Religion
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Dalai Lama tells his Facebook friends that religion "is no longer adequate"
The problem with secular philosophy is that it is predominantly gnostic by nature. This is as opposed to moral principles that individuals can independently derive from observing the universe. This distinction must be understood if there is to ever be a secular replacement for religion. Gnosticism is what I am calling any knowledge that is not independently derivable from observation and logic. Specifