Alice Roberts | Morals Without Religion: the Unholy Mrs Knight and the Hypocritical Humanist

In the key note lecture from the 2019 Humanists UK Convention, Humanists UK President Professor Alice Roberts takes us on a personal exploration of Margaret Knight's 1950s radio essay series, 'Morals Without Religion', to examine changing attitudes to, and controversies around, the idea of non-religious morality. She discusses the place of faith schools in modern Britain and why arguments against them often provoke fierce debate.

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  • @madgeordie4469
    @madgeordie44692 жыл бұрын

    A meaningful and thought provoking talk given by an intelligent and articulate woman. Alice Roberts is a welcome breath of fresh air who fights for the right of ordinary people to think for themselves.

  • @tomgreene1843

    @tomgreene1843

    Жыл бұрын

    That's a dodgy 'RIGHT'

  • @asgio27

    @asgio27

    8 ай бұрын

    That is a total, honest, unemotional, analytical , YES !

  • @TesseractPleiadesOrion

    @TesseractPleiadesOrion

    8 ай бұрын

    @@tomgreene1843 Why?

  • @philipsmeeton

    @philipsmeeton

    Күн бұрын

    There is though a far greater and deadly religion than christianity that should concern every atheist.

  • @goodun2974
    @goodun29744 жыл бұрын

    An interviewer asked Frank Zappa what he thought it took to be a good parent and raise good kids. His reply, "keep them as far away from religion as possible, until they're old enough to choose a religion for themselves if they like, or to choose no religion at all".

  • @godislove8740

    @godislove8740

    4 жыл бұрын

    He also railed against many 'sins'. I suspect he was aware of the lies of his brethren . 😁

  • @stevious7278

    @stevious7278

    4 жыл бұрын

    You only have to listen to Frank's song "Dumb All Over" to get the message loud and clear. Succinct and sharp. All praise Frank!! lol

  • @danbain59

    @danbain59

    4 жыл бұрын

    Frank Zappa is your moral compass?

  • @stevious7278

    @stevious7278

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@danbain59 Why not? He never took drugs or alcohol; raised four children as good citizens; had a strong work ethic; had the ability to think critically; saw the stupidity inherent in religion and the capitalist system. Need I go on? Oh, maybe I should clarify in case you are not capable of thinking... i do include Locke, Hume, Voltaire, Marx, Hobbs, Socrates, Plato, Camus, Sartre, The Buddha and numerous others to a greater or lessor degree. How about you?

  • @godislove8740

    @godislove8740

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@stevious7278 you forgot the humour. Bad you. I do like reading the Bible but of course you can't rebuke using humour....you have to throw stones instead. It really gets the message across to Catholic girls.

  • @timsmith6675
    @timsmith66754 жыл бұрын

    What an accomplished person Dr. Alice Roberts is, a M.D., a PhD. in anthropology and a humanist with communication skills we need for our societies. Thank you Dr. Roberts for trying to help.

  • @patrickgleason2066
    @patrickgleason20662 жыл бұрын

    We’ve definitely had enough of, religion without morals.

  • @jhonadam1420

    @jhonadam1420

    Жыл бұрын

    Why seak to 'believe' anything? I' know' aboout a lot of real things and I enjoy trying to calculate the probabiility about things being true, but in general my honest andwer is simply " I don' t know"

  • @00stobart
    @00stobart2 жыл бұрын

    She's a brilliant communicator. For me morals based on following the rules because of an abstract idea you'll get payback in some imaginary afterlife is fundamentally IMMORAL - the atheist/humanist who does right because it's the RIGHT thing to do is far more moral in my eyes. Dx

  • @duaneshort186

    @duaneshort186

    6 ай бұрын

    Try as one might, there is no grounding the "RIGHT thing" without an ultimate authority who has defined it as such. And I wonder if you'd agree that it is immoral to speak as if you _know as fact_ that which, inherently, you _cannot_ know as a fact.

  • @rominiyi1385

    @rominiyi1385

    5 ай бұрын

    ​​​​​@@duaneshort186 You do not need an "ultimate authority": 1. "Do not do unto others that which you would not have others do onto you", and stick to this even if you do not stick to anything else. 2. Do not engage in certain sexual practices, full stop; do not engage in unprotected sex ever; adhere to safe sex practices as medically and scientifically outlined always; do not be promiscuous or hang around and about promiscuous people because science has revealed to us the unfathomably diverse multiplicity of sexually transmitted viruses, bacteria, parasites, pathogens, etc., out there, their evolution, their routes of transmission, their propensity to precipitate devastating illnesses through their infinitely horrendous modes of infection and propagation prepicitating epidemics and pandemics with long term consequences extending well into the future, impacting not only ourselves but future generations health-wise, quality of life-wise, socially, economically, etc. 3. Do not mistakenly bring children into this world you did not intend to and have not rigorously planned for, and which you do not have the time, energy and next to inexhaustible sources of funds to bring up properly. To contravene this is really monstrous in the true sense of the word. And, do not bring children into an unstable relationship. 4. Do not be misogynistic because it's monstrously unfair, and if you can't see that, surely you realise that we all had a 50:50 chance of being a male or female at conception as science informs us of sex-determining X and Y chromosomes .... 5. Do not use addictive substances or intoxicating substances due to their ability to co-opt, hijack, and totally disrupt our natural neurochemistry including our dopamine-reward systems, other neurochemical systems, our endocrinology, our physiology, and thus make us drug-dependent, criminal, very ill, wreck our lives, and wreck the lives of all around us, etc. 6. Do not enslave others, pay them unfairly, or engage in attitudes, activities or practices that can be rightly construed as slavery like practices towards others, etc. 7. Deep respect for high quality education and high quality extracurricular activities, etc. These are "just seven truths" "self-discovered" that I have adopted without any requirement or aid from an "ultimate authority" and without compulsion or duress from anybody, which makes me stick with them through thick and thin without being forced to do so by anyone, apart from constantly reviewing the evidence around me of those who are on a contrary pathway, whether this evidence is manifesting itself in the real world or is hilighted in text-books, research papers, or in the media, etc. I concede that if you do not have a deep understanding of science, morals and ethics and you are not actively searching in these fields, it may be difficult to come across these truths oneself in which case adopting a religion may be an option better than having no values, no morals, and no ethics at all ... however, religions come with a lot of deeply unethical and immoral baggage attached if you are prepared to dig deep enough to find out! (Well, all this evidence is not really "self-discovered" as thousands and thousands of people have done all the prior foot work I have gone in search of, learnt, and adopted; and thousands of people in multiple disciplines in the sciences, history of religion, the social sciences, ethics, history, literature, journalism, etc. are still engaged in on-going research to discover even more). It is "self-discovered" only in the sense of me actively searching for and finding it, and then using these strands of knowledge in constructing a personal moral code I am sticking to without any effort, whatsoever, because I believe deeply in it as I put it together myself and as it is keeping me safe, happy and free of worry in the outlined domains at least; and I am not being forced to believe in it; or any other moral code by promises of heaven, hell or eternal damnation, none of which I believe in at all because none of these are substantiated in any way whatsoever by scientific evidence ... and religions which are deeply immoral have no capability of promising a thinking person any of these in any way shape or form ...

  • @mjwilliamsb2676

    @mjwilliamsb2676

    2 ай бұрын

    ​​@@duaneshort186what, you mean like religious people do, as if they know 'facts' when all they have is faith? You do not need an arbiter to say whether you are behaving morally or with good intent, even very young human children have an innate understanding of what is moral and what isn't. And ultimately, we have the law to control people's behaviour when necessary Sadly, religious teachings often warp this innate morality, twist it into a rules based system of feeling guilty or being approved of, depending on one's level of compliance.

  • @jeremymead8546

    @jeremymead8546

    Ай бұрын

    I don't know anyone who believes in being moral based on payback in an afterlife. It is most certainly not a Christian idea.

  • @MrDaiseymay

    @MrDaiseymay

    16 сағат бұрын

    @@duaneshort186 IT'S CALLED LOGIC, ARRIVED AT BY USING ONES BRAINS. IT'S WHY WE ARE WHERE WE ARE, VIA A ONGOING QUESTIONING MIND.

  • @benvanrensburg4261
    @benvanrensburg42612 жыл бұрын

    What a stupendously intelligent speaker! I envy her for her eloquence and for the quality of her thinking.

  • @davidbanner6230

    @davidbanner6230

    Жыл бұрын

    RELATIVE MISCONSEPTIONS : There have been some recent reports that there are movements by New Zealand’s Mouri’s to have - what they call - there own version of science to be taught in schools. As can be imagined this idea has, understandably, raised the hackles of the scientific community that “science is science” and it should be irrespective of race or culture. Although this is interesting, it highlights a misconception about religion, and that the oft claimed by Atheists, that belief in religious concepts is somehow a threat to acceptance of science itself. As we know there have been many eminent scientists, who have also been believers in religion, it is a misconception to say that science has to be mutually exclusive to religious belief? Atheists, have for too long, and for often nefarious reasons, purposely erected barriers to protect the notion that anyone who believed in forces, beyond understanding/proof, were simpletons? Atheists know it’s not easy to sell yourself as a purveyor of enlightenment, if you allow your message to be contaminated by things too hard for you to understand yourself? There is a world of understanding outside the wonders of science, and the world is not full of fools and idiots. It’s not just true, but vital, to understand a world not just made up of what we call science, but also a world where what people believe, also guides our lives. Including indigenous beliefs’…

  • @MrDaiseymay

    @MrDaiseymay

    16 сағат бұрын

    @@davidbanner6230 SO 2+ 2 = 5 ? BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAID SO ? WHEN COMMON SENCE IS IGNORED ,AND SCIENTIFIC CALCULOUS TOO, IT EQUALS , CHAOS !

