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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 03/03/2009 : 22:33:59
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While trading on the good name of Charles Darwin, the Catholic Church has proven itself to be no better at honest rhetoric than Creationists like Kent Hovind, the Discovery Institute, Roy Comfort, or Ken Ham.
Cardinal William Levada, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (the modern name for the Inquisition) has slammed atheism by the blatant, lying trick of mischaracterizing it.Vatican official calls atheist theories 'absurd'
Cardinal Levada: No conflict between evolution science and faith in God
ROME - A Vatican cardinal said Tuesday that the Catholic Church does not stand in the way of scientific realities like evolution, though he described as "absurd" the atheist notion that evolution proves there is no God.
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He said that while the Vatican did not exclude any area of science, it did reject as "absurd" the atheist notion of biologist and author Richard Dawkins and others that evolution proves there is no God. |
Of course, Richard Dawkins claimed no such "proof." Dawkins simply points out many of the absurdities of Bronze Age mythology. He has also pointed out that there is no scientific evidence for a deity, while there is abundant evidence that natural processes can, through science, explain the world we observe.
Nice going, Vatican. You're debating using the very same logical fallacies and unethical standards that are used by loathesome fucktards Kent Hovind and Ray Comfort.
Levada, it's you, your ancient gang of pedophile hypocrites, and your god that are "absurd."
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
Edited by - HalfMooner on 03/03/2009 22:37:49
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2009 : 08:38:32 [Permalink]
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| To be fair, Dawkins did say that evolution led him to atheism (chapter 11). No, it's not the same as what the Vatican is saying (or what Ben Stein claimed at the end of chapter 6), but Dawkins' atheism is not completely independent of evolutionary theory, either. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Simon
SFN Regular
USA
1992 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2009 : 08:54:08 [Permalink]
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Well, that Science would (or could) disprove something as the existence of God, which exists outside of the realm of the scientific method, would most certainly be absurd.
But, I don't think that Dawkins ever say anything of the sort, he is smarter and know better than making such a basic mistake.
It's very possible that this person only read misunderstood second hand accounts of Dawkins position. Many religious persons do.
I'd be Dawkins, I'd be asking for a clarification... |
Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2009 : 11:19:32 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
To be fair, Dawkins did say that evolution led him to atheism (chapter 11). No, it's not the same as what the Vatican is saying (or what Ben Stein claimed at the end of chapter 6), but Dawkins' atheism is not completely independent of evolutionary theory, either.
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Quite true.
That's probably a way of putting it that Cardinal Levada would rather not employ, as believers might follow that train of thought to its logical conclusion.
But it's simply a lie by Levada to say Dawkins has claimed evolution is scientific proof that there's no god. Dawkins is too good a scientist to make such a scientific claim, though he certainly has a strong presumption that, unless backed by evidence, the god hypothesis is vanishingly unlikely to be true.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 03/04/2009 11:38:21 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2009 : 11:36:08 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Simon
Well, that Science would (or could) disprove something as the existence of God, which exists outside of the realm of the scientific method, would most certainly be absurd.
But, I don't think that Dawkins ever say anything of the sort, he is smarter and know better than making such a basic mistake.
It's very possible that this person only read misunderstood second hand accounts of Dawkins position. Many religious persons do.
I'd be Dawkins, I'd be asking for a clarification...
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Cardinal Levada is a highly educated man. I suspect Levada knew perfectly well what Dawkins' position is, but simply chose to create a strawman version of it because he had no arguments that worked against the real Dawkins.
It comes down to this, I think: Even highly educated Catholic scholars and theologians are forced to use the same dumb, quick, and dirty rhetorical tactics as morons like Hovind and Comfort, simply because there's nothing better available.
They are terrified by the huge success of the "New Atheists," and are desperate to put them down in any way they can. Hacking at strawmen probably feels like a cheap trick to them (Catholic scholars do study "Rhetoric"), but when that's all they have, they use it.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Simon
SFN Regular
USA
1992 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2009 : 12:16:57 [Permalink]
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Are 'New atheists' such a success?
Especially in Europe (where both Levada and Dawkins are located) when most people have already (de)converted. |
Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
Carl Sagan - 1996 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2009 : 14:08:04 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Simon
Are 'New atheists' such a success?
Especially in Europe (where both Levada and Dawkins are located) when most people have already (de)converted.
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I know, I know, there's nothing "new" or special about atheists, especially in relatively enlightened Europe. But here in the Bible-blighted US, guys like Dawkins are a really big novelty. And he sells millions of books here, too.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 03/04/2009 14:13:31 |
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Vatican Inquisition boss makes strawman of Dawkins
