Dawkins on religion: Is religion good or evil? | Head to Head

With the headlines covering fanaticism, fundamentalism, superstition and ignorance, religion is getting a bad press these days. And much of the conflict in the world, from the Middle East to Nigeria and Myanmar, is often blamed on religion.
But how are things from a different perspective? Some defenders of religion claim Adolf Hitler was an atheist. Communism under Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot or Mao Zedong banned religion, but also massacred millions. And science brought incredible and amazing advances, but also pollution and the atomic bomb.
A critic of religious dogmatism, Professor Richard Dawkins revolutionised genetics in 1976 with the publication of The Selfish Gene. He has since written 12 more bestsellers, including The God Delusion which sold millions of copies, was translated into more than 30 languages, and catapulted him to the position of the world's foremost atheist.
Mehdi Hasan challenges evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins at the Oxford Union in front of a varied and lively audience.
In a frank and at times heated exchange, they discuss: Is religion a force for good or evil? Can it co-exist with science? Is science the new religion? And why if god does not exist, is religion so persistent?
More from Head to Head on:
KZbin - aje.io/headtoheadYT
Facebook - / ajheadtohead
Twitter - / ajheadtohead
Website - aljazeera.com/headtohead
- Subscribe to our channel: aje.io/AJSubscribe
- Follow us on Twitter: / ajenglish
- Find us on Facebook: / aljazeera
- Check our website: www.aljazeera.com/
#AlJazeeraEnglish #ReligiousDebate #HeadtoHead

[@MB-yk8ng]

Whether you agree with dawkins or mehdi hassan, im very impressed by the brits abitility to have an objective and rational debate in comparison to the us

[@mohammedtajuddin999]

i am surprised,,, a reporter (journalist) can have that much knowledge.......

[@tiedupsmurf]

Well I did think for about 8 seconds about a man flying to heaven on a horse with wings, then swiftly woke up and told myself it is bullshit Nothing to be objective about, you just need a brain

[@harvestcanada]

@@tiedupsmurf Medhi is wrong that has nothing to do with religion. I have never heard of someone getting a return for land by killing themselves.....................................

[@tiedupsmurf]

@@harvestcanada Good Bye

[@PraTaeTae]

but there's nothing objective in believing winged horse exist tho lmao

[@davidroberts1689]

Atheism doesn't give you any justification to bully others. Only a religion would do that.

[@omatbaydaui722]

+David Roberts The very fact that atheism doesn't ask you to do anything is the reason why an atheist think that everything is allowed as long as it satisfies him. Which is the danger of atheism.

[@HaNsWiDjAjA]

+omat baydaui So you would rather have your life ruled by a set of rules that a bunch of old men in the desert a long, long time ago came up with, rather than those from a reasoned debate of the leading logical intellectuals of your days? Feel free

[@omatbaydaui722]

John Huang 1) Intellectuals today are both religious and non religious. Intellect is not exclusive to non religious people or atheism. 2) I don't believe in a bunch of old men, I believe in wisdom and purpose. Religion, regardless of our opinions about it, provides those answers. In my case, if islam asked me to do bad things for society and for myself, I would for sure reject it. But reality is, it stands for the exact opposite.

[@HaNsWiDjAjA]

omat baydaui​ 1) So you do admit that atheist intellectuals can make good rules? What if those religious people decide to twist the ancient wisdoms in pursuit of rules that work in today's society? Will you allow that? 2) That sounds like an opinion, not something you can claim to be a 'reality'. Certainly a lot of women in the Muslim world did not believe that the religious restrictions on their life is for their own good.

[@omatbaydaui722]

John Huang 1) Of course atheist intellectuals can make good rules, who said they can't. 2) So the fact that religion gives credit to the existence of purpose in life is an opinion?

[@lalitbhandari2787]

Mehdi- "Let's assume I am wrong" Richard- "Let's" :D :D :D

[@fuyoutube854]

Read the Qur'an and see for yourself the amount of antipathy it has against your religion LoL

[@Maikeru110572]

Dawkins is not on the level of Hitchens when it comes to that kind of talk. Mehdi is injecting a lot of fallacies that can be easily debunked and refuted. Besides, some questions are not in his domain as an evolutionary biologist. Neil dG Tyson, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Lawrence Krauss, etc., should also be there to answer questions that fit their domain of expertise.

[@mateloman]

@Aadi just ask ur mama whos ur father bcs apparently she can get laid wth any1 she wants nd so does ur so called dad nd ur sister 2 its like family guy 😏

[@mags7054]

@Aadi You're contradicting your self, because there is no scientific evidence for that.

[@dadush4]

I think it's sad that people focus on this point.. how on earth can we be religiously logical, if we say God created everything and is capable of everything, but angels and a winged horse?? nononoooo Scientists believe in dark energy yet have no clue on what it is.. it's logical to assume it exists based on the deductive data.. doyy

[@daliamukherjee1009]

brainstorming session...🙏🙏lots of respect to Dr.Dawkins and anchor Mr. Hassan. As a bengali hindu from a small state of India, we have been brought up under the influence of social reformers like Vidya Sagar ,Raja Ram Mohan Roy and beleived that religion is to be respected and celebrated in the personal space of our home but outside world has to be governed by humanity,Science and logic.

[@Nahiyanhoqakash]

But nothing is going to solve by humanity Example: EUROPE & US

[@xskrish]

absolutely

[@sm112]

But humanity, science and logic are branches of a religion.

[@Nahiyanhoqakash]

@@sm112 right

[@sourabhsiitg]

Religion was invented by high iq human to tame low iq human so dat follow certain law and behave civilised.

[@zippyzipster4746]

and after the interview he flew home on a winged horse....Away

[@nicolejane4323]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Simon0]

+Michael Polizzi imagine if he actually did that! haha. That would hav esurprised Richard there.

[@tillwemeetagainwgaca5802]

The question is, are you going to die or live forever? Fine out the end results before your dead. Dr. hawkins is like you and me, he can't save you once ur dead. Its your choice not mine nor mehdi, you got brain use it.

[@Atheist-mf5rl]

+Michael Polizzi WOW YOU GOT SENSE, but still after talking with dawkins for an hour that fool didnt get it. Well his daughter would kill him when he gets home.

[@lelosa3629]

hahaha

[@imthebossthere]

"let's assume I'm wrong" "yeah, let's..."

[@thethethe814]

@Bob Sergeyev And who even told him he's right too?

[@ILoveLuhaidan]

raptor claw tf no

[@aashaikh8532]

Absolute indian ideology. Choose word in context for own favour 😂

[@dilshanaoki7493]

Thats so badass

[@johnnybates7580]

Win!

[@Rico-Suave_]

good video/interview, I really enjoyed it, thank you for posting it, watched all of it

[@wanderingsoul1189]

It was a very civil, rational and calm debate. Loved it.

[@die9618]

mehdi was being a bit passive agressive

[@frederickdiamond9651]

Prof was calm. I cannot say for the other

[@rene_bla_bla]

not that civil, one of them was on the attack.

[@christastempel5577]

That Muslim interviewer (sorry but his name didn't come up) is only out to attack Prof. Dawkins and his worldview. I really don't know what this guy is trying to achieve, but for me, he achieved that I am looking at him being an aggressive and ignorant LITTLE man, without even near the intellect, intelligence, and the enlightenment, of Richard Dawkins.

[@christastempel5577]

Christa Stempel oh and just after the break the interviewers name came up on screen, Mehdi Hasan.

[@AliRaza-qc9tz]

Christa Stempel Exactly.. And incidentally he was misleading Dawkins about Islam when he said that the punishment for apostacy in Islam is not death... This death sentence is present in all authentic muslim books of hadith and all muslim scholars agree about it.. The interviewer knew that Dawkins didn't know much about Islam so he got away with it..

