Jun 022010
Michael Shermer and Dinesh D’Souza go toe-to-toe on some of the greatest issues related to science and religion: is there evidence for God’s existence, what is the proper relationship between science and religion, and has religion been a force for good or evil in the world?
Most of what I hear out of D’souza’s mouth is smoke and mirrors. The man is a master at obfuscationg and placing words in others’ mouths.
I am surprised that Shermer remained so calm and collected. While it’s to his credit (and he was at a religious institution), I was hoping for a more assertive stance.
I’m so sick of D’souza’s arguments about values and morality. It’s clear he has no idea where morality really comes from and why would he? His education has nothing to do with the subject matter, it gives him no authority. He needs to study some evolutionary psychology and take some philosophy units at university, specifically ethics units. More than that, he needs to take a first year Critical Thinking unit so that he can stop performing logical fallacies over and over and over and over.
Arrogance. Arrogance is the source of all religion. 90% of all people can’t deal with the realitiy that they are less important to the universe than a paramicium is to the earth. Our planet’s complete destruction would go completely unnoticed by the galaxy, let alone the complete universe.
1:00:25 Shermer: “So it’s not like we atheists are trying to impose atheism on anybody.”
So what, then, is Richard Dawkins and his lot doing?
labels are stupid
@georgeslut Because even if he asked that.. He is too disillusioned to believe otherwise. He is convinced that it is atheism that caused that. Which is of course, bullshiet.
Diniesh is merely speaking rubbish. That is not the only point in which he demonstrate so. Another example 8:00 “most of the key institution and ideas and values… these values were brought into the world of Christianity”.
Utter, blatant condescending lie. Such “values” exist throughout human civilizations everywhere.
Dinesh D’Souza – not as qualified.
More christian ethnocentric nonsense from D’Souza. Didn’t christians burn people at the stake for centuries? Didn’t they persecute and torture “heretics”? Didn’t christians own slaves? Didn’t christians supress women?
@georgeslut I like to think of myself as an agnostic, as he said “I dont know and neither do you”. Having said that, I agree, saying that Stalin killed in the NAME of atheism is ludicrous. Shermer is an intelligent and educated man, he, like us, knows that, most likely. As you heard the lady, she took away the 1 minute rebutal and that’s when MIchael would have gotten the chance to say something. I, of course, have no way to prove this, just thought i would play devil’s advocate.
* why michael DIDNT asked back
im soo disappointed about michael debate skill.. not convincing at all… im atheist btw and i checked this vid cause of michael. and i dont get why michael asked back when the indian guy said stalin killed ppl in the name of atheism which is condescending bullshit.. stalin killed ppl because he was bloody paranoid and hitler killed ppl cause he was convinced the jews are the blame. SO i think shame on someone who mix up the facts with his belief…
I thought D’Souza started off strong in the beginning and as the debate wore on, the more and more absurd his statements became.
…Christians – bilingual ?… that’s easy… its called hypocrisy…
Now D’Souza is intentionally ignoring the obvious examples and talking about a rabbit.
Let’s look at the actual teachings of the Bible.
The Bible teaches the Jews are God’s chosen people and they are ORDERED to take numerous other tribes’ land, kill them, except in some cases take the female virgins (non-pregnant, in other words) and take them as “wives” after killing their parents, brothers, and sisters.
You don’t see the (dark but real) Darwinian advantages in this, Dinesh?
BS.
In fact (and unfortunately) people are generally more sympathetic when people of their own racial group and/or community are affected.
So this further proves evolution as a source of human ethics. Which Dinish D’Sousa knows.
This isn’t his first debate or anything.
You DO have genes in common with the guy from Rwanda. You just lie without remorse, don’t you, Dinesh D’Souza?
In order to make points with your less well informed, less rational, and probably less bright pool of believers.
But you are smart. And that’s why you sicken me.
You’re an intelligent man who ought to know better and probably does know better. You certainly know that that statement you made about the human being from Rwanda was false.
YOU KNOW THIS.
@PencilsAreAwesome But he knows this. He’s intellectually dishonest.
Ugh!
THIS is why I don’t think D’Souza is a great mind.
He can’t understand why helping a stranger OF THE SAME SPECIES is actually “selfish” in the sense that it DOES help your genes get passed on to future generations.
Because we share mostly the same genes.
It’s also why people have no problem with squishing cockroaches or killing bacteria, but love Bambi, and dolphins, and cats, and of course monkeys.
We love ourselves and our families and we STILL have SOME desire to help others.
Conservative atheist +3.
I so don’t agree with the idea D’Souza is a great mind.
A child — I did — can figure out that the story of Abraham and Isaac is terrible, and reject any mafia boss — I mean God — that would do this.
Why can’t he?
Actually, you’re a puppet of your brain…which controls everything you do, all you are, every thought, desire, urge, fear, pleasure et al. We’re all puppets of the puppetmaster brain. We have less choice about everything than we presume. We’re certainly not the masters of the universe we pretend we are. God didn’t create anything, there’s no god TO create anything. Mind is output and has no causal properties. We simulate more than we ‘think’. We are the puppets. Just how it is.
It’s a little sad that not only does Dinesh think his arguments have merit but he’s obviously so uneducated in the areas he’s discussing that he can’t tell just how wrong and tired his arguments are.
@hawk77y to what are you referring to?
@mikese93 the Bible doesn’t teach an eternal hell check out my video on it type in “eternal hell”.
@hawk77y if you understood, im saying that the bible, is not true. it may or may not be inspired by the real God, it think that it is, but nonetheless it is still man-spawned and full of lies. not true. i don’t like or believe the doctrine of hell, it makes me furious just to hear about it. an insult unto God’s grace.