  • @brianashcroft688
    @brianashcroft6884 жыл бұрын

    Always liked Alice Roberts for her tv programmes, now I have admire her as well for her beliefs and courage speak of them. I wish I had a morsel of her use of the English language.

  • @alasdairniven6578

    @alasdairniven6578

    2 жыл бұрын

    I agree, but it took me years to realize that she and Victoria Coren were not the same person.

  • @aronjaxxon7165

    @aronjaxxon7165

    2 жыл бұрын

    Instablaster.

  • @Wolf-hh4rv

    @Wolf-hh4rv

    2 жыл бұрын

    Wow what courage to talk out against church based education in a country that is large atheistic

  • @Wolf-hh4rv

    @Wolf-hh4rv

    2 жыл бұрын

    What is a “humanist”? naive … imagine a world where the Roman Empire had not moved toward Christianity…..Stalin, Genghis Khan, Hitler. Nothing more stupid than atheists expending energy destroying a belief system that promotes love, empathy and Forgiveness. Sconce cannot “prove” that God doesn’t exist.

  • @seamusmergatroid9190

    @seamusmergatroid9190

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@alasdairniven6578 without trying to sound too pervy, you weren’t looking in the right place

  • @JohnHarmer
    @JohnHarmer4 жыл бұрын

    Such a pleasure to listen to Dr Alice Roberts on this topic. I had never heard of Margaret Knight, but she is now one of my heroes.

  • @ericdondero3217

    @ericdondero3217

    4 жыл бұрын

    Such a displeasure. She's a flaming hypocrite. Hey Alice, it wasn't a Christian who beheaded 6 year old Emily Jones 5 weeks ago in a park in England. That was a Somali Muslim. You spew hatred for Christianity yet say nothing about Muslims.

  • @Johlibaptist

    @Johlibaptist

    4 жыл бұрын

    Dr Roberts is a good scientist, but a very poor philosopher. Momento mori.

  • @richardh8082

    @richardh8082

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Tim Webb My apologies. It was a knee-jerk reaction to a topic dear to me and which I wished to defend. Sound familiar?

  • @MrRational59

    @MrRational59

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@ericdondero3217 When did she spew hatred against christianity? I think you should stop lying.

  • @MrRational59

    @MrRational59

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Tim Webb You are a disgusting excuse for a human being. Seek mental health counselinmg.

  • @edwarddavenport9881
    @edwarddavenport98816 ай бұрын

    Let's just call Professor Roberts what she is, a national treasure. Incredible and facinating person.

  • @MrDaiseymay

    @MrDaiseymay

    5 күн бұрын

    --AND A LOVELY BIT O STUFF AN'ALL

  • @bdm-astroscorpion5025
    @bdm-astroscorpion50254 жыл бұрын

    On a personal, family level, apostasy can be a very traumatic experience to go through. It splits the closest of families apart, especially if the head of the family has deeply held religious views. Alice's mother sounds just like my own mother, tolerant on most issues except that of what religious views her children are expected to hold. This is why I remained the "respected" church-going non-believer for well over 20 years. I admire Alice for her honesty in the way that she confronted her parents about her convictions, doing so at just 15 years old. I admire her more so for her having the courage to stick to those convictions despite the parental hostility she had to endure because of those views. It took me until I was 35 before I stopped living the pretence of going to church. If we meet, to maintain the peace, talking religion is a taboo subject with my immediate family members, the elephant in the room who is going no place elsewhere. Everyone else I associate with, all my friends and work colleagues, are aware of my atheist beliefs. I am always open with them on the subject. It's just my own family that talking religion is a no no. That good morals require a religious based belief is just another delusion of the religious mindset. Keep up the good work Alice.

  • @jhonadam1420

    @jhonadam1420

    9 ай бұрын

    Posobly the attitude of her parents helped Alice to be convinced that she was correct.

  • @willmpet
    @willmpet2 жыл бұрын

    I remember reciting the Nicene Creed every Sunday. One day I decided to only say what I agreed with; I was quite quiet.

  • @nonfecittaliter4361

    @nonfecittaliter4361

    2 жыл бұрын

    Sorry for you.

  • @spiritualanarchist8162

    @spiritualanarchist8162

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@nonfecittaliter4361 dito

  • @101mosioatunya
    @101mosioatunya4 жыл бұрын

    What an excellent lecture this is. I shall now hunt for a copy of Margaret Knight's radio essays and I won't stop until I find one.

  • @SqwarkParrotSpittingFeathers

    @SqwarkParrotSpittingFeathers

    4 жыл бұрын

    Have faith that you will be successful in your holy quest, lol.

  • @101mosioatunya

    @101mosioatunya

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@SqwarkParrotSpittingFeathers You didn't read what I wrote 4 days ago so your comment is both silly and redundant :-(

  • @SqwarkParrotSpittingFeathers

    @SqwarkParrotSpittingFeathers

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@101mosioatunya It was meant to be silly, hence "lol". And, I'm sorry that I didn't trawl the net to find what you wrote a number of days ago, and I suspect I certainly will not bother now. Have a nice day.

  • @101mosioatunya

    @101mosioatunya

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@SqwarkParrotSpittingFeathers You didn't have to trawl the net. The comment is just underneath this one!!! Have a nice day too :-)

  • @csnowutube

    @csnowutube

    4 жыл бұрын

    I'm looking for her on KZread and can only find the "inventor of the flat bottom paper bag machine" (which is cool but not what I'm looking for)

  • @stevenryle5709
    @stevenryle57093 жыл бұрын

    As I grew up in the 1950's, in the USA, Church was an important part of daily life. My family went to Church 3 times a week. We still had prayer in school everyday. There were "Blue Laws" still in place that kept stores and bars closed on Sundays. Since then I've met many moral and honest people who were either agnostics or atheists. I've also met many religious churchgoing people who were in trouble with the law. I have concluded over the years that religion is not required for a person to adopt a good solid moral code or develop a solid ethical backbone to stick with it.

  • @forestdwellerresearch6593

    @forestdwellerresearch6593

    5 ай бұрын

    You knew that already. Before conditioning got to you. They just blurred it out with religion.

  • @thecrow4597

    @thecrow4597

    4 ай бұрын

    What a silly conclusion. So you met people who consciously disagreed with a fundamental axiom of their culture for over 1000 years but they still had other parts of their character and behaviors that were effected by that axiom? Obviously! That doesn’t mean their current worldview justifies those morals or that those morals will survive even a few generations once the causal axiom is discarded. It’s called riding the wave or cruising on fumes.

  • @bjb8847656
    @bjb88476562 жыл бұрын

    Much respect for a clear, intelligent and brave person.

  • @gowdsake7103

    @gowdsake7103

    2 жыл бұрын

    Ummm brave ?

  • @WiggyB
    @WiggyB4 жыл бұрын

    Enjoyable and thought-provoking as ever. Dropping the Hitchens quote in just after all the old ones - delightful.

  • @MsPokey1234
    @MsPokey12342 жыл бұрын

    As a Atheist ~ I have no problem with treating people ~ how I would like to be treated!

  • @wulfenii64
    @wulfenii644 жыл бұрын

    Alice, you are a gem.

  • @wulfenii64

    @wulfenii64

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@snowrider4495 read what book? And why?

  • @snowrider4495

    @snowrider4495

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@wulfenii64 woops my bad my dyslexia kicked in and for some reason it read germ! Lmfao I'm an idiot!

  • @wulfenii64

    @wulfenii64

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@snowrider4495 No problem. I thought you were some sort of crazy religious person too. LOL

  • @wulfenii64

    @wulfenii64

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@snowrider4495 and no hard feelings here : )

  • @snowrider4495

    @snowrider4495

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@wulfenii64 me neither just a discussion and religions are one of my favorite hobbies!

  • @mayms9181
    @mayms91812 жыл бұрын

    ‏I left Islam when I read the Qur’an and the biography of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam ‏Now I live in Iraq and I can't talk about it even with my family I might be killed, and society will reject me, it's very difficult for me ‏and many Arabs leave Islam every day, but they cannot announce that because they may be killed and of course society rejects them .

  • @ridefast0

    @ridefast0

    2 жыл бұрын

    If they keep you in by force, its a cult or a prison. Please enjoy the support of others who now, like you, think for yourself.

  • @josephhenry4725

    @josephhenry4725

    Ай бұрын

    We have a moral obligation to bring our children up with what we believe to be right ..not what we have been indoctrinated into...let kids come to you... their questions will test you and make you reaccess your received position.