[@christastempel5577]

Ali Raza thanks for your reply. It seems that you agree with me about Mehdi Hasan being an aggressive little man, however, I'm not so sure about the rest of your comment. So you say that Hasan was misleading Dawkins about Islam, when he said that punishment for apostacy is not death... I wanted to find out the context of this being said, but I must admit, couldn't be bothered to listen to the entire interview again. I need to tell you honestly, I have the feeling that you are not straight forward - you are straight by saying that the death sentence is present in all authentic muslim books of hadith and all muslim scholars agree about it... but from that I don't know if you agree, or disagree with this. When you say that the interviewer knew that Dawkins didn't know much about Islam, so he got away with it... the emphasis is on the interviewer 'knowing' , and Dawkins 'not knowing'. I don't want to be presumptious, but it seems that you are a Muslim. I argued with christians about this point, I don't think that I need to know much about christianity to reject it, and in the same way, I don't need to know much about Islam to reject it. I think Prof.Dawkins knows enough about Christianity and Islam, to make up his mind about the delusional and indeed dangerous aspects of religion, and Christianty as well as Islam, have provided people with self-righteous ideas, ´which have led to evil actions.

[@AliRaza-qc9tz]

Christa Stempel Actually I'm an ex-Muslim and an agnostic.. What I meant to say was that the interviewer was lying deliberately because he knew that Dawkins was not that familiar with Islamic jurisprudence... As for the question if I like the death sentence for apostacy, of course not; I'm an apostate myself... As for the dangerous ideas inculcated by religion, I totally agree with that because I've been there once and I had those crazy self-righteous ideas myself..

[@fguocokgyloeu4817]

Christa Stempel I will give him credit, he is a pretty good propagandist and rhetorician.

[@moosehat714]

23:16 you know the only reason Dawkins said that was because he didnt want to hurt the interviewers feelings......

[@ms.6703]

+* Coughs * well if you listen to the interviewer, he was general about it, "Am i guilty because of teaching my daughter *stories* from the quran..."

[@ms.6703]

we could only guess that.

[@AAfif-gd4px]

Also, the interviewer was lying when he said that Islam doesn't teach that the universe was created in six days.

[@suhailismail3121]

+Adam A. Afif The Quran says the heavens and the earth were created in 6 ayams. Ayams means a period of time. Hence, the heavens and the earth were created in 6 equal parts. It could mean 6 days, 6 months, 6 years, 6 hundred years, 6 centuries, and so on.

[@AAfif-gd4px]

The word "ayams" explicitly means days. Why would Allah want to confuse us? doesn't Allah himself say that the Quran is easy to understand? (Verse 54:17) And even if he meant something other than six days, it'd still be wrong.

[@istiyaq37]

This was excellent excellent debate. Thank you so much to the guest and the host.

[@Xaviergonzalez85]

Mehdi: Even atheists have done some really horrible things. Richard: I don't care. (You won't win the argument with that attitude, Richard.)

[@prempriyesh6487]

What else answer do you expect to get if you believe in flying horses and prophet dividing moon?

[@pth3991]

Mehdi looks to me to be the one who seems more offended in the interview here that he frequently interrupts Richard. And you're telling me that Richard is the one with an attitude?

[@alekdaniels]

I love the fact that Richard Dawkins kept his cool despite the barrage of passive-aggressive questions and statements addressed to him. I think all the questions from the crowd came from people of faith. Richard has a very strong sense of the truth that not even the sheer number of people arguing against him could bring him down.

[@yonatanmussies1302]

Idk why Richard Dawkins is there he said so himself that there is no such thing as good or evil

[@alekdaniels]

@@yonatanmussies1302 Your point is...?

[@yonatanmussies1302]

@@alekdaniels so wouldn’t he be contradicting himself if he said religion is evil

[@alekdaniels]

@@yonatanmussies1302 Nope. You're not understanding it.

[@searchrightthings.947]

@@alekdaniels it's very common sense to understand if there's truth only and one God as cosmic proofs!, miracle can easily happen, miracles of Adam... moses, jesus and final prophet Muhammad peace be upon them all. Unlike Atheism myth and illogical arguments for example, Lawrence krauss lol obviously without a shame said 2+2=5. 2 of same thing plus likewise equal or together is 5!! Richard have to proof that and all of you before denying very simple common sense that if there's God and He is there from the beginning miracles is easy to understand.

[@mayankshukla8754]

"Let's assume I'm wrong" "Yeah, let's" PURE THUG LIFE!

[@xwind1970]

How could he offer him such a free penalty shot?

[@rishabhkashyap690]

Wrekt right there.

[@911beats]

so we are going to forget how mehdi hassan brought actual facts and numbers to destroy Dawkins points on religion being evil.... 11:50 onwards....

[@patriot4786]

Mayank Shukla have u done worshiping ur cow?

[@harshitsharma8972]

@@patriot4786 He is an atheist, he dont worship a cow, he kill them then eat them

[@ENTP247]

Dawkins schooled the interviewer. That’s a great logician right there.

[@aryanbose9084]

Yes, the interviewer was being passive aggressive.

[@user-kn5mv8fd5z]

"Don’t your statement reflect a hopeful desire? It appears evident that the interviewer exercised restraint and showed leniency towards Dawkins."

[@MultiCren]

I hate the bad faith way that medhi Hassan keeps trying to catch out Dawkins, he’s not debating with an open mind he’s trying to lay intellectual traps to say gotcha, you said X, it’s like a legal deposition not an earnest debate.

[@Jesper-bl2ns]

He's just being disingenuous as usual when his religion is put on the spot. He's unable to be objective.

[@dawntaylor9059]

Dawkins is a gentleman. I would have told him "yes , you are abusing your child "

[@davidm7384]

I was so disappointed he didn't just say yes point blank but yes he's a gentlemen ...

[@llmOmll]

That is why you are not a gentleman and he is...

[@dawntaylor9059]

llmOmll​ lets just point out the obvious....

[@davidm7384]

llmOmll So Christopher Hitchens is not a gentlemen either I guess according to your standard, oh well makes two of us :P

[@tatleman5314]

That's called debating mate. There's no need to be rude from both sides.

[@coltraneole]

This is an interview, not a debate.

[@pavelooo2289]

The Head to Head program is designed like a debate . Watch the other videos of this show.

[@manuelortmann]

It's a debate, the interviewee doesn't just ask . Medhi argue with him that's a debate

[@hanepa5227]

Hassan wont stand a chance.

[@Truth_Seeker1]

Hanep A Oh stop with your rubbish please. All I will write now is there's millions of people around the world who do good in the name of religion.

[@hamizanfortunatolowel5172]

Liverpool5563 and there are also millions of people being murdered in the name of religion

[@sukhrajsingh6674]

this is something very very rare ,two masters of their own domains at phenetic best . and it's a prenominal to watch both of them in action .. simply superb ...

[@MrBabadroga]

Two masters, yes. Tho, it is obvious that Richard was on a completely different level. He ate him for a breakfast in this debate.

[@shahidabro4586]

Simply a great thing Dawkins said that 'why would he support atheistic propaganda and bully people?', I'm sure he thinks that would be just another form of religion. What a clear mind!

[@allegrot438]

Dawkins was too easy on this fool.

[@hasnainabbasdilawar8832]

+Freedomz He actually got busted! It was very obvious the way he spoke. Thanks to Mehdi Hasan!

[@allegrot438]

Hasnain Abbas Dilawar You're delusional.

[@Nelly447]

+Hasnain Abbas Dilawar actually dawrkins gives him a good slap everytime, this guy is a fool and an idiot for trying to shift Islam I'm surprised he has supporters

[@interesting-facts100]

+Hasnain Abbas Dilawar he got busted because he couldn't prove that mohammed flew to heaven with a horse....lol

[@yousufsaleh8489]

quran is 70% proven scientifically how the Child is born ,splitting of the moon,wht are organs responsible for pain,zam zam water and health benefits and many more ull get tired of reading. my point is if 70% of quran is scientifically right rest 30% is miracles and heavens and hell. so inshallah rest will be also true.

