****Official RGT Article Thread**** - Page 3 - Religion, God, and Theology

Excellent blog post by Sam Harris in which he reflects upon the event that happened 10 years ago today, and which motivated his writing career:

September 11, 2001

From the post:

Quote:

Whatever else may be wrong with our world, it remains a fact that some of the most terrifying instances of human conflict and stupidity would be unthinkable without religion.

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09-16-2011 , 01:19 AM

#52

Doggg

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Antony Flew's Deism Revisited

http://www.epsociety.org/library/art...28&mode=detail

Basically it briefly reviews his book.

Some interesting quotes:

Quote:

When preeminent philosophical atheist Antony Flew announced in 2004 that he had come to believe in God's existence and was probably best considered a deist, the reaction from both believers and skeptics was "off the chart."....
"A Pilgrimage of Reason" (chapter 4), is the initial contribution to this section. In this essay, Flew chiefly makes the crucial point that his approach to God's existence has been philosophical, not scientific.

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"So multiverse or not, we still have to come to terms with the origins of the laws of nature. And the only viable explanation here is the divine Mind"

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The only satisfactory explanation for the origin of such end-directed, self replicating' life as we see on earth is an infinitely intelligent Mind"

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"As I have said more than once, no other religion enjoys anything like the combination of a charismatic figure like Jesus and a first-class intellectual like St. Paul. If you're wanting omnipotence to set up a religion, it seems to me that this is the one to beat!"

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While rejecting miracles, Flew held that the resurrection is the best-attested miracle-claim in history

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09-22-2011 , 07:30 PM

#53

giants73756

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Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 492

Quote:

A few Catholics still insist Galileo was wrong

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...,5366009.story

People amaze me...

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09-29-2011 , 02:21 PM

#54

gskowal

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Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 3,521

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...1S0K_blog.html

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10-05-2011 , 11:02 PM

#55

bluesbassman

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Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 2,362

I haven't seen this posted here, though it was published a few months ago. A number of prominent atheists are asked why they don't believe:

Faith No More

I think my favorite quote is from PZ Myers:

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The whole business of religion is clownshoes freakin' moonshine, hallowed by nothing but unthinking tradition, fear and superstitious behaviour, and an establishment of con artists who have dedicated their lives to propping up a sense of self-importance by claiming to talk to an invisible big kahuna.

It's not just fact-free, it's all nonsense.

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10-19-2011 , 10:53 AM

#56

Splendour

banned

Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 18,896

For anyone interested in the Essenes:
The First One Hundred Years of Christianity in Jerusalem

By Elizabeth McNamer
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
Department of Philosophy and Religion
Rocky Mountain College
Billings, Montana, USA
June 2009

http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/mcnamer.shtml

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10-19-2011 , 12:19 PM

#57

gskowal

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Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 3,521

Review Of Drive Thru History America: Foundations of Character
A Report by Steven K. Green, J.D., Ph.D.
http://www.tfn.org/site/DocServer/Dr...pdf?docID=2901

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11-02-2011 , 02:43 PM

#58

gskowal

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Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 3,521

Germany: Catholic Church's $2.3 Billion Store Sells 2500 Pornographic Books

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com...11/11/02/29531

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11-02-2011 , 03:28 PM

#59

giants73756

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Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 492

Quote:

Originally Posted by gskowal

Germany: Catholic Church's $2.3 Billion Store Sells 2500 Pornographic Books

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com...11/11/02/29531

The end justifies the means

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11-02-2011 , 06:43 PM

#60

gskowal

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Quote:

Originally Posted by giants73756

The end justifies the means

huh?

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11-03-2011 , 04:24 PM

#61

giants73756

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Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 492

Quote:

Originally Posted by gskowal

huh?

As long as it makes them money, they'll say it's OK.

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11-04-2011 , 03:54 PM

#62

gskowal

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Quote:

Originally Posted by giants73756

As long as it makes them money, they'll say it's OK.

oh yeah... God loves money...

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11-24-2011 , 02:58 PM

#63

giants73756

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Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 492

Octopus crawls out of water and walks on dry land

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow...150510810.html

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11-24-2011 , 05:42 PM

#64

skalf

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Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 1,458

Quote:

Originally Posted by giants73756

Octopus crawls out of water and walks on dry land

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow...150510810.html

Is the octopus an atheist?

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11-25-2011 , 06:43 PM

#65

gskowal

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Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 3,521

Quote:

Originally Posted by giants73756

Octopus crawls out of water and walks on dry land

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow...150510810.html

Future intelligent beings...

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11-26-2011 , 12:21 PM

#66

Alchemist

old hand

Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 1,947

I love how we have a thread saying atheists are the ones obsessed with god when you have this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1...n_1113295.html

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12-01-2011 , 02:57 PM

#67

Hardball47

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Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 13,301

Quote:

Originally Posted by nittyit

Thanks Jib. Most articles/links posted in a debate run the chance of being tldr when debating. I think it's generally frowned upon to start a thread based on just an article alone as well. It would be nice to have a repository of articles to read.

Anyhoo Sam Harris and Sean Carroll continue to go at it.

Toward a Science of Morality - Sam Harris

Does anybody not see the danger in this kind of thinking? It attempts to legitimize one moral philosophy over others by reducing morality to empirical methodology. Empiricism is fact-based, morality is not. FFS, people, baby steps.

The scary part about most of this is that people are convinced they're smarter if they think like that, so there's an ego boost there.

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12-02-2011 , 04:21 PM

#68

Hail Eris

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Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,319

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hardball47

So I guess you were playing devil's advocate in the relativism thread?

I think this kind of thinking is extremely dangerous and it seems to lend itself easily to all kind of utopian totalitarian social engineering programs. But I actually agreed with more of that article than I thought I would, especially the bit about how scientific claims are value laden (e.g. coherency, consistency, parsimony, etc) and for that reason not fundamentally different from moral claims at a certain very basic level.

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12-02-2011 , 07:50 PM

#69

Hardball47

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Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 13,301

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hail Eris

So I guess you were playing devil's advocate in the relativism thread?

Yes, it's a good exercise to try and adamantly argue for positions you don't hold. I personally do think that there are universal moral truths in the same way that two is always greater than one, but I'm not a moral absolutist.

I'm still disappointed in how bunny hasn't seen the ontological category distinction between moral truths and mathematical truths, and how "murder is always wrong" is in a different category than "two is always greater than one". They cannot be compared solely on the basis that they are both universal truths.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hail Eris

I think this kind of thinking is extremely dangerous and it seems to lend itself easily to all kind of utopian totalitarian social engineering programs. But I actually agreed with more of that article than I thought I would, especially the bit about how scientific claims are value laden (e.g. coherency, consistency, parsimony, etc) and for that reason not fundamentally different from moral claims at a certain very basic level.

Morality and science may share the quality of making value statements, but one of the fundamental differences is that morality is intended to be guidelines for living your life. How your morals are define how you conduct yourself in life, including your interactions with others.

Scientific truths, unless they make direct claims on life guidelines (e.g., optimal diet and exercise), does not concern itself with things like whether you should be polite to people or be an *******.

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12-02-2011 , 07:58 PM

#70

Wizard-50

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Tim Tebow article

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12-02-2011 , 08:37 PM

#71

giants73756

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Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 492

I wonder what people will think of that below average QB once he starts losing. It's funny that his team's point differential is negative in games started by him.

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12-03-2011 , 11:16 AM

#72

Splendour

banned

Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 18,896

Argumentative Spirit?

Argumentative or Contending?
By Discernment Group
http://crossroad.to/articles2/007/di...contending.htm

Cure for a Contentious Spirit by Wendell E. Miller
http://www.biblical-counsel.org/qa-23.htm

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12-11-2011 , 09:10 AM

#73

Splendour

banned

Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 18,896

M. Scott Peck, a Harvard educated psychiatrist and bestselling author, on spiritual development.

The Stages Of Spiritual Growth
By M. Scott Peck, M.D.
(The Different Drum by M. Scott Peck, pages 187-203)
Abridged by Richard Schwartz

http://www.factnet.org/Stages_Of_Spiritual_Growth.html

Quote:

"Just as there are discernible stages in human physical and psychological growth, so there are stages in human spiritual development. The most widely read scholar of the subject today is James Fowler of Emory University, the writer of Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning. But I first came to an awareness of these stages through my own personal experience."

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12-24-2011 , 08:55 PM

#74

Splendour

banned

Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 18,896

Something to think about:

Why did god reveal himself to us?
http://religion.answers.wikia.com/wi..._himself_to_us

Why doesn't God REVEAL himself MORE to man? Written by: Clay Willis
http://www.biblestudy.org/question/w...re-to-man.html

In Christianity God is knowable. Read Acts 17 In Athens:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/...17&version=NIV