There's probably some truth to that.
Iposted this too! I'm also a spiritual atheist.
I'm satisfied with my scores. At 83% for spiritual, scientific and apathetic atheist, they gave me a tie-breaker question. I chose "burden of proof is on the believer" and became a "scientific atheist". I am the future (although they missed the mark on my knowledge of Thermodynamic Laws...).
Scientific Atheist
92%
Agnostic
58%
Spiritual Atheist
50%
Militant Atheist
42%
Angry Atheist
33%
Apathetic Atheist
33%
Theist
25%
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