[@azharulislam8520]

Richard Dawkins should win the Noble prize of patience.

[@creaatiive1718]

why? i think they were both equally on paar with their arguments. No one was arrogant in their thoughts.

[@peakjvs4967]

That man has dementia and should be thrown into a nursing home.

[@richardfeynman9341]

@@peakjvs4967 Even with his dementia, he is still much more intelligent than you...Sad reality.

[@shehabeldien5488]

@hatter00 "Whoever wants a preacher, death is enough for him"

[@shehabeldien5488]

@@richardfeynman9341 "Whoever wants a preacher, death is enough for him"

[@satoshinakamoto3342]

The anchor was just choosing fanatics, who would try to make Dawkins uncomfortable. Kudos to Richard Dawkins for successfully defending the honor of science

[@alfazehsas]

Bot.

[@justsayingguy]

right 🤣🤣🤣🤣 looks like people keep saying what they wanna hear🤣🤣🤣

[@girummulugeta9256]

such an eloquent, sophisticated, marvelous, civilized and all inclusive discussion. I wish we promote and practice such discourse instead of making frivolous insults, bigoted and un substantiated arguments as well as condescending comments about our opponents stand. None of us possess the entire truth about our universe. However, it is through such methods that we can reach it peace fully and successfully.

[@Mumbuna]

🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@krishnanshgaur9322]

When someone says that he believes that the prophet split the moon in two and then he went to heaven on a winged horse you know you can't have a win over him in arguing science and logic.

[@afsanmd]

Krishnansh Gaur someone told me that Hanuman used to fly with a mountain. Is it true?

[@krishnanshgaur9322]

Rahul sharma lemme just ask first...Your name suggest you're indian...Are you?

[@krishnanshgaur9322]

Oh please if you want to believe in fairytales believe in bible. Atleast it is less cancerous than the quran and in some way sends a good messege to love people. And if you are putting your faith in quran that's when you should know you've ruined your life.

[@taeijuan9899]

@@krishnanshgaur9322 Let's see then. If me following the Quran will ruin my life. :)

[@ibziahmed9750]

islam is true

[@KS-sl4ji]

Mehdi asked brilliant questions that pushed Dawkins in ways he isn’t used to being pushed. To both of their credit, it was a very civilized discussion. America, take note.

[@sandrosadhukhan]

Mehdi gave straw man arguments..

[@tstcikhthyss]

Not all of America; just the US.

[@abhishekmhatre1554]

Those were brilliantly loaded questions which if anything reveal the extreme bias of the interviewer.

[@Aladdin.g4]

@@abhishekmhatre1554 okay, AbHiShEk

[@__________________________4073]

@@abhishekmhatre1554 as if all of Dawkins questions and answers weren’t in full favour of atheism, almost anti religion.... this is a debate, a discussion where two individuals or more share ideas that favour their perspective.

[@midoz5020]

I am amused how dawkins dealt with the Shots fired and aggressive questions and accusations from mehdi If it was me i would crack Well done prof dawkins You put him back to his place

[@ampleoloruntogbe1434]

Yeah. Mehdi was absolutely emotional on this interview. I didn’t believe my ears when he said “can you disprove god doesn’t exist” cos that’s the argument you hear from dumb religious people and Medhi is too smart for that.

[@sohailansari5368]

Mehdi was top on him for the most part of the debate..yet you guys won't believe because the "believe" word is been expelled from your dictionary😏

[@stephenwilson4931]

@@sohailansari5368 yes the sun sets in muddy spring and there is a winged donkey that takes you to heaven and what not. Truly believable. The day humans succeed in Artificial Intelligence, people like you will start saying they are also souls sent by allaw.

[@dippsroyal]

@@stephenwilson4931 😂😂😂

[@pharaohakhneton9553]

The beauty is that Richard Dawkins ,the atheist , presented his arguements in a most convincing , sober manner in a sweet persuading voice which shows his human side apart from his erudition . That clearly wins the day for him. Of course his debating skill charms even his opponents. On the contrary, the anchor like a typical believer in God has been hasty and impatient and tried to argue as if he is engaged in debate more with a view to win rather than bringing any new insight on the table. The notion popularised by religions about the atheists that atheists are demoniac ,ia belies by Dawkins.Particularly Christianity and Islam speak evil about atheists and Islam still executes the atheists , due to lack of confidence and unable to respond to them though Christianity was no different and is powerless now particularly in West.

[@mikeissweet]

Dawkins skills really shine in this one. Relatively challenging interviewer, but his responses were on point

[@searchrightthings.947]

it's very common sense to understand if there's truth only and one God as cosmic proofs!, miracle can easily happen, miracles of Adam... moses, jesus and final prophet Muhammad peace be upon them all. Unlike Atheism myth and illogical arguments for example, Lawrence krauss lol obviously without a shame said 2+2=5. 2 of same thing plus likewise equal or together is 5!! Richard have to proof that and all of you before denying very simple common sense that if there's God and He is there from the beginning miracles is easy to understand.

[@randomuser5780]

@@searchrightthings.947 indeed those so called scientists are worshipping fake hypothesis. they are the one who cause trouble on earth having no moral value, and then blaming religions

[@mags7054]

@@randomuser5780 Very much agree with you. When a bad person does bad things, and that person is religious, then it's the fault of religion. But when a bad person uses science to do bad things, like guns and nuclear weapons to kill people, then it's the fault of the person. One reasoning for you, another for me, to suit my opinions, this is Richard Dawkins, can't even hold the same reasoning and rules to make his points.

[@jool7793]

@@mags7054 the difference is that when religious people do bad things they often do it in furtherance of their religion and they think that the thing they do is a good thing because their religious beliefs supports them. In contrast when a person uses science to do bad things they don't do it to further science, they do it to help a political or personal idea. In other words, science is a tool, religion is a belief system.

[@alfazehsas]

@Kitalia the kitsune okay, whatever evidence YOU have just shove it down your throat since it's gonna be fake and useless as always.

[@arshadsiddiqui9071]

I'm a Muslim and 11 mins in and what I can say is Rich seems like a great rational guy.

[@Togepi-er6df]

Arshad Siddiqui your a fool

[@arshadsiddiqui9071]

*You're*

[@jackloughnane6973]

i wish i had a arab accent to read this comment in

[@SENATORPAIN1]

Arshad Siddiqui well that was uncalled for.

[@zayanwatchel8780]

Your religion is a disgusting, vile piece of barbaric filth.

[@yennoz]

Great interview! Lots of probs to the anchor for the great questions. I do think that Dawkins had some difficulties explaining the reason for why he doesn't like religion (bit of an understatement). The main point with religion, and teaching religion, which he glances over once is that it goes against the (or his) scientifical way of reasoning. When we teach people, i.e. children, to believe in something without proof or without logical reasoning it sets a precedence for dogmatism. The hard part here is that when enough people are set in such way discussions become harder, there is no way to change the ideology of a dogmatist even though all sound proof or reasoning may point out the contrary. This might also explain his view on religion as child abuse. By teaching children religion as a belief, you make them susceptible to be trapped in a bubble. Once in that bubble it is hard to escape since reasoning does not work on belief.

[@tonyvalisky4856]

He had to ruin it by saying God bless. Haha. Nobody can outshine the brilliance of Richard Dawkins. One day, we will live in much greater harmony and with abundance of love without religion. ……..

[@singalexsong]

Anyone else notice how Al Jazera have edited out many of the times Richard gets an applause from the audience?

[@vivalapalestine7235]

No they didn’t wtf are you talking about

[@theaviationist.5719]

Or may be they were editing out commercial breaks.. I am not drawing conclusions here..

[@cch312]

This channel is crazy, framing everything in their own ways. Listen to the host, he sounds like he is ready to lecture his guests because he knows it all. All other episodes are alike.

[@user-ze9se4mn5s]

Okay?...

