The Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, the raising of Lazarus, even the Old Testament miracles, all are freely used for religious propaganda, and they are very effective with an audience of unsophisticates and children
Interpretation
Dawkins critiques the use of religious miracles for propaganda, suggesting they appeal primarily to the uneducated and young.
In this quote, Richard Dawkins argues that miraculous events presented in religious contexts, such as the Virgin Birth and Resurrection, are often employed as tools of persuasion and propaganda. He points out that these narratives can be incredibly compelling, particularly to those who lack critical thinking skills, like children and the less educated, emphasizing a critique of how such stories are used to influence belief in a religious framework.
In practice
In a debate on the effectiveness of religious narratives, this quote highlights the need for critical thinking.
No educated person believes the Adam and Eve myth nowadays, but it's surprising how many parents think that it's somehow fun to pass on this falsehood to their children...I would want to argue that the truth of evolution is more interesting and more poetic
If the history-deniers who doubt the fact of evolution are ignorant of biology, those who think the world began less than ten thousand years ago are worst than ignorant, they are the deluded to the point of perversity.
The population of the U.S. is nearly 300 million, including many of the best educated, most talented, most resourceful, humane people on earth. By almost any measure of civilised attainment, from Nobel prize-counts on down, the U.S. leads the world by miles.
When you make machines that are capable of obeying instructions slavishly, and among those instructions are 'duplicate me' instructions, then of course the system is wide open to exploitation by parasites.
Even if not a single fossil has ever been found, the evidence from surviving animals would still overwhelmingly force the conclusion that Darwin was right.
The bitter hatreds that now poison Middle Eastern politics are rooted in the real or perceived wrong of the setting up of a Jewish State in an Islamic region. In view of all that the Jews had been through, it must have seemed a fair and humane solution. Probably deep familiarity with the Old Testament had given the European and American decision-makers some sort of idea that this really was the historic homeland of the Jews.
I will go peaceably and firmly to the Catholic Church: for if Faith is so important to our salvation, I will seek it where true Faith first began, seek it among those who received it from God Himself.
Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to heaven.
I have no other wish in this world but to find light and joy and peace through Hinduism.
Godβs grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior.
The greatest miracle of the Bible is that the prophets of Israel could keep a religion as clean as a hounds tooth amid all the corruption and idolatry of the nations surrounding them.
God's hearing of our prayers doth not depend upon sanctification, but upon Christ's intercession; not upon what we are in ourselves, but what' we are in the Lord Jesus; both our persons and our prayers are acceptable in the beloved [Eph 1.6].
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.