When it gets down to brass tacks, the main reason people reject Christianity is so you can have sex and "get away with it". We live in a world of "Free Sex", the price of "Free" sex is mainly paid in blood with thousands of unborn babies being butchered to death each day. God gets in the way of this party and so needs to go.

Sorry to comment so late, but I was heartened (and shocked) to hear you say that Shakespeare is not only for the English! Do you know how many English people have asserted (or mumbled) that it is an utter abomination before the Lord for any American ever to perform Shakespeare in public, because they can’t successfully pull off a 20th or 21st-century posh accent like that of the bard himself?

The devil work hard but Francesca works harder

It's wrong to be an atheist the same as when it's wrong to be a theist. It's wrong when one becomes a sectarian. It is understandable and even justified when it is a result of defense. But the lines between defense and offense become quickly indistinguishable. Atheism and theism can both be pluralistic. In the current world, it is of the most utmost importance for pluralist atheists and theists to be united in their desire to live in a pluralist society.

When people use the phrase theological truth, I just laugh. The definition of theology is not the study of truth, it's the study of religious faith, which was created by humans. Faith is based on belief, it is not based on facts. People who confuse beliefs with facts are ignorant. The god concept originated in the human mind. That makes it fictional, an invention, not real. The god concept is no more factual than Harry Potter, Narnia, or Middle Earth. There are myriad reasons why humans invented god and continue to believe in such antiquated rubbish. It is interesting to study but I would not bother getting a degree in theology. I could not stand being surrounded by a bunch of religious believers who have been indoctrinated into believing irrational ideas and who hold an inaccurate view of the world.

Bravo!! It's people like Dennis Prager, WLC and arrogant John Lennox who make the world of theology as goofy as it is to prevent this super intelligent and qualified woman from working anywhere she wants because she is an atheist. Perhaps those 3 religious núts do not intend to restrict her options, but that is the result of their influence on other religious nuts. Perhaps in a generation or two their type will be done and gone. The current trend is good.

Anyone stop and wonder how come humanists do no good?

I love her so much

"When It's Wrong To Be An Atheist" When you have the wrong reasons. e.g. "I survived cancer. God saved me" If you do that you are downplaying the roles of medical science and the doctors who treated you in favor of an imaginary character who gave you the illness in the first place (because nothing happens without god, right?) How many people could say god saved them from cancer 100 or even 50 years ago? Not many. If it's difficult for you to think that the progress in medical science and the willingness of god to cure a high percentage of people with cancer is not a coincidence, then it's OK to remain an atheist.

In the old times there was a place called memphis next to the river Nile south west of canaan, there was a town there called crete its in the ugaritic texts this is where w battle took place . The river nile is west of mount sinai where moses made the tablets

Which greek was the space guy it was archemeedees (check spelling) taurus is greek and there was a town called taurus south west of the hittite mountains in the ancient times

Amazing work, smart and helpfull.

Britain made her atheist.

Everything Dr Stavrakopoulou does is awesome, her book God: An Anatomy is amazing. But! After all these years I am still baffled how well meaning atheists misunderstand Richard Dawkins’ position on religion. The guy wrote whole books on the poetry of reality. He does not reduce human experience to only the “rational”, he just thinks anything that is flatly irrational should not dictate public policy. Also religion *does* directly conflict with science when it makes claims about how the world was made, where life comes from, and whether God intervenes in the world with miracles. Sure there may be some ways religions don’t conflict with science but Dawkins is concerned with the ways it does conflict. Why do so many smart people trip up on this distinction?

It's wrong if it is not what you actually believe. It is wrong where it is a purely emotional reaction to being mistreated by a certain faith community. I'm a Catholic. Functionally, I think almost everyone is an agnostic (unless they have had some kind of personal revelation which most people don't get). Since they don't **know**. It's faith in there being a God or (realistically) a faith in there being no God. Every human being has a right to believe or not. But it is inference based on facts and faith in a conclusion.

I have recently been to Faro in Portugal. There is a church there. The cathedral. . There is a temple where the bones and skulls of monks had been dug up and placed in the walls. To represent our mortality. It was so compelling and yet im an ashiest. In that i dont believe the bible or the codex of islam but it raised the awareness of our destiny. Death happens to us all. We have to find representation to come to terms with our mortality. While sience figures out how to prolong our lifes. Without death religion looses some of its power. But not all.

I love this woman.

I wish I could have had this kind of Proffesor in my days at the Protestant Seminary. But is good I can enjoy the Pofessor Lectures today. Brilliant lecture!

What this is about is not a person's belief, but systemic religion.

Terrible acoustics!

Good talk but the volume is super low. Maybe my phone speakers just suck though.

Love Stavrakopoulou! Shes amazing

Yes, she is intelligent but not somehow in the same stratosphere as Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris. I think she was a bit disingenuous towards them.

I wouldnt mind such a hot professor!

Really good talk - Francesca is such an excellent speaker. Thank you so much.

