tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15180929397865244862024-03-05T01:17:43.987-06:00God-free in TennesseeA civil forum for those who affirm reason, reject superstition, believe in human intelligence, and are good without god.Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.comBlogger119125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-66909220253846301282014-07-03T07:15:00.002-05:002014-07-03T07:15:51.324-05:00Faith, freedom, & dishonestyat the 9/11 Memorial/Museum.<br />
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The "last night" letter of the terrorists is posted on a wall, but without any English translation. And so the deeper truth that religious fanaticism was the whole of their horrible cause--that, in the last-night letter God is cited a hundred and twenty-one times--is elided... They did not hate us for our freedom, they hated us for our lack of [their form of] faith... Their godliness does not exhaust the meanings of religion, any more than Pol Pot's atheism exhausts the meanings of doubt. But is is a central fact of the occasion, not illuminated by being ignored.</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/07/07/140707fa_fact_gopnik">Adam Gopnik: Visiting the 9/11 Memorial and Museum : The New Yorker</a>Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-52486326781449882072014-06-18T13:50:00.001-05:002014-06-18T13:50:33.956-05:00Modern Cosmology Versus God's Creation"Atheism is the default position in any scientific inquiry, just as a-quarkism or a-neutrinoism was. That is, any entity has to earn its admission into a scientific account either via direct evidence for its existence or because it plays some fundamental explanatory role. Before the theoretical need for neutrinos was appreciated (to preserve the conservation of energy) and then later experimental detection was made, they were not part of the accepted physical account of the world. To say physicists in 1900 were “agnostic” about neutrinos sounds wrong: they just did not believe there were such things."<br /><br />
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<a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/modern-cosmology-versus-gods-creation/">Modern Cosmology Versus God's Creation - NYTimes.com</a>Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-27205453704173993272013-12-19T13:25:00.001-06:002013-12-19T13:28:23.562-06:00Is There Justice in the Book of Job?<span style="font-family: inherit;">Or is the divinely-sponsored suffering of His good and faithful servant yet another nail in God's coffin, driven by the problem of evil?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The problem was stated most succinctly by David Hume: “Is he willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?” </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">One logical answer is that there is no God. But before the eighteenth century, and during most of it, atheism was not an option, even for the most strong-minded. To choose between two positions, a person must have two to choose from. Before the Enlightenment, the vast majority of Europeans did not... <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2013/12/16/131216crbo_books_acocella?currentPage=all">Joan Acocella: Is There Justice in the Book of Job? : The New Yorker</a></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The earlier impossibility of non-belief is overstated. If you doubt the pre-Enlightenment existence and availability of the atheism option, read Jennifer Michael Hecht's <i>Doubt: A History</i>.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">But Joan Acocella's essay is good. Of <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 25px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 25px;">Mark Larrimore's “The Book of Job: A Biography” (Princeton University Press) she writes:</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 25px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Larrimore maintains a supremely tolerant position. He approves of the wealth of “interpretative openings and opportunities.” Everything is O.K. with him, and he thinks that whatever disagreements there are may lead to community. (This is interesting, since an absolutely crucial aspect of Job’s trial is that he suffers alone.) Such a latitudinarian approach is perhaps appropriate to a reception study, telling who thought what, and who, after them, thought something else, but eventually it comes to seem anti-intellectual. At times, Larrimore sounds like a kindly Unitarian minister, or like Mister Rogers.</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With a God like Job's, Mister Rogers would surely be a comfort.</span>Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-35849139214609914362013-12-18T14:38:00.001-06:002014-01-08T10:54:50.572-06:00Sunday AssemblyJust heard this on NPR, about a pair of comic Brits who so value <a href="http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2013/12/18/organized-non-religion">church without the "god-bit"</a> that they've gone and organized it. There's even a secular <a href="http://sundayassembly.com/">Sunday Assembly</a> chapter here in <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sunday-assembly-nashville-tickets-7713006811">Nashville</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.421875px;">“There’s a ton in the U.S. We went on a road show to go on and sort of launch the first one and sort of give a bit of an example about how it’s done. So we went to New York, Boston, Washington D.C., and Nashville – that was a hoot! The band was so good, unsurprisingly. Then there’s quite a few in California – they have taken it up quite nicely with San Diego. And even in the Deep South there are some in Georgia and Texas. So it’s really exciting to see that people just come forward. There’s a basic human need to get together as a community. And this seems to be a way in which lots of people like doing it.”</span></blockquote>
Here's where to find them <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/directory/?date=weekend">in middle Tennessee this weekend</a>. They're on Twitter too, <a href="https://twitter.com/SundayAssembly">@SundayAssembly</a>.<br />
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Hallelujah!<br />
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UPDATE, Jan. 8, 2014: <a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/01/07/260184473/sunday-assembly-a-church-for-the-godless-picks-up-steam">NPR story on Sunday Assembly</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It sometimes <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">feels</em> like church in the auditorium of the Professional Musicians union in Hollywood. It's a Sunday morning, and hundreds of people are gathered to meditate, sing and listen to inspirational poetry and stories.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">But then the live band starts up — performing songs by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Jerry Lee Lewis. And instead of a sermon, there's a lecture by experimental psychologist and neuroscientist Jessica Cail about the biology of gender identification and sexual orientation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a Los Angeles meeting of Sunday Assembly, a church for people who don't believe in God. The brainchild of two British comedians, the movement has since spread across the globe, and there are now about 30 chapters from Dublin to Sydney to New York... (<a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/01/07/260184473/sunday-assembly-a-church-for-the-godless-picks-up-steam">continues</a>)</span></div>
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Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-40084326310590810422013-12-15T04:42:00.003-06:002013-12-15T04:42:48.418-06:00St. Hitchens' Day.Ladies and Gentlemen, Brothers, Sisters, Comrades...Friends.<br />
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That's the line I use to start every radio show I do. It's the line I use when introducing myself to a group of people. I have used it in every speech I have given in the past couple years.<br />
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It's how Christopher Eric Hitchens used to address his audience.<br />
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I still remember where I was when I found out that Christopher Hitchens had died. <br />
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I was in a hotel in Birmingham, Alabama--headed home for the holidays. I had only just, a matter of weeks before, come across some of Hitch's work--as with all great things, I discovered Hitch while mindlessly running around YouTube. I saw his debates, and fell in love with the "Hitchslap." I ran out to Barnes and Noble and bought <i>god Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything</i> or, as I like to call it (because of its distinctive color), "the big yellow f**k-you to religion." <br />
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I remember falling in love with that tone of his--the vocabulary that w<span style="font-family: inherit;">as 10 miles long, and yet I understood every word from his mouth. There are times I felt he was talking directly to me.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence."</span></span> </blockquote>
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--Letters to a Young Contrarian</blockquote>
Hitch spoke to me, as I suspect he spoke to so many of us. He's a divisive figure, to be sure, but when he spoke he was nothing less than bulletproof. I am reminded of this particular setting of Hitch's debate with Tony Blair, known as the Antitheist's Anthem.<br />
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It's got a couple of Hitch's Greatest Hits, if you will: created sick and commanded to be well, Divine North Korea, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and so on. But it's the line at the end that brings a tear to my eyes every time: </div>
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"No seconds left, I've done my best, Ladies and Gentlemen. Believe me, I have more."</div>
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That's the line that has broken my heart since his death 2 years ago. Hitch was silenced by nothing more than a clock. Reading his <i>Mortality</i> proves that beyond any doubt.</div>
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Hitch was a voice for all things good in the world. He refused to tolerate dictatorship and he abhorred religion, but he absolutely loved people. Hitch was everything I've ever wanted to be--intelligent, witty, funny--and more. He lives on in his writings and the youtube videos that bear his trademark wit, and in the hearts of all those who admired him.</div>
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And so, on this, as I call it, "St. Hitchens' Day," a reference to a quote from the man himself ("atheists don't have saints and we don't have martyrs") I cope the only way I can, by watching his videos, reading some of his essays, and starting my day, as he invariably would, with a "decent slug of Mr. Walker's amber restorative." "Johnnie Walker Black. Breakfast of Champions. Accept no substitutes."</div>
