Do You Agree With Oprah, That Atheist Cannot Experience Awe And Wonder

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   getitriteposted 10 years ago

   Diana Nyad is an American author, journalist, motivational speaker, and world record long-distance swimmer.  In 2013, on her fifth attempt....and at age 64, she became the first person confirmed to swim from Cuba to Florida without the protection of a shark cage, swimming from Havana to Key West (110 mi or 180 km).
   
   Here is what happened when she sat down with Oprah.
   http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter … 84013.html

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      MelissaBarrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Why is this even news? Surely they could have found something actually newsworthy to waste 600 or so words on.

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         getitriteposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Apparently, it's sparked lots of interest from the media, as it is all over the Net.  Probably because what Oprah said was just so ignorant, harsh, and extremely untrue.

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            MelissaBarrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Yeah, my neighbor says things that are harsh, ignorant and untrue as well. No one cares. Why in the world would anyone care what Oprah thinks about their religion or lack there of?
            
            I mean these angry atheists are in no way connected to Oprah, right? Her opinion doesn't affect them personally in any way.
            
            It makes no sense to get upset because someone, somewhere, doesn't think that your lack of religion means the same thing that you think it does. I mean do these people wake up in the morning angry because there are other people in the world that have an opinion of their atheism that some atheists don't agree with?
            
            It's a very big world with lots of people. If you go around getting angry at every single person who you don't know, likely won't ever meet, whose opinion changes absolutely nothing about your life nor does it affect you in any other way than pissing you off because it's different than yours then you'll die without ever being NOT angry...
            
            And you still won't have time to let everyone have a turn at that outrage.

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               Disappearingheadposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               I think what we are seeing here proves the point being made in Emile's forum topic about atheists v theists. The theists protests that the World is in dire straights from the forces of evil so we must all conform to their opinion that the world might be saved. This OP about Oprah is exactly the same; the atheist protesting that the world needs to be saved from religionists like Oprah and we should all drop this God delusion for the betterment of society.
               
               But then without them forum land would be rather full and boring.

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               peeplesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               I agree 100% Melissa. As an atheist, I really couldn't care any less about what oprah thinks of me. I have never woken up and said " gee let me search for believers who hate me to be mad at". Why would I care what strangers think of me? This was not news worthy at all. Now if oprah came to my door shouting that crap I may care, not likely but maybe.

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   2. 74

      aliasisposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I think Oprah is mostly well meaning, but she can be extremely patronizing about religion. Of course she's wrong - if you don't believe in god and don't follow religion, you are an atheist. Religious beliefs have nothing to do with the ability to feel beauty, awe and wonder. As an atheist myself, I can certainly say I'm spiritual and am constantly inspired by the beauty of the world and the universe. Oprah ought to open her mind a bit rather than trodding down one path and expecting her way to be the only way. Nyad, however, expressed herself very beautifully, and hopefully Oprah can take her words to heart, and remember that whether or not we believe in God, the human experience is the same.

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      1. 71

         getitriteposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Oprah, just as many others, has no idea who the Atheists of the world are...or were.  She probably doesn't know that many people who have been inspired by awe and wonder were Atheists. 
         
         Thomas Edison
         Stephen Hawkings
         Bill Gates
         Mark Zuckerberg
         Mark Twain
         Carl Sagan
         Katherine Hepburn
         Voltaire
         Butterfly McQueen

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         ChristinSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I completely agree with you! I am a spiritual person - but I have no belief whatsoever in a Diety.  I am filled with awe and wonder at the process of life all the time.  I watch shows or read about the formation of the universe or about the latest in scientific discovery and it blows me away.  I believe in a human connection between beings and there is no need for religion to have that feeling.  People who are not atheist I think really need to shut up about what it is we believe, feel etc. How can they possibly know? They don't.  Know it alls irk me.

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      3. 85

         rebekahELLEposted 10 years agoin reply to this

           The feelings of beauty, awe and wonder are part of the wonders of the human experience.  Anyone can have and feel awe and wonder while observing, contemplating the beauty of life itself.
         
