The Attenborough Mystery (The atheist delusion)

by dhw, Wednesday, February 04, 2009, 11:01 (5770 days ago) @ George Jelliss

George couldn't find the Attenborough interview on the Sunday Times website. - It was in the News Review section of the paper itself as one of the Interviews of the Week, under the headline "It's beautiful, but it's not God's work". The caption to the photograph of Attenborough reads: "Attenborough has been a lifelong atheist", and the article repeats this, though not in his own words: "On the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth Attenborough has decided to make his views more widely known. A lifelong atheist, he thinks...." (it then quotes him on what is being taught in schools.) - Since he is such a popular and respected communicator, I guess it does matter what he is (or says he is). He gave a strong hint in Darwin and the Tree of Life, with a sharp dig at design, but said nothing explicit. - Thank you for recommending the McEwan interview. I've tried twice to watch it, but it keeps stopping in the middle of every sentence, so I...stopped...watching. But I'm sure the world's supply of sadists, murderers, rapists, child abusers etc. and their victims would agree with him that we are all naturally empathic, just as people who don't believe in God obviously have an inbuilt need for religion. It's surprising how many people insist on fighting against their own nature! - Congratulations on your enterprise in setting up a Humanist group in Hastings. Your first topic, "Evolution Implies Atheism", is a good one to start off with. I'm sure you'll remind everyone that Darwin was an agnostic. Your statement that "terms such as agnostic and atheist in any case are just fighting an old outdated battle" is nice and provocative too. I don't suppose Hastings will mind staging another old battle.