[@zubair2251]

yes..atheists can notice that

[@Scriabinfan593]

This is how interviews should be, the journalist should challenge the views of the person being interviewed. A great and civil discussion. That doesn't happen here in America lol!

[@mso2013]

it does, it is just that people find it boring so it is not as profitable as the alternatives.

[@cyberanon2463]

@@mso2013 yeah americans(especially the young) mostly care about the hip hop culture and being cool and all that nonsense that will get them nowhere and with no proper knowledge.

[@sundeutsch]

At the same time, living in 21st century one should use some scientific temperament like accepting that we all are sitting on a round/elliptical earth and not on flat earth.

[@mags7054]

You make a very good point about how this interview went and with the difficult questions asked. Seems quite a few people don't realise this.

[@kennypowers1945]

It definitely does happen in America lol. All American journalists always challenge the person they are talking to

[@ayoubslimani8723]

It's a good duo , good questions with good answers, amazing comments.

[@sundeutsch]

A big salute to this crusader against crusade; he just beats politely everyone with his humanely scientific arguments.

[@FikiFirmansyah]

I like how mehdi trying very hard to act professional. And polite. I salute dawkins for clear explanation and not to be on "brutal mode".

[@ratheeshvalamchuzhy2874]

Absolutely right

[@carljohnson2194]

Right as a Muslim I agree

[@abhishekranjan3941]

Right

[@md.zonaedrezoan146]

@@carljohnson2194 your profile flag indicates your side.

[@carljohnson2194]

Md. Zonaed Rezoan which side?

[@Voicecolors]

I would love to see Christopher Hitchens being interviewed by this guy! I love professor Dawkins but sometimes he is too nice with these type of morons

[@hatemf23]

Voicecolors I agree, Dawkins is a scientist at heart, Hitchens is the philosopher/writer/debater type.

[@wearemany73]

Agreed. The pseudo-interviewer is a Muslim nut job who talks over and wastes the time of one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century. That's an hour of his life wasted on this lunatic. Smh

[@Voicecolors]

Professor Dawkins is extremly polite an friendly even when people don´t deserve it. The interviewer was very agressive many times ...

[@nelmangulaman]

Voicecolors Who wouldn't be polite with this guy, he's got a winged horse for christ's sake.

[@marcomeme4875]

Hitchens would take up a ciggarette and go ''allright bitch, listen up''

[@Tribalways]

Great debate.. I loved every single minute of it.

[@tedium37]

I'm a US man. When I dared opine to my family, our founding fathers knew best by separating church and state, they acted as if I required an exorcism. We've completely lost the ability to have discussions about religion and politics here, which saddens me.

[@sivalovesyoutube9373]

I feel like the notion is cross cultural. .I can somewhat attest to similar view on what's happening in my nation as well.

[@becooldontfreez]

As a child growing up in Afghanistan, my parents used to send me and my brother to a near by mosque in Kabul. The mullah (imam) told me that the reason we put a head stone on the graves is that, the day you die and you are burried, after everyone leaves the grave yard. You lying alone in the dark suddenly realize that your parents and everyone has left, you get try and get up. That's when your forehead hits the headstone and keeps you lying down. And then this some one come down from the sky with a big hammer and starts asking your question, and with every wrong answer, he smashes you with large hammer and your bones breaks into pieces and the comes back together. Then he asks another question and keeps repeating smashing your bones till the day we are all called to get up and present ourselves for the day of judgement. As a child of 5 or so years, I remember so scared of death. It truly scared me for life and it still a very big part of me, Even though I don't believe in it.

[@mohamedsinoob3093]

Go muthra..

[@walidsarwary]

I am Afghan too, i heard the same story from mullah when i was a child even from my parents i was so scared but also mullah and my parents taught me that if you do good things you will die and when u get up the angel show up and guide you to paradise where you see a beautiful place you ever imagined you can wish for anything and the angel will present for you, you will be more handsome some million times of what u r in earth you will live forever with your loved ones. Now come on also mention the good things about Islam teaching. As kid, relgion thought me not to lie or harm others do good things fear allah even though i was a bad kid but praying and asking for god give me so much high moral peace and happiness.

[@mountolympus1098]

@@walidsarwary and this tells kids - " you are not good enough now".

[@Sea-zu4bj]

Mount Olympus it’s almost as though religion is strict and not easy

[@alokpratap1918]

Another example of mental child abuse.

[@sofiahamza3451]

The fact that we can watch this for free....

[@l.garcia8595]

It would be painful to have to pay for a debate between Science and Fairytale. That’s why Game of Thrones exists.

[@tobi4637]

@@l.garcia8595 the one who tells the 'fairytales' also the same one who do the science..you cant deny that..

[@AnonymousAlien2099]

Don't you pay for the internet you idiot? Not everything is free. Everything comes at a cost.

[@dhimanbasu4694]

Professor Dawkins comes with a sword of scientific reason.

[@davidevans3227]

can do without the adverts

[@erwinfernando3759]

even though richard beautifully nailed all the question, but i gotta say the journalist was really doing a good job he is critical and somehow made the show exciting.

[@JL_Lux]

Great interview!

[@nuclear4567]

Whenever the interviewer feels that he is loosing the argument, he interrupts. But that’s the problem with religious people - they can’t counter legitimate arguments, so they interrupt, moves on to audience participation etc.

[@khusrouf]

I really think such interviews should be more than 3 hours, as there's a lot of ground to cover in these heavy topics

[@SueRosalie]

you need a panel of people for that, it's too exhausting for just two people

[@supernaturalblack8551]

This was not a debate rather it was a hard interview and a great one. I've learned a lot from this video, very insightful

[@MohammedYASSINE]

The argument of religion in a rational debate does always look weak, Dawkins made use of this in this debate very elegantly ! I think that for anyone who sees the world wherefrom Dawkins does, religion will always look useless if not harmful; but I do believe that there is more to this life than reason and logic !

[@cloj4754]

But by grounding our ethics in reason and logic we can become better than a species of apes stuck on this one rocky planet out of trillions.

[@armyofme477]

I don’t think the session is a debate but more of an interview. There are many ways that scientific rational philosophical approach has flaws. Many have suffered, died and murdered driven by non religious view .. WWI - WWII, Middle East Wars by the US and its allies, colonialism, the poor by capitalism and the list goes on. There are lots of things in this world, in this universe, that science can not, or perhaps, has not yet able to proof of their theories. In fact, with their rational way and approach, theories of this life from science have continuously to change.

[@muha2762]

The muslim guy didn't tell the truth ,he denied the fact that it's written in Coran that the Universe was created in Six Days !!

[@happyfatherof5164]

"Can i prove that he didn't flew to heaven on a winged horse? No, i can't prove it and i can't prove it wasn't a golden unicorn either 😒"

[@thebig3864]

And your point is ?

[@happyfatherof5164]

@@thebig3864 that you don't have to prove rediculous or idiotic statements that didn't hapened 1000+ years ago

[@thebig3864]

@@happyfatherof5164 That's why people believe something hard to believe

[@thepr1ntgnome430]

@@happyfatherof5164 You people make me laugh, god can create somthing so complex as the universe and human species but he cannot create a unicorn? You guys are also ignorant, the transport creature wasn't perse a unicorn, it was more of a heavenly creature made for the chosen ones. But that's too deep for you people, just laugh it off now and we will see after death.

[@condorianonegdiffsgoku]

did people 1000 years ago believed that we would be able to travel around the world in a short time flying in the sky with a vehicle named plane. if we can build a plane God can definitely created a winged creature which looks like a horse.

[@user-mw1ds9rf9f]

What a great discussion! Watching these two gentlemen discuss about Religion and God is truly inspiring.

[@zakaryahama5913]

yes it was really awesome it gaves me a lot of questions and a lot of answers

[@hemantsinghrawat19]

We need more people like Dr. Dawkins..

