In the 4th century BC the Greek philosopher Aristotle travelled to Lesvos, an island in the Aegean teeming, then as now, with wildlife. His fascination with what he found there, and his painstaking study of it, led to the birth of a new science - biology. Professor Armand Leroi follows in Aristotle's footsteps to discover the creatures, places and ideas that inspired the philosopher in his pioneering work.
- Broadcast on:
- BBC Four, 10:30pm Thursday 21st January 2010
- Duration:
- 60 minutes
- Available until:
- 11:29pm Thursday 28th January 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Aristotle - the first biologist - Aristotle's Lagoon - available to 28 January
source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00q0hh2/Aristotles_Lagoon/
a debate with Richard Dawkins on labelling children as a 'Christian child' etc
source: The Daily Politics via HumanistLife
I think this is a topic of critical thinking skills for children. They should be critically thinking what it means to be a Catholic or a Protestant without taking on board or allowing the labels to distract them from critically thinking about these issues. Dawkins is saying that because society has labeled them a Catholic child, then somehow this faculty to critcally think themselves will somehow be lessened as a result of the labelling. Because children are labelled Catholic or Protestant their critical thinking skills are nullified and so Catholics v Protestants rivalry persists without giving the issues sufficient critical thinking.
John Denham struggles to understand the cause and effect issues. By labelling a child, a Catholic child, what is the effect on a child? He agrees that if Catholic children are brought up with a view that they should have nothing to do, per se, with a Protestant child, then that is indeed a problem with parenting. He is not convinced that the general colloquial use of the language viz this child is a Chatholic child viz. a child of Catholic parents, is an issue or a problem or could become a problem. The language is not a real material problem.
Norman Tebbit says what is wrong with calling a child born in Britain who has African parents, a British child? Dawkins says that this is the opposite of what he is saying. Tebbit says its just bilge (Stupid talk or writing; nonsense) to say there is something wrong in calling a child a Christian Child because he has grown up in Christian-Judeo culture. Tebbit cannot see what damage it does to label a child a Christian Child (just as there is no damage in calling a child a British child).
By calling a child a British child I wonder if this exacerbates enmity between nations eg with the French?
John Denham says that parents should continue to have the right to bring up children in their own faith. I think he thinks Dawkins has another agenda. If you accept the arguement that you shouldn't label children as 'Christian' then this is a slippery slop argument which would lead to preventing parents religious belief being taught to children by their parents.
Professor Richard Dawkins debates (5 minutes) the ideas in his film (2 minutes) on religious labels with ex-Tory chairman Norman Tebbit and the Communities Secretary John Denham (who calls himself a Secular Humanist - unlike his predecessors Hazel Blears and Ruth Kelly).Dawkins says that if we, as a society, label a child after the religion of its parents eg a 'Catholic child' if it has Catholic parents, then this is divisive, especially in places like Northern Ireland and the Middle East, where automatically you belong to the same party of thought as your parents. Therefore as a child having been labelled a being 'a Catholic Child' you have an enmity towards other groups eg Protestant children, without really having thought it through, simply because you are a child of those parents.
I think this is a topic of critical thinking skills for children. They should be critically thinking what it means to be a Catholic or a Protestant without taking on board or allowing the labels to distract them from critically thinking about these issues. Dawkins is saying that because society has labeled them a Catholic child, then somehow this faculty to critcally think themselves will somehow be lessened as a result of the labelling. Because children are labelled Catholic or Protestant their critical thinking skills are nullified and so Catholics v Protestants rivalry persists without giving the issues sufficient critical thinking.
John Denham struggles to understand the cause and effect issues. By labelling a child, a Catholic child, what is the effect on a child? He agrees that if Catholic children are brought up with a view that they should have nothing to do, per se, with a Protestant child, then that is indeed a problem with parenting. He is not convinced that the general colloquial use of the language viz this child is a Chatholic child viz. a child of Catholic parents, is an issue or a problem or could become a problem. The language is not a real material problem.
Norman Tebbit says what is wrong with calling a child born in Britain who has African parents, a British child? Dawkins says that this is the opposite of what he is saying. Tebbit says its just bilge (Stupid talk or writing; nonsense) to say there is something wrong in calling a child a Christian Child because he has grown up in Christian-Judeo culture. Tebbit cannot see what damage it does to label a child a Christian Child (just as there is no damage in calling a child a British child).
By calling a child a British child I wonder if this exacerbates enmity between nations eg with the French?
John Denham says that parents should continue to have the right to bring up children in their own faith. I think he thinks Dawkins has another agenda. If you accept the arguement that you shouldn't label children as 'Christian' then this is a slippery slop argument which would lead to preventing parents religious belief being taught to children by their parents.
Bertrand Russell on God
source: HumanistLife via Free Infidel
If only there were more people like Bertrand Russell today...
If only there were more people like Bertrand Russell today...
As one of the world’s more famous atheists, Bertrand Russell always had the knack of combining a brilliant intellect and profound insights with a startling clear expression of his ideas. Here’s a classic example.