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In loving memory</div>
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of Christopher Eric Hitchens</div>
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April 13, 1949-December 15, 2011</div>
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Jon Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469988131201699173noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-63207671078395569032013-11-20T09:28:00.002-06:002013-11-20T09:28:34.460-06:00Bertrand Russell was inconsistent, spiteful,<span style="background-color: #fefdfb; line-height: 33px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">and one of our greatest guides to the terrifying consolations of human life, says his biographer Alan Ryan in a new introduction to Russell's <i>What I Believe.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fefdfb; line-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are two sorts of atheist – Russell called himself an agnostic to indicate that it was not impossible that there should be some sort of God, but he was perfectly certain that God did not exist, and atheist seems more apt. The position of the first sort of atheist is sometimes paraphrased as “there is no God, and I hate him...”</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">-<a href="http://rationalist.org.uk/articles/4296/misery-kindness-and-fun">New Humanist/The Rationalist Association </a></span><br />
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==<br />
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Also of note: "<a href="http://rationalist.org.uk/articles/4313/wrong-in-the-right-way">Wrong in the Right Way</a>," on Ronald Dworkin's <i>Religion Without God</i>Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-76243646803569783912013-10-06T13:22:00.001-05:002013-10-06T13:22:19.753-05:00Reality is rough<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #ffffe6; color: #555544; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 19px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 25px;"><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: normal;">but it </span><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: normal;">could have been worse</span><span style="font-style: italic; line-height: normal;">. We could have been faced with reality in all its </span><span style="line-height: normal;"><i>roughness plus a God who made it that way." </i>Alex Rosenberg</span></span></h3>
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<a href="http://delightsprings.blogspot.com/2013/10/atheism-philosophy-texts-updated.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #88bb22;">Atheism & Philosophy texts, updated</a></h3>
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<a href="http://delightsprings.blogspot.com/2013/09/coming-to-mtsu-in-january.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #88bb22; text-decoration: none;">Coming to MTSU in January</a></h3>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Spring Semester-</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Atheism & Philosophy</span></b>: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #777777; line-height: 17px; text-align: justify;">PHIL 3310 – </span><strong style="background-color: white; color: #777777; line-height: 17px; text-align: justify;">Atheism and Philosophy</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #777777; line-height: 17px; text-align: justify;">. </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #777777; line-height: 17px; text-align: justify;">This course examines various perspectives on atheism, understood as the belief that no transcendent creator deity exists, and that there are no supernatural causes of natural events. The course compares this belief with familiar alternatives (including theism, agnosticism, and humanism), considers the spiritual significance of atheism, and explores implications for ethics and religion.</em></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">Our central theme this semester</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">: </span><i><span style="font-size: small;">the meaning of Atheism</span></i></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">What's the meaning of a godless existence? What gets atheists, humanists, naturalists and other godless folk out of bed in the morning? What reconciles them to belief in life <i>non</i>-eternal? How do they deal with their mortality? What are their sacred texts, if not the Christian Bible, the Koran, the Torah, the Book of Mormon, the collected works of L.Ron, ...? What<i>are</i></span><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"> </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">the possible "meanings of life" regarded strictly in its finitude?</span></span></blockquote>
<br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Classes will meet on <b>Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:40-4:05 pm </b>in James Union Building (JUB) 202 beginning January 16, 2014.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Texts:</span></div>
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<li style="color: #222222; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A.C. Grayling, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Good-Book-Humanist-Bible/dp/0802778372/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378146173&sr=8-1&keywords=grayling+good+book" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #888888; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The Good Book: A Humanist Bible</a> ("there is experience also, which is what makes good and its opposite, In both of which humankind seeks to grasp the meaning of things")</i></span></li>
<li style="line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222;">Owen Flanagan, </span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Really-Hard-Problem-Material/dp/B005Q755U2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381080611&sr=8-1&keywords=flanagan%2C+really+hard+problem" style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The Really Hard Problem: Meaning in a Material World</a><span style="color: #222222;"> (</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="line-height: normal;">Life can be </span><span style="line-height: normal;">precious and funny</span><span style="line-height: normal;">. And one doesn't need to embrace fantastical </span><span style="line-height: normal;">stories—unbecoming to historically mature beings— about our nature and </span><span style="line-height: normal;">prospects to make it so.")</span></i></span></li>
<li style="color: #222222; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Christopher Hitchens, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mortality-Christopher-Hitchens/dp/1455502758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378146422&sr=8-1&keywords=hitchens+mortality" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #888888; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Mortality</a> (</i><i>“To the dumb question "Why me?" the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: why not?”</i>)</span></li>
<li style="line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">Alex Rosenberg, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Atheists-Guide-Reality-Illusions/dp/0393344118/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381081112&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=rosenbaum+atheist%27s+guide+to+reality" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #669922; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><i>The</i> </a><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Atheists-Guide-Reality-Illusions/dp/0393344118/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381081112&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=rosenbaum+atheist%27s+guide+to+reality" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #669922; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Atheist's Guide to Reality: Enjoying Life Without Illusions</a> ("Reality is rough. </i></span><i><span style="line-height: normal;">But it </span><span style="line-height: normal;">could have been worse</span><span style="line-height: normal;">. We could have been faced with reality in all its </span><span style="line-height: normal;">roughness plus a God who made it that way.")</span></i></li>
<li style="color: #222222; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Carl Sagan, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Varieties-Scientific-Experience-Personal/dp/0143112627/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381081566&sr=8-1&keywords=sagan+varieties+scientific+experience" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #669922; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God</a> ("Carl admired James's definition of religion as a 'feeling of being at home in the Universe'... science opens the way to levels of consciousness otherwise inaccessible")</i></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4334569192441790218" itemprop="description articleBody" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 5px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">Also recommended:</span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4334569192441790218" itemprop="description articleBody" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 5px;">
<ul style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222;">Ronald Aronson, </span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Living-Without-God-Directions-Secularists/dp/1582435308/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381081885&sr=8-1&keywords=aronson%2C+living+without+god" style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Living Without God: New Directions for Atheists, Agnostics, Secularists, and the Undecided</a><span style="color: #222222;"> (</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="line-height: normal;">the number of Americans who find “</span><span style="line-height: normal;">meaning and value in life</span><span style="line-height: normal;"> </span><br style="line-height: normal;" /><span style="line-height: normal;">without looking to a god" is so great that they would constitute the majority of adults in all but a handful of countries")</span></i></span></li>
<li style="color: #222222; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Julian Baggini, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Atheism-A-Very-Short-Introduction/dp/0192804243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378145726&sr=8-1&keywords=baggini+atheism" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #888888; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Atheism</a> ("it is certainly not the case that only endless activities can be meaningful")</i></span></li>
<li style="color: #222222; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alain de Botton, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=de%20botton%20religion%20for%20atheists%20" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #888888; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Religion for Atheists: A Non=believers Guide to the Uses of Religion</a> ("culture might be no less effective than religion in its ability to guide, humanize, and console. One would be able to have <b>meaning</b> unburdened by superstition"</i></span></li>