  • @asgio27
    @asgio274 жыл бұрын

    I will repeat , as I have for so long Professor Roberts, you are amazing, and really enjoy your work, intellect, and contributions in every way. Thank you.

  • @evad7933

    @evad7933

    4 жыл бұрын

    OMG. Go and buy some screen cleaner.

  • @ericdondero3217

    @ericdondero3217

    4 жыл бұрын

    Well, except for the fact, she's a flaming hypocrite. She'll attack Jews and Christians with spewing hatred. But will never offer even the slightest of criticism for Islam.

  • @ericdondero3217

    @ericdondero3217

    4 жыл бұрын

    So, you're okay with her attacking Christians?

  • @asgio27

    @asgio27

    4 жыл бұрын

    I don't think I mentioned religion in any context. . I understand she is not a Christian, but I also have never seen her spew hatred, or 'attack' Christians, or any faith. I could not imagine her hating or attacking anyone. Of course, all too often today, if one disagrees, politically, religiously, philosophically, - it quickly turns to ad hominem attacks and equivocating the other side as hateful, evil, etc. I stand my my assessment of Dr. Alice Roberts, and not only think she is an amazing documentary producer , and much more, but a genuinely kind, good person, with morals, and a very good character with a good compass. I think I have many different parameters for what constitutes a good person, call me a simpleton. As long a religion is mentioned, do I really, really need to mention how many I have encountered that profess to be good Christians, Jews, Muslims - whatever, and seem to think that gives them a license to do , act, and say what they think with relative impunity? Please. Dr. Roberts, I so admire you , and your work, and like me, I feel assured you treat people very well, do a lot for others, and wish to cause no one harm.

  • @ericdondero3217

    @ericdondero3217

    4 жыл бұрын

    Dude, here entire lecture was spewing hatred against Christianity. I'm a Jew. Just for the record. Why doesn't she attack Islam with such vehemence?

  • @lewisrangi9123
    @lewisrangi91233 жыл бұрын

    I was raised a Mormon and became a Pentecostal in my teens. My childhood was disturbing to say the least. I was adopted because my mother didn't want me, my adopted parents abused myself and my fostered siblings, so I would constantly be asking god to help, to no avail. so I began asking him to kill me just so it would stop. As you can see I had already deceived myself into believing in something that could not help. Obviously there is a lot more to this story. however what I have written is enough to make my point.... Ethics and morals should not be taught by any religion or belief system. Simply because they can do damage to a young developing mind. As far as I'm concerned Dr Alice is completely right, religion should be taught as myth and legend. Religion should not have a say in education or politics.

  • @jenniferflower9265

    @jenniferflower9265

    2 жыл бұрын

    I just want to hug you. 🤗😪 I grew up in abuse but different circumstances than you. I turned to religion as a way out. God did nothing for my internal struggle that resided in me after leaving. I eventually found the power in myself to overcome it. Religion only reinforced the idea that I was a bad person in need of repentance only to realize that all the struggles I faced were normal human reactions to abuse. Healing began at that point. Hugs to you.

  • @lewisrangi9123

    @lewisrangi9123

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@jenniferflower9265 I agree the healing does begin when we acknowledge that it's only ourselves that have the power to change how we see ourself. For me it was extremely difficult I spent 7 years in counselling from the age of 17 just to get the tools I needed to understand that what I experienced in my childhood was not normal. I didn't understand what love really meant until I had my first child "my daughter"when she was born in front of me I finally understood that love was a dedication to do anything and everything I could beyond my normal means. My daughter changed the way I thought, believed and even the way I reacted, it was a lot of work and the work continues even at the age of 48. She doesn't know exactly how much she means to me and she probably never will.

  • @jenniferflower9265

    @jenniferflower9265

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@lewisrangi9123 I get that. I don't think many come out of that kind of abuse and take the time to change or understand what has happened to them. I am so sad for those who don't find help and suport. I was 17, with child, as well. Left home, went straight into counseling. I'm 42 now and am still in counseling. It was hard work, the work still continues but well worth it. I had to deconstruct my normal as well. My kids were bug motivation for me. Good luck to you. Carry on the good life. 😊

  • @lewisrangi9123

    @lewisrangi9123

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@jenniferflower9265 good luck. 😊

  • @imansfield
    @imansfield4 жыл бұрын

    Went to see Alice live a few months ago. Was secretly dreading sitting there for 3 hours but it went in a flash! She could have kept talking all night and I wouldn’t have minded. It was so interesting! She just speaks so much common sense.

  • @silentbob5566

    @silentbob5566

    2 жыл бұрын

    It's not common sense, it's just ideology and simplistic pseudo-reasoning you like.

  • @phantomplastics6582
    @phantomplastics65824 жыл бұрын

    "Numerous studies reveal that atheists and secular people most certainly maintain strong values, beliefs, and opinions. But more significantly, when we actually compare the values and beliefs of atheists and secular people to those of religious people, the former are markedly less nationalistic, less prejudiced, less anti-Semitic, less racist, less dogmatic, less ethnocentric, less close-minded, and less authoritarian (Greeley and Hout 2006; Sider 2005; Altemeyer 2003, 2009; Jackson and Hunsberger 1999; Wulff 1991; Altemeyer and Hunsberger 1992, 1997; Beit-Hallahmi 2007; Beit-Hallahmi and Argyle 1997; Batson et al. 1993; Argyle 2000)." and "The claim that atheists are somehow more likely to be immoral,’’ asserts Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi (2007, 306), ‘‘has long been disproven by systematic studies.’’ Source: Atheism, Secularity, and Well-Being - How the Findings of Social Science Counter Negative Stereotypes and Assumptions

  • @TCGill

    @TCGill

    4 жыл бұрын

    Sorry@James Strawn I don't agree. My compassion and goodwill comes from a humanist perspective. Some of the most immoral and corrupt people I know are religious. They wash off their selfish behaviour by following their faith. There is good and bad in all and religion is not the only answer to be "good".

  • @TCGill

    @TCGill

    4 жыл бұрын

    Nicely put. That resonates with my own personal experience. Not saying all religious people are bad... but many are misguided. Sometimes it works in a life-affirming way... sometimes it just goes horribly wrong.

  • @threepguybrushwood539

    @threepguybrushwood539

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@TCGill I think you missed the sarcasm. ;-)

  • @SnuggLeona

    @SnuggLeona

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@threepguybrushwood539 It would only count as obviously sarcastic, if it was highly unlikely that anyone would actually hold those beliefs. Sadly it is not highly unlikely, and therefore the so called sarcasm is not detectable.

  • @previouslyachimp

    @previouslyachimp

    4 жыл бұрын

    @James Strawn - I'm afraid it is you who is 'utterly irrational' James, all of the things you mentioned are simply evolved traits that can aid survival within a collaborative society, and require no belief in any particular deity, just in humans. As for what is 'moral', like every other word we make the definitions, there's nobody else to do it. Even if there were an omniscient entity making pronouncements through scripture, they are still filtered through the flawed human brain which produces the problematically different understandings and outcomes that we see in the world. If there WAS an all-knowing God, it would have known that writing rules in a bunch of old books would be a genocidally inadequate way to present your truth. It would be 'utterly irrational', would it not?

  • @mecima
    @mecima2 жыл бұрын

    Well my late dad brought us up to have absolute principles and morals based on right and wrong, none of it based on religious beliefs. Thanks dad, you were absolutely right to insist academia was the way forward for humanity.

  • @claudiaxander
    @claudiaxander4 жыл бұрын

    Professor Roberts is an absolute joy! Thankyou.

  • @StimParavane

    @StimParavane

    4 жыл бұрын

    But completely misguided when it comes to spirituality.

  • @istvansipos9940

    @istvansipos9940

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@StimParavane spirituality :- ) she is probably even more misguided when it comes to magic. And?

  • @gowdsake7103

    @gowdsake7103

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@StimParavane And just what is that ?

  • @richardh8082
    @richardh80824 жыл бұрын

    I remember putting 'C of E' as my religion in a national census when I was around 10 or 12 years old because that was what I had been told I was by my parents. Thankfully a balanced education and willingness to think for myself won over and i am now more likely to put 'Jedi' than Christian. Actually I would strongly encourage everyone tempted to put 'protest' answers such as Jedi to simply put 'none' as this will help with our transition to a secular society and maybe then Churches will finally have to start paying tax like the rest of us

  • @nssherlock4547

    @nssherlock4547

    4 жыл бұрын

    HA,I'm also a Hughes,the last census in Australia, 70000 people including me, marked Jedi as their religion, the UK nearly 400000 (0.8%) did the same,making it No 4 on the list ahead of Judaism, Hinduism and Islame. I agree it was funny at the time, but even putting Jedi, counts towards the overall percentage of people who have an affiliation with religion. Yes make it clear NONE is the only option.cheers.

  • @HarryNicNicholas

    @HarryNicNicholas

    2 жыл бұрын

    i just commented that when i was a kid i thought c of e meant atheist.

