Comments on: The Big Debates

By: Nuot Bara

Nuot Bara — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:49:43 +0000

Booked my place. Looking forward to this one!

By: alan

alan — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:23:17 +0000

Dear Dr. Ed, I notice you style yourself an agnostic. However, wouldn’t a 100% certainty, regarding the impossibility of proving the existence of a deity, require the possession of absolute knowledge? A faculty, if I ‘m not mistaken, exclusively confined to a deity. Consequently, to be infallibly correct in your assertion, would require that you were the deity whose existence you claim cannot be proven.

By: BoB

BoB — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 09:22:49 +0000

The editing and audio of the trailer suggests to me this is actually a debate between the Terminators LOL.

But i do believe we need a nuanced discussion between the two.

By: J. S-R

J. S-R — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:27:56 +0000

I wonder who’s gonna win…
not.

still, will be interesting to watch.

By: Jess xxx

Jess xxx — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:41:16 +0000

…how many Noah’s Ark type flood legends there are, in countless different cultures and religions. Christians worship one God, Muslims worship one God, they both have Divine Prophets who came to Earth, the list goes on!) Would a supreme and perfect god (which is how all religions describe their deities,) blame or even care if some tiny humans didn’t believe in It, because they had seen absolutely no evidence that It existed? My view is that there is no ‘true’ religion, all we have to do is find the path that has been set for us, and if you have a set of beliefs that make you feel happy and complete, then you’ve found it. Enough of this “Believe this or you will go to Hell!!!” and “Religion is the source of all evil!!!” crap!

P.s. Me too, roz.

By: Jess xxx

Jess xxx — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:27:43 +0000

“Islam or Atheism? You Decide”. *sigh* Can’t it just be both? Yes, I might sound like an idealist, but really…WHY can’t it just be both???

It seems to me that all religions are about the same thing; seeking the Divine. Even Atheism is about seeking the truth. We’re all heading in the same direction, we’ve just chosen to take a different path to it. Human beings are diverse – we all like and think different things – so does it make sense that our creator (or creators) would want us all to have identical lifestyles and beliefs? (Even though most religions have a lot of characteristics in common – Mary gave birth to a Divine Child (Jesus) Isis gave birth to a Divine Child (Horus) the Triple Goddess gave birth to a Divine Child (the Sun/Horned God) and don’t even get me started on…>

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:38:34 +0000

Nathan – loving the ‘group hug and picnic’ idea. Where can I sign up? :^D#

By: Nuot Bara

Nuot Bara — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:21:20 +0000

Interesting trailer. seems like something out of the Terminator movies lol. Looks likes an interesting debate non the less. We need more of theses without a doubt.

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 08:07:31 +0000

Obviously that last statement sounded hyperbolically rhetorical. There is a choice between Atheism and Islam. I just thought that it was a slightly inflammatory title and possibly focused too narrowly on the religion that everyone seems to love to hate.
Why don’t we all focus on Judaism? ‘Judaism or Atheism – You Decide’
Oh, sorry, that could be seen as anti-Semitic, couldn’t it?
It is easy to criticise and analyse when your subject is the focus of a world-wide ‘war on terror’.
Check the MSN message boards for a populist view of Islam. Not pretty.
We MUST debate, but not feed the xenophobes.
Complex bloody minefield of opinion. Cor blimey guv.

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 07:30:04 +0000

James Joyce – Love your writing, especially ‘Ulysses’. lol.
Seriously, though, I really welcome any debate. I am very wary of any process that leads to a fundamentalist perspective, but in the interest of a balanced debate, I will always counter such inflammatory statements as ‘Islam or Atheism – You Decide!’ with facts rather than rhetoric.
I am far from xenophobic.
The government and intelligence services are doing their best to convince us that we are all in mortal danger from Islam, in order to gain funding and approval for the unethical surveillance and monitoring of certain groups. I am quite scared that we will sleepwalk into serious racial unrest and intolerance.

The choice is not between Atheism and Islam. The choice is between tolerance and marginalisation.