Burn in hell David Attenborough.

Aitch said:
I'll have a trawl through amazon UK.
Click to expand...
You could e-bay and here - http://www.antiqbook.com/books/

I feel the same about the Gerald Durrel books about his African adventures. It was these that inspired me to want to be a vet but they, too are most non-pc - full of funny little natives saying stuff like bwana. Very much of their time is about the most charitable thing you could say about them now although I still have great affection for them.

Then again I’m reminded of a Punch cartoon where one African bearer is whispering to another as they jog along behind a great white hunter, “I wonder if they’ll ever realise that Bwana means idiot”.

Yuri
 
DcTurner said:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/27/david-attenborough-science

Legendary UK television documentary David Attenborough reveals some of the hate mail he has received from Creationist nut-jobs, all because he failed to credit god in his programs.

I personally adore the kind of maniac that can send threatening letters to a respected old television presenter. It makes normal people sit up and say "wow, these guys are freaking crazy".

:boggled:
Click to expand...

Having gotten into it with various young earth creation types on various forums, the interesting part of their demeanor is exactly that. They act all pious and yet are some of the most hateful people out there. they seem to lack a fundamental understanding of that which they try (TRY being emphasis mine) to take literally.
 
Pretty outrageous.
I disagree with Attenborough on specific issues (he seems to have problems saying anything good about Spain in his historical shows for instance,a very traditonal English attitude,), but that is not the same as a creationist wishing him in hell.
 
Ashles said:
Ironically I think of David Attenborough as a god.
Click to expand...
Having just heard him on the radio I'm inclined to agree - your first convert. Perhaps we could attack the unbelievers who admire Simon Shama - death to the infidel!

Yuri
 
dudalb said:
Pretty outrageous.
I disagree with Attenborough on specific issues (he seems to have problems saying anything good about Spain in his historical shows for instance,a very traditonal English attitude,), but that is not the same as a creationist wishing him in hell.
Click to expand...
What historical shows are these?
 
I am afraid as David being the man he is, he would feel sorry for the uneducated so and so. Me would like to see alot more of those worms, boring holes through the eyes of creatioists, to give them a new view on life on this planet.
 
dudalb said:
Pretty outrageous.
I disagree with Attenborough on specific issues (he seems to have problems saying anything good about Spain in his historical shows for instance,a very traditonal English attitude,), but that is not the same as a creationist wishing him in hell.
Click to expand...

What historical shows? I can't imagine him having anything, good or bad, to say about Spain other than to talk about the wildlife... are you perhaps confusing him with someone else?

Also is that a chip on your shoulder about English attitudes to Spain? There's very little in the way of 'traditional' English attitudes to Spain other than occasionally remembering the Armada... France and Germany take up way more of our national distrust! And anyway, we have difficulty saying anything good about *all* the countries that aren't England, so don't feel especially insulted!

Not to mention the fact that we complain about our own country more than every other country put together...

Anyway, to get back on topic, I cheered when the trailer for the new Darwin show came on, should be a great rallying mark for the cause of education-by-TV.
 
Just watched the Attenborough show, and it was wonderful - no surprise there.

Something else that is unsurprising is this rather stupid article linked from the one in the OP: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/22/religion.evolution

Many people, whatever happens, will remain "don't knows", and this is a smart group to belong to. Both the theories of evolution and quantum physics stumble over the question of first cause: the process by which nothingness became something. It's this zone of unknowability that leads to physicists using such loaded language as "the God particle" and has made evolutionists, especially in the US, vulnerable to the counter-dogma of "intelligent design".
Click to expand...

The novelist Terry Pratchett is exemplary in this respect. Long a proud trophy of the British Humanist Society, the writer recently had the experience of hearing the voice of his dead father telling him all will be well. The fact that this followed diagnosis with a variant of Alzheimer's must increase the possibility that Pratchett's brain was playing tricks on him, but his recent interviews reflect a dent in his scepticism. Both the religious and the scientific should admit to the gaps on their canvases.
Click to expand...

There's more, too, if you can stand to read the whole thing. A perfect example of an arts journalist blundering into scientific territory.
 
Last edited:
Kiosk said:
Just watched the Attenborough show, and it was wonderful - no surprise there.
Click to expand...

Yep, just watched it - and ordered the free Tree of Life Poster (not available outside the UK - sorry).

One thing I noticed in the prog is the joy and enthusiasm that Attenborough shows. Not something one sees with most of the religious crowd.
 
Kiosk said:
Just watched the Attenborough show, and it was wonderful - no surprise there.
Click to expand...
Just watched it myslf and it was great, wonderful presentation, all the facts, no dumbing down, no triumphalism plus beautiful images & clips from his original "Life on Earth" series. How could anyone possibly not believe this?

Yuri
 
skeptigirl said:
Death threats, seems so Christian of them. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It is a spectacular double standard. One can't even begin to imagine the kind of person that would pen hate mail of any sort but this requires special effort.
 
Kiosk said:
Just watched the Attenborough show, and it was wonderful - no surprise there.
Click to expand...

None at all. I loved every minute of it. Clear, concise, perfectly aimed. No drama-studies "business" from the producer (have you seen Horizon recently? It's enough to make this grown man weep).

Best of all was the climactic scene : I didn't know that Darwin's statue was taking Owen's pride-of-place! That is soooooooo frickin' awesome! Boo-yah!

Something else that is unsurprising is this rather stupid article linked from the one in the OP: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/22/religion.evolution


There's more, too, if you can stand to read the whole thing. A perfect example of an arts journalist blundering into scientific territory.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly.
 
Yuri Nalyssus said:
Just watched it myslf and it was great, wonderful presentation, all the facts, no dumbing down, no triumphalism plus beautiful images & clips from his original "Life on Earth" series. How could anyone possibly not believe this?

Yuri
Click to expand...


I couldn't agree more. AND BLESS THE ENGLISH* for giving me the BBC. How perfect can a Sunday evening be, first Richard, James and Jeremy, then Sir David. All that for no extra costs from my own comfortable room in Holland.

I also want to use this opportunity that I just LOVE the Natural History Museum in London, always have since I went there as a young boy. (For those who don't know, museums like these in London have free admission. you can just walk in and enjoy some of the worlds most amazing collections)

* And the Scots and Welsh, but not the Irish until they apologize for U2

Not to mention the fact that we complain about our own country more than every other country put together...
Click to expand...

Did I mention I love your country? It's among a handful countries in the world I would like to live. Stop complaining, but keep making fun of yourselves (and others).
 
Speaking as a for'ner, the UK strikes me as a country where private enterprise is the rule in the most unlikely places. It seems to work, but sometimes I wonder how...

And yeah, the Beeb is great no matter where you live.

No doubt I'll know more once I move there... 5 months to go. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom