On Sep 13, 2006, at 4:24 PM, Ronn!Blankenship wrote:
At 05:49 PM Wednesday 9/13/2006, Gibson Jonathan wrote:
Yes, our friends and neighbors live an exceptionally rich fantasy
life.
On Sep 13, 2006, at 12:38 PM, William T Goodall wrote:
On 13 Sep 2006, at 8:34PM, Dan Minette wrote:
I think she used some four letter words in response to the poll
that stated
that somewhere about 30% to 35% of Americans believed that the US
government
was somehow involved in 9-11....besides questioning the poll's
methodology....she was rather upset that very many people at all
could
subscribe to crackpot theories.
Most Americans believe in prophetic dreams; four in 10 say there
were once "ancient advanced civilizations" such as Atlantis. 91.8%
say they believe in God, a higher power or a cosmic force.
Crackpot theories are *very* popular in America.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2006-09-11-religion-
survey_x.htm
--
William T Goodall
Sam Harris had a nice long talk w/Q&A at the Long Now Foundation late
last year that describes the lunacy that afflicts far too many of us
- his quest is to educate around religious tolerance and how much
slack we give people on this topic whereas everywhere else in our
lives we demand proof: legal contracts, structural collapses,
scientific findings, etc. I particularly like his take on religious
moderates giving vast cover to the extremists because they deny those
motivations are really religious and do little to stop them - because
they fear that they themselves are not sufficiently strong in their
beliefs as compared to the zealots, and have little authority to say
No.
Some notable items I recall from the talk {apx}:
"apx?
As in, I was citing from memory.
- Stem Cell Research: Since any
living
Yes, he stretches it to make the guffaw-factor greater - but the point
of where we are going and what can be done is clear enough.
cell has the capacity to be developed into a clone/copy, then every
time George Bush scratches his nose there is holocaust of potential
life being destroyed.
Only if he scratches hard enough to get through the outer layer of
dead epidermal cells which the body constantly sheds one way or
another and gets to the live cells below them.
I heard Harris give a shortened version of this {C-SPAN?} where was a
bit more graphic by making GwB digging in & picking his nose rather
than scratching the exterior. The same issues apply, of course, even
as he moderates his schtick.
- God, after creating all the vast cosmos, galaxies, planets, chose
the land of Palestine for the Jews - acting in his role as an
omniscient real estate broker.
He also allegedly helps people find their lost car keys. Why
shouldn't He be a real estate broker, too.
- In the wake of Katrina how absurd it would be for a Senator on the
floor of Congress to say we really need to pray to Poseidon more
because that realm of the sea and storms is his... and he's angry.
- Try to lecture someone suffering from an acute appendicitis
rupturing about "intelligent design"... I'd add the purists should be
required to waive their rights to inoculations for Bird Flu, etc.
Why?
Oh, to be consistent with the religio-philosophical framework espoused.
Spread a limited resource among those who actually support science,
education, reason, that sort of thing.
K?
- The arithmetic of souls: What happens when a cell
I presume from the context that you mean a fertilized egg cell rather
than just any cell.
Yes.
divides into twins... two souls, right?
Why?
Because my simple napkin calc starts with the two eggs, stir & gestate,
and then bake until brought to term... how can two hot-cross-bun
children share one soul?
I suppose they could be half-souls each, depending if Confucius rules
apply and the difference is split ... ;-)
What happens when those cells sometimes reform back into one living
embryo: does this mean that a soul is merged, or lost again, does it
become a super-soul?!? I agree it doesn't add up.
Only if you ass—u—me that whatever a "soul" is, it is contained within
a fertilized egg cell. All we can say for sure is that if a living
human being requires some sort of spirit or essence or katra or
whatever you call it then at some point prior to a live birth such an
entity must enter or become associated with the unborn child. IIRC
there are some religions which believe that the baby acquires a spirit
or whatever they call it when s/he takes his/her first breath outside
the womb.
I would favor the latter myself - if I had to choose before another
Grand Inquisition.
- None of the absurd Old Testament rules for owning slaves {just
don't beat them so their eyes and teeth fall out}, killing insolent
children, slaying unbelievers you come across {even if there in their
own town} as they worship at their own alters or even in their own
homes...
Kill, kill, kill and more killing is justified - even essential - and
none of this {and more} was never repudiated by Jesus and still hold
true for the fanatics.
- He compares Islamic jihadis with Tibetan Buddhists and asks why one
is so ready to suicide-bomb and another is not.
Why?
-- Ronn! :)
I'd have to listen again, but he asked why there are no Tibetan suicide
bombers attacking Chinese infrastructure, whereas Islamic memes are
all-too ready to promote -or- accept these acts. I don't recall the
details as he compared and contrasted. Have a listen - it's good.
Jonathan Gibson
www.formandfunction.com/word
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