  • @esphilee

    @esphilee

    2 жыл бұрын

    You are lost, you should join the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

  • @robertsmith-qb2ke

    @robertsmith-qb2ke

    Жыл бұрын

    You are certainly not alone. Religious instruction (as opposed to education) was pretty widespread back in the day, (not to mention 'assemblies' at school) and youngsters were not discouraged from putting 'C of E' down. In fact the number of folk doing this in the 1970s / 1980s TV show 'Crown Court' suggests this was a common phenomenon. Me, I'll plump for Cat Worshipper...

  • @briansmith3791

    @briansmith3791

    11 ай бұрын

    Haha. The Jedi, of course, speak of 'The Force', which has been long known of in spiritual circles as The Atman, the Inner Body, Awareness, the 'spark of God' etc. George Lucas believes in a Creator but not in Religion.

  • @louispaquet8185
    @louispaquet81854 жыл бұрын

    When one person is delusional, it’s called insanity. When many people are delusional, they call it religion.

  • @robertseavor4304

    @robertseavor4304

    4 жыл бұрын

    You're a moron.

  • @digitalperson108

    @digitalperson108

    4 жыл бұрын

    Louis Paquet spot on

  • @christopherseton-smith7404

    @christopherseton-smith7404

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@robertseavor4304 : I don't think you've quite learned the way to coax a constructive discussion out.

  • @robertseavor4304

    @robertseavor4304

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Alex McAuliff Which religion? Christian faith is based on reason as well as revelation. Unfortunately, most atheists are as philosophically illiterate as Dawkins and Hitchens. Also, science supports theism, not the absurd materialism in which atheists have so much blind faith. I heartily recommend "Undeniable", by a bio-chemist named Axe, who brilliantly chops up the half-baked "theory" of evolution, which is so devoid of genuine evidence it barely ranks as a hypothesis, let alone a theory. (Pun intended btw).

  • @robertseavor4304

    @robertseavor4304

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@christopherseton-smith7404 You haven't quite learned that for some statements, "You're a moron" is a sufficient response.

  • @davidroberts8874
    @davidroberts88742 жыл бұрын

    Alice, always articulate and rational, a hero of common sense. Surely for religious schools there is a better chance of making converts by including others on the inside looking out than excluding them.

  • @theitineranthistorian2024
    @theitineranthistorian20244 жыл бұрын

    america needs a religion reality check. sometimes it seems hopeless. people choose to be ignorant.

  • @digitalperson108

    @digitalperson108

    4 жыл бұрын

    Control of and for the weak.

  • @daragildea7434

    @daragildea7434

    4 жыл бұрын

    And you're not ignorant of the fact that your lifestyle is contributing to the destruction of the Earth, are you?

  • @digitalperson108

    @digitalperson108

    4 жыл бұрын

    Dara Gildea my lifestyle? What do you know of it? Nothing. Furthermore. Why cannot destroy the earth. We can only make it less habitual for US. It will be here long after humans.

  • @daragildea7434

    @daragildea7434

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@digitalperson108 Ignorant nonsense. EVERYBODY's lifestyles is destroying the Earth, that's a FACT. 60% of all the wildlife on the planet has been annihilated by humans in the past 50 years, that's also a FACT, you ignoramus.

  • @digitalperson108

    @digitalperson108

    4 жыл бұрын

    Dara Gildea And I thought all the name calling and shouting down was on the political feeds. I bet you are fun at parties. So....lemme guess...you live completely off grid in a wigwam, living off the earth...generating no excess carbon...no pollution...in perfect harmony with mother earth. Yet...here you are on boobtoob, which if you walked your own talk...you would have no access to. What are you doing to change it, besides railing at people here on boobtoob? Just sit down and stfu up you pontificating hypocrite.

  • @argustuft
    @argustuft4 жыл бұрын

    This is one beautiful, lovely lady. Could listen to her for hours.

  • @unstoppableExodia

    @unstoppableExodia

    4 жыл бұрын

    100%

  • @olabaskerville

    @olabaskerville

    4 жыл бұрын

    So am I

  • @olabaskerville

    @olabaskerville

    4 жыл бұрын

    Her speech always amazing!

  • @ThePeterWilliam

    @ThePeterWilliam

    4 жыл бұрын

    Played her at a board game once. I won.

  • @argustuft

    @argustuft

    4 жыл бұрын

    ​@@ThePeterWilliam Nonetheless, I'd still prefer to listen to and see Alice ;-)

  • @paulneeds
    @paulneeds4 жыл бұрын

    Excellent talk - thank you Alice. The school my son went wasn’t Religious as such - here in my part of South Wales, the choice was RC - which there was NO chance of getting him into had we wished, and we didn’t, or mildly Protestant with no ‘interference’ from the clergy. He’s now a healthy 20-year-old skeptic with a profound sense of good, bad, and most importantly, equity. I’m very proud of him.

  • @kenrobinson8060
    @kenrobinson80603 ай бұрын

    Being born in 1934 this presentation really got my attention, Alice represents true HUMANISM to me and I have followed her throught the years as a scientist and a true humanoligist and will continue to do so.

  • @chriswales1952
    @chriswales19522 жыл бұрын

    My late mother, who was baptised Church of England, but totally non religious, became a Roman Catholic in her 70’s. I asked my sister why on earth she did this. She replied withTwo words “Death Awareness”. I was more than a little surprised, but glad, that she reverted to her true “faith” in her final days. When the Father came to visit and comfort her she told him to F**k off. I had never heard my mother swear before in my life. Priceless.

  • @crawford1083
    @crawford10834 жыл бұрын

    You know when you're on the correct side of an argument when you have that nauseating less worthwhile Hitchens brother against you. Peter (S)Hitchens only purpose is to remind us how missed is Christopher and how public life is lessened by his absence.

  • @crawford1083

    @crawford1083

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Billy McCarthy I cannot abide Gorgeous George but he did tear strips off Shitchens.

  • @crawford1083

    @crawford1083

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@jessebryant9233 The entire body of Charles Darwin's research, I would use, to debunk bullshit religion. And the work of far better minds than Peter Shitchens, not least his superior and late brother Christopher and the eponymous Richard Dawkins after whom the talk was named. You brainless nark. Jesse is a slang term for a girl in Ireland and Scotland apparently. Apt for you YFSC

  • @godislove8740

    @godislove8740

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@crawford1083 hilarious. Darwin didn't believe himself😂. For a few fact checks try Charlie was wrong on FB. I'm missing the link.

  • @godislove8740

    @godislove8740

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@crawford1083 also....what's Darwin's book called? 😷

  • @DEEJAYWAL

    @DEEJAYWAL

    4 жыл бұрын

    Ah, yes, that well known atheist Hitler who introduced belt buckles with the phrase “Gott Mitt Uns” (God With Us), said in Mein Kampf that in fighting Jews he was doing the Lord’s work, and claimed to have stamped out atheism in Germany. “He quarrelled with the Pope!” - Peter Hitchens. Okay, Pete, that’s a clincher. Either you’re an atheist or a loyal follower of the Pope. There are no other options.

  • @ratgrrl1
    @ratgrrl14 жыл бұрын

    Loved listening to Professor Alice Roberts. As a new aunty I very much hope my new niece will be brought up this way and with the critical thinkings of Margaret Knight.

  • @tedblowers9400
    @tedblowers94004 жыл бұрын

    I cant believe that Peter Hitchens would have the cheek to talk such tripe when his brother Christopher had it so right and an intellect to almost worship. We miss him.

  • @andybeans5790

    @andybeans5790

    4 жыл бұрын

    The two really were chalk and cheese, I find it quite unsettling to hear such ultra-conservative tripe in a voice so similar to Christopher's

  • @1man1bike1road

    @1man1bike1road

    4 жыл бұрын

    they were on opposite sides of the debate on whether the catholic church is a force for good

  • @kingsman428

    @kingsman428

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Tim Webb Don't drink, don't smoke, don't do drugs, don't drive, don't mountain climb, don't sky dive in fact, don't do anything with risk. Of course he had common sense but like all humans he ignored the risk and assumed it wouldn't happen to him.

  • @tedblowers9400

    @tedblowers9400

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Tim Webb You cant say he didn't have common sense, I think like most of us he did many things in life, that at some time he wished he hadn't, Like smoking and drinking maybe to excess. Very difficult in the circles he moved particularly being a writer with his intellect and keen wit. I would imagine that he quit smoking when he got the diagnosis but it would have been to late anyway.

  • @kingsman428

    @kingsman428

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Tim Webb *"...the blackness of darkness forever..."* Yep and that same ending awaits you too. Difference being, you didn't have the *common sense* to not waste what precious little life there is on a load of piffle making you just another *tragic individual* *"...his just reward..."* Another vile Christian deciding another's death is justified because he held differing beliefs. I would take the honesty, the courage and humanity of Hitchens over the beliefs of some snivelling Christian trying to worm his way into Heaven. See you in the *blackness of darkness* because it's where we all go, our atoms return to where they came from, the mighty Cosmos.

  • @sfperalta
    @sfperalta4 жыл бұрын

    Another thoughtful lecture about why religion should never be a consideration in any public decisions.

  • @deckiedeckie
    @deckiedeckie4 жыл бұрын

    Morals W/O religion is better than what we have now....Religion W/O morals!!...jejejejeje

  • @vylbird8014

    @vylbird8014

    4 жыл бұрын

    It's worse than that: It's religion with conviction. No person is so dangerous as a person who has real conviction that they are a good person, doing the right thing. If their confidence in the nobility of their cause is strong enough, there is nothing that cannot be justified to advance it.

  • @brendanpmaclean

    @brendanpmaclean

    4 жыл бұрын

    dread true I’m an atheist. You say I have conviction in nothing and yet you don’t know me. Please explain.

  • @brendanpmaclean

    @brendanpmaclean

    4 жыл бұрын

    dread true You know nothing about me.

  • @gazza595

    @gazza595

    4 жыл бұрын

    @dread true Interesting level of obtuse ignorance from a theist. Typically attempting idiotic "deep" comment. Shows you to be a genuine fool.

  • @brendanpmaclean

    @brendanpmaclean

    4 жыл бұрын

    dread true Are you still puking out your bullshit? Any more pearls of wisdom you want to share with the world? Any danger of a proper discussion or will you remain in the ‘worst advert for Christianity’ ever section?

  • @MissLynSanity
    @MissLynSanity4 жыл бұрын

    Somebody needs to record Knight's essays for an audiobook format!

  • @HumanistsUK

    @HumanistsUK

    4 жыл бұрын

    What a great idea!

  • @richardh8082

    @richardh8082

    4 жыл бұрын

    Alice should record them!

  • @MissLynSanity

    @MissLynSanity

    4 жыл бұрын

    I would be willing to put a little money toward this project if it could make it happen! Does anyone know if there is already a project or organization working on making humanist writing more accessible to the general public?

  • @patmorrow6872

    @patmorrow6872

    4 жыл бұрын

    Humanists UK that might raise some funds for Humanists UK. I would order a download.

  • @lawratify

    @lawratify

    2 жыл бұрын

    I take somewhat a different view in defining humanists. Humans have evolved not only biologically but are also evolving CONSCIOUSLY ( in religious jargon spiritually) . Most humans are trapped in the lowest state of human consciousness, the" fight or flight" or animal consciousness. To these people the less developed reptilian brain ,which is mainly concerned about survival. self-preservation , fixing and safeguarding territories and boundaries, is dominant over the much larger, more evolved and advanced, Limbic and Neo Cortex parts of human brain which longs to expand, explore, for oneness, universality and break all boundaries and barriers. Sadly these people who are trapped and languish in the lowest state of human consciousness (who I might add are in the majority at this point in time) are devoid of any CONSCIENCE ,COMPASSION OR EMPATHY, the most important attributes that set a fully fledged , decent human being from the rest of the animals. Because of the absence of these important attributes , these people find it impossible to decide or distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, moral and immoral, truth and falsehood etc. without some sort of guidance . This is where religion comes in, with rules and commandments, promise of rewards and punishments, , rituals and host of other dogmas. People in a higher state of consciousness can clearly understand the humans in the lower state of consciousness but unfortunately the humans in lower state find it impossible to understand the people in the higher state, i.e. the HUMANISTS. . It is very much similar to an adult who can understand a child but not vice-versa. Most people who are CONSERVATIVES or belong to other Right-Wing groups fall into this lower state category

  • @markanderson1658
    @markanderson16584 жыл бұрын

    Wonderful stuff Alice, keep up the good work and don't let the so and so's grind you down - this talk is inspirational and one I will share with some family members who are very religious and like to try and evangelise me sometimes so could take a dose of their own medicine - your Mum can't be all bad as she brought you into the world but I admire people who can stand up to the kind of emotional blackmail that comes from families whilst still keeping on good terms - and as a flexitarian well on the way to vegetariansim it shoes how strong ethics and values tend to coalesce around the same important issues. Good on you!

  • @oskarfabian5200
    @oskarfabian52002 жыл бұрын

    Wow, I appreciate the fact that Czechia is an atheist secular nation even more.

  • @noodlyappendage6729

    @noodlyappendage6729

    2 жыл бұрын

    Czechia also outright oppose the EU’s migration pact along with Hungary and Poland. They must be smart.

  • @logik100.0
    @logik100.04 жыл бұрын

    Support you 100% Alice.

  • @logik100.0

    @logik100.0

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@fuckfannyfiddlefart ??

  • @logik100.0

    @logik100.0

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@fuckfannyfiddlefart If you have nothing sensible to say. Don't bother to post.

  • @logik100.0

    @logik100.0

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@fuckfannyfiddlefart I had no idea what your comment was about. Hence the question marks.

  • @logik100.0

    @logik100.0

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Clement Smith You must be a thiest...

  • @TonyToneRanger
    @TonyToneRanger4 жыл бұрын

    Dr Alice Roberts, thank you for your outstanding work and efforts.

  • @wightdruid
    @wightdruid4 жыл бұрын

    Wonderful talk! I was 11 when I walked out of Sunday school, never to return. Ever since I've been deeply concerned about faith schools. In this age, there is no way they should still exist. My children have very clear and strong morals/ethics. And they never needed to invoke a god. Proud of them all! One of my boys' schools even put his religion down as CofE when he told them he wasn't of that persuasion. I was LIVID!

  • @MauriceBower

    @MauriceBower

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Tim Webb Never challenged anyone's right to their faith. Many people find it empowering and all the best to them. It's just not for me. I prefer my own logic. And I don't think the religions of others should be foisted on to anybody else, so faith schools really should not exist.

  • @splitpitch

    @splitpitch

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Tim Webb The teaching of stories from any mythology should be encouraged in schools, especially those with cultural relevance- as long as they are put into perspective. Greeks (and other western civilisations) should learn, and be proud of, Homer's Odyssey. They should be taught the moral lessons, and be made aware of how the stories use fiction and conflict to pass on important information. The same with the Judeo-Christian stories- some awesome storytelling. it becomes problematic when it is presented as fact, and no contradictory ideas are allowed. It is also problematic when it is presented as a moral code as approved, (or even written by) God. You can see the problem when other texts are presented in this way; the book of Mormon, L Ron Hubbard's Sci fi adventures, the Quran, etc. Yet you seem oblivious to the fact that your own texts were written by men to guide and control the behaviour of other men (and women). that is NOT to say the concepts espoused are necessarily wrong, many of the ideas are still relevant today.

  • @splitpitch

    @splitpitch

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Tim Webb Homer's Odessey is mythical as it includes accounts of beings generally accepted as mythical such as the sirens, the cyclops, and Cerces. Homer, or the writers collectively known as Homer cleverly used known historical places and ebvents, much like the writers of the JudeoChristian stories. "How could these things be written into the sacred text except by the direct authorization and foreknowledge of God?" Quite an easy one really, they were written after the fact as I said- edited, revised. I will admit I am wrong if you can refer me to a Jewish text with those things predicting Christ written in them- as you describe them. Not the Christian version (the old testament- a heavily edited and revised version), but an actual Jewish text, still used by the Jewish people. The dead sea scrolls were found to be very close to the texts used today- perhaps they predict Christ, i don't know. Please don't think I am attacking your faith- but faith is exactly that- faith- no truth, evidence or knowledge required. However, I think the Christians that do open their minds to knowledge that challenges the "direct authorization and foreknowledge of God" idea greatly benefit from that knowledge. they seem to become more tolerant of diversity, less evangelical with their own ideas.

  • @splitpitch

    @splitpitch

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Tim Webb actually, I did not equate faith with credulity, you appear to have done that all by yourself. You start calling me stupid- this is known as an ad hominen attack- a tactic people stoop to when they do not have adequate words to argue with. Jewish source of the Torah...בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ: However, i found your 'barasheet' all over the internet alright- always from 'Christian' sources. A message hidden in plain sight?- talk about cringe!! Next you'll be claiming the world is flat. If you are going to claim something is factual- check your sources. You belittle your own God with such weak attempts at unnecessary justification. Honestly, that was just embarrassing.

  • @splitpitch

    @splitpitch

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Tim Webb kzread.info/dash/bejne/nKmOtdqrgLLKYs4.html

  • @kmac499
    @kmac4994 жыл бұрын

    I've often thought what would happen if the Sec of State for Education said "By all means you can have faith schools; But you cannot have single faith schools".

  • @robsengahay5614
    @robsengahay56142 жыл бұрын

    I love this lecture, the readings and commentary from Professor Roberts. Religion - all religion - is absolutely not about morals. It is about patriarchy. As can be seen so vividly in Afghanistan there are still many men who are prepared to kill or be killed to maintain that patriarchy hidden behind the veil of religion. The sad part is that so many women in the world have been so abused by these religious notions that they are ultimately willing cheerleaders for their own subjugation. Alice’s mother was clearly one such. We have come far in my lifetime (60 years) but clearly have a long way to go. There cannot though truly be equality whilst religions still persist. Religion is the tool of the mysoginists and the weapon of oppression.

