Slaying false ideas is good for everyone

Alain de Botton reveals plans for ‘temple to atheism’ in heart of London | World news | The Guardian:

“This is a more constructive atheism than Dawkins, who is about the destruction of ideas rather than contributing new ones.”
It’s virtuous to destruct false ideas. If your child believed that two plus two equalled five you would destruct that belief immediately without a moment’s hesitation, because it’s false. What Dawkins does is useful and purposeful, he helps people to think more clearly. Building a 46-metre tower to celebrate atheism might be a nice thing to do, but it’s not constructive. If anything it seems a little tit-for-tat with religion, which is surely a non-contest given that we’d have to produce something quite incredible to best the stunning ecclesiastical architecture of Europe.

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