tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post6834836454135218050..comments2023-05-26T01:08:22.886-07:00Comments on The Religion Virus: Aquatic Apes and MormonismCraig A. Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569974341270668010noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post-13753161372469748902010-09-17T17:16:49.310-07:002010-09-17T17:16:49.310-07:00Anon -- You exhibit a very curious state of mind. ...Anon -- You exhibit a very curious state of mind. Your intellectual side recognizes that your spiritual side's beliefs can't possibly be true, and yet you still believe both. I admire your intellectual side and the fact that you've come to this position in spite of enormous social pressure to "toe the line" on the spiritual side. But I truly don't understand how you can separate reality into two separate realms. There is only one reality. Either God exists or He doesn't. Either Joseph Smith had a magic rock or he didn't. Just because you want to believe something doesn't make it true.Craig A. Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10569974341270668010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post-22191431222054713212010-09-17T16:55:17.041-07:002010-09-17T16:55:17.041-07:00As an intellectual atheist and spiritual theist, I...As an intellectual atheist and spiritual theist, I look at religion and science in the context of what all religious leaders have written since the beginning of religion: religion is based on faith; not fact. Science of course is based on a factual confirmation of a theory that was at one time based on faith. In short, religion resides in the right side of our brains, while science resides in the left. Every intelligent person in my opinion therefore understands that the first step in a religious argument is to prove the existence of God. Difficult if not impossible; I think most religious people skip over this and focus on the religious philosophy: does the religion offer an eschatology or teleology (or both) that appeals to our concept of self? Does it teach a practical axiology? Do we attempt to prove its efficacy ontologically or epistimologically; that is pragmatically? In the final analysis, most theistic men and women find a story they like and wish to be "true," fully knowing that they are accepting such based on faith alone. In a way, it is like believing in Santa Claus; we know that Santa Claus is a symbol of charity without recognition, but children believe the symbol is a reality; eventually, they mature, and perpetuate the belief in Santa Claus to teach children and to remind others that we should help others and give anonymously; so Santa Claus exists and God exists at minimum the same way. Oh, by the way, I am a Mormon and I love the philosophy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post-55891015810337876292010-07-14T22:08:03.567-07:002010-07-14T22:08:03.567-07:00Yes, indeed, I have been known to hot-tub during t...Yes, indeed, I have been known to hot-tub during the dark, dreary months of winter...Steve Thomasnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post-33848868408862493862010-07-10T04:08:46.708-07:002010-07-10T04:08:46.708-07:00I have seen a primate that stays warm from the win...I have seen a primate that stays warm from the winter in hot springs, but that doesn't change the accuracy of anything else you say. I just wanted to mention it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post-45822976457482610442010-07-08T14:38:52.170-07:002010-07-08T14:38:52.170-07:00Hi Craig,
Great post, but I think your explanatio...Hi Craig,<br /><br />Great post, but I think your explanation of memetic evolution certainly goes a long way in explaining this. That aside, I thought you might find this interesting, but, while at lunch, I decided to reread several sections of your book; in particular, the evolution of memes and the bits on language. Because I have been known to read books with rather edgy titles, I am perhaps a little more in-tuned with those sitting around me. While I was reading, I noted that there was a female sitting not too far from me, and, up to that point, she had been occupying herself with sundry tasks – namely eating and playing with her cell phone. However, as I sat and opened your book, I noted a slight but growing agitation. It likely goes without saying but her “agitation” quickly culminated in this woman praying, and, as she stood up to leave, she walked over to me and stated, “You oughtn’t to read such horrible things; it’s an abomination before God,” and then she exited. Quite strangely, this has happened to me on several previous occasions: once while I was reading Russell’s, “Why I am not a Christian,” and another time while I was in the airport in Lima, Peru reading Steve Jones’, “Darwin’s Island.” There happened to be a rather large and obnoxious group of Americans – either missionaries or tourists. <br /><br />As we have discussed, this is the crux of the matter; religious people aren’t happy with living and letting live, for they see – and as you noted in your book – any conflicting information as a threat to their survival. Furthermore, as I keep noting, I don’t really care one way or another whether people hold this-or-that religious view; that is, until such time as they drag it into the classroom or government. I cannot ever imagine myself walking up to a religious person who happens to be reading the Bible on their lunch break and challenging them. It’s astonishing behavior, but somehow they feel justified. And, for me at least, this is what scares me most about religion and religious people, for the open-mindedness we afford them appears to be one way only. However, you are exceedingly correct about the nature of religious propositions for they are accepted without any justification or evidence, and well-documented theories are held to an impossible set of standards. As Sam Harris once noted (I paraphrase), “Faith is the mechanism that allows people to continue believing in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.”Steve Thomasnoreply@blogger.com