[@user-rp5ye7uc6d]

@@hemantsinghrawat19 ‏Anthony Flew is considered one of the most prominent atheists, so he retracted his atheism and ،told us that the universe has a deity with modern scientific evidence, not with thought or dreams and feeling, but after science and modern discoveries about the existence of a Creator. He fell into another problem that the Creator wanted according to his mood ‏ He wanted the Creator to be neither speaking nor hearing, and creating creation in vain ‏But it is logical that this Creator sends a messenger to teach us who he is. And we have to verify the authenticity of the Messenger and what this Messenger calls to? ‏ It transports sperm from the liquid state to the eyes, heart, blood, arteries, and bones. Unconscious nature creates a conscious human being. Then this nature teaches about the importance of the heart and lung, then puts the rib cage, then oxygen, then water, there is sexual desire, and there are the genitals to complete the male and female sexual process. , What coincidence are you talking about, a coincidence that creates the male and the female. All of these are called verses and there are things that complement each other, there is a lung and there is air and there are teeth and stomach and in food and other things and we say that it has no creator!!! ‏ The only question God will ask you is ‏ focus on it ‏ ((He said: Did you deny My verses and did not encompass them in knowledge, or what did you do?)) ‏ I mean, God Almighty tells you what I told you is a lie and you cannot realize it or understand it ‏ And what in the world have you been doing? ‏ Do you know what your answer is? ‏ ((The decree will befall them for what they did wrong, and they will not be able to speak. ‏ If you find yourself in the world without a choice in a great reality we live in, and you go without a choice and a question is the most important ‏ If your destiny is fire, has God wronged you???ًً ‏Muhammad, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, is a prophet from the Creator, and before him many prophets did not lie or deceive, and he is the only religion that commands you to worship one Creator who created everything. ‏First of all, you should know that the religion of all prophets is the worship of one Creator who created everything. Islam today is the only religion that commands you to worship one Creator and not idols, illusions, conjecture or a number of gods. But how do we know that the speech is from God and not from Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace? . These are some of the things that comfort your heart and believe that this is a prophet and many of the prophets before him ‏ The Almighty said: (Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke) ‏ The smoke confirms that the origin of this universe is inflamed. It is not a lake of water, as was the perception of all philosophies and religions that are based on illusion. This is one of the postulates of modern science today that the sky is condensation of smoke. This fact converted the French scientist Maurice to Islam and wrote a book entitled the Holy Qur’an on the scale of modern science ‏How did Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, know this fact before? ‏ The Almighty says: ((And the heaven We constructed)) ‏ The sky is a building, not a vacuum as it was thought, and this was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017 that proved it ‏How did Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, know this fact before? ‏The Almighty’s saying: ((And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander. )). ‏ That is, the sky expands with time. This fact, even in the time of Einstein, was not imagined by anyone and it was proven. And Einstein admitted it and admitted that it was the biggest scientific mistake he made in his life if he believed that the sky was fixed. The Qur’an before Einstein says that the sky expands ‏fact ‏ Almighty’s saying: :((And We have made the night and day two signs, and We erased the sign of the night and made the sign of the day visible that you may seek bounty from your Lord and may know the number of years and the account [of time]. And everything We have set out in detail. )) ‏ The verse of the night is the moon and the verse of the day is the sun. The Qur'an tells that the sun and the moon were fiery masses. That is, the moon was a fiery mass and was erased, and the verse of the day remained visible to the eyes. Was the moon a fiery mass and extinguished? This is one of the biggest scientific issues discovered about the moon. The moon was already a fiery mass, and NASA issued on its official website a conceptual clip entitled The Evolution of the Moon in the video. In fact, the moon was a fiery mass like the sun, and this is what the Qur’an told about and the truth of modern science. ‏How did Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, know this fact before? ‏Almighty’s saying ‏And you see the mountains thinking that they are rigid, while you will cross as the passage of clouds. [It is] the work of God who has perfected everything. In fact, he knows what you're doing.)) ‏ And the verse clearly spoke of a strange phenomenon, which is that the viewer of the mountains appears to him still, that is, they are still, but in fact they are not like that, rather they are in a state of constant movement. And the infidels of Quraish had previously accused our master Muhammad, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, of madness, and it is likely that their joy was overwhelming when this verse was revealed. ‏ They also found in it, according to their claim, evidence of this madness, and they told the people: How can you believe this man who says that these fixed mountains move like clouds moving in the sky! ‏ And today it is proven that the earth rotates, and with it the mountains, how did Muhammad know that and why is he telling you instead of the matter that makes people consider him crazy? The matter was not from him, but from God. Almighty’s saying ‏Those whom Allah (in His plan) willeth to guide,- He openeth their breast to Islam; those whom He willeth to leave straying,- He maketh their breast close and constricted, as if they had to climb up to the skies: thus doth Allah (heap) the penalty on those who refuse to believe)). ‏After man was able to reach the sky by flying by modern means of transportation, he knew that the higher up in the air, the less oxygen and atmospheric pressure, which causes severe tightness in the chests and the process of breathing. : ‏How did Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, know this fact before? It was not from him, but from God Almighty’s saying ‏Or (the Unbelievers' state) is like the depths of darkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with billow topped by billow, topped by (dark) clouds: depths of darkness, one above another: if a man stretches out his hands, he can hardly see it! for any to whom Allah giveth not light, there is no light! ‏Modern sciences have revealed that in the bottom of the deep seas with abundant water - the deep sea - there is great darkness, to the extent that living creatures live in this darkness without visual tools, but live using their other senses such as hearing. ‏These dark darknesses are not found in the sea water that surrounds the Arabian Peninsula, but rather they have been discovered in the oceans far from it ‏This verse shows another aspect of the Qur’anic miracle, which is that the sea wave that all people only knew was one wave in the seas ‏The verse says there is another wave in the depths of the sea, and divers discovered at the beginning of the twentieth century a fact that was hidden in the depths of the sea, that fact that shows another wave that throws divers into it as it is thrown at swimmers, and this wave was discovered by Scandinavian divers. I will tell you what the Prophet said. The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: One day the Bedouins who live in the desert will build tall towers, and this is my duty. Go and see where the tallest buildings are and who owns them. ‏God Almighty: ((We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness?) And God informed the Qur’an of this by saying: “Did you think that we created you without a purpose and that you would never return to us?” ‏All these and other matters that I have not mentioned indicate that this is a prophet from God..More important than that, as I told you, is the only religion that commands you to worship one Creator, who created everything and before him many prophets. ‏Say, if you wish, there is no god but God, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God ‏ speak from the heart ًًًًًً

[@cesuray6899]

That's a great debate JazakAllah Al-Jazeera :)

[@crouchingstone]

Such a good gentle admirable debate...

[@grete46]

Thank you for the head to head! Great interviews!

[@Sheppy99]

How the heck do you debate someone after they say I believe in winged horses and the possibility of unicorns.......

[@Alex_1729]

I don't think this was a debate, rather an interview, although the interviewer had a few shots himself as if he had some decent arguments

[@Sheppy99]

***** No, its nonsensical when you can produce 0 empirical evidence to back up your argument. This world of saying whatever you want without proof or data is leading down a slippery slope. I believe this bridge we built will not crumble and kill thousands of people. Can I prove it? Nope. But I believe it and I also have faith. Does that sound like a guy you want building a bridge you commute across everyday? Or would you want the guy who studied engineering for 20 years?

[@AvatarTwasCheesy]

And the worse thing is that man is teaching his child that winged horses are real.

[@Sheppy99]

***** I suppose that would be hard for a creationist to understand, especially when they believe the universe is only 6000 years old. Not really going to see very much evolution in such a short period of time. Like asking a flower to grow in an hour and when it doesn't happen, walk away with the understanding that flowers obviously don't change or grow. .

[@mhmay62]

Good point, to my understandings, the journalist was not talking his mind, rather keeping his job with Aljizira and Qatari bosses happy.. People of his sort must not be in such debate, as this was far biased than one could expect it..

