The World Needs Religion Even if it Doesn't Need God

The World Needs Religion Even if it Doesn't Need God

God is dead and man has no need of the myths and false consolation that religion offers. That’s the battle-cry of Richard Dawkins and other tough-minded critics of religion. And yet millions cling to their faith, finding value and meaning in the concepts and rituals they adhere to. But is this dichotomy all we have to choose from – prostration or denigration? Some would argue that there’s another way, that it’s possible to remain an atheist and still make use of certain ideas and practices of religion that secular society has failed to engender – the promotion of morality and a spirit of community, for example, and the ability to cope with loss, failure and our own mortality. But is this “religion for atheists” something that would ever catch on? Without belief in the numinous and some form of authority wouldn’t it all fall apart? And do atheists really need sermons and reminders to be good? Arguing against this motion in this debate from January 2012 were philosopher and author Alain de Botton and... Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/intelligencesquared. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episoder(1557)

An Anatomy Of Truth: Conversations on Truth-Telling

An Anatomy Of Truth: Conversations on Truth-Telling

Not everyone tells the truth. ‘Read my lips: no new taxes.’ ‘This isn’t going to hurt.’ ‘I see no ships, my lord.’ ‘Of course I love you.’ When can we know what to believe? Four out of five of us don’...

20 Des 20131h 38min

Putin Has Been Good For Russia

Putin Has Been Good For Russia

There’s not a lot to like about Vladimir Putin: he’s autocratic, vain and runs a corrupt government. And he doesn’t give a fig for human rights. The repression in Chechnya, the jailing of the (now par...

20 Des 20131h 38min

Nate Silver On The Art And Science Of Prediction

Nate Silver On The Art And Science Of Prediction

Nate Silver is the 35-year-old data engineer and forecaster with superstar status. He shot to fame in 2008 for correctly predicting the outcome in 49 out of 50 states in the US presidential election. ...

19 Des 20131h 26min

Angela Merkel is Destroying Europe

Angela Merkel is Destroying Europe

They're calling her the devil. Inflammatory words, but Europe has every reason to be livid with the German Chancellor. Angela Merkel’s austerity measures are strangling the economies of the southern n...

19 Des 201349min

Jimmy Carter in Conversation with Jon Snow

Jimmy Carter in Conversation with Jon Snow

President Jimmy Carter is a Nobel Prize winner, author, humanitarian, professor, farmer, naval officer and carpenter. In this special Intelligence Squared interview with Channel 4 News's Jon Snow, whi...

18 Des 20131h 13min

Send Them Back: The Parthenon Marbles Should be Returned to Athens

Send Them Back: The Parthenon Marbles Should be Returned to Athens

What’s all this nonsense about sending the Parthenon Marbles back to Greece? If Lord Elgin hadn’t rescued them from the Parthenon in Athens and presented them to the British Museum almost 200 years ag...

16 Des 201348min

The West Has Failed Syria

The West Has Failed Syria

To say “The West has failed Syria” tempts us into the dangerous belief that had we only got stuck into this conflict from the off, things would now be better. It’s a belief, as recent history shows, w...

16 Des 20131h 30min

The Catholic Church is a Force For Good in The World

The Catholic Church is a Force For Good in The World

Can anything good really be said of an institution that has such a warped attitude to sex that it tries to stop the world from wearing a condom, is bitterly opposed to gays leading a fulfilled life an...

13 Des 201348min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
stopp-verden
popradet
det-store-bildet
nokon-ma-ga
fotballpodden-2
rss-gukild-johaug
dine-penger-pengeradet
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-ness
hanna-de-heldige
aftenbla-bla
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
frokostshowet-pa-p5
bt-dokumentar-2