Interesting video: Dan Dennett: A secular, scientific rebuttal to Rick Warren

Posted by Jay on December 31st, 2007 filed in Uncategorized

I’ve watched a bunch of the TED videos over the last year or so…they’re always very interesting. I thought I’d share this one with you (I’m sure you’ll be hooked and go find some more on your own!)-

This (as you can read on the site) was a response to a talk that Rick Warren had just given. It made me squirm a little bit, but it’s definitely worth watching and thinking about the implications for your context. This talk was given to 1,000 folks in Monterey, CA…typically, an influential group of folks. As youth workers, we need to be wrestling with this and not just glossing over the issues raised in this (and other) talks. How do you help your teenagers grapple with this?


6 Responses to “Interesting video: Dan Dennett: A secular, scientific rebuttal to Rick Warren”

  1. Ken Says:
    January 3rd, 2008 at 2:48 pm

    Hmmm….good stuff here. How do we teach students to be critical thinkers and not clones…so many other questions too!

    thanks for igniting some new thoughts…

  2. Steve Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 11:53 am

    I found it interesting that he presented no “facts” as he claimed was so needed. He only gave his opinion on what someone else said, and obviously did not talk to Rick prior to this presentation to get more information.

  3. Kirby Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

    Interesting stuff. He seemed a little random, not really settling on one point, but interesting none the less. He made a comment right at the end that should hit us (followers of Christ) right where it hurts. He says, “Many religious people hide behind their sanctity instead of doing good works.” Ouch! Unfortunately he’s right, partially, he does say “Many” and not “All”, but he’s still a little slanted, obviously. He also talks about people that don’t follow Christ doing good every day without God. Again, he’s right. But so what! I think it ultimately comes down to the idea of “what’s next?” what comes after you die and lead a good life? Is that all we’re here for? To do good things? Don’t get me wrong, we need to be doing good (James 2:17), but it comes down to the purpose of your life. I don’t know if I believe 100% of the PDL, but it shows that there’s more to life than just being a good person, because as we can all see, there are millions of really good people in this world. I wonder what his real issue is, that’s where I felt he was random. Was it against Christianity/Christ or religion or creation/evolution? In the end it really is a matter of faith, I think. It takes faith to believe in anything. What/who are you putting your faith in? Thanks for the post, I will definitely check some more of these out.

  4. Matthew Says:
    February 5th, 2008 at 12:43 pm

    He knocks on religion as just a repeat of historical culture and an evolution of thoughts. But doesn’t this lecture sound a lot like the old saying, “religion is the opiate of the masses”? I just thought that was ironic.

  5. Mike Says:
    February 6th, 2008 at 11:59 am

    I thought the way he pointed out the underlying ID in Warren was really interesting - and right on. I also think his critique of the “cover your ears and hum” approach to inter-faith dialogue was particularly stinging. There’s alot here that’s worth taking to heart.

  6. Ryan Says:
    February 11th, 2008 at 7:26 pm

    I would be interested to understand his perspective on the origin of “right” and “wrong” or “good” and “bad.” How do we know what’s good for us? Mr. Dennett definitely has a problem with Christianity but what is it really? He was not focused on helping us understand the problem and his solution for that problem. Seems to me that he was focused on his audience understanding that Rick Warren speaks from a “misled” point of view. Interesting to think about. As youth ministers, it is imperative that our teenagers know how to think through these issues. They are hearing them in different forms from many different people. So, that puts the burden on us to be educated enough to handle the real questions our teenagers will bring to us. Read up guys, your teenagers faith depends upon your knowledge of the truth.

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