XPost: alt.philosophy.zen, alt.society.liberalism, alt.society.kindness   
   XPost: talk.politics.theory   
   From: stumper@newvessel.com   
      
   Hollywood Lee wrote:   
   > Déjà Fu wrote:   
   >   
   >> ps:   
   >> In our laboratory experiments, our staff has found   
   >> that the KJV Bible, the Quoran and the Book of Mormon   
   >> produce virtually the same BTU/hr of heat in a modern,   
   >> high-efficiency stove. The Torah lags by nearly 40%   
   >> and is not generally available in motel rooms.   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> (sorry, Lee - allah made me do it...:)   
   >   
   > I like Richard Dawkins' (author of the God Delusion among others) take   
   > on religion:   
   >   
   > --------   
   >   
   > http://www.wpr.org/book/dawkins.html   
   >   
   > Richard Dawkins talked with Steve Paulson about the dangers of   
   > unquestioned faith and why he thinks atheists are among the most   
   > intelligent people.  An excerpt follows:   
   >   
   > . . . .   
   >   
   > Q: My sense is that you don't just think religion is dishonest. There's   
   > something evil about it as well.   
   >   
   > A: Well, yes. I think there's something very evil about faith, where   
   > faith means believing in something in the absence of evidence, and   
   > actually taking pride in believing in something in the absence of   
   > evidence. And the reason that's dangerous is that it justifies   
   > essentially anything. If you're taught in your holy book or by your   
   > priest that blasphemers should die or apostates should die -- anybody   
   > who once believed in the religion and no longer does needs to be killed   
   > -- that clearly is evil. And people don't have to justify it because   
   > it's their faith. They don't have to say, "Well, here's a very good   
   > reason for this." All they need to say is, "That's what my faith says."   
   > And we're all expected to back off and respect that. Whether or not   
   > we're actually faithful ourselves, we've been brought up to respect   
   > faith and to regard it as something that should not be challenged. And   
   > that can have extremely evil consequences. The consequences it's had   
   > historically -- the Crusades, the Inquisition, right up to the present   
   > time where you have suicide bombers and people flying planes into   
   > skyscrapers in New York -- all in the name of faith.   
   >   
   > Q: But don't you need to distinguish between religious extremists who   
   > kill people and moderate, peaceful religious believers?   
   >   
   > A: You certainly need to distinguish them. They are very different.   
   > However, the moderate, sensible religious people you've cited make the   
   > world safe for the extremists by bringing up children -- sometimes even   
   > indoctrinating children -- to believe that faith trumps everything and   
   > by influencing society to respect faith. Now, the faith of these   
   > moderate people is in itself harmless. But the idea that faith needs to   
   > be respected is instilled into children sitting in rows in their   
   > madrasahs in the Muslim world. And they are told these things not by   
   > extremists but by decent, moderate teachers and mullahs. But when they   
   > grow up, a small minority of them remember what they were told. They   
   > remember reading their holy book, and they take it literally. They   
   > really do believe it. Now, the moderate ones don't really believe it,   
   > but they have taught children that faith is a virtue. And it only takes   
   > a minority to believe what it says in the holy book -- the Old   
   > Testament, the New Testament, the Quran, whatever it is. If you believe   
   > it's literally true, then there's scarcely any limit to the evil things   
   > you might do.   
   >   
   > Q: And yet most moderate religious people are appalled by the   
   > apocalyptic thinking of religious extremists.   
   >   
   > A: Of course they're appalled. They're very decent, nice people. But   
   > they have no right to be appalled because, in a sense, they brought it   
   > on the world by teaching people, especially children, the virtues of   
   > unquestioned faith.   
   >   
   > Hear the full interview at http://www.wpr.org/book/Richard%20Dawkins.mp3   
   >   
      
   He does not appear to understand faith.   
   His flat reasoning cannot capture   
   the depth of human consciousness.   
      
   Most people stop and think of others   
   because of their faith.   
      
   --   
   ~Stumper   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)