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Interfaith Group

hrmjustin

(71,265 posts) Sun Aug 31, 2014, 02:42 PM Aug 2014

Nobody is better at being human, Professor Dawkins, least of all you [View all]

Giles Fraser

Richard Dawkins has long flirted with eugenics. “If you can breed cattle for milk yield, horses for running speed, and dogs for herding skill, why on Earth should it be impossible to breed humans for mathematical, musical or athletic ability?” he asked back in 2006. “I wonder whether, some 60 years after Hitler’s death, we might at least venture to ask what the moral difference is between breeding for musical ability and forcing a child to take music lessons.”

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2014/aug/29/nobody-better-at-being-human-richard-dawkins

25 replies

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Nobody is better at being human, Professor Dawkins, least of all you [View all] hrmjustin Aug 2014 OP

If we could all just be more like him, the world would be perfect. cbayer Aug 2014 #1

He does leave a lot to be desired. hrmjustin Aug 2014 #2

Interesting. AtheistCrusader Sep 2014 #3

So you agree with Dawkins that it is "immoral" not to abort a fetus with Downs? Fortinbras Armstrong Sep 2014 #4

I don't know that suggesting a burden on a potential mother is helpful in this discussion/issue. AtheistCrusader Sep 2014 #7

My problem with Dawkins' pronouncement Fortinbras Armstrong Sep 2014 #11

Eugenics is about changing (improving) the genetics of a population cbayer Sep 2014 #5

You said it yourself. AtheistCrusader Sep 2014 #6

That is just twisting words. cbayer Sep 2014 #8

I didn't twist anything. AtheistCrusader Sep 2014 #9

I think you are reading something in to this that is not there. cbayer Sep 2014 #10

Well, we agree on abortion. AtheistCrusader Sep 2014 #14

Again, carrying a down's child to term is entirely up to the person cbayer Sep 2014 #15

If a fetus is not a potential person Fortinbras Armstrong Sep 2014 #12

The key is; potential. AtheistCrusader Sep 2014 #13

You seem to be raising the question as to whether it is moral for a woman cbayer Sep 2014 #16

I am stating that it is morally fine. 100%. AtheistCrusader Sep 2014 #17

What if a woman was being paid to do it cbayer Sep 2014 #18

Sure, i accept the revised hypothetical. AtheistCrusader Sep 2014 #19

Yes, but it doesn't have to do with abortion. cbayer Sep 2014 #20

Well, what I was trying to drive at is: AtheistCrusader Sep 2014 #21

I would insist on a psychiatric evaluation of anyone that wanted to do that, frankly. cbayer Sep 2014 #22

Woah, that may have carried a negative connotation. Let me clarify. AtheistCrusader Sep 2014 #23

Most women who encounter this have one single risk factor - age. cbayer Sep 2014 #24

kicking. hrmjustin Sep 2014 #25