<li style="color: #222222; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Ronald Dworkin, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Religion-without-God-Ronald-Dworkin/dp/0674726820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381082476&sr=8-1&keywords=dworkin+religion+without+god" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #669922; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Religion Without God</a>("religion is deeper than God... belief in a god is only one possible manifestation")</i></li>
<li style="color: #222222; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">A.C. Grayling, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Religion-without-God-Ronald-Dworkin/dp/0674726820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381082476&sr=8-1&keywords=dworkin+religion+without+god" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #669922; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The God Argument: the Case against Religion and for Humanism</a> ("the major reason for the continuance of religious belief in a world which might otherwise have long moved beyond it, is indoctrination of children before they reach the age of reason")</i></li>
<li style="line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222;">Jennifer Michael Hecht, </span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Religion-without-God-Ronald-Dworkin/dp/0674726820/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381082476&sr=8-1&keywords=dworkin+religion+without+god" style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Doubt: A History</a><span style="color: #222222;"> ("the point is</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="line-height: normal;">to </span><span style="line-height: normal;">teach us to live</span><span style="line-height: normal;">, </span><span style="line-height: normal;">well and wide awake, in our strange place between meaning and </span><span style="line-height: normal;">meaninglessness... </span></span></i><span style="line-height: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">to understand the schism between humanness and the universe"</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.600000381469727px;">)</span></span></li>
<li style="color: #222222; line-height: 25px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hitchens, ed., <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Portable-Atheist-Essential-Nonbeliever/dp/0306816083/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #888888; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-believer</a> ("the concept of a soul without a body seems to me to be empty and devoid of meaning”-</i>Einstein<i>)</i></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-12010722687075787272013-09-02T13:28:00.004-05:002013-09-04T06:42:04.730-05:00The meaning of atheismI've spent Labor Day, so far, just playing: first with <a href="http://jposopher.blogspot.com/2013/09/noble-labor.html">a post on <i>The Butler</i></a>, then a dog-walk, then a swim, then a bike-ride followed by another swim. I think I've earned the right to spend a portion of this day "working" now, albeit playfully, on something fun: the reading list for next semester's <i><a href="http://athphil.blogspot.com/">Atheism & Philosophy</a> </i>course <a href="http://delightsprings.blogspot.com/2013/09/coming-to-mtsu-in-january.html">coming in January</a>.<br />
<br />
The <b>meaning</b> theme we're humming in <a href="http://philoshap.blogspot.com/">HAP 101</a> this semester should carry over nicely: what's the meaning of a godless existence? What gets atheists out of bed in the mornings? What reconciles them to life non-eternal? How do they deal with their mortality? What's their sacred text, if not The Good Book, the Koran, the Torah, the Book of Mormon, the collected works of L.Ron, ...? What <i>is</i> the meaning of life in its finitude?<br />
<br />
So many possibilities leap to mind, but these are the ones that spring forward immediately.<br />
<ul>
<li>Julian Baggini, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Atheism-A-Very-Short-Introduction/dp/0192804243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378145726&sr=8-1&keywords=baggini+atheism">Atheism</a> ("it is certainly not the case that only endless activities can be meaningful")</i></li>
<li>A.C. Grayling, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Good-Book-Humanist-Bible/dp/0802778372/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378146173&sr=8-1&keywords=grayling+good+book">The Good Book: A Humanist Bible</a> (<span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="background-color: white;">there is experience also, which is what makes good and its opposite, </span><span style="background-color: white;">In both of which humankind seeks to grasp the </span><span style="background-color: white;">meaning</span><span style="background-color: white;"> of things")</span></span></i></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alain de Botton, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=de%20botton%20religion%20for%20atheists%20">Religion for Atheists: A Non=believers Guide to the Uses of Religion</a> ("culture might be no less effective than religion in its ability to guide, humanize, and console. <span style="background-color: white;">One would be able to have </span><b style="background-color: white;">meaning</b><span style="background-color: white;"> unburdened by superstition"</span></i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Christopher Hitchens, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mortality-Christopher-Hitchens/dp/1455502758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378146422&sr=8-1&keywords=hitchens+mortality">Mortality</a> (</i><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><i>“To the dumb question "Why me?" the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: why not?”</i>)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hitch, ed., <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Portable-Atheist-Essential-Nonbeliever/dp/0306816083/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z">The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-believer</a> ("<span style="background-color: white;">the concept of a soul without a body seems to me to be </span><span style="background-color: white;">empty and devoid of </span><span style="background-color: white;">meaning</span><span style="background-color: white;">”-Einstein)</span></i></span></li>
</ul>
Additional suggestions?<br />
==<br />
<br />
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The atheist shelf at Vandy B&N, alongside the religion section. If your bookseller lacks one, ask 'em why. <a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-pre-embedded="true" dir="ltr" href="http://t.co/huNhlCQS6W" style="color: #0084b4; text-decoration: none;">pic.twitter.com/huNhlCQS6W</a></div>
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Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-32396217571333128892013-08-15T07:18:00.000-05:002013-08-15T07:18:28.274-05:00The Power of Suggestion...Good day to all! I felt I really should share this here, as it's really quite fascinating. <br />
<br />
British mentalist and skeptic/atheist Derren Brown creates a synthetic and quite powerful religious experience for an atheist/scientist/skeptic using purely psychological and suggestive means. This is truly quite an interesting bit of insight to how religion works...and how we can be manipulated into thinking artificial experiences to be truly supernatural. <br />
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Trust me when I tell you, it's worth the ~45 minutes of your time. If you're like me and you're godless but fascinated by religion and its effects on people, you really must see this.</div>
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Jon Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469988131201699173noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-46803030231495366872013-08-05T07:06:00.001-05:002013-08-05T07:06:55.331-05:00Hidden in plain sightJennifer Hecht's poetic atheism finds traces of constructive doubt everywhere-in Hobbes, history, museums, literature, the Bible...<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"When I wrote Doubt I was surprised to realize how many of the canonical texts of the history of atheism are already in the homes of all sorts of people, because Job and Ecclesiates are in the Hebrew Bible, the story of the Greek-loving secular Jews who fought the Maccabees is in the Apocrypha found in Catholic Bibles, to name a few. Another is the hunk of Thomas Hobbes’s <i>Leviathan</i>, which is a stunning critique of all religion, especially Christianity. I would like people to know how much of the art they see in museums, and how much of poetry and great literature, are in part efforts of religious doubters and atheists to negotiate the existential challenges we all face. I would be very pleased to have Poetic Atheism, and indeed my books and talks, associated with the shift into more awareness of this presently hidden-in-plain-sight history."</blockquote><a href="http://www.thebestschools.org/blog/2012/01/06/jennifer-michael-hecht-interview/">Jennifer Michael Hecht Interview</a>Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-33875469549084216472013-08-02T08:03:00.001-05:002013-08-02T08:03:02.631-05:00Varieties of atheist experienceMy RS colleague promises to introduce me to the UT researcher behind this taxonomy. We'll give him a pulpit in Murfreesboro next Spring if he wants one. That is, we'll invite him to speak to our <i>Atheism & Philosophy </i>class. I think he'll find that we come in more than six varieties.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">An atheist is simply someone without a belief in any deities. But disbelief in gods doesn’t describe individual atheists any more than disbelief in the divinity of Muhammad, Krishna, and Zeus describes individual Christians. Everybody disbelieves in some gods; atheists just disbelieve in more gods than theists do...</blockquote><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/wp/2013/07/31/varieties-of-atheist-experience/">Varieties of atheist experience</a>Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-73198307274463741422013-07-30T20:31:00.001-05:002013-07-30T20:31:03.673-05:00Six Atheist pigeonholesMy own hybrid brand of friendly (not angry) naturalist, humanist, pluralist, saganist, futurist etc. etc. does not seem to fit into any of them, but it'll be interesting in the Spring to canvas my Atheism & Philosophy class to see how many of the pigeonholes do fit.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">"Researchers at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga have completed an extensive study of more than 1,000 non-believers nationwide, and the researchers have identified six basic types of atheists. Dr. Christopher Silver and Thomas J. Coleman led the project, and their study showed that 14% of atheists are angry, confrontational “anti-theists.” However, 12% of atheists are “ritual atheists” who attend religious services even though they don’t believe in the theology. In this feature segment, we find out why some atheists choose church..."</blockquote><a href="http://wutc.org/post/some-atheists-choose-church-over-confrontation">Some Atheists Choose Church Over Confrontation? | WUTC</a>:Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-65376233184845365672013-07-22T06:00:00.000-05:002013-07-22T06:30:42.159-05:00Working for the cureAtheists should stop arguing with theists, says "Mad-dog" Alex Rosenberg. He's<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
