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Politics : Evolution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (17808)	11/19/2011 3:06:16 PM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69300

"The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason , New York Times Best Seller by Sam Harris amazon.com Natalie Angier wrote in The New York Times: "The End of Faith articulates the dangers and absurdities of organized religion so fiercely and so fearlessly that I felt relieved as I read it, vindicated....Harris writes what a sizable number of us think, but few are willing to say." This important and timely book delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes-heinous crimes. He asserts that in the shadow of weapons of mass destruction, we can no longer tolerate views that pit one true god against another. Most controversially, he argues that we cannot afford moderate lip service to religion; an accommodation that only blinds us to the real perils of fundamentalism. While warning against the encroachment of organized religion into world politics, Harris also draws on new evidence from neuroscience and insights from philosophy to explore spirituality as a biological, brain-based need. He calls on us to invoke that need in taking a secular humanistic approach to solving the problems of this world. just trying to elevate myself to greg's level but that would take lifetimes , lol, there's an endless list of other Enlightenment writers i can keep posting here and will .

To: Brumar89 who wrote (17808)	11/19/2011 3:23:45 PM
From: 2MAR$	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 69300

" We should delve into the rightness of religious belief, supernaturalism in particular. It shows an ugly scene - religious extremism is widespread and much of our world's hurt can be traced directly to it. The author shows that religion is not a benign force - so often it is detrimental to world peace and happiness. The author's observations do not just apply to Osama Bin Laden and his ilk, but also to President Bush and like-minded evangelical Christians. But in America this has flipped. Now many people talk about their beliefs, the one-on-one they have with Christ, while they indulge in the most hateful and unchristian behavior. Worse, they think their beliefs call for such behavior. Harris suggests that it is time for us to grab this nettle and challenge religion's hold on so many people. Researching a book on Middle East peace. I was startled to learn the role that Bible prophecy is playing in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The US's policy, under President Bush, has more to do with laying the groundwork for Christ's Second Coming than a careful search for justice and peace. It is amazing to me that in this day and age that Biblical writings are playing such a role in our lives. One of the factors that brought on the Dark Ages was the rise of the Christian church, the aggressive way it persecuted those who disagreed with even its most ridiculous notions. I ask if we are on the verge of a new Dark Age? Prophecy, creationism, the Bible taken literally, fear of hell fire, 2,000 year old notions on how we should live... What is a fundamentalist, evangelical, pentecostal preacher doing reading this book? Rethinking his faith, that's what. I have been (secretly) reading books on faith & reason for several years now, this book by Sam Harris has been the best I've read to date. Questions and concerns of mine were better articulated and better answered by Mr. Harris than other books on the subject. A word of warning from a member (soon to be former member) of the religious right: Don't read this book if you're not ready to question your faith and "faith" in general. After reading Sam's book, I now realize that suspending reason in favor of religion is not a benign practice, it propagates a belief system that hurts everyone. We would all be better off if religion could be suspended, not reason! "