Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Nelson on May 8, 2011 at 7:03pm

going from what Jason wrote in the post i linked to- "The plan is to read the Preface & Chapter 1 and then I will post a new discussion for it sometime on Sunday evening and we can have a week of reading and Discussing until the next one."- i'd say he intends to start a new thread.

Permalink Reply by Jason Lamar Sorensen on May 8, 2011 at 7:10pm

I will be starting a be discussion on it tonight some time. I will post a link in this discussion to it. I look forward to talking to everyone soon!

Permalink Reply by Jason Lamar Sorensen on May 9, 2011 at 2:03am

Hello Everyone!

 

After a long and busy holiday I finally managed to start the preface and chapter one discussion. It will be open for the next week and we can get started posting on it right away. I'm looking forward to all the responses. Here is the link to the first discussion page

 

"The Greatest Show on Earth" - Discussion 1

 

Enjoy!

Permalink Reply by Jason Lamar Sorensen on May 10, 2011 at 10:16am

Thank you to everyone that participated in the Preface and Chapter One discussion board. I think for next Sunday we can try to get chapters two and three in. I hope this isn't too fast for everyone. If you haven't finished the preface and chapter one that's fine. I will still be responding to that discussion board and you can catch up with us at your own pace.

 

I look forward to the next discussion with you all.

 

Happy reading!

Permalink Reply by oneinfinity on May 18, 2011 at 7:13pm

sure would be cool to see some of the interest that was expressed in this thread carry over into the other discussion threads

Permalink Reply by Jason Lamar Sorensen on May 20, 2011 at 1:45pm

Hello again everyone,

 

I guess we had a little falling off, but feel free to jump right back in. I didn't post the link to the second discussion like I did with the first, so I guess better late than never. Here it is.

 

http://www.thinkatheist.com/group/readatheist/forum/topics/the-grea...

 

Looking forward to hearing some responses. The chapter three discussion will be up sometime Sunday night or Monday morning! Thanks again for the responses.

Permalink Reply by Jason Lamar Sorensen on May 23, 2011 at 4:12pm

Hello,

 

Just wanted to stop by and let everyone know that the next discussion for the book is up!

 

Check it out here - "The Greatest Show on Earth" Discussion 3

Permalink Reply by oneinfinity on June 2, 2011 at 6:48pm

so, Chapter 4: Silence and Slow Time.

 

One of the most striking tidbits in this chapter comes near the end when Dawkins points out that "some 40% of the American population, and a somewhat smaller percentage of the British population, claim to believe that the Earth, far from being measured in billions of years, is less than 10,000 years. Lamentably, in America and over much of the Islamic world, some of these history-deniers wield power over schools and their syllabuses." That is truly grotesque, that the numbers are that high, I mean I can't stand the idea of ANYONE believing that crap, but 40%...

 

It's so hard to understand that mindset. I mean when I read this chapter and Dawkins clearly details how dating works: tree rings (dendrochronology), radioactive clocks (half-life), and the various layers that fossils are found in and how they correspond to certain time periods (Cambrian, Ordovician, Devonian, etc.); and how all these methods can be used to date fossils and rocks and the age of the earth: it just all seems to make perfect sense. 1+1=2. And yet, so many people just completely reject all this evidence to instead "uphold the origin myth of a particular set of Bronze Age desert tribesman." Sigh...

 

 

Permalink Reply by Robert Taylor on June 2, 2011 at 8:13pm

Allow me to post a sidebar. Candidly, I haven't read the book yet.  I agree with you..."It's so hard to understand that mindset."  My situation was somewhat unique. I studied the  Bible under a non-denomination preacher/teacher in Houston.  He was degreed in Hebrew, Koine Greek and Aramaic from the University of Arizona, a pre-dispensationalist, Church Age proponent, etc.  He actually did teach that the earth was millions and millions of years old, distinguishing what he called a complete global ice age between Gen. 1:1 and 1:2.

 The church had untold thousands of adherents across the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia including a VP of the US.  He was so articulate and scholarly that we all 'accepted' this view.  He published dozens of tracts and tapes and CD's. He refused to be televised or  appeal to one's wallet.   The man truly believed what he preached. But, later in my life, I woke up, grew up, studied and focused and came to believe that even a more rational form of religion was still untrue and based on mythology.

  The point is, is that I can, in a way, understand the epistemology and ontological structure of their belief system...it's wrong, but I do to a degree comprehend it.  Of course, I now know that 'faith', 'religion', a somewhat patriotic belief structure exists very, very deeply in this nation and it makes me sad.  Irrationality usually trumps reason.

Permalink Reply by Merlin Mercer on June 2, 2011 at 10:28pm

"Irrationality usually trumps reason." This is a very sad reality. I'm fresh out of Christianity (literally about three weeks), and that's exactly where I was, trumping reason with my 'irrationality in the hole.' I must say that I was somewhat skeptical of religion most of my life. But I was quick to believe what a pastor told me was true because they were articulate and scholarly and must know what they're talking about.  Right?  NO!  I'm so glad to have finally woken from my 'jesus zombie' state and think for myself.  After researching evolution and approaching it with a real open mind (previous times I've approached evolution with an 'open mind,' but my mind was not truly 'open,' I simply was not thinking rationally.  I was in the brainwashed mode of only looking for information that 'proved' god exists.  Which I found.  On sites like firstbaptistchurch.org, or seethelight.com.  The information is all a lie and is not credible.  Period.

 

I must read this book though, it will be on my list to read, and will be read very soon.

 

Thanks guys!

Permalink Reply by Christine on August 3, 2011 at 3:45pm

Hi guys! Hello and sorry to have disappeared before the discussion started. My schedule was overwhelming. Looking forward to catching up on reading both the book and the discussion here.

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