         I'm currently reading Carl Sagan's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.  I tend to agree that the complexity of life's origin is even more awe inspiring when we take away the magic of spoken words.

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            getitriteposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            +1

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            JG11Bravoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a fantastic read, and I'm not even a huge fan of Sagan. Not to say I don't care for his work, I'm just not a HUGE fan.

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      junksellerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Some Christians look up in the sky, pick a single star, and say it is the most beautiful of them all. That's fine, I have no problem with that, but then some of them turn to an atheist and say how unfortunate it is that an atheist can't experience their beautiful star. Of course the atheist is thinking, what the hell are you talking about, I am the one looking at ALL of them.
      
      Condensing the majesty and awesomeness of the universe down into a fairytale isn't spirituality, it is a comic book. No offense to comic books.
      
      Religion is a self-imposed set of blinders. To walk around with blinders on and suggest others can't see is just plain stupid.

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         MelissaBarrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         OK... I'm religious. Exactly what is I am wearing blinders to?

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            junksellerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Anything your religion tells you isn't there, though, I shouldn't have stated that as an absolute. Religion CAN be a set of blinders. Personally, I think it usually is, that doesn't mean it always is, and certainly doesn't mean I am correct.

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               MelissaBarrettposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               fair enough

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      Deepes Mindposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yep.. Oprah is absolutely correct.. Atheists are the most unemotionally incapable of feeling an any awe or wonder human beings on the face of the earth (NOTE TO THE ATHEISTS NOT USED TO DEALING WITH ME: THIS IS SARCASM!!)
      
      It's really interestingly sad that oprah still thinks that she is  relevant enough for anyone to care what she says or does anymore. I have yet to meet any atheist that really cares what any believer thinks of them and Oprah, unfortunately, falls in the category of one of the more vocal believers that give all of us a bad name.
      
      I would do a facepalm, but That doesn't even cover it

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      1. 71

         getitriteposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Unfortunately, fame and fortune does not nullify ignorance.

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            Deepes Mindposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Yeah i know. But it's those that are the most vocal that mess it up for the rest of us...SMH

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      Josakposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I am an atheist. I have experienced awe. Therefore no. That wasn't hard

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   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   I honestly don't care what Oprah thinks about it.

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      getitriteposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with you, but there are many who do care, because Oprah has a cult like status.  IMO it could re-enforce the negative stereotypes of Atheism, and help encourage society to remain in the Dark Ages.

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   A Troubled Manposted 10 years ago

   It's actually the other way round, believers are incapable of experiencing awe and wonder because to them, it's all, "Godunnit". There is no wonder and awe in anything when the believers focus is entirely on their magical sky daddies. Everything else is irrelevant.
   
   Oprah proves it by not even understanding what the other woman is saying.

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      getitriteposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      She also goes on, giving Diana her opinion on what God is, as if her shallow opinion is absolute fact.

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         JG11Bravoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         To a lot of her devotees, Oprah speaks only gospel truth.

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4. 60

   prajwalpokharelposted 10 years ago

   that's just absurd ... i  became an athiest ... there has not a significant change to my life.... but well everyone is entitled to their own openion

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   prajwalpokharelposted 10 years ago

   haha very good answer peeples

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   Emile Rposted 10 years ago

   Oprah is an entertainer who has done a bang up job of reading her base audience and playing to them. I wouldn't put any stock in her opinion. If atheists were her core audience the interview would have played differently.

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      getitriteposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Correct.  And now that she has hooked up with Tyler Perry, who has a demographic that includes the most religious people in the world, it seems to confirm your observation.

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   JG11Bravoposted 10 years ago

   Without getting into the subject of the flaws in organized religion, I think it's absurd to say that atheists cannot comprehend awe and wonder.  As an atheist, I experience awe every time I step outside at night and look up at the sky, as you said.  I see wonder in the machinations of existence from the subatomic level to the limits of the visible universe.  Atheist or religious, take a glance at the Pillars of Creation and tell me what you feel.

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   1. 71

      getitriteposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed.

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