UPDATED: Jonathan Miller's "The Atheism Tapes"

I came across these videos on YouTube and thought they were really worth watching, so I compiled them into a playlist which I present here.

Jonathan Miller interviews six people for a documentary about atheism: philosopher Colin McGinn, physicist Steven Weinberg, playwright Arthur Miller, biologist Richard Dawkins, theologian Denys Turner, and philosopher Daniel Dennett. Each interview is three 10-minute videos long.

EDIT (05/02/12): Unfortunately, all of the videos have been taken down! Searching YouTube for "the atheism tapes" seems to indicate there are still copies around, however...

Hitler, Stalin and Mao

I haven't written many posts myself here but that is the purpose of this blog - to share things I find interesting, including thoughts.

I was watching a debate to do with religion and the "Hitler, Stalin and Mao" subject came up. It's a retort made by religious proponents in response to having the great evils religion has been responsible for pointed out.

"...when you talk about the needless suffering that religion has caused, I think it's time for me to address the historical record; because I think that religion's record is nothing less than exemplary compared to irreligion..."

I could just see it coming as he spoke, it's always mentioned - "religion might be bad but" Hitler, or Stalin, or whoever. When he said it I could hear the usual responses in my head, but they've never satisfied me. Then it seemed to clear up for me - the argument is not that religion simply makes the world worse but that it's in direct opposition to good in a lot of ways. So whether or not it's done good it frequently stands in the way of it and this is gravely important.