[@user-pb8qy5bt2h]

This is a really really good interview

[@zackabee5498]

I really like these kinds of discussions I wish they came here when I was in college… especially Mehdi…

[@nqkoi07]

Dawkins is such an intelligent, brilliant individual, such a gentleman.. Mehdi Hassan sounds like blabbering potato next to him.

[@beastlyboy3527]

Triggered

[@jamitenbrook4591]

Biased comment

[@ashfaqali5083]

Scientists can never have an opinion on God. It is because science is the study of the physical universe and God is a metaphysical reality. So whosoever claims to be an athiest just because he believes in science is making the most unscientific statement.

[@anamf247]

+Ibne Makhmoor "Scientists can never have an opinion on God." Yes, because scientists aren't human at all and are certainly not allowed to have personal beliefs outside of their profession.

[@innerichzigegek1076]

Reema Ameer Great constructive argument you got there buddy.

[@peacefounders]

The interviewer seems to be happy when Dawkinds speaks about Judaism or Christianity but he tends to pressure his guest when it comes to his religion ... Lol

[@Jo0o0odie1995]

thats what most people what do obviously...

[@amersiraz7455]

@Crazy Wolfgang IKR he is smart but at the same thing stupid he read quran and tried to understand without hadith what a fool

[@Truth_Seeker1]

SIR Lord Henry mortimer No it's not stupid I know about religion the Quran has facts on science some of which was not known at that time. The bible even mentions the Earth being round.

[@santhoshmeche3431]

@@Truth_Seeker1 the Bible mentions earth is a circle not round or spherical

[@carljohnson2194]

SIR Lord Henry mortimer shut up!

[@tilda140]

What a bunch of loaded questions. Kudos to Richard even though the interviewer continuously took cheap shots and tried to make it personal. Fully leveraging the fact that most people would generally disagree with Richard, as if that is some kind of talking point in and of itself.

[@sameekhn45]

I liked the debate, very informative and perfectly answered 👍👍

[@Pranav-rp8wi]

Btw dawkins's book 'the god delusion' has highest number of downloads in Arabic.. many athiests sadly living under Islamic rule..

[@MrZakaria00]

0 to 100 real quick

[@disuelallkanjari8249]

Doesn't really mean they're atheists. They just read to know what he has to say

[@Pranav-rp8wi]

@@disuelallkanjari8249 actually, it means they aren't blind sheeps. they are looking beyond the close walls that islam has raised around them.

[@frxg5637]

@@Pranav-rp8wi Everyone doubts theyre religon at one point. People just wanna see

[@caca-gf9ku]

Bro it’s a book they could just want to read it calm down

[@johnybalohny]

This is a beyond awesome conversation. My favorite yet. Thanks so much.

[@lukegraven7839]

With Mehdi he forgets he is Islamic and their holy book says they are the only true religion. He quotes this Christian or that as being on his side, but really his religion doesn't recognize them as the true way.

[@hamidahmed8076]

Very nice debate and interesting indeed. However, the presenter at around 23:00 mistakenly said that Islam does not teach the "universe was created in 6 days", when in fact it is mentioned 7 times in the Quran. Just saying.

[@muhammadtallal3104]

Yes Quran describes Universe creation in 6 days and Earth's creation in those two days. Recent scientific discovery says 13.8 billion years for Universe and 4.5 billion years for Earth's creation. Put it in ratio 4.5/13.8 = 2/6 = 1/3. QURAN WAS RIGHT. The 1 day = 1000 years describes something else and not the matric for creation. It is the SPEED at which matters/deeds are raised to God and doesn't necessarily tells proportion for days of creation. It can imply to creation but the verse does not say so explicitly. No contradictory remarks on that!

[@djankovski]

@@muhammadtallal3104 It would be better if you stick to days as 24 hours itself. A lot of things mentioned in Quran would come into question if you start talking about days as metaphor for billions of years.

[@muhammadtallal3104]

@@djankovski yeah I am accepting the fact that this might not correspond to this research, but there is no harm in acknowledging that it doesnot. It just opens a broad spectrum that Quran is referring to and is not just a random number that Allah has spoken about!

[@dddddbbb]

@@djankovski Don't worry about that - religious people have no problem with picking and choosing their interpretations to suit their purpose. Consistency or contradiction is all the same to them.

[@jsnl247]

I wouldn't call teaching children religion child abuse, I would call it misinformation of children. and that is equally terrible, bringing up a child in ignorance.

[@Jimmison007]

Watch this and then tell me if you still don't think it can be a form of child abuse. vimeo.com/22891716

[@jsnl247]

James Stockings See, it could, in extreme cases, but most of the time, it is misinformation, and that is one of the reasons I am an Atheist, because of these religious crackpots. fucking up their kids.

[@khalifayasin4570]

Bringing up a child in arrogance? More like discipline.

[@ReinierKaper]

It's a form of abuse though, but it's not limited to religion. I also wonder how practical it will be to always tell the truth to a child. I'm not sure if anyone has ever raised a child that way, but I can imagine that some truths are "better" not shared. I was told there was a Santa when I was a kid, it did me no harm, but there was also no religion around him, so that's quite the difference ;-)

[@LEARNKAROOKUCHNAYAKAROO]

A civilised and well mannered debate I have ever listened and watched in my life . Both of you did it well!

[@johnnydeclanbarnes116]

Islam is the truth

[@Mr-DNA_]

@@johnnydeclanbarnes116 For you maybe. If you wanna argue about it then I'm fine, but if you just wanna say that it's true without saying anything else I'm telling you that you are wrong.

[@johnnydeclanbarnes116]

@@Mr-DNA_ go on why you thin that?

[@Mr-DNA_]

@@johnnydeclanbarnes116 I just don't think that there is a need to believe in a supernatural power. No one has ever seen a sign of a god or supernatural being and even if it existed I don't think that it fits any religion that we have today. Many religions are also very stupid and evil like Islam. Islam teaches bad and wrong morals and is pretty strange. Why should we just believe in some random version of god instead of just being open to all possibilities.

[@mgmmj6664]

@@Mr-DNA_ nobody cares about what you believe you do you it's that simple

[@daesikkim9682]

I am agnostic and glad to have the same opinion of the world as Dr, Dawkins. Thanks you

[@MultiCren]

I can’t believe that medhi Hassan went to Oxford.

[@GrzegorzKarwowski]

This is the first interesting and sensible discussion on the topic I heard in very many years. Thank you Al Jazeera!!!

[@jackoli6519]

'Let's assume I'm wrong' 'Yes, let's!!!' Dawkins is amazing.

[@x7v0]

Assume*

[@gerardjagroo]

Religion is a means by which people find meaning in live, it(at least the good ones) lays down a set of morals and values by which people can live a peaceful productive law abiding life. The same way people use technology for good (medicine) or evil (bombs) it's the same way humans can use religion for good or evil. Religion provides people the reason for doing good or evil. Science provides people the means of doing good or evil. To condemn either as bad would be foolish as the human is responsible for the purpose for which these tools are used. If your looking to do evil either would be useful. Vice versa for good. Its the human element alone that truly matters.

[@aniam.9163]

But religion is not exclusive of science.

[@coffeemanx]

I think you are confusing morality and religion. Morality which is concept of right versus wrong can exist without religion. It is what guide non-religious people. Whilst religious teachings from many mainstream religions are generally aligned with modern morality, the biggest danger of religion is its followers giving up logical thinking and blindly following what religious leaders say. Followers can be manipulated to commit immoral acts as result of fervent religious belief.

[@rodelderosas5416]

Good debates, very intelligent crowds and polite unlike some of the debates l watched.

[@gauss5014]

This is heavily edited.

[@shaunaksarker2557]

Nice to see someone who noticed

[@jtaiv2798]

@@shaunaksarker2557 full link?

[@Truth_Seeker1]

Gauss No it's not the show is not longer than this the video just seems a little glitchy it stops and starts.

