Conversation between an atheist and a Bishop

Workout notes yoga with Ms. Vickie then 7 miles of walking at about 13 minutes per mile (slightly faster; my timed mile was 12:57). I did the Steamboat course to Glen Oak, my usual Cemetery hill loop then down Glen Oak hill back to the Steamboat course; I did take it to and from the Riverplex parking lot.

The hip and piriformis felt fine; still my whole body feels a bit beat up and sore due to my reintroduction of swimming and running. But it is a good beat-up and sore feeling.

Religion A friend commented on my saying something about the Sodom and Gomorra legend and my condemnation of Lot offering his daughters to be raped in place of the guest (who were angels). My main points was this: getting our morals by blindly following this book is a bad idea. I am not saying that I am so superior that I would have been able to see 21st century morality in Biblical times.

But this doesn’t mean that religious people can’t have enlightened moral views.

I admit that I am puzzled that anyone would believe the miracle stories, and I think that living as if superstitions had validity is dangerous; here is one example of that. (other examples: parents turning down real medicine for faith healing)

However, I understand how a religious myth might be deeply meaningful to many.

It seems appropriate to share one of my favorite conversations: each video is about 10 minutes long. It is a conversation between biologist Richard Dawkins (an atheists) and Bishop Harries of the Church of England.

Bishop Harries and Richard Dawkins have collaborated on several occasions to promote the proper teaching of science in UK classrooms. This is the full unedited interview, which was originally filmed by IWC for the Channel Four documentary ‘Root or All Evil?’

Humor Friendly Atheist alerts us to a new website: disbelief.net.

If nothing else, check out the blasphemy box. I ended up snorting my drink.