fed up with atheists who avoid facing up to the big persistent questions such as: ‘what is the nature of reality, the purpose of the universe, and the meaning of life? Is there any rhyme or reason to the course of human history? Why am I here? Do I have a soul, and if so, how long will it last? What happens when we die? Do we have free will? Why should I be moral? What is love, and why is it usually inconvenient?’ Rosenberg demands that atheists just <b>stop arguing with theists</b>, for one because ‘contemporary religious belief is immune to rational objection’ but also because it eats into the time atheists should be taking to <b>work through the implications of their own worldview</b>. Atheists need to spend more time getting to grips with what they should know about the reality we inhabit because science reveals it is ‘stranger than even many atheists recognise... <a href="http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/nice-nihilism/">Nice Nihilism » 3:AM Magazine</a></blockquote>
Richard Dawkins has done more than his share of getting to grips and he agrees, reality is stranger than we probably can imagine. But he's still sporting this message:<br />
<img height="357" src="http://d2ttfyrfmig6p1.cloudfront.net/uploads/store_item/picture/3126/large_RD_20Religion_203_20Resized_202.jpg" width="400" /><br />
<br />
Like the faith-challenged <a href="http://t.co/Nkp8LnxcWD">Mormons featured in the <i>Times</i></a> yesterday, he just wants the truth. It can hurt, and it can liberate. Part of the important reality of our historical situation is that some of us still do not want the truth. They must be argued with, for all the good that may not do; but more than that, they must be superceded. We don't have to bad-mouth religion, we just need to clarify its superior naturalistic alternative.Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-26775342420105662312013-07-15T08:22:00.001-05:002013-07-15T08:22:56.072-05:00Rethinking the Lord's PrayerBuckminster Fuller was one of those humanist freethinkers (like John Dewey) who rejected God but still talked about divinity and a common faith in something he called "God." I still prefer to be God-free, but if I were going to talk that way I might sound something like this too:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">To be satisfactory to science<br />
all definitions<br />
must be stated<br />
in terms of experience<br />
I define Universe as<br />
all of humanity’s<br />
in-all-known-time<br />
consciously apprehended<br />
and communicated (to self or others)<br />
experiences.<br />
In using the word, God,<br />
I am consciously employing<br />
four clearly differentiated<br />
from one another<br />
experience-engendered thoughts...</blockquote><br />
No need to go into all that here. Suffice to say Fuller, like Dewey, like James, was concerned to enhance the quality of human experience and extract from it whatever meaning it might be made to contain. "Acknowledging the mathematically elegant intellectual integrity of eternally regenerative Universe is one way of identifying God." Whatever floats your dome, Bucky. Say it as you will, we can agree:<br />
<br />
Up with the natural and human spirit, up with experience, up with life.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/07/12/buckminster-fuller-ever-rethinking-the-lords-prayer/?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffer501f5&utm_medium=twitter">Happy Birthday, Buckminster Fuller: A Scientific Prayer | Brain Pickings</a>Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-2456524152395595822013-07-08T07:14:00.001-05:002013-07-08T07:14:01.918-05:00Hitch, closet dualistMeghan O'Rourke's sobering essay on how some writers have written their own endings includes Hitch's acknowledgement that rejecting dualism is much easier said than done, when it comes down to it. Even the staunchest atheist is liable to look for an escape clause.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">In notes appended to “Mortality,” Hitchens observes: “Always prided myself on my reasoning faculty and my stoic materialism. I don’t have a body, I am a body. Yet consciously and regularly acted as if this was not true, or as if an exception would be made in my case.”</blockquote>The wise and brilliant John Updike was also taken aback by his final confrontation with the human condition, made to realize that we're really only young once.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.200002670288086px; line-height: 22.000003814697266px;">As [he] asks in earnest, heartbreaking surprise, having glimpsed himself looking remarkably old in a bathroom mirror, “Where was the freckled boy who used to peek / into the front-hall mirror, off to school?”</span></blockquote>Anatole Broyard also had to discover at first hand, as we all probably do, that the trite truth still and always applies:we don't have forever. O'Rourke:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 15.200002670288086px; line-height: 22.000003814697266px;">The dissonance here is that dying is not really like entering “another country.” As Sontag observed accurately, it is our country from birth: “Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick.” But in a world that lacks an ethics of death, as ours does, we live estranged from this deeper knowledge. Perhaps because we must.</span></blockquote><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/books/review/deadlines.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&ref=books">Deadlines - NYTimes.com</a>Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-63184257327545829662013-07-01T07:49:00.001-05:002013-07-01T07:49:26.139-05:00What a fool believesor a lemming.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBaMdvpnUXg7C0A1lelqJ_43yFcG1wZGogf7e3Bt96XKgu8_WI4MT34nnN3V6O7H9HbPP7FfXxbXOJkEpemF2TOxYk5f0r3n3yQnioCkp8njdo5TjNBF2tdPM5oQecP-stJl-VjPavWos/s259/lemmings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcBaMdvpnUXg7C0A1lelqJ_43yFcG1wZGogf7e3Bt96XKgu8_WI4MT34nnN3V6O7H9HbPP7FfXxbXOJkEpemF2TOxYk5f0r3n3yQnioCkp8njdo5TjNBF2tdPM5oQecP-stJl-VjPavWos/s259/lemmings.jpg" /></a></div>
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-<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/bob_mankoff_anatomy_of_a_new_yorker_cartoon.html">Bob Mankoff, Anatomy of a <i>New Yorker</i> cartoon: TED</a></div>
<br />Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-1035018616884626092013-06-26T14:29:00.001-05:002013-06-26T14:32:40.369-05:00Church of what's happenin' nowThat's an ancient Flip Wilson routine, if my dated reference has expired.<br />
<br />
A de-converted former Pentecostal preacher, Brother Jerry DeWitt, wants to gather a flock of atheists.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Mr. DeWitt counts himself among the hard-line atheists, but he believes that something may be lost when someone leaves the church — not just the parts about God, but also a sense of community and a connection to emotion. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“There are many people that even though they come to this realization, they miss the way the church works in a way that very few other communities can duplicate,” he said in a phone interview. “The secular can learn that just because we value critical thinking and the scientific method, that doesn’t mean we suddenly become disembodied and we can no longer benefit from our emotional lives...”</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alaindebotton.com%2Fpages%2Fabout%2Findex.asp%3FPageID%3D199&ei=YEHLUeTiBpLU9AS4j4CADA&usg=AFQjCNFaUKoKcXOe694lKdrFvHPcmagwNQ&sig2=rSML-7CYht3yKze-AVpuWw&bvm=bv.48340889,d.eWU">School of Life</a>, Cajun-style. What would Alain ("Religion for Atheists") de Botton say?<br />
<br />
Personally I do all kinds of embodied and emotional things on my secular Sundays. I don't feel a need to congregate piously in public anymore, not even with Unitarians. That impulse was sporadic and tepid even at its most fevered pitch, though it was still bad enough to unfit me for Belmont University in the '90s.<br />
<br />
But maybe there are those among us who need something like this? Follow your bliss.<i> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laissez_les_bons_temps_rouler" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px; text-decoration: none;" title="Laissez les bons temps rouler">Laissez les bons temps rouler</a>.</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/24/us/in-the-bible-belt-offering-atheists-a-spiritual-home.html?_r=0">In the Bible Belt, Offering Atheists a Spiritual Home - NYTimes.com</a>Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-7536533430145121152013-06-05T11:05:00.001-05:002013-06-05T11:05:32.959-05:00Atheists see starsStephen King thinks atheists are incapable of appreciating the wonder and mystery and majesty and meaning of existence. He told Terry Gross,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">If you say, ‘Well, OK, I don’t believe in God. There’s no evidence of God,’ then you’re missing the stars in the sky and you’re missing the sunrises and sunsets and you’re missing the fact that bees pollinate all these crops and keep us alive and the way that everything seems to work together. Everything is sort of built in a way that to me suggests intelligent design.</blockquote>I'm disappointed, I thought Stephen was smarter than that. Brian Switek has a terrific response in <i>National Geographic. </i>He's not missed any stars or sunsets.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/02/evolution-is-wonderful/">Evolution is Wonderful – Phenomena: Laelaps</a>Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-56486695943317040822013-05-24T06:36:00.001-05:002013-06-05T10:52:46.187-05:00Silent prayer, please<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">mentions of God, miracles, and prayer have become the argot of post-disaster reportage. They shouldn’t be. If you want to pray for Oklahoma or thank God it didn’t kill more people, go ahead. But please, especially if you’re a journalist, keep it to yourself.</span></blockquote>
<div class="text parbase section" style="border: 0px; line-height: 17.984375px; margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanking the Lord for deliverance just doesn’t make any sense. Any God powerful and attentive enough to save survivors’ lives should also be powerful and attentive enough to stop the catastrophe in the first place. It’s insulting, futile, and distracting from the reality of natural disasters to inject your god into a calamity like Oklahoma's.</span></blockquote>