[@zakizarat5786]

They cut off the ads

[@kolowazeek8788]

"This is edited" But Not planned

[@anurocksification]

Sad that Christopher Hitchens is not around to deliver a HitchSlap to this interviewer

[@johnnoah2804]

He is enjoying hellfire.

[@Warriorpend2]

I hate that people still use that phrase. Intellectual disagreement should never be about "owning" your opponent. It's a conversation meant to help both of you reach a better understanding of the world by shaving away the bits of your beliefs that are unnecessary or unable to stand up to scrutiny.

[@vernonknapp7165]

Matthew Pendleton Well said. In healthy debate; are we desiring the winning of the person, or the decimation of the person?

[@pleasesubscribe7659]

hitchens was no more than a noise maker

[@henriksrensen5958]

+mudu abdi idiot

[@mz6367]

One of the best conversations about faiths I’ve ever seen, I like how Richard kept his cool and addressed his thoughts perfectly ! I do acknowledge that people do good things that are inspired by their own faiths .however,at the end of the day people do murder ,blew themselves up,oppress women and minorities in the name of their religions and to be realistic …their faith is the thing that motivates them to do so

[@armyofme477]

Many have suffered, died and murdered driven by non religious view .. WWI - WWII, Middle East Wars by the US and its allies, colonialism, the poor by capitalism and the list goes on. There are lots of things in this world, in this universe, that science can not, or perhaps, has not yet able to proof of their theories. In fact, with their rational way and approach, theories of this life from science have continuously to change. With that, who’s mad?

[@maybewascool]

Hey I do agree! We could acknowledge that the same can be applied with gaming, or forms of entertainment. Those things can give a sense of relief in stressful situations, it can also provide you with useful information and practical advice for real life problems. It's a positive experience for the majority. But there is also obsessiveness that could lead to not getting outside anymore and destroying the life ahead of you, it could lead to spreading hate, and make you insecure or it could be a bad coping mechanism. But the developer of whatever that thing is never intended for serious damage, maybe all they wanted to do was spread fun and joy. The game, or whatever it is, never even suggested anything bad. When is it that we blame the thing, and when is it that we blame the person? Some religion don't even promote terrorism and infact condemn it. It's like saying B comes after A therfore B is linked with A or has something to do with A. No, B just comes after A. But what do you think? 😊

[@greatsageequaltoheaven8115]

​@maybewascool God literally wipes out entire peoples and countries if he doesn't like them, so his Followers just try to live up to the example.

[@ilsagita5257]

I think with passive aggressiveness shown by all the people here mehdi and most of the religious people who asked questions is a very good reason as to why religion is more harming than better for human civilization It blinds you early in life and it's hard to realise and accept most of the things are just things written by a bunch of people and not true .

[@jyotishmanmudiar5958]

Always a pleasure listening to Richard Dakwins. People like Richard teaches us at many levels-- the need of science, the idea of being humble yet argumentative, the necessity to concede at times, and above all being confident yet not arrogant. Thanks Richard.

[@DrCureAging]

The interviewer guy should be a lawyer. No matter how wrong his claims are, he can word things to make an argument difficult, that is until he is questioned about his actual beliefs *COUGH Winged Horse flying to the moon.

[@Mr2Thumbs]

Nathaniel Zhu Maybe he watched too much My Little Pony?

[@magatsuizanagi5305]

Kind of person everybody hates

[@SikkiSweets]

+Nathaniel Zhu The host is ill-informed but there is no winged horse and no one flew to the moon. These are just allegories made by poets and when rational argument is based on poetry then there is little scientific argument left.

[@DrCureAging]

The host can't exactly be "ill informed" when it comes to religion since the "informed" implies some standard to be "ill" of, but everyone has their own fantasy and no one knows what they're talking.

[@joyusdivisionus]

He's throwing pebbles at a tank 16:00 on.

[@skshivam300]

Wonder there is such freedom to talk about Islam in sharia countries.

[@alphazutn1274]

There is none. I live in one.

[@skshivam300]

@@alphazutn1274 yes bro, can understand your grief.

[@bigk1017]

Great questions, great answers.

[@ebaysellerbarca317]

He had me at "flying horse"

[@ruwhite9499]

*flying horse no de wae.*

[@ruwhite9499]

*Do you no de wae?*

[@gbaili]

Actually the Jews also believe in the same celestial being since the prophets that came before the final prophet were also transported into heaven by the same celestial being. Also Richard was only showing his childish arrogance by treating others who he disagrees with as intellectually inferior. He only embarrassed himself.

[@cicunkuk]

ebaysellerbarca317 horse doesn’t mean literally and physically a horse. It just a term to aid human rationale to recognize it as a vehicle. Now we know that the speed of light enables travel thousands of miles within seconds. And that “flying horse” can be actually a sophisticated vehicle created by god that scientists couldn’t understand yet. Simply because human technology can’t reach that.

[@antonk1524]

Bruce Wayne religion = arrogance = failiure of reality

[@mopeterson6990]

Mahdi Hassan actually managed to carry on an interesting debate with Dr. Dawkins. We've got to give him credit for that. If only all Muslims were like him

[@0mnicide]

I would prefer more Muslims like Majid Nawaz.

[@traceypenrose4093]

I prefer Muslims in the Ayaan Hersi-Ali form.

[@wolfen8622]

just sayin.... real Mehdi: watch?v=_Td3CcB0TKI

[@ClickHere4Naruto]

He does seem to have changed though, as that is pretty old.

[@Sharpshoot17]

I disagree. Having watched the debate, i feel he seemed tense and had a chip on his shoulder. He often didn't fully listen to Richard's arguments, or he appeared to create a straw man in order to make Richard seem less intelligent, when really it was mehdi that had mis-interpreted the argument. I do however recognise that it could've been much worse, and Mehdi wasn't as biased as he potentially could have been!

[@ianalmeidapinheiro8007]

I am an atheist, but I gotta appreciate that Hassan is an excellent debater. Great questions and absolutely well informed on his guest. I disagree with many points of his logic, but it was an honest and nice conversation.

[@sundeutsch]

I am yet to find someone, who can beat the arguments of Richard Dawkins.

[@simmonly2335]

I bet u haven't seen Mohammed hijab yet

[@jb894]

@@simmonly2335 he smells

[@akanbitajudeen5068]

He stood on his ground...there was nothing more than that.

[@adhesiveninja7714]

Then you haven't searched hard enough

[@borz_dz9823]

He answered all the questions but that doesn’t mean that he made a good points. I don’t understand why In the beginning of the discussion he doesn’t admit that the bad things like Stalin’s ussr are because of atheism and that want to push for science. But when it some to religion it’s because of solely the religion itself. Seems like double standards

[@csreiter]

I really wouldn't call this "Head to Head". Dawkins defended himself fairly well against an interviewer throwing logical fallacies at him, and against challenging questions made by people in the audience. There were even questions asked that had already been answered by Dawkins in the previous dialogue, which shows that people weren't actually listening to anything he was saying.

[@shuttereff3ct593]

Rude interviewer

[@Nelly447]

I don't respect Mehdi Hassan, he's abusive in his questions and interruptive, he's being shot at everytime he puts dawrkins in the spot.

[@Nelly447]

no that's not how you debate! you don't jump from one topic to another, and let the person answer...btw he's not debating him he's interviewing him!

[@Nelly447]

+Basement Dweller lol head to head, has many interpretations it can be conversation, debate, interview, you often hear interviewers say 'head to head' talk or discussion so it's ambiguous really. Speaking of blind, pay attention to the content of the 'interview', the whole programme emphasised on 'the God delusion'. You're right my "precious" Dawkins doesn't always win because it's hard to reason with irrational, hypocritical people like Mehdi.

[@Nelly447]

It's fine to have a different view but when you deny events and laws written in the scripters and say "we don't believe in these anymore" and pick and choose however you like, that's hypocritical, I didn't say he's hypocrite because he has a different view, he's a hypocrite because he cherry picks, and yes the same thing applies to dawkins but at least he's very clear on his views. "Who thinks that he's a scientist." lol well what you call a biologist who dedicated all his life studying things, acquired a number of PhDs and is a professor? gee I don't know......