  • @briancampbell8449
    @briancampbell84494 жыл бұрын

    A funny, true story. This was told to me by an ex-girlfriend's father. Set in the 1980s in Derbyshire. When she was at that age, she wanted to join the local guides with her friends. It was affiliated to a local Anglican Church, held in the church hall. When his wife enquired about her daughter joining, she was informed there was a weekly dues for the guide troop spent on activities etc. Also, that not only did the family have to attend a church, but it had to be an anglican church. There was a 2nd option where they could join the church by registering for 'Freewill Offering' envelopes and paying into the church. Attendance didn't matter. Not being religious, they decided on option 2. For years her father sent her to guides every week with the little envelope with thirty 1 pence pieces in it. He told me he'd wished that pennies were silver at the time. I wonder if they ever got the irony? Bums on sets or flowing coffers? I suppose they didn't have enough faith in the former option.

  • @matthewmitchell4666

    @matthewmitchell4666

    4 жыл бұрын

    You are correct - that was wrong, they should have insisted they go to church.

  • @briancampbell8449

    @briancampbell8449

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@matthewmitchell4666 But for what purpose?

  • @tomthomassony8607

    @tomthomassony8607

    2 жыл бұрын

    This is the game we all play. We don’t want our children to ‘miss out’ or not be with their friends so adhere to society’s mumbo-jumbo. And then history keeps repeating itself so frightened people can hang on to power.

  • @iandoughty7142

    @iandoughty7142

    2 ай бұрын

    Your talking shite. I wouldn't go to your Church. Knobby.

  • @midoann
    @midoann8 ай бұрын

    Oh my goodness! Happy to see Humanists UK here in You Tube ❤. Love from 🇯🇵

  • @MeMyself-jz9ms
    @MeMyself-jz9ms22 күн бұрын

    What’s great about listening to Prof Alice Roberts is that she articulates scientific discoveries and ideas in an accessible way for the unscientifically initiated audience. But it goes deeper than a skill in communication. What Alice seems to embody (and I use that word intentionally), is a beautiful down-to-earth-ness. Literally, she investigates old human bones in the ground and in doing so she shares with us the elevating wonder of the natural world and of our own physical beings, in such a way that inspires hope for the future of humanity and meaning for our own lives. I feel that this sort of approach to life carries the possibility of a more humane and constructive matrix of meaning for humanity than that which has resulted from religion. Just as the universe evolves, and biological life and ecosystems evolve by adapting to reality as it is experienced, so humanity’s understanding of our existence, our meaning and purpose must develop and adapt to make room for these scientific discoveries. I had naïvely hoped that reason in our culture would prevail by reason of its own reasonableness. This was to not take into account both the Machiavellian nature of opportunistic populism combined with politico-religious hegemony and the polarisation and sensationalisation of social media fuelling extremist tropes. Every good public act, every healthy appeal to reason can now be twisted by malevolent forces to fuel the culture wars. There are two consequences of the worldwide resurgence of right wing politics resulting from this doubling down on religion. Firstly, accelerating environmental degradation and climate chaos and, secondly, the corrosion of democratic values. Both are a real and imminent threat to civilisation as we know it. I think it’s not over dramatic to suggest that they may together combine to bring about human extinction. It’s my contention, therefore, that the reasonable and winsom appeal of scientific humanism and scientifically enlightened education from an early age has never been more urgent.

  • @Yanquetino
    @Yanquetino4 жыл бұрын

    You've made my day with this keynote speech! What a wonderful gift you've given me for YOUR birthday today! I hope you have a warm, mellow, memorable celebration for having completed yet another spiral around the sun.

  • @bamber2000
    @bamber20009 ай бұрын

    ‘Think for yourself. Act for everyone.’ encapsulated in a splendid lecture.

  • @WritewheelUK
    @WritewheelUK4 жыл бұрын

    I'm in my dotage. I was born in 1946 into a UK that more or less demanded conformity with regards religion. It's remarkable that we complained about other restrictions, but not the one with the handcuffs. Neither of my parents were religious, but I went to Sunday school because my friends id. The cultured, friendly, generous Miss Thomson was the best advert for atheism for a young kid and she believed everything in her version of the bible, even the conflicts. I'm embarrassed at how much we baited her. School services were led by our nasty, vicious head who believed what he said. Yet he was the devil. Then the swinging 60s and the knowledge that just because you were older, it did not mean you knew everything. I became anti-war and more or less an atheist. I wish there was an active organisation to help in those days but one risked being ostracised. I didn't know about Margaret Knight 's broadcast - before even my time - so I felt a bit marginalised. There were few books on the subject, but the one or two bits irregularly on TV helped. In the end, though, it didn't matter. Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens more or less, ironically, confirmed my point of view. As regards brother Peter, I feel, in a small way, sorry for him. Compare Christopher's Wiki page in content and sheer size to that of Peter's. Not only that, brother Perter's page has a prominent image of Christopher. That's got to hurt. Not only that, compare manner and, dare I say humanity of the two. No wonder he's a critic of Wiki. I've known nasty people who are not religious and nasty people who are. I've never met a humanist who has not given their stance a great deal of thought. Shame I can't say the same about religionists. So thanks, Alice, Dawkins, C. Hitchens and the plethora of others who have/had access to mass media and given people like me, who felt a bit marginalised, a feeling that I fit in. And, just in case I haven't made myself clear, religion should be taught in schools, including Thor, Cargo Cults and even Sun worship (the last at least has logic on its side) but religions must be kept away from running them, from deciding who is allowed in, and the subtle indoctrination of vulnerable children for one religion and against all other beliefs.

  • @johnlawrence2757

    @johnlawrence2757

    3 жыл бұрын

    Harvey Yates: 74 and in your dotage? Hmmm... maybe. You don’t write like you are, I must say, spelling, vocabulary, syntax all holding up well!!! I was born on the last day of the blitz and I don’t consider myself to be in my dotage. When I was your age I climbed the first half of the Everest Base Camp Trek, reaching Tyanboche at 3,900 metres. This year I climbed the rock of Gibraltar and back down again: here’s the video I made: kzread.info/dash/bejne/m6iOkpuHh5DOedI.html Why don’t you nip down and have a look for yourself?

  • @johnlawrence2757

    @johnlawrence2757

    3 жыл бұрын

    Jayne Kennedy I’m not atheist, I’m a yogi, healthy, sharp and productive There is no sense in atheism it’s wrong on every level. That’s why you are so bad-tempered: it’s so uncomfortable being wrong all the time

  • @sidecarbod1441
    @sidecarbod1441Ай бұрын

    52 years ago I was a pupil at Sandiway Primary school, I still remember Mrs Ecclestone 'banging on' about religious stuff, even as a 5 -10 year old I thought she was talking out of her arse. She will be long gone now but I'm so glad to have survived her attempts at indoctrination.

  • @hughgraham6587
    @hughgraham65874 жыл бұрын

    A fitting tribute to a woman ahead of her time, by a critical and empowering woman, also ahead of her time. Intellectually stimulating.

  • @mattlavin2677
    @mattlavin26774 жыл бұрын

    Thank you for introducing, to me anyway, Margaret Knight. Excellent.

  • @thedougal9244
    @thedougal9244 Жыл бұрын

    Good for you. I'm living in the West of Scotland. I've always lived by morals over religion.

  • @douglasmccabe7743
    @douglasmccabe77432 жыл бұрын

    I also have always Liked Prof Alice Roberts, the is woman brilliant, I have been a humanists for a few years now I know I am on the correct path now, thank you Alice.

  • @metalguru9333

    @metalguru9333

    2 жыл бұрын

    HUMANISM ! : ) I always think about the Virtues of Humankind, every August 6th ! AND every time I walk into a Museum to see a plastic replica, of a Dodo-bird !

  • @DEEJAYWAL
    @DEEJAYWAL4 жыл бұрын

    No surprise that Peter Hitchens tried to stir things up by asking a question that had already been answered. He also asked "Why do the atheist buses tell us to stop worrying?". I can't believe he didn't do the basic research to find out those buses were a response to another bus ad campaign that threatened unbelievers with Hell.

  • @Longtack55

    @Longtack55

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yeah, who needs a religion that wants us to live in fear?

  • @al2642
    @al26424 жыл бұрын

    Cold, hard reason makes us softer... a beautiful sentence that makes us think about the misconceptions regarding WHAT makes us humans, usually considered to be the instincts of the mammals and the reactions of the lizards within us.

  • @maralvor

    @maralvor

    4 жыл бұрын

    Alfio Rosario Di Mauro Interesting-but ignores completely the fact that there is a complete lack of morality in the animal kingdom!

  • @al2642

    @al2642

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@maralvor on the contrary, I think the statement means that we make morality, or should make it, by using cold reasoning, hopefully selecting only the bits of instinct that we, with reason, understand to be the ones that give more happiness to the most consciousnesses.

  • @stevious7278

    @stevious7278

    4 жыл бұрын

    I would suggest that cold, hard reason, without being somewhat moderated by emotion, can be a very dangerous beast. Reason without empathy too easily leads down the road of eugenics and genocide. Isn't it our ability to empathize that elevates us from the mud?

  • @al2642

    @al2642

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@stevious7278 agree. But empathy is the one.

  • @al2642

    @al2642

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@stevious7278 do not mix eugenetics and genocide. There is nothing wrong with eugenetics. It can be done right

  • @rayamis9509
    @rayamis95092 жыл бұрын

    Professor Alice Roberts, you are the perfect communicator, making the bridge between "Intellectuals & Common Folk", so much easier to cross. Here's wishing you all the best for all your future endeavours.

