Monday, August 24, 2009

Michael Shoesmith: Take 2

Michael's primary argument is from "personal experience". Kind of a "you'll know it is true if you believe it is true" statement or of the "if you felt what I felt, you wouldn't deny it" kind. It is an interesting argument to make as it really provides no reason for others to follow such. I don't doubt that people have had these "awesome" religious "experiences" but I wonder why someone would present such a self-centered argument. (If the "experience" wasn't a regular "christian" one, people would be institutionalized - like those claiming to be "god" or that voices were telling them to do things.)


I have had dreams in my life that seemed extremely real and could have been (mis)construed as religious experiences or experiences of an after-life. They, however, were neither. They were dreams or delusions. We all have them and there is good reason for it.


Richard Dawkins, almost 3 years ago, addressed, with great eloquence, the argument from personal experience and it is truly worth reading.

3 comments:

Michael Shoesmith said...

Richard Dawkins wrote the following in chapter 2 of his book "The Blind watchmaker"

"Yet the living results of natural selection overwhelmingly impress us with the appearance of design as if by a master watchmaker, they impress us with the illusion of design and planning"

Reverand Dawkins even admits to evidence of "design" but says it's all just an "illusion" and we must all just ignore the evidence.
You have recommended to your readers that they take advice from a lunatic. Congratulations.

sherwoodskeptik said...

Mr. Shoesmith where in that quotation does Dawkins admit to evidence of "design"? In my reading, he clearly states that while something natural may have the appearance of being designed by a "designer", it is actually an illusion created by our easily impressed, patern seeking brains. I don't think you'll find Dawkins offering any evidence for I.D. in his writings.

sarniaskeptic said...

Again, Michael Shoesmith is an idiot. Plain and simple.

Dawkins leads people down the garden path of "design" and then completely destroys the need to posit a designer. Michael Shoesmith has NEVER read The Blind Watchmaker - he has used an heavily quote-mined line from the book. Reading any further would have made Michael's brain explode. Luckily for him (and unluckily for us), he didn't keep reading.