[@jonathanmorov1679]

+Nermin Mowsa and dawkins is really respectful to religious people is he ?

[@RA_91]

Nermin Mowsa . Lol.he is a journalist this is his Job

[@khandakartahurulislam8375]

Mehedi said he doesn't teach his children that world was created in six days because it is not part of Islamic teaching. Well, he is wrong. Quran says: "Indeed your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days, then established Himself on the Throne. He makes the day and night overlap in rapid succession. He created the sun, the moon, and the stars-all subjected by His command. The creation and the command belong to Him ˹alone˺. Blessed is Allah-Lord of all worlds!" (7 : 54) Mehedi also doesn't know that punishment for apostacy is death penalty as described in hadith.

[@j86485]

6 days in the Quran means thousands or millions of days for God, not literally 6 days. But it would look like 6 days to humans as God is beyond time

[@khandakartahurulislam8375]

@@j86485 if God is beyond time, then it can't be measured with days. If God meant six days in a book that is written for human kind then it means six days and not millions of years.

[@j86485]

@@khandakartahurulislam8375 Yes 6 days to us humans but while that seems quick for humans, it's not the same level of time for God as 6 days for humans. The verses that mention "six days" use the Arabic word "youm" (day). This word appears several other times in the Qur'an, each denoting a different measurement of time. In one case, the measure of a day is equated with 50,000 years (70:4), whereas another verse states that "a day in the sight of your Lord is like 1,000 years of your reckoning" (22:47). The word "youm" is thus understood, within the Qur'an, to be a long period of time -- an era or eon

[@khandakartahurulislam8375]

@@j86485 only problem with your logic is that in other two verses, god specifically mentioned that there is going to be "a day" which is going to be 50000 years (70:4) and at (22:47) it's mentioned that "a day" that is like a thousand years long. But in (7:54) god mentioned specifically "six days" and not "a day" that could be equivalent to different numbers of years as mentioned by god in the previous two verses.

[@aljoschalong625]

"Societies without faith"… no. Hitlerism, Maoism, Stalinism they were all quasi-religions. And science didn't poison the environment, but greed. Hard to say which is the greater evil: greed or religion.

[@danielmohottala8391]

"the evidence for both of these claims are equally poor" (god and fairies)..i envy Richard for his quick wit.

[@TomLeedsTheAtheist]

Does god exist? As an atheist I do not ask this question. I ask WHY do people think god exists.

[@lawerancelanham]

Nowadays...it's because that's what we're told. Each and every one of us. Just the same, we all ask that question. Only a few it seems have the capacity(not sure if that's the right wording) to accept that there really isn't...a God (the being, man in control) as we're taught. Just like there's no other mythical God. We're taught to accept lies in my opinion.

[@muhammadnasif1496]

Why do you think the universe has no causation?

[@MKR-hd3bg]

Because a intelligent creature or whatever you call god has made 10 finger prints on every human and there is 7 billion people on earth and all the people before and all have different finger prints

[@achmadibrahim3575]

As a muslim I ask you WHY don't you think god exist.

[@diefaust4252]

@@lawerancelanham Yes that's the thing. It's become a trend to call oneself a atheist just because that leads you to think that you are intellectually superior to believing humans. But no, you are worse than the stray dogs.

[@jackwalker7782]

The reporter is unbelievably terrible.

[@jaratwa]

This will go down in the chronicles of history as one of the greatest debates on god and religion

[@simontor4737]

Great interview

[@Arka2011]

I'm a fan of Richard Dawkins now :D

[@romant142]

Arka Sarkar yeah he’s great

[@pleasesubscribe7659]

dawkins is an idiot

[@pleasesubscribe7659]

@hatter00 He doesn't understand what he criticizes . He things the question who created god. Destroys theism. That is ignorance and stupidity combined.

[@carljohnson2194]

What were you before

[@alekdaniels]

Yes. Dawkins is awesome.

[@VK-zc2un]

Medhi lost when he said he believes in flying horses and sliced moons.

[@kiloPotatos]

I find it easier to believe than to believe that I was the result of something that exploded a million years ago, and by chance I became here commenting on KZbin. and don't start asking me where is that exploding thing came from because all explanations will make you laugh

[@user-mn2gt4ct3l]

Wait your pf name is Shiva, So you worship a 'pen!s'? You know Shiva linga.

[@prempriyesh6487]

He actually conceded defeat

[@naimulislamrumi3028]

​​​@@kiloPotatosYou don't have to believe that "you were the result of something that exploded a million years ago" because it's not a matter of belief, it’s a scientific investigation based on - most importantly genuine curiosity, mathematics, theories, a method of research, evidence, data. But I assume you are not much of a scientifically literate guy - because something that exploded was not a million years, but billions of years ago.

[@kiloPotatos]

@@naimulislamrumi3028 Good I hear you Tell me "scientifically" how something came from nothing What exactly is the thing that exploded and where did the thing that exploded come from? How do we “scientifically” achieve the laws of conservation of energy and mass in transforming nothing into something? How does thinking generate “intelligence” from inanimate objects? Finally, why is there no intelligence or living species that bears responsibility for its actions in this universe other than man? The existence of another race can refute Islam

[@TahseenG1]

This is the real way to debate on such sensitive topics. I don't know when our scholars or anchors will understand this type of manner. Mehdi Hasan is great journalist. I don't know why he left Al Jazeera. It was very good wy to debate here in Oxford Union. Why you stopped it. Please continue this series

[@roshanramesh627]

This is one of the greatest conversations about religion. Watch 4-5 times there is a different perspective everytime. It's a test cricket match. Mehdi Hassan studied the batsman perfectly and Dawkins knew which deliveries to let go.

[@SpeedomusicSM]

But the thing is Dawkins can never lose

[@WUBrummie]

@@SpeedomusicSM Really? I’m currently watching a South Park episode which savages him and the reason Parker/Stone did that was primarily because he was wrong about Religion being the biggest cause of conflict

[@SpeedomusicSM]

@@WUBrummie he can't lose!

[@husseinmohamed1777]

@@SpeedomusicSM he lost this

[@SpeedomusicSM]

@@husseinmohamed1777 he can't lose simply because religion is arguing from fiction ,no evidence , Dawkins argues from evidence . So any shred of evidence Dawkins provides wins the argument instantly

[@RationalArtist]

Medhi Hansan believes in the winged horse and moon splitting.....'nuff said.

[@Jubanuba]

+Dustin Sanders and you believe you came form nothing and nothing created you

[@highimhi9435]

+Jubanuba we don't. we have simply accepted we don't know.

[@RationalArtist]

Jubanuba There you go using the word 'creation' any time you can.

[@krazykaratekiter]

+Dustin Sanders You didn't quite refute his point, simply pointed to the semantics of his statement.

[@AlCapwnedProductions]

+krazykaratekiter What point is there to refute?

[@KONSITV]

both speakers are fantastic and mutually clear the cloud in their own areas of explantion. Its fun to see and listen to them. now i become neotist; inbetween religion and atheism

[@asabuj4363]

Always nice to listen Richard Dawkins.

[@hemantsinghrawat19]

Poetry in motion

[@louthivierge3374]

your kidding ,,, he is a pompous twit who talks about evil but acts evil and cant get his peebrain around sciences proving our exixtance is supernatural

[@muhammadtallal3104]

Why because he claims that the universe just came out of nothing or life began with him snapping his fingers. These atheists always get stuck on the origins and start talking as if there was some sort of magic that led to origin. Bunch of clowns entertaining the ones who do not think.

[@shiningstar958]

Dawkins is wrong .😅 Muhammed flied on a donkey to heaven.

[@elijahr7084]

@@muhammadtallal3104 So you believe in something with no evidence? No proof? Even a photograph to prove miracles?