  • @kwakkers68
    @kwakkers68Ай бұрын

    Not long ago, I had a brief exchange with a Christian, on this platform, who had posted a video critiquing various facets of the times we find ourselves in. We had some common ground - both being against war, and corruption. But we departed at my flagging of public ownership, staples of Socialism, and Marxism. The latter being a red line for him. I explained that a good grasp of Marx requires considerable effort - it being a vast body of work, and a complex one. The ready conclusion I found in this exchange - the irony - a person who would accept the mythology of 'Faith', without requiring any proof; but would reject a pivotal body of work, which he had never read, because of a presumed 'evil' therein.

  • @iainrae6159
    @iainrae61593 жыл бұрын

    As Lowell George sang, I see Alice in every headlight ....Dallas Alice ' Beautiful, articulate, inspirational girl.

  • @capitalb5889
    @capitalb58894 жыл бұрын

    Plenty of those that attacked Roberts will have no religious beliefs themselves, but simply have a conservative outlook and don't like anyone that takes aim at it.

  • @kwakkers68
    @kwakkers68Ай бұрын

    The key fundamental to keep in mind, when considering State spending, Taxation, Education funding - the STATE has the ability to CREATE money; it is not reliant on Tax to spend. This exposes many things... - the criminal, unnecessary underfunding of many facets of Civil infrastructure, coupled with the wanton profiteering seen across every sphere subjected to Privatisation - the sheer worthlessness of corporate Media - reiterating vacuous, dishonest 'Economics' ad nauseum. We should also ponder the interface between Politics and Education, and the motivations behind the tentacles of Privatisation reaching into Education, across every level. The decay of capacity, capability, driven through Privatisation must warrant consideration of the long term impact of odious Policy, as it risks impacts into popular consciousness through successive generations.

  • @richardh8082
    @richardh80824 жыл бұрын

    Alice, you WILL be the first Humanist contributor to BBC Radio4's Thought for the Day! :)

  • @cassieoz1702
    @cassieoz17022 жыл бұрын

    I watched Bronowski's Ascent Of Man as a teenager in the 70s and bought the series on DVD some years ago. It still buoys me

  • @stubdo16

    @stubdo16

    2 жыл бұрын

    The book of that Bronowksi series got left to me when my grandfather passed away. Great book.

  • @stopscammingman
    @stopscammingman4 жыл бұрын

    Can't criticise faith schools if your kids attend one? What appalling logic.

  • @johnnye87

    @johnnye87

    4 ай бұрын

    "I'm not religious, all the local schools are Christian and won't accept non-Christian children" "Then you should move house!" Great, we can progress from religiously segregated schools to religiously segregated communities!

  • @helenweatherby1694
    @helenweatherby1694 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you, thank you, thank you! Every word echoes with my feelings and thoughts.

  • @MrSteamDragon
    @MrSteamDragon10 ай бұрын

    Crikey, this is all stuff we all should know - we have been here long enough. Why have we all forgotten how to be decent people ?? Onya Alice 👍

  • @vgrof2315
    @vgrof23154 жыл бұрын

    Wonderful. Bravo!!

  • @towerdave4836
    @towerdave48364 жыл бұрын

    Why is thought for the day on Radio 4’s Today predominantly given by those of a religious persuasion?

  • @Neilhuny

    @Neilhuny

    4 жыл бұрын

    It's a specifically religious spot and there is plenty of room for non-religious output across the rest of Radio 4. Many people have asked the question you are asking and my first sentence is the answer the BBC give in response. It's a rubbish answer, isn't it? ! We need to show that Humanism can be moral without the need for a God.

  • @Neilhuny

    @Neilhuny

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Tim Webb Satan doesn't exist. Take responsibility for your actions and thoughts

  • @Neilhuny

    @Neilhuny

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Tim Webb Humanists have as much right as any other philosophical group to present moral homilies and thoughts, we think, so should be able to present Thought For The Day, and it would represent the vast majority of British people.

  • @Neilhuny

    @Neilhuny

    4 жыл бұрын

    ​@Tim Webb No deal. Gods don't exist, they didn't pass any words to anybody, just as Satan can't whisper in anybody's ear because he doesn't exist either. You are obviously worried that you know I'm right, along with all atheists, because something has caused you to blabber incoherently. It's a shame that you are such a bad example of a theist.

  • @MG-bs5mr

    @MG-bs5mr

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@Neilhuny Tim seems to be showing a certain amount of insecurity in his beliefs, hence the triggered fight response.

  • @HarryNicNicholas
    @HarryNicNicholas2 жыл бұрын

    my parents were spiritualists, my dad told me when he finally got called up at the end of the war (he was in a reserved occupation) that there was no tick box for spiritualism, so he got labelled Cof E - i grew up thinking church of england meant atheist. deriving morals from a god that drowns dissidents, and their babies, and forgives people for their crimes is laughable. this is a god who killed his own son for the sake of dramatic effect. just in case anyone needs reminding, no one comes back from the dead, there is no free will, and if there is an afterlife it won't be what you're expecting.

  • @nelson211005
    @nelson2110052 жыл бұрын

    Interesting talk that highlights the CoE school involvement I was not aware of. I liked the comparison to anti-communist hysteria if the 50's to today. Some opposition arguments never change only morph

  • @alansimmons9621
    @alansimmons96214 жыл бұрын

    Yes, My wife and I were faced with the primary school dilema. Our local school was a CofE affiliated school and to be assured of a place for our son you needed the approval of the local vicar. It was a good school and my wife was a pagan (don't ask) and I am an atheist. So we had to pretend to be good Christians and attend church for six long months. This is a state funded school and yet I had to have a signature of the vicar. I think he knew we were not Christians but he went along with the charade. I begrudge the church forcing me to give up my Sundays to get my son into a school that my taxes pay for.

  • @marktyler3381

    @marktyler3381

    4 жыл бұрын

    CofE churches are full of people doing just as you did. It is outrageous that a vicar of all people has this power.

  • @johnroesch2159

    @johnroesch2159

    4 жыл бұрын

    Why did you not just home school them? A pathetic English atheist married to a witch. Church of England Schools are not as good as Catholic Schools. You make a decision and act like a charlatan and then begrudge the Church of England for getting your lazy ass out of bed on Sunday morning. How pathetic an Englishman are you!

  • @matthewmitchell4666

    @matthewmitchell4666

    4 жыл бұрын

    Church goers pay taxes too - thus they are entitled to receive the same tax support as parents of athiest children, that is why their schools also get government support. If there are no good non-church schools why don't you put your energy into creating one instead of taking advantage of a school created by a Christian community and then moaning about it. With all the time and energy that went to anti-Christian public lectures like this you probably could have done it by now. Would you rather they close it down? No -- you just want to be able to take advantage of something a community of Christian built, and not have to feel bad about being a liar.

  • @misererenobis8900

    @misererenobis8900

    4 жыл бұрын

    CREDO in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae. Et in Iesum Christum, Filium eius unicum, Dominum nostrum, qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine, passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus, descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis, ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis, inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos. Credo in Spiritum Sanctum, sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem, remissionem peccatorum, carnis resurrectionem, vitam aeternam. Amen.

  • @marktyler3381

    @marktyler3381

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@matthewmitchell4666 Again, I don't think you understand the situation in the UK. CofE schools are not superior because of the faith aspect, but because they are allowed to be selective. There are schools in my town where 95% of students have English as a 2nd language, I would not want to send my kid there, because his education would be in hold until his classmates learnt English. Churches in the UK would be entirely derelict if it wasn't for this bullshit game.

  • @johndaly1799
    @johndaly17994 жыл бұрын

    Enjoyed the subject and its presentation. Thank you.

  • @hermanushulsen9151
    @hermanushulsen91514 жыл бұрын

    lets say you need to weigh six chickens do you use one of the chickens to weigh the others with or do you use a set of scales from the weights and measures board.

  • @rush2112andahalf
    @rush2112andahalf3 жыл бұрын

    Lets hope this enlightened amicable intelligent hard working humane person becomes Prime Minister of the UK one day. Imagine, someone who knows what they are talking about as Prime Minister. Once you get over her beauty and adorable english accent ( I had a crush I eventually got over, reality set in ) and actually start listening to her without bias , watching her TV programmes and reading her books, you realise what a gem the world has here. And nothing but sense she speaks.

  • @bulwinkle
    @bulwinkle3 жыл бұрын

    There are three primary schools in the town in which I dwell, one RC, one C of E and one Methodist. Not one secular.

  • @ElrohirGuitar
    @ElrohirGuitar4 жыл бұрын

    I am surprised at how similar this is to the attitudes through time in the USA. Some people just seem to need to have another tell them what to think and believe. That is a concept very difficult for some of us to understand.

  • @tomthomassony8607

    @tomthomassony8607

    2 жыл бұрын

    You can now hold a cigarette paper between the ideology of the Taliban and the Republican Party.

