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Originally Posted by Megan  That seems like a pretty global dismissal of religion to me, |
I agree. but many critics feel he is pushing an ideology - and a fanatic one at that - and masking it as 'reason' and 'science' . There is a pretty brutal track record from people who have embraced 'anti religion' - 1789, France, Bolshevik Russia, to name two notorious examples. Yes people have done the same thing in the name of religion. I am wary of both. One author, supported by many atheists- Richard Harris - actually thinks that people can be killed for embracing what he feels are fanatical religious beliefs. That fact that he has 200+ positive reviews, on amazon is disturbing.
Born English, is not an 'faulty analogy" , a child can renounce citizenship, adapt another culture. Culture and religion are inexorably woven into one another - the art of the Islamic world reflects a taboo on human representation for example.
perhaps the "rancor" comes getting tired of uninformed assements and ignorant attacks on religion to begin with - Dawkins doesn't know what he is talking -
he is willfully ignorant of theology but still choses to attack it distorts reality to fit ideology, as the examples of northern ireland show -
I don't know much about, say zorastism - it would be absurd for me to cherry pick quotes from critics of it, make gross assements of it without first understanding it. That's the difference between not knowing about something - and being ignorant of it, in my opinion. and the way so many of these 'questions' about, say Christianity are phrased show no serious effort to first understand it.
someone on another thread asked in essence 'Doesn't christ say follow me or go to hell".
I tried to explain via analogy - assuming people here understand I-M -
If someone came up to you and said - so you're saying if you don't follow I-M you're going to have crappy life- or you're telling people that if they get cancer it's their fault because they aren't following your Intention manifestation theories.
well that's 'kind of right' but it is phrased in such a hostile way that one can't really answer it because its a self-answering question. I-M isn't about wanting people to die or get cancer its about wanting them to live fully. Same goes for all religions I know of. the question and attitude filter what you find . For example there is a wonderful group of scientists-ministers including physicists, moleculear biologists and such who write wonderful, reasoned essays and books about the relationship of religion and science John Polkinghorn, Arthur Peacock are among them.
Scientist-turned-cleric wins Templeton Prize in religion | csmonitor.com Scientist-turned-cleric wins Templeton Prize in religion
By Lynette Wilson
Like many successful professionals, John Polkinghorne didn't think he had time to cram one more thing into his busy schedule. But his wife persuaded him to attend a Bible class near their home in Cambridge, England.
It was a decision that changed his life. He ended up resigning his post teaching mathematical physics at Cambridge University in 1979 and becoming an Anglican priest.
religion haters tend to focus on the most extreme and ignore anything positive or anything that might get in their 'religion sucks' theory. That's just as blind as fanatic fundementalism they purport to detest. In doing so, in my opinion, they cut themselves off from some of the most beautiful thoughts about man and the universe.