</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not that most public figures are hesitating to do so...</span></span></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/05/prayers_for_oklahoma_wolf_blitzer_and_other_journalists_should_leave_god.html">Prayers for Oklahoma: Wolf Blitzer and other journalists should leave God and miracles out of natural disasters. - Slate Magazine</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/33680/lightbox/TMW2013-05-29color.png?1369352665" rel="lightbox" style="background-color: white; color: #7c470c; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span class="image_container" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/33680/large/TMW2013-05-29color.png?1369352665" style="border: none; display: inline; line-height: 1.4; margin: 8px 24px; padding: 0px;" /></span></a><br />
<br />
I heard a pastor on the radio, asked what possible words of consolation he could offer survivors of the woman and small child who lost their lives in the storm, trying futilely to rescue another small family member whose elementary school was destroyed. "Just remember that God loves you as much as you love your own children, as much as she loved hers."<br />
<br />
Shameless. Shameful.Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-19972921797697104412013-05-11T15:56:00.001-05:002013-05-11T16:03:29.190-05:00Godlike Great Programmers<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The final strategy of those seeking compatibility between religion and science is to retreat into something that is reminiscent of solipsism... In a recent book, ”Where the Conflict Really Lies,” the eminent analytical philosopher Alvin Plantinga acknowledges the possibility of evolution, but suggests that random mutations and the like are “clearly compatible with their being caused by God.</span> </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjURsIC-kTKnYxu-xIe4kHR5vyeR_AwTnq4TKGM9Gd5vrgeGynhgTaVlDkOmsWjxW_CJ43AYH_Iq8f98aPj4a2yLGI7gIx0s8W0grw78SXkFfYjZrSegKARlP8hyCY1HBxMu5aZ6lnEoJY/s320/org_god.jpg" width="262" /> </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px;">Plantinga argues that </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Warranted-Christian-Belief-Alvin-Plantinga/dp/0195131932" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px; outline: 0px;" target="_blank">Christian believers have a sixth sense</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px;">, a “</span><i style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px;">sensus divinitatis</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px;">” that allows them to sense God, with that sense defective or absent in nonbelievers. One could, of course, equally generate an infinite range of similar hypotheses, none scientifically testable, such as “only Zeus believers have a working Zeus sense,” “only ghost believers have a ghost sense,” and so forth, but...</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 25px;">But that's enough. My acute sixth sense for theo-nonsense is quavering.</span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/04/schmidhuber-eagleman-science-religion-artificial-intelligence.html?mobify=0">Godlike Great Programmers: The Scientists Arguing for Religious Belief : The New Yorker</a> (Thanks for the link, DB)Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-29814708545853948562013-05-10T06:54:00.000-05:002013-05-10T08:29:17.439-05:00A BRIEF DIGRESSION ON ATHEISM VS. AGNOSTICISM<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Garamond;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A BRIEF<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DIGRESSION ON ATHIESM VS. AGNOSTICISM.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Garamond;">
<!--EndFragment--></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Garamond;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I swear,</span></b><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> I heard Penn Jillette use this argument somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when I searched for it, I couldn’t find
it as I remembered it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hell, maybe I
just made it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, taking a move from
the man himself, I’m just going to present this as my own and if anyone finds
it, you can tell Penn I said I’m sorry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So let’s get to it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">People who identify as “agnostic” as opposed to
“atheist” kinda frustrate me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a
fairly good reason for my argument, and that is this: Agnosticism and Atheism
are not mutually exclusive by any means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They don’t even answer the same question.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Agnosticism answers an epistemological question: “is
there a god?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer to this, at
least in the case of any reasonable human, is “I don’t know.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the nature of a deity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It supposedly exists outside our plane of
reality so its existence cannot be known beyond doubt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Atheism answers the theological question: “do you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">believe</i> that there is a god?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a different question entirely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a yes-or-no question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">believe</i>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If yes, you’re a theist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If no, you’re an atheist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Let me offer an example.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Right now, as you’re reading this, I’d like to ask
you if there’s an invisible elephant in your bathtub.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, is there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s invisible…so you can’t really observe
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So your only reasonable answer to
the question can only be “I don’t know.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You’re currently an Agnostic towards a theoretical invisible elephant in
your bathtub.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, if I ask you whether
you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">believe,</i> given the evidence, that
there is an elephant in your bathtub, then (hopefully) you’ll say “no, I don’t
believe there’s an elephant in my bathtub.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What a ridiculous question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fuck
you.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re now an Atheist towards
see-through bathtub Dumbo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The point is, most Atheists are Agnostic, and
honestly, in their heart of hearts, I’d go as far as to say that most
self-identifying Agnostics are Atheists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Go ahead and put whatever label you want on
yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s your prerogative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I’m saying is, don’t try to present an
epistemological answer to a theological question.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></rant> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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Jon Gillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06469988131201699173noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-79370397380145213132013-05-09T22:33:00.000-05:002013-05-09T22:33:12.235-05:00Science and Religion: Are They Compatible?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Some questions are easy to ask, and
also easy to answer. Take for example,
peanut butter and chocolate. Are they
compatible? The answer is a resounding
yes, of course. Or, just as easily,
enriched uranium and unprotected human tissue?
That one gets you a resounding no.
Other questions are easy to ask, but quite hard (or even impossible) to
answer. Do you see red as the same color
that I do? Not a clue. What happened before the Big Bang? Sounds pretty straightforward, right? It turns out that this might not even be a
valid question, much less admit of a sensible answer. Other questions, like the compatibility of
science and religion, really come down to a proper definition of terms. As with so many things, a lot turns on what
we mean when we say things like “science,” “compatible,” and “religion.” So let’s take a look at what this question is
really asking, and then decide what we’ll accept as an answer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First of all, let’s get the easy stuff out of the way. If you’re not interested in getting too deep,
or you can’t really be bothered to think about things beyond the surface
details, let me just go right ahead and answer the question for you. Are science and religion compatible? Yes, and you need look no further than
Francis Collins (or any other religious scientist) for proof. Collins is a scientist, he is a very
religious man, and he has not yet (to my knowledge) spontaneously
combusted. He, and others like him, are
walking, talking examples of the apparent compatibility of science and
religion. Easy, right? You can now safely go back to church, safe in
the knowledge that your faith can be reconciled with the findings of modern
science.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But for those of you interested in looking a little deeper
down the rabbit hole, let’s pause for a moment and see what our dear Mr.
Francis has actually accomplished for us.
What he seems to represent is compatibility between two different areas
of human endeavor, those of religion and science. But he has only accomplished this feat by
accepting a very flimsy definition of “compatible.” If by “compatible” one means to say that two
things are compatible if they can occur simultaneously in the same space,
context, frame of reference, or head of a person, then clearly Mr. Collins
qualifies. But by this definition,
enriched uranium and unprotected human tissue enjoy the same level of
compatibility. Both items are clearly
able to occupy the same space, regardless of the harm that one will surely do
the other. Another good example would be
the compatibility enjoyed by married adulterers. Is committed marriage compatible with
adultery? Since there seems to be no
shortage of persons who manage to be married while simultaneously engaging in
adultery, the answer must be yes. There
is apparently enough room in the minds of these people to simultaneously hold
the thoughts “I am married” and “I am having an affair” without an insurmountable
level of cognitive dissonance. And of
course we could list countless examples of just this type of minimalist
compatibility, from the mundane to the truly extraordinary. So clearly we must mean something more when
we say that two things are compatible.