  • @MeMyself-jz9ms
    @MeMyself-jz9ms22 күн бұрын

    Alice Roberts closing sentence about Margaret Night: “Her most dangerous idea then and now, was and is that ordinary people might dare to think for themselves.” 👏 👏👏👏👏👏

  • @larrysherk
    @larrysherk4 жыл бұрын

    Morality has never needed religion; but many immoral acts have used religion for cover. As we learn to take personal responsibility, the call to morality only grows. It's natural.

  • @speedy7040

    @speedy7040

    4 жыл бұрын

    @M45XTH religion wins by far...crusades, holly wars, witch hunts, inquisition, holocaust... . Henry the VI alone could mach Stalin in death toll (yeah, i know what you were about to say ...), but after him there was Bloody Mary ... and this shit went all over Europe for hundreds of years ... just ask the cathars .... and shall we talk about "bringing God" to the native americans ?

  • @paulpugh5315
    @paulpugh53154 жыл бұрын

    Thank you Dr Alice Roberts for putting your head above the parapit. .....

  • @Jesuslovesus599

    @Jesuslovesus599

    4 жыл бұрын

    Alice is wonderful and should be free to speak as she wishes. But God is real and Jesus abides in heaven waiting for you. Whrn you pass you wil be offered a place with Jesus. If you continue to disbelieve you will be cast into darkness. I have had visions off this.

  • @mauricecasey5556

    @mauricecasey5556

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@Jesuslovesus599 You are the disbeliever - in reality. WAKE UP!

  • @jackthebassman1

    @jackthebassman1

    4 жыл бұрын

    a nader Yawn, the same old threat - believe in something for which there is not a shred of evidence or I'll send you to get barbequed. Sorry old bean, such silly threats don't work on rational people, there's nothing to be scared of. Also a "god" that says worship me or ELSE is such a corrupt, vile and completely immoral.

  • @HondoTrailside

    @HondoTrailside

    4 жыл бұрын

    Yeah nothing says courage like white privilege bashing religion to keep on the side of the majority.

  • @jackthebassman1

    @jackthebassman1

    4 жыл бұрын

    a nader Lay off the vodka

  • @kenmann7626
    @kenmann76264 жыл бұрын

    Thank you Proff Alice - simply brilliant!

  • @sharonhearne5014
    @sharonhearne50142 жыл бұрын

    When you have been programmed from a very young age to believe that your very soul is endangered without a particular faith in a particular god or religion you have been programmed to believe in dogma. You build your life, your relationships even your identity around that dogma and it creates a skein of critical interwoven associations in society and family. It is a challenge to confront such a background by rejecting religious credos. We come into this world and exit this world the same as all other human beings; everything concerning matters of faith, spirituality, moral values, etc. are human constructs to cope with answers unavailable to us as to our beginnings and endings. We can love and respect each other knowing all along that none of us has a final, concrete answer to these matters while remaining aware that dogma has the aim to control, dominate and to restrict human perspectives.

  • @gagarinone

    @gagarinone

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

  • @royleon3525
    @royleon35252 жыл бұрын

    I was accustomed to putting C of E on any form that requested religion. For no reason other than to comply. Then I went to work in Germany and there when you put in your religion a percentage was deducted from your salary and donated to that chosen religion. I was trained in electronics so I filled in Cathode Follower. I had NO deduction from my salary.

  • @MegaPeedee
    @MegaPeedee4 жыл бұрын

    Absolutely wonderful. Dr Roberts is captivating in everything she does before the camera and her education, passion and breadth of understanding shines. She is an example of what this world needs more of, a humanist who is not cowed by the religious juggernaut, or by the ideologies that man tends to blindly jump into without first looking for the hidden dangers. I salute you, Dr Roberts.

  • @Niamato_inc
    @Niamato_inc4 жыл бұрын

    Thank you Dr Alice Roberts

  • @user-jg5ie8rc1s
    @user-jg5ie8rc1sАй бұрын

    All you have to be in life is good. There is no need for anything more than that.

  • @brianmacadam4793
    @brianmacadam47932 жыл бұрын

    Very VERY well said; Bravo !

  • @fakshen1973
    @fakshen19734 жыл бұрын

    We teach religion but we don't teach empathy. Funny how that is.

  • @SurajSharma-pv3di

    @SurajSharma-pv3di

    4 жыл бұрын

    Empathy is not something that you teach people.

  • @koshersalaami

    @koshersalaami

    4 жыл бұрын

    Depends on the religion and religious organization

  • @koshersalaami

    @koshersalaami

    4 жыл бұрын

    The problem with empathy in this context is that it’s a feeling, not an action. Feelings are not generally voluntary.

  • @cuscof2

    @cuscof2

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@SurajSharma-pv3di Nonsense. My parents did it very easily, having me visualize what it would be like to be the ant that I had just burned with my magnifying glass or the spider that I tried to poison with my concoction of kitchen chemicals. Worked very well.

  • @ohiostate4515

    @ohiostate4515

    4 жыл бұрын

    Empathy can only be recognized as good when you acknowledge that God exists.

  • @secretsquirrel6124
    @secretsquirrel61244 жыл бұрын

    it should be law that no religious instruction be taught until we reach the age of 18

  • @robertweissman4850

    @robertweissman4850

    8 ай бұрын

    So what religious instruction would you be thinking of, particularly? And why is 18 the best time to start, do you think?

  • @adrianemerson
    @adrianemerson2 жыл бұрын

    Excellent lecture verbalising perfectly my own views on this subject. Thank you Alice 😃

  • @Nick_R_
    @Nick_R_2 ай бұрын

    Brilliant. I'm sure we would be much the better if Alice Roberts gave us a Thought For The Day fairly often.

  • @retroonhisbikes
    @retroonhisbikes4 жыл бұрын

    I find reality unacceptable therefore I will believe in something that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside no matter how unreal it might be. = religion

  • @angelamcentee1277

    @angelamcentee1277

    4 жыл бұрын

    That is not true faith.

  • @gazza595

    @gazza595

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@angelamcentee1277 Faith = believing without evidence, pretty much what he said.

  • @geraldlloyd9631

    @geraldlloyd9631

    4 жыл бұрын

    I fully accept reality, and reality has to accept that there is a Creator. If I wanted to feel warm and fuzzy I think drugs may be a better choice. I choose God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and life is truly more than amazing! Love is real, life is real, pain (of all types) is real, peace is real no matter what happens. There are millions who can testify to this and some people choose to belittle them, but it doesn't change anything. The choice is up to each person, and each person must be sure they check this whole matter out carefully.

  • @retroonhisbikes

    @retroonhisbikes

    4 жыл бұрын

    Gerald Lloyd how very sad

  • @angelamcentee1277

    @angelamcentee1277

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@geraldlloyd9631 Amen.

  • @hareecionelson5875
    @hareecionelson58754 жыл бұрын

    I'm baffled that we have 'faith' schools in 2020, but also that they still take it seriously. *unintelligible noises of disbelief*

  • @Johlibaptist

    @Johlibaptist

    4 жыл бұрын

    Unintelligible noises of disbelief, well that's a good definition of some forms of humanism that were spread by French students during the 1960s.

  • @hareecionelson5875

    @hareecionelson5875

    4 жыл бұрын

    ​@@Johlibaptist Whether the arguments for humanism are solid or not, it doesn't mean religion is good enough to fill the gap. Whether morality is subjective or objective, the Abrahamic faiths are no help at all.

  • @billfranklin9443
    @billfranklin94434 жыл бұрын

    It's going on 65 years or so since Margaret Knight gave her talk, and we still have this steady increase with religious dogma. The religious leaders have used "our inventions and progress" to advance their religion. Their short sighted answer to all they don't know is simply God did it, It is God's way, There must be a God. And this nonsense is being taught in these Religious Schools.

  • @8698gil
    @8698gil2 жыл бұрын

    After hearing this lecture, my opinion of Alice Roberts can just gone up even higher than before.

  • @chriscavanagh1347
    @chriscavanagh13474 жыл бұрын

    Eloquent, confident, on point. A worthy successor of the leadership. And made me really keen to research Margaret Knight further.

  • @maximpopov8651
    @maximpopov86513 жыл бұрын

    Peace Love and Democracy 💙💙💙

  • @jckensway2956
    @jckensway29564 жыл бұрын

    I’m only a couple of minutes in but Ms. Roberts description of that big ol’ church, the smells, the sound, and the community evoked memories of my own much smaller village church where for me the selfsame experiences and sensations occurred. But more than anything else it reinforces my contention that it’s 2,000 years of spin that has left Christianity where it is today, a pervasive, often divisive movement that has accumulated a wealth of experiences , sensations, testimonies and claims that individually amount to not very much but when rolled into and rolled along BY that Christian spin becomes a thing that can seduce and overwhelm the gullible and feeble-minded.

  • @peterjhillier7659
    @peterjhillier76595 ай бұрын

    Wonderful Alice, you a shining Beacon of Truth, I whole heartedly agree with your Views, mind I was lucky that both my Parents were very supportive of me when I declared my Atheism at ca 15 Years of Age, my Father echoed my Feelings. My Son, an Astrophysicist, is also an Atheist, and he made up his own mind on his rejection of Religion.