| Back to militant atheism |
[Dec. 23rd, 2009|12:32 am] |
"In 1998, Larson and Witham polled the cream of American scientists--those who had been honored by election to the National Academy of Sciences--and among this select group, belief in a personal god dropped to a shattering 7%. About 20% are agnostic, and the rest could fairly be called atheists...So we've reached a truly remarkable situation--a grotesque mismatch between the American intelligentsia and the American electorate."
"A philosophical opinion about the nature of the universe, which is held by the vast majority of top American scientists and probably the majority of the intelligentsia generally, is so abhorrent to the American electorate that no candidate for popular election dare affirm it in public. If I'm right, this means that high office in the greatest country in the world is barred to the very people best qualified to hold it--the intelligentsia--unless they're prepared to lie about their beliefs. To put it bluntly, American political opportunities are heavily loaded against those who are simultaneously intelligent and honest. I'm not a citizen of this country, so I hope it won't be thought unbecoming if I suggest that something needs to be done."
http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_militant_atheism.html |
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