Bertrand Russell answers:
- Why are you not a Christian?
- Is there a practical reason for having a religious belief?
- Is the ordinary person not strong enough to find a personal ethic and therefore has to have something imposed upon them from outside?
- Do you have a fear of an afterlife?
Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People to air on BBC4, Saturday 23 January, 9.45pm
source: HumanistLife, BBC4
I was at the Hammersmith Apollo finale in December 2009. Highly Recommended.
Read the Hampshire Skeptics review.
I was at the Hammersmith Apollo finale in December 2009. Highly Recommended.
Read the Hampshire Skeptics review.
A non-religious Christmas celebration of comedy, science and music recorded live at London’s Hammersmith Apollo in December 2009. Stand-up comedian and humanist Robin Ince is joined by a host of leading lights from the world of science, including Richard Dawkins, Brian Cox, Simon Singh and Ben Goldacre, as well as musicians and top comedians from Mark Steel to Shappi Khorsandi.
Full line up:
Robin Ince, Richard Dawkins, Brian Cox, Mark Steel, Richard Herring, Shappi Khorsandi, Ben Goldacre, Simon Singh, Barry Cryer and Ronnie Golden, Robyn Hitchcock, Jim Bob and Baba Brinkman.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Equality Bill ‘dangerously’ trying to force religious belief behind closed doors, bishops warn
Read full Daily Telegraph article | Easy Read Guide to The Equality Bill 2009 | Religion & Belief in the workplace by ACAS 2004 (pdf) | Business Link - Discrimination on the Grounds of Religion or Belief | definition of 'Religion or Belief'
Bishops have accused the Government of “dangerously” trying to force religion behind closed doors while defending the beliefs of minority groups such as homosexuals.
The senior clerics warned that Harriet Harman’s Equality Bill suggests some rights are considered "more important than others".
They backed calls for a “conscience clause” to be added to the law so that the rights of religious worshippers are not ignored by attempts to protect minorities.
Labour’s flagship equality legislation, currently in committee stage in the House of Lords, seeks to outlaw any form of discrimination against disadvantaged groups in the office or the market place.
However, there are fears that it could undermine the ability of worshippers to express the traditional teachings of their religions, many of which believe that homosexuality is a sin; that only men and women can marry; and that sex outside marriage is wrong.
The Bishop of Chichester, the Rt Rev John Hind, warned that the Government was wrong to make people separate their personal religious beliefs from their behaviour in the workplace.
He said: “The attempt to privatise belief, whether philosophical or religious, is a profoundly dangerous tendency and one that we need to address as we consider not only this but later amendments.”
The Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, said that clauses in the bill that attempt to prevent "harassment" could be used to punish Christians who simply offer to pray for someone or tell them: "God bless you."
He said the authorities believe that "one can switch on and switch off one's whole mindset and behaviour". But, in reality, he said "people of faith who are worth their salt - I guess this is true of Jews, Muslims and many others, as well as Christians - are what they are through and through, like the lettering in a stick of rock".
Peers claimed that the Equality Bill should be altered to allow people to act according to their conscience when providing goods and services, in the same way that doctors are allowed to refuse to carry out abortions.
Bishop Scott-Joynt, the fifth most senior cleric in the Church of England, pointed out that similar exemptions had been requested but refused in the case of civil partnerships. A Christian registrar, Lilian Ladele, lost a case for unfair dismissal after she refused to carry out the ceremonies for homosexual couples.
The bishop said in a debate in the House of Lords: “The implication of the [conscience] amendment is that each of us... is bound to work as hard as we can to hold the whole range of different people's rights, because there is a sense around that some rights are better than others."
Lord Mackay of Clashfern, a Lord Chancellor under the former Conservative government who proposed the conscience amendment, said the law as proposed would mean a boarding house keeper who wanted unmarried couples to sleep in separate bedrooms would have to act against his conscience.
Baroness Thornton, for the Government, said: “While the Equality Bill maintains everyone's right to express in a legitimate manner both religious and non-religious beliefs, it is only right that people employed by commercial and publicly funded organisations are not allowed to discriminate on any grounds, no matter what their private belief.”
Meanwhile, Michael Foster, the Equality Minister, has attempted to allay fears that churches would be forced to accept women or homosexuals into the priesthood because of the new law.
He announced that the definition of a “minister of religion” will be changed in the Equality Bill because of concerns that no clergy would qualify for an exemption from the discrimination rules.
This would have meant they could have been sued, like other employers, if they turned down a candidate for the priesthood on the grounds that they were female or homosexual.
Mr Foster said: “The Equality Bill will still allow churches to hire only male clergy and will let faith-based charities continue to recruit people of the same faith where this is a requirement of the job, such as care staff who may also be asked to pray with the people they look after.
“We have been absolutely clear on this throughout the Bill's passage, but as there has been some misunderstanding around our intentions we will amend the Bill to make this clear beyond doubt.”
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Ricky Gervais on Religion
source: BigThink.com via http://skeptic.org.uk/news/2010/2248
HASSNERS.org highlightsVideos courtesy of BigThink.com
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