 gmgauthi wrote: |
Thanks for the comments, Rob. I have a couple questions:
| bigrob wrote: | | Well, as a believer in God, I disagree with you regarding
the desirability of the dissolution of all faith |
|
So, you would
consider faith a virtue, rather than a vice? What would be the rational
measure I could use to distinguish between the things that were worth
having faith in, and which were not? (my presupposition here, at least
in this context, is that something must be rational to be worth
believing).
| bigrob wrote: | | None of the world religions
allow for blowing up of houses and families. Yet government; "that's
different." None of the world religions allow theft. Yet government;
"that's different." None of the world religions allow kidnapping and
subsequent enslavement (such as in American slavery and the military
draft). Yet government, "that's different." |
|
I was under the
impression that Islam has not only permitted, but has encouraged
blowing people up. Also, I understand that, until modern times,
branches of the Catholic church regularly inducted the poor and
disaffected in many third-world countries into a sort of indentured
servitude. Are these things not the same as you were describing? I have
to admit, I was making no distinction between the "legitimate"
religions and mystery cults, here. But still, I think a solid case
could be made that there is no such distinction.
|
|
Man, THIS is a meaty discussion. First of all, Greg, that's a
fantastic piece, and if you don't submit it, well, I just don't
understand why you would not. Just take the damned pill already,
so
somebody says.
As to the other issues, I will be reading that Wiki article Rob
linked. Certainly uncertainty is something we can agree on,
occasionally. However, I would be lying if I did not say I think that
"faith", almost by definition, requires a belief in the
unprovable. If something I highly value is unprovable then eventually I
might
decide that since only I "know" this "something", I am
required to impose this
knowledge on others - for the good of mankind naturally. Of course this leads not only to bad personal choices, but
also (eventually) to genocide and whatnot as well. Not a pretty picture - but pretty accurate according to history.
Now, Greg, I believe you also take some "leaps of faith" in your
description of Islam. Many in the west seem to think that Islam
teaches "blowing things up", but this appears, at least initially, to
be nothing short of uninformed bias. An article I recently read,
by G. Ed Griffin, entitled, "
Why Do They Hate America", puts the teaching of
Islam into (I believe) solid historical context, and provides an
even-handed view of what is actually taught. Feel free to attack
the content, if you can, but I found it enlightening. Having
neither read the Qur’an, or much history of the Muslim faith, I haven't much to go on.
...it would be a pity for us to decide what they teach with that ignorance intact, no?
"There are none so enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free."
~ Goethe
"Everything the state says is a lie and everything it has, it has stolen."
~ Nietzsche, from "Thus Spake Zarathustra"