What we really mean is, the two things in question don’t have
conflicting interests, they share common goals or outcomes, they complement
each other in some way, they are harmonious, etc. This deeper meaning of compatibility is what
people like Francis Collins would like us to believe the relationship is like
between science and religion. Not just
capable of coexistence, but truly harmonious, without conflict.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This would be a good time to point out that there is more
than one way to have compatibility between two different things. One way is to reconcile the two, as any good accommodationist
will tell you has already been done. The other is to decide that there is nothing
to reconcile, by virtue of the two things in question having absolutely nothing
to do with each other. This second route
is that of NOMA, or non-overlapping magisteria.
Famously popularized by the late Stephen J. Gould, this tactic simply
mandated that the realms (or magisteria) of science and religion simply didn't overlap. Science tells us how the
heavens go, and religion tells us how to go to heaven. It’s like deciding that the genres of science
fiction and romance can’t be in conflict since they exist in different magisteria. One side gets spaceships and aliens, the
other side gets swashbucklers and moonlit walks on the beach, and never the
twain shall meet. Easy, right?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But here is where we run into the second problematic term of
our initial question, that of “religion.”
Let’s give religion a broad definition, something like “a belief system
involving some combination of tradition, the supernatural, and revealed
knowledge.” But it’s not like there’s
just one religion, despite what some Southern Baptist fundamentalists would like
you to believe. When Gould brokered him
infamous peace treaty between the realms of science and religion, his
rose-colored glasses must have been firmly seated in place. I can almost see him, gazing off into a
future where scholarly theologians shepherded their flocks with hard-won moral
instruction gleaned from the brittle pages of some ancient religious text,
never daring to tread into areas that might come into conflict with the
empirical sciences. Maybe there are
religions out there might fit this pie-in-the-sky vision, but to say that they
are few and far in between would be an epic understatement. Imagine a religion that concerned itself only
with “spiritual, ethical, and moral” matters, deferring to the findings of
science, never preferring revealed knowledge to peer-reviewed findings,
refusing to accept extraordinary claims of the supernatural without equally
extraordinary evidence, never attempting to legislate their religious views on
others, ready to change cherished beliefs and traditions when they had been
shown to be false. Can you imagine such
a religion? If so, that is the kind of
religion that Gould envisioned as being compatible with science. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now ask yourself, what sort of religious person would be
satisfied with such a religion? If you’re
taking your poll in Tennessee, or any part of the South, the answer would be
precious few. Even a religion that only
concerned itself with matters of morality would find itself increasingly
crowded out by science, since huge inroads are being made into the biological
underpinnings of the brain. Once we
understand (and can manipulate) the mechanics of morality, what role will be
left for religion? No, NOMA is merely a
holding action against the stunning success of science, an attempt to wall off
some small portion of human endeavor as “sacred.” The reality is that science has been biting
off chunks of religion’s magesteria for hundreds of years now, and religion
knows it. In the never-ending contest to
provide better and better explanations for the world we see around us, science
is winning, and winning big.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But what is “science,” in the context of our initial
question? Is it just people with lots of
letters behind their name, busily shuffling test tubes and launching telescopes
into orbit? Is it only the “hard”
sciences, like genetics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, physics, or engineering? Not necessarily. For our purposes, a much broader definition
of science will do just fine. We could
define it as “rational and empirical investigation, coupled with a skeptical
approach towards facts.” So with this definition
of science, just how compatible is Francis Collin’s day job with his weekend
activities? Just how much skepticism can
something like the crucifixion of Jesus stand up to? How compatible is a belief system involving the
supernatural with a scientific mindset?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since I've already acknowledged that there are many
different forms of religion, and since I've already been picking on Francis
Collins, let’s just keep on with Christianity as our test subject for
scientific compatibility. The first
thing to notice is how quickly most religious people will point out the improbability
of other religions actually being true. Christians
will go on and on about how perfectly apparent it is that God created the
universe (maybe even in six days,) breathed life into non-living matter, inserted
an immortal soul into every person, destroyed the earth in a worldwide flood,
sent his son to earth to serve as a human sacrifice to atone for sin, and that
he now sits in Heaven where he watches each and every one us every single day—all
while orchestrating a Master Plan for us, where we all have a divinely mandated
purpose that may or may not include violent death and dismemberment at any
given time. And if we somehow manage to
successfully act out our part of this Plan, we will spend an eternity in
paradise singing God’s praises. If we
fall short, however, we can look forward to an eternity of unimaginable torment
in a lake of fire, also lovingly prepared by God. Not a shred of evidence is presented to back
up these extravagant claims, apart from a few ancient manuscripts handed down
from a time of pre-scientific barbarism.
But the same Christian will have no trouble at all dismissing something
as obviously ludicrous as an elephant-headed god, or the idea that the universe
was woven together by a deity from threads of chaos, or even a whole panoply of
gods who live in a mansion on a mountaintop.
Those things are just silly, and where’s the proof? What, all you have is just some collection of
old stories? Suddenly skepticism is the
easiest thing in the world, and rightly so.
But somehow when the religion in question is held by a majority of one’s
peers, and the social pressure for conformity is high, skepticism is hard to
come by. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Obviously, the vast majority of believers did not arrive at
their religious beliefs as the end result of some process of skeptical
evaluation. Certainly Francis Collins
did not. Like many believers, his
journey was one of emotional resonance that had little or nothing to do with facts,
evidence, or rationality. Religion
provides comfort and easy answers for billions of people, in a way that science
has a hard time competing with. Somehow,
the knowledge that we are the latest link in an unbroken chain of evolved life
stretching back billions of years into the past lacks the same emotional
connection provided by many of the world’s religions. One solution to this problem is to (you
guessed it) attempt to make science “compatible” with religion. By liberally interpreting both religion and
science, you can come up with a religion that isn't threatened by science and a
science that doesn't threaten religion. On the contrary, you can simply attribute all
the wondrous discoveries of science to the mysterious workings of some god or
other. Has science piled up an
overwhelming amount of evidence that evolution is a fact? No worries, just insist that evolution is the
mechanism that God chose to bring about humans.
Has science shown beyond a reasonable doubt that the universe is over 14
billion years old? No biggie, just
interpret the book of Genesis as a metaphor.
If a religious believer is convinced of the truth of their beliefs, they
can be endlessly creative in the reinterpretation of those beliefs to fit the
present facts. In this delicious display
of irony, we can trace the evolution of religious belief as it has been forced
to adapt in the face of a relentless assault by science. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, how should we answer the question: are science and religion
compatible? If we define our terms in
such a way as to do justice to both concepts, the only honest answer has to be
no. There is no scientific support for
the supernatural (a necessary component of any religion that we would recognize
as such,) and religion has continually given ground in the face of scientific
advances. To be clear, science can never
rule out supernatural claims. But then
again, science doesn’t rule out anything.
It merely makes provisional conclusions based on the preponderance of
evidence. And based on the evidence,
there is no reason to believe that religion is anything more than an outdated
explanatory model that has outlived its usefulness. A politically powerful, socially acceptable,
longstanding explanatory model, yes. But
none of these attributes attest to whether or not religion has anything to say
that has any scientific validity, or whether or not science and religion can
enjoy anything other than proximity—not compatibility. <o:p></o:p></div>
Super Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17232031019529024050noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-65284278196188269862013-05-09T21:41:00.001-05:002013-05-09T21:41:23.133-05:00Science vs. Religion: Tweaking the Creed
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.25in; margin-right: 84.0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i>“Our belief </i><i>[atheistic]</i><i style="line-height: 200%;"> is not belief. Our principles
are not faith. We do not rely solely upon science and reason, because
these are necessary rather than sufficient factors, but we distrust anything
that contradicts science or outrages reason.”</i><span style="line-height: 200%;"> ~Christopher Hitchens</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 48.0pt;">
When I first read Christopher Hitchens’ book <i>God Is Not
Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, </i>I realized he and I had something
in common. Hitchens’ grade school teacher, when he was approximately nine years
old, told him that God made the grass and trees green because it is is "restful" to our eyes (p. 2). Neither Christopher nor I had heard of the
Argument from Design at that age, but my fourth grade teacher made a similar
assessment about the nature of reality. She asked us why the rivers,
ponds, creeks, and streams around eastern Kentucky—the planet’s oceans for that
matter—didn’t overtake the beautiful dry land we inhabited. Several of us
began thumbing through our science books for the answer to no avail. Lo
and behold—and conveniently I might add—as the wife of a fundamentalist
preacher, she found the answer in her ever-present King James Bible, which she
displayed proudly on her desk. She read the “correct” answer aloud in
class from Genesis 1:9—“And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heaven be
gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was
so.’” Hitchens described his reaction to his teacher’s statement as
“appalled” and “embarrassed.” I could only describe mine at that time as
“skeptical.” But nevertheless, that (among many other proclamations) set
Hitch and me on a journey—a journey to separate fact from folly, truth from
falsity, and reality from superstition. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 48.0pt;">
In the debate concerning the nature of reality, it’s hard to
tell whether we’re progressing or regressing. It seems to depend on whom
you ask, and with whom one is debating. In a recent Gallop Poll (2012),
nearly one-in-three (30%) of Americans (not just Christians—all Americans)
believe the Bible is the literal word of God. 47% of Christians believe
reading Bible stories allegorically or metaphorically “waters down” the
meaning—therefore, they interpret the stories literally. Biblical
literalism asserts a 6,000 old earth created in six days, talking snakes,
global floods, miracles, virgin birth, burning bushes that speak, and Jews
rising from the dead, just to name a few. This type of thinking turns the
animated prime-time television sitcom, <i>The Flintstones, </i>into a
documentary. Fantastic and unfathomable as these scientific and historical
claims may seem to some, they are accepted as reality by 47% of
Christians. “God said it, I believe it, that settles it” seems to be the
final word. In the religion vs. science debate, most religions make
claims about not only the supernatural, e.g., gods, angels, demons, afterlife,
magic, etc., it makes claims about the natural world as well, or more
specifically, how supernatural beings intervene in the natural world.
Whether gods make grass green to please our eyes or keep earth’s waters in its
prospective boundaries (tsunamis and floods notwithstanding), we seem forced to
ask, given these empirical claims about the natural world, if science is
compatible with religion. But I would argue there are a few more
questions to ask before we get to compatibility, e.g., which god, which
religion, and which subset of that religion is the “true” religion—the one from
which we must inquire about this compatibility? Given these complications
and complete absence of empirical evidence for gods, I don’t think the debate
requires any serious thought to begin with. But let me digress.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 48.0pt;">
Before we even start talking about whether religion is
compatible with science, one must first inquire which god of which religion,
and the nature or definition of the particular god within that particular brand
of religion. Usually, questions of whether science is compatible with
religion make the assumption that it’s directed towards the Abrahamic
religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. This is an extremely small
sample of gods and religions from which to choose, all of which have one shred
of evidence for their existence. The Hindus notwithstanding and since
recorded history, man has invented thousands upon thousands of gods. This
doesn’t even take into consideration all the gods man didn’t have the means to
document. If we’re going to talk about science/religion compatibility, we
should look at the entire spectrum of gods and religions. When we pull
back and take a broader look, it’s easy too see how ridiculous the question is
to start with. In Christianity alone, there are approximately 41,000
different brands that interpret the “Word of God” differently (Pew Forum on
Religion and Public Life, 2011). If we start from this perspective, the
thought of religion being compatible with anything or have any authority
regarding meaning much less nature seems absurd. Of course, running 3,000
– 5,000 gods through the science vs. religion test would an arduous undertaking
at this time, but it’s prudent to keep those numbers in mind when we narrow the
question down to two or three gods—depending on who’s counting. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 48.0pt;">
First of all, religion isn’t compatible with religion.
Alvin Plantinga, co-author of <i>Science and Religion: Are They Compatible? </i>in
his very first paragraph, notes that his detractors are acutely aware of this
fact (p. 1). Theists conveniently use various interpretations of “holy
books” depending on the specific purpose or preference, e.g., proselyting,
raising money, subjugating, or debating. When theists proselytize, gods
becomes undeniable, unstoppable, all-powerful, yet invisible force in the
cosmos—a personal God that is ready to bless or smite—depending on its
capricious mood. Alternatively, gods get conceptually mysterious and
ineffable during academic debates, moving way out into the cosmos as an unmoved
mover or deep into the inner workings of quantum mechanics, which is a good
place for a god to hide because the late Nobel Laureate in physics Richard
Feynman reportedly said, “I think it’s safe to say that no one understands
quantum mechanics.” Mysterious gods always hide in mysterious
places. When humanity thought the world was flat and the earth was the
center of the universe, we were mystified (if not terrified) of weather. Gods hid in the thunder and lighting, on top
of mountains, and in the stormy seas. As sciences keeps blowing all these
gods' cover, hidden places are getting harder to come by. Presently, in
more “sophisticated” circles, gods are hiding deep in the rhetoric of
cosmological arguments as well as tinkering with the evolutionary process when
no one was looking. Those versions of God play well on debate stages, but
with gods or “unmoved movers” in hiding, the deistic version of God is contrary
to nearly half the nation’s idea of a personal God, one who responds to
petitionary prayer. Most Americans believe in a personal god just
like the one in the Rolling Stones’ song <i>Faraway Eyes, </i>when Mick
testified that according to many Sunday morning radio evangelists, Jesus was
sitting right beside you in your car when you “ran 30 red lights in His honor.”
(Jagger, Richards, 1978). Evidently, all you have to do is ask. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 48.0pt;">
Christopher Hitchens (2007), introducing Daniel Dennett’s
essay in <i>The Portable Atheist, </i>reminds us that when atheists (and/or
scientists) engage in religious arguments with “believers,” they must realize
that the religiously inclined are “choosing <i>a la carte </i>from an infinite
menu of possible affirmations (p. 328). When theists use the word “god”
or “religion” in a sentence, it adds nothing more than confusion.
Wittgenstein made this argument in his second body of work <i>Philosophical
Investigations</i> where he insists: “So one might say: the ostensive
definition explains the use—the meaning—of the word when the overall role of
the word in language is clear (I-4e, 30). But as Hitchens noted, use of
the word “god” is neither ostensive nor clear. The word “religion”
suffers (or enjoys, depending on its purpose) the same status. This
anomaly is commonly known as the moveable goalpost. With the word
"science," definitions generally fall into two categories: science as
a verb (method), or science as a noun (content). Regarding the word
"religion," the buffet is open for business, and the menu is made to
fit the occasion. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Stephen Jay Gould attempted to reconcile this obvious
commingling in his famous essay <i>Nonoverlapping Magisteria, </i>commonly
known by the acronym NOMA. Gould, who is an atheistic Jew, has conveniently
demarcated the magisteria of science exploring “the empirical constitution of
the universe” and religion to “the search for proper ethical values and
spiritual meaning in our lives” (para. 7.) Recently—having spent an
entire semester of Religious Studies at MTSU with Rabbi Rami, who is also an
atheistic Jew, it’s easy to see where Gould might propose this narrow
definition of religion. Liberal Judaism teaches students of the Hebrew
Bible to search for “truths” or meaning in the text. To take the Hebrew
Bible or the King James Bible literally would be seen as absurd. But
herein, as in Gould’s NOMA, the problem lies: one-third of Americans believe in
the literal interpretation of the Bible. Just within Christianity
(personal revelation not withstanding), the lack of consensus on just about
anything should give us pause about the veracity of its universal “truth.”
But Gould insists the two magisterias don’t overlap, but simply butt
right up against one another, although it’s not clear what is butting up
against what. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The whole fuss with the science vs. religion debate is usually
around one thing: evolution. Prior to 1859, nearly everyone was a
Creationist in some sense or the other. Sure, there were naturalistic or
atomistic theories—sketchy guesses and speculation in the absence of
evidence—but most theories postulated divine intervention in the process at
some point. But when Charles Darwin published <i>On The Origin of Species
</i>in 1859, he drove a stake directly through the heart of Creationism
(Intelligent Design), and it has never recovered. Evolution robs gods of
not only creation—but also purpose. This idea is, as Daniel Dennett
noted, dangerous. The danger lies in the fact that a god or gods aren’t
needed in the process, or as famous French mathematician and astronomer
Pierre-Simon Laplace and, more recently, British theoretical physicist and
cosmologist Steven Hawking both have asserted: there’s no need for a god in the
hypothesis.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Alvin Plantinga tries to rescue religion from the teeth of
empirical evidence in <i>Science and Religion: Are They Compatible? </i>but
the fundamentalists have placed too much cadaver on the proverbial
table to pretend it's not there. Plantinga, putting his best foot first,
lays out his argument for evolution-theism compatibility by defining religion
in terms of C. S. Lewis’s “mere Christianity,” where Lewis argues that God must
exist because we yearn for God, and we wouldn’t yearn for something that
doesn’t exist. By defining God as a yearning, Plantinga tries his best to
ignore the immediate arguments. But Daniel Dennett, Plantinga’s co-author
in this debate-style book runs with Plantinga’s theism and challenges him with
Supermanism in a Superman vs. God showdown. Dennett argues that Plantinga’s
theism isn’t any more plausible than Dennett’s Supermanism, and places the
burden of proof on Plantinga to prove that it isn’t. Dennett (2011)responds:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Now the burden of proof falls on Plantinga to show
why his theist story deserves any more respect or credence than this one.
I myself cannot see any rational grounds for preferring his theism over my
Supermanism—which I don’t espouse, but see as perfectly consistent with
contemporary evolutionary theory” (pp. 28-29).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Plantinga charges that Dennett’s argument is silly, and Supermanism
isn’t to be taken seriously. But that’s Dennett’s whole point: it’s silly
on purpose—just like Plantinga’s theism. The same could be said for C. S.
Lewis’s argument for the existence of God. If someone has a strong
yearning for Superman to protect them, to go out into the world and fight the
bad guys—therefore, Superman must exist and not be some hero-fantasy in a DC
comic book. Plantinga claims that Supermanism is not at all like his
version of theism. But Dennett (2011) points out that this only proves
how Plantinga’s faith has “disciplined his imagination” (p. 46). <o:p></o:p></div>
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This brings me back to my first point, which is often
repeated in religious debates regarding religious inconsistency: they all can’t
be true, but they call can be false. Calling a supernatural being God,
Allah, Fred, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster (respect His noodleness!) adds
nothing to the conversation. It’s only reasonable just in terms of
probability that they are all false, given the fact that most religious claims
are demonstrably false. Science may not be able to answer the “why” questions,
but as Dawkins (2008) points out: what makes us think that theologians are any
more qualified to answer these question any more than scientists—or the chef or
the gardener (p. 80). Reasonable people are fleeing corporate, organized
religion like bikers from a Justin Bieber concert. Decent, loving, and
thoughtful people are fed up with this patriarchal nonsense, and they are
starting to think for themselves. Humanity eventually gets bored with
gods, and present-day deistic company is no exception. The violence, genocide,
misogyny, murder, rape, and slavery in the Bible is becoming appalling to the
majority of America’s youth (2012, Pew Forum, Nones on the Rise). Christianity will go the way of astrology,
whereas people will practice Christianity, but it won’t be taken
seriously. Those in search of a spiritual life will invent another
god—hopefully a god more favorable to modernity—and Yahweh will be cast into
the grave with the thousands of other gods man has invented. Humans have
the natural capacity for justice, compassion, empathy, and love. Just as
with science, worshiping or positing a god adds nothing to morality.
One day, society will look back and marvel at the level of
fanaticism that was endured over belief in an all-powerful, omniscient,
supernatural being—and laugh. I say, “Why wait?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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References<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
Dawkins,
R. (2008). <i>The god delusion. </i>(2<sup>nd</sup> ed.). New York, NY: Mariner
Books.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
Dennett,
D. C., Plantinga, A. (2011). <i>Science and religion: are they compatible?</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 48.0pt;">
<i> </i>New
York, NY: Oxford University Press.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
Gallop
Poll. (2012, July 12). U. S. confidence in organized religion at low point.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 48.0pt;">
Retrieved from
http://www.gallup.com/poll/155690/Confidence-Organized-<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 48.0pt;">
Religion-LowPoint.aspx<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
Gould,
S. J. (1998). <i>Leonardo’s mountain of clams and diet of worms: nonoverlapping</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i>
Magestira.</i>
Retrieved from http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_noma.html<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
Hitchens,
C. (2007). <i>God is not great: how religion poisons everything. </i>New York,
NY: Twelve.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
Hitchens,
C. (2007). <i>The portable atheist.</i> Philadelphia, PA: Da Capo Press.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
Jagger,
M., Richards, K. (1978). <i>Faraway eyes. </i>On<i> Some girls </i>[CD].<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 48.0pt;">
U.S.A: Rolling Stones/Virgin.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">Pew Forum. (2012). </span><i style="line-height: 200%;">Nones on the rise: one in five adults have on religious affiliation. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="line-height: 200%;"> Retrieved from </i>http://www.pewforum.org/Unaffiliated/nones-on-the-rise.aspx</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
Pew
Forum. (2011). <i>Global Christianity: report on the size and distribution of
the world’s</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<i>
Christian population. </i>Retrieved
from http://www.pewforum.org/Christian/Global-<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
Christianity-traditions.aspx<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
Wittgenstein,
L. (1958). <i>Philosophical Investigations. </i>(3<sup>rd</sup> ed.).
(Anscombe, G.E.M.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
Trans.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
(Original work published 1953)<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Bluesmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14241747430221023840noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-43186910548549828162013-05-08T06:09:00.000-05:002013-05-08T06:09:29.863-05:00PM sets Card straight on church/state<img height="348" src="http://i.imgur.com/tporT1P.jpg" width="640" /><br />
<br />
Thanks for <a href="http://boingboing.net/2013/05/07/faced-with-excommunication-thr.html">the link</a>, DH.Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1518092939786524486.post-68996448446024441382013-03-30T08:27:00.001-05:002013-04-01T11:07:08.816-05:00Filling the god-shaped hole<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">as for whether atheism can fill that notorious “God-shaped hole,” well [says Jerry Coyne] it obviously can. Look at Sweden and Denmark—indeed, much of northern Europe—where atheism is common. And yet the inhabitants are not casting about wildly for something to replace faith. To some extent the state has met those needs, by providing health care, help for the sick and aged, social services, unemployment, maternity/paternity leave, and so on. And people’s “needs” to engage with other humans seem to have been met in those countries as well. As for the “need” to think that you’ll live on after death, well, I don’t think it’s our responsibility to replace such a lie, and it would be impossible to do so anyway...</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #663333; line-height: 19.5px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">as religion wanes—and I think that’s inevitable—those ‘needs’ will be met by secular organizations and practices. Any attempts to set them up in advance, as in Alain de Botton’s prescriptions below, are artificial and will be ineffectual. My view is that we should first cut out the cancer of religion, and then administer what plastic surgery we can to the holes that remain.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At any rate, in a piece called “<a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/lifestyle/religion/2013/03/god-dead-long-live-our-souls" style="color: #990000; text-decoration: none;">After God: What can atheists learn from believers?</a>“, the <em>New Statesmen</em> has collected five notables who criticize NA and have published mini-essays on why faith is okay. You need to read this yourself rather than just the summaries I give below, but here’s a brief guidelines to the beefs of the faithful and faitheists... </span><a href="http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/a-slew-of-apologists-and-atheist-butters/">A slew of apologists and atheist butters in The New Statesman « Why Evolution Is True</a></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My view: intolerant, fundamentalist, hell-breathing faith IS a cancer... but not all faith is that way. Admittedly, here in the south it can sometimes feels that way. In any case, the New Atheists aren't so new any more. Might be time to write another chapter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">==</span><br />
<h2 class="entry-title" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 0, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #4b160a; font-family: verdana; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 16px 10px 0px; padding: 5px 5px 5px 0px;">
<a href="http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/must-we-assume-naturalism-to-do-science/"><span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">Must we assume naturalism to do science?</span></a></h2>
Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02115141650963300011noreply@blogger.com0