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Richard Dawkins Teaching Evolution To Religious Students


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This is a Richard Dawkins I have not seen before. He is explaining evolution to some young religious students. He is respectful to them, answers their questions, and in so doing makes evolution understandable. This is a good video for those to whom evolution is still new.

 

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Thanks for posting this. I'd seen it before, but it was worth watching again.

 

It's not really surprising that he would approach the subject in a more respectful manner with students than we typically hear from him when addressing adults, though I do wish he would be more like this when addressing adult religionists.

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Good video.  I'm surprised at how religious these British students are.  I guess it was at a religious school, since they have to take "RE."

 

He never answered the girl's question, which came first, oxygen or plants?

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As somebody from a Catholic High School in Britain, this video is very interesting.

 

Our RE classes are very open minded as we're allowed to see both sides of the discussion, and we're allowed to make our minds about it. As far as I know, three out of four of the RE teachers believe in Evolution, though they believe God just pushed it along.

 

Why he chose the slowest route possible is anybody's guess, but at least they're reconciling the science, I suppose. 

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I am new to evolution myself. Thank you for posting this video. Much appreciated. -peace

Jerry Coyne's book "Why Evolution is True" is a great introduction.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0143116649/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1423004710&sr=8-1&keywords=why+evolution&dpPl=1&dpID=41wr0eC%2BAiL&ref=plSrch&pi=AC_SY200_QL40

 

Edited to add: That link was from my cell phone. If you're using a computer, then this link is preferable:

http://www.amazon.com/Why-Evolution-True-Jerry-Coyne/dp/0143116649/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423020049&sr=8-1&keywords=why+evolution+is+true+by+jerry+coyne

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Good video. I'm surprised at how religious these British students are. I guess it was at a religious school, since they have to take "RE."

 

He never answered the girl's question, which came first, oxygen or plants?

All elements predate Plant life. I can't remember the links right now, but the Earth had oxygen(very little) and plants utilized abundant gases such as Carbon Dioxide to create food and expelled oxygen as a waste product. As time passed, the atmosphere became increasingly more enriched with oxygen. I learned this from google searches.
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Good video. I'm surprised at how religious these British students are. I guess it was at a religious school, since they have to take "RE."

 

He never answered the girl's question, which came first, oxygen or plants?

All elements predate Plant life. I can't remember the links right now, but the Earth had oxygen(very little) and plants utilized abundant gases such as Carbon Dioxide to create food and expelled oxygen as a waste product. As time passed, the atmosphere became increasingly more enriched with oxygen. I learned this from google searches.

 

The Earth has always had plenty of oxygen but it was not free oxygen in the atmosphere (O2).  Before and after plants it was (and is currently) found in carbon dioxide (CO2) and in many other molecules (mostly as part of rocks).  Oxygen (element # 8) is created in virtually every star as part of the star's normal life cycle.  How it is spread away from that star depends on the nature of the end life/death of that star.  Because of this, there is much oxygen in the known universe.

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I do wish he would be more like this when addressing adult religionists.

 

Those tend to be a lost cause though. 

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I do wish he would be more like this when addressing adult religionists.

 

Those tend to be a lost cause though. 

 

 

On average, yes, but not in totality. One would have thought that I was probably a lost cause, but look where I am now (as well as plenty others on this board who deconverted as adults). A condescending attitude toward me in my religious years would not have helped in the least to pull me out of it, but a strong challenge presented in a respectful manner could have.

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I do wish he would be more like this when addressing adult religionists.

 

Those tend to be a lost cause though. 

 

 

On average, yes, but not in totality. One would have thought that I was probably a lost cause, but look where I am now (as well as plenty others on this board who deconverted as adults). A condescending attitude toward me in my religious years would not have helped in the least to pull me out of it, but an honest yet respectful challenge could have.

 

 

I believe this, as well. A condescending, disrespectful attitude just tens to activate the "Hey, I'm being persecuted, just like Jesus and the Apostles! Hooray!" attitude in Christians. An honest and respectful attitude is much better.

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I do wish he would be more like this when addressing adult religionists.

 

Those tend to be a lost cause though. 

 

 

On average, yes, but not in totality. One would have thought that I was probably a lost cause, but look where I am now (as well as plenty others on this board who deconverted as adults). A condescending attitude toward me in my religious years would not have helped in the least to pull me out of it, but an honest yet respectful challenge could have.

 

 

I believe this, as well. A condescending, disrespectful attitude just tens to activate the "Hey, I'm being persecuted, just like Jesus and the Apostles! Hooray!" attitude in Christians.

 

 In my experience plenty of xtians activate that response no matter how respectfully you try and point things out.

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Yeah, what SlientLoner said.

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I do wish he would be more like this when addressing adult religionists.

 

Those tend to be a lost cause though. 

 

 

On average, yes, but not in totality. One would have thought that I was probably a lost cause, but look where I am now (as well as plenty others on this board who deconverted as adults). A condescending attitude toward me in my religious years would not have helped in the least to pull me out of it, but an honest yet respectful challenge could have.

 

 

I believe this, as well. A condescending, disrespectful attitude just tens to activate the "Hey, I'm being persecuted, just like Jesus and the Apostles! Hooray!" attitude in Christians.

 

 In my experience plenty of xtians activate that response no matter how respectfully you try and point things out.

 

 

So what? The fact that many won't be swayed by a respectful approach doesn't change the fact that all of those and even more would not be swayed by a condescending approach.

 

I was a fervent believer for many years, but I didn't have the persecution complex. I did have a few people try to challenge me as a believer without being anal, but I did not consider it persecution by any stretch of the imagination. I saw it as simply a disagreement where they were "wrong." The arguments they used were pretty weak, though, at least in the way they presented them, and even now as one who sees how flawed Christianity is, I still maintain that their arguments were pretty weak.

 

As I said before, if I had been presented with a strong argument in a respectful manner, it may have gotten through to me, but being an asshole to me would definitely have been counterproductive. I seriously wish Dawkins, as brilliant of a man as he is, could understand that simple truth.

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