End of Faith - Thoughts On Religion Versus Reason

Looks like a good book.

People killing people in their God's name is nothing new. Christians and Muslims have been doing it for over a thousand years.

With today's technology we can kill more people, or non-believers, with greater efficiency.

That should make their God very happy.

There is nothing more dangerous in this world than conservative intolerant religion with military power.

A little more info, from what I gathered in my short reading...

Basically, and not nearlyas elequently as the author states his case, religion must be set aside or we are doomed. What other subject do we treat with such respect when there is no evidence to support the claims? What other subject has made so little progress, or experienced no updates over time as we have discoverred so many new things about ourselves, life, earth, and beyond?

The Genesis story hasn't changed for thousands of years, despite technological and scientific advances and discoveries to dispute it. Yet, we show respect out of political correctness and in the name of tolerence for religious beliefs. Why do we do that?

He also makes a good argument for moderates being just as responsible for the violence in the name of religion as the extremists. If we didn't tolerate religious beliefs, which again are not based on anything that can be proven, then reason would have a chance to prevail.

He seems to understand the need for people to have purpose and spirituality, but argues that such can also be obtained through reason, just as ethics can which is another claim of religions.

I believe another thread was started on this topic, but don't recall it now.

What has appalled me more than anything else is how quickly people have been degenerating in the United States in to wild-eyed religious bigots willing to see the slaughter of "infidels." It did not surprise me that there were wackos here who wanted to cheerlead for a crusade against the evil Muslims, i was just taken unaware by the scope of the thing--the evidence of just who wide-spread ignorance and religious bigotry is.

The Pakistanis have nuclear weapons, and we now know that they've been sharing their expertise with others. North Korea, China and Brasil most notably, but other nations as well, manufacture and sell medium range ballistic missiles, and the last twenty years in Iraq have demonstrated that those weapons can be modified for longer-range targets. It may well only be a matter of time until some Muslim jackass nukes some Christians or Jews, or some Jew or Christian jackas nukes some Muslims. Christian nutjobs in this country support Israel fervently, but only in the delusion that when the final trump sounds, all Jews turn into Christians, or burn in Hell forever.

The idiot in the White House peddles his bible thumper horse puckey to get votes with the politically brain-dead, and then leads the crusade which has made the world less safe rather than more safe.

In my more selfish moments, i just keep hoping that the idiocy holds off until i'm gone. If this gets down to true religious warfare, the "christian" nations have a nuclear edge which may assure their survival--but who would want to live in that world?

Perhaps this will eventually happen:
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=50801&highlight=ban+religion

His head enwreathed in the thick cloud of flies which rises up from the decaying carcasse, Neo attempts once again to flog the dead horse which is his "UN Bans Religion" thread, ignored by thinking posters everywhere for almost a year.

Ouch!



But nevertheless an interesting proposition

Why can't we just ban religion, right here and now?

All it takes is just one person... (or so they say, I believe it's possible--at least it's worthy of a thorough testing.)

So...

I make a motion to ban all forms of religion, everywhere. No exceptions and no grandfather clauses.

Anyone second the motion?

In my mind it isn't really the structure of 'religion' that is the problem. In fact, I think structure is good for people.
It is the whole belief in imaginary friends part I find to be unhealthy.
If only you could have one without the other...

I want a written guarantee that the godless would be less barbaric and warlike than the religious, if they were in power. When that's on my desk, I'll get right to work on banning religion, and all that other trivia.

I knew by the fervor for the first Gulf War that Americans were in a mood to kick Muslim ass. I didn't think then that it made a great difference which nation we attacked, so long as we (the people) got in our licks, as the current war pretty much proves.

People in general are barbaric.
Barbarism has it's place. Violence is the oldest and most tried and true way to get results.

I don't really see that in and of itself to be the problem.
But many seem to.

what other way is there to force people to do things when they do not want to?

Manipulate them until they want to.

That of course, takes a little time.

But it's not so messy, IMO.

What's wrong with a little mess when you have slaves at swordpoint to clean it?

They have medication for conditions such as yours, Herr Doctor.

I highly doubt that!

Yeah, maybe not.

What I grasped long ago.... was if you have a country where a majority are of one religion, ultimately with enough gentle? persuading and inserting like minded into the highest echelons of government, you would no longer have a "free" nation, in fact where you have a population who look upon their freedom to vote out or in who ever they want and only half of them take the trouble... yah don't need the whole population to gain your religious power over all... history tells us that.