Dawkins Called To Defend Atheists On CNN

[Lancaster]

Recently CNN had a segment on American Atheism http://youtube.com/watch?v=fPHnXrU5JzU. It was basically a short interview with an Atheist family who was forced out of their community, and then a debate featuring three panelists. Unfortunately, all three of these panelists were followers of the Abrahamic God. So, the argument turned into discrimination against Atheists instead of a discussion about it, and there were no Atheists to defend their cause. In response, thousands of Atheists (myself included) sent protest emails to CNN. As a response to the outcry, Richard Dawkins was called to defend Atheists http://youtube.com/watch?v=3OAUnzM-8v8.

[InfiniteNow]

While one person can never represent an entire group, I found the media piece linked above with Dr. Dawkin's an example of how much progress can be made with open dialogue. He was warm, responsive, and had a sincerity to his words that was hard to miss. He was attacking nobody, simply explaining his own view point.

 

Thanks for sharing the link, Lancaster.

[CraigD]

Took a few minutes to get the 3 videos in chronological order: ”Paula Zahn - discrimination against atheists part 1” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiyJzWy3CDQ&NR; ”Paula Zahn - discrimination against atheists part 2” http://youtube.com/watch?v=fPHnXrU5JzU; then ”Richard Dawkins on CNN ‘Out In The Open’” http://youtube.com/watch?v=3OAUnzM-8v8.

 

Selecting a panel of relegious conservative journalists and clerics to comment on a story about discrimination against atheists was not a high-point in TV journalism, but to CNN’s credit, they responded to viewer complaints and ran an appropriate balancing piece with Dawkins.

 

Not to be unsympathetic toward the “Smith” and the Rice families interviewed in the first video, but they make me thankful that I live in a community containing born-again Christians, neo-Pagan hippies, transgender Wiccans, etc – with this kind of diversity, mere atheists, like me, are barely a minority. Oddly enough, we seem to have some profound shared “core values”: peace; love; rock-n-role; and, even more oddly, all-terrain croquet. If they were to ask my advice, I’d tell the Smiths and Rices to “go north”, at least as far as the Mason-Dixon line – though I suspect going west far enough would work, too.

[InfiniteNow]

and, even more oddly, all-terrain croquet.

Perhaps you'd be willing to elucidate on this activity a bit more in a separate thread? Sounds fun. :hihi: