New Atheists Say the Silliest Things

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A friend of mine who posts on Youtube.com under the Internet nom de plume of JoanDArc77, directed my attention to an interview of the New Atheist mouthpiece, Richard Dawkins, for a friendly interview with Newsnight's Book Club. The roughly ten minute interview goes on with Richard Dawkins largely freely making his already well-publicized musings about the nature of reality and his spurious claims that Christianity is a fiction. For those interested, I have linked the video, below.


If you want, you can view the entire video. But I promise you that it isn't worth the time. It is simply more of the standard talking points that Dawkins regularly shares as part of his atheism evangelism tool. However, I post it because after eight and one half minutes of arid conversation, Dawkins makes a rather revealing statement given his deeply held (alleged) conviction that there is no God.

The interviewer asks Dawkins what gets him through the night. Dawkins replies that what gets him through the night is the same thing that gets most people through the night -- the love of friends, family, children, science, etc. But then the friendly interviewer asks a rather innocuous question.

Interviewer: And you're comfortable with that?

Dawkins -- the man who has dedicated his life to the proposition that there is no God and that we are simply accidents of time, chance and nature -- says something so totally at odds with this position that it would be...well, silly, if it weren't so revealing.

Dawkins: I am comfortable with that, but even if I wasn't it wouldn't change what I believe because I don't believe we were put here to be comfortable.

Really? We haven't been put here here to be comfortable? Under Dawkins' stated position we haven't been put here for anything. But Dawkins -- a man who has done as much as any person in history to buy into the idea that there is no God -- cannot remove the God consciousness from his thought and speech. Despite preaching regularly his gospel of the good news that there is no god to whom to answer, Dawkins cannot escape speaking in the language that acknowledges what the heavens declare: God exists and He put us here.

Comments

steve said…
Another problem with his statement is the implication that we have a *duty* to do what we were "put here" to do. This is the way you'd expect a Christian missionary to talk. It makes no sense from a secular perspective.
1/26/2011 05:32:00 AM
Bud said…
Seems to me you're reading way too much into that one phrase. I wrote a response on my blog if you're interested.
1/26/2011 03:41:00 PM
BK said…
Okay, Bud. I read your comment on your blog. If you cannot see how this differs from saying "Oh my God" and "God damn", then you simply need to step back and think for awhile. But thanks for sharing.
1/26/2011 05:29:00 PM
Joseph Hinman (Metacrock) said…
The thing is Dawkins actually admits to belief in the possibility of some sort of supreme being, he hates Christianity.
1/27/2011 07:28:00 AM
Bud said…
BK,

I've stepped back and thought plenty. Perhaps you can help me understand how this little phrase uttered by Dawkins completely betrays his entire worldview.
1/31/2011 12:13:00 PM
BK said…
Bud,

No. I don't think that I can. I have read your blog. You need a lot of enlightenment before you can see the obvious.
2/01/2011 07:49:00 PM
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