[MD] Dawkins a Materialist (is watching?)

[pholden at davtv.com]

Quoting ARLO J BENSINGER JR <ajb102 at psu.edu>:

> [Arlo previously]
> You ridicule "AHA!" but all you offer in return is "God". Go figure.
> 
> [Platt]
> Wrong. I also offer Consciousness and Quality. I'm not stuck in one static
> worldview like you.
> 
> [Arlo]
> "How does Quality differ from God?" (This was your own question). "Who made
> Quality?" (Another of your questions) Where did the "design" for humans reside
> 100 billion years ago? Is your supernatural consciousness "self-aware"? If not,
> how did it "design" humans? By accident? Were did this supernatural
> "consciousness" come from? What was it "conscious of" before it created the
> universe? Why do you keep harping on "Judeo-Christian ethics" but make no
> mention of Buddhist ethics, Zen ethics, Hindu ethics, Native American ethics? 

All questions that you basically answer "Oops. We got lucky." But that aside,
perhaps you will describe for us Buddhist ethics, Zen ethics, Hindu ethics and
Native American ethics, the latter which, according to Pirsig, permitted dashing
"children's brains out on rocks."   

> The second part of this is almost too funny to comment on. I'd say you are not
> only stuck, Platt, but you are mired in a theistic, static worldview. The only
> answer you offer is "God did it". And your pandering to the "Judeo-Christian"
> crowd pretty much demonstrates "which" God.

No. I answer as possibilities the existence of Consciousness and Quality as
creative forces. I gather you disagree with Pirsig on that score while you
pander to scientism.

> But let's end this. You've made it quite clear you favor theism, a "God", to
> explain "purpose" and provide a "master planner" who's deliberate plan of
> design created the world. That is, the world is at it is because of
> "supernatural" rather than "natural" processes (and yet you accuse me of
> believing in "magic"!) You've more than proven my point, that your call for
> "intelligent design" was nothing more than backdoor theism, and your continued
> demands for law to be based on "Judeo-Christian ethics" reveals your motive in
> this. Unless you feel there is more to say, I say we drop it.

No. I consider Consciousness and Quality to be "natural processes." And the rest
is just a fabrication of my views to meet your own desperate need to demean
others to build up your own ego. Amusingly, you call for "dropping it" only to
follow a few minutes later with more commentary. Oh well, I understand why 
it's hard for you to let go. 


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