It can be a certain unchangeable mistake to be one and spiritually discover a death that they didn't know that it is the consciousness of being alive as we understand as most humans. The Bible says though it is better than knowing the lord and choosing the devil and those self destructive ways purposely against God. So in the gift already here that grace is given while a hope to discover the lord and way to father God of maker of heaven and earth covers those who are just not sure. I personally choose to always believe in Jesus and God with the holy spirit within me. The good is GOD'S GLORY THAT COMES FROM ME. I just said that to any reading wonder about me personally. Hoping all works out for everyone.God bless

This talk is apparently seven years old or so. What she said about the US has changed a lot. The conservative Christians are a loud and powerful lot. Politicians are pushing and implementing a fundamentalist Christian agenda; Ten Commandments on town squares, "I God we trust," on the walls of schools, and recently the right to an abortion has been taken away because the Supreme Court is 3/4 Catholic.

Love Francesca and this video is one of her best. The only issue I have with it, is the use of the term "Atheism". There is no such thing atheism and there never can be. An atheist is a person who does not believe in the existence of god. That is it. There is no other requirement to being an atheist. The belief does not inform a person’s decision making processes in anyway. It doesn’t tell how to behave or what they can or can't do. It doesn’t tell them what to or what not to eat. Who they can marry or have sex with. It tells them nothing about how to go about their daily lives. As an atheist, you can be the most intelligent person on the planet or the least intelligent. You can be the nicest or most evil person. You can be, logical/illogical, rational/irrational, you could even be very spiritual and still not believe in god. If you wrote a book about being a good atheist, you would only need five words in it, “Do not believe in god”. If you succeed at this then you are the best atheist possible, because no other attribute, you have is relevant to being an atheist. You can be a doctor or a homeopath, an astronomer or astrologer, you can be and/or believe anything else you want. The only requirement is that you do not believe in god. If you really want to, you could even follow the teachings of the bible, but every time you came across the word “god” you simply substitute “unknown process”, “unknown entity”, or you could simply change it to Jesus. You could just believe the bible was written by humans and Jesus was an incredible human being, the son of Mary and Joseph, and god played no part in any of it.

We're all atheists regarding all of the discarded Gods throughout history. I'm simply going one God further.

If you're told by a teacher you're going to hell for not believing in the Gospels isn't that hate speech? Should they be allowed to say that? Do we allow that kind of speech because we're used to it or because of power dynamics?

If you had a course on Scientology would you want it taught by a Scientologist? If you had a course on Moonies should it be taught by a Moonie? If you had a course on the People's Temple group should it be taught by a member of the People's Temple?

Atheist are usually insufferable and extremely arrogant. I’m not even a Christian and I can’t stand them.

Found you again Professor Fracesca.... Cant believe this vid is seven years old...and i havent seen it before.. ❤ from an old Londoner.. Your work is more important these days than ever it was.. Although i wonder if you still share the same view about Dawkins. ?

Massive respect for this brilliant woman.

Yes you are a “wrong” kind of atheist.

Excellent!

Atheism is a religion. Enjoy the martyrdom like all the other religions. It's a great propaganda tool for your silly beliefs.

I am a Christian and completely agree with what she says. Most religious people in western countries seem to be fundamentalist Jesus said himself judge not least yes be judged you will be judged as you judge others. The information she gives is very informative and shows how perspective of the authors have altered people's views. What is wrong with most people that read the bible is most people are taught a narrative of the meaning of all the stories instead of just independently taking a neutral perspective to get Gods point of view. Most people I know have a political not a religious narrative and rationalize prejudices against others so I can appreciate what she says.

Yes, atheists deciding who's atheist or not is hilarious, or needing to be informed on the bible to really be atheist. Seems to be more an American thing where "communities" form.

It is always wrong to be an atheist since atheism is a lie.

How does she know she will always be an atheist ?

A bit of a click-bait title. She means illegal or unsafe .”Wrong” implies immoral or mistaken

I wouldn't consider myself atheist, I also wouldn't strictly tie myself to a single religious identity, and I'm DEFINITELY not Christian. So as a fellow student of religions/theology coming from an outsider perspective (raised irreligious too), I have to say her stories from school sound horrible, I'm proud to say the field (or maybe just where I'm studying) is a lot more accepting. Trying to prosthelytize in class (even if only by peer pressure) would definitely NOT be accepted in any classroom I've been in, lol.

My favourite rule is number 4 , humans are not above any other species👌

He is a joke a embarrassment to academia! Read genius like Will Durant a man with great knowledge and not bios .He misses the target with every stone he throws !

I dunno. Religion is based on irrational suppositions. If you are clouded by them, such as a creator god that you believe you know something about, then it seems you are compromised at the start.

Dawkins and his crew. Lol. You can disagree with him all you want. You can have all ideas you want. But you can't judge him in the same way fanatics and fundamentals justify violence against him and you.

Shouldn't this be 'when you're at a disadvantage or in danger as a result of being an atheist'? 'Wrong' suggests that your lack of belief is unjustified.

Interesting point on segregation around education and it’s negative aspects while talking /working at Oxford? Only one woman asked a question and not one working class voice in that group! How’s that for segregation in education. Good talk though?

yeah, when it got to the feminism stuff, it became a bit of a turn-off. Indeed, there is prejudice against atheists within theist-dominated fields and yes, feminism and atheism are not mutually exclusive, but plugging the feminist stuff was kinda redundant. Thankfully, it did not hijack the entire discussion, but it *was* the finishing point... As far as I can tell, feminism in practice is not a movement for equality between men and women, it is advocacy for womens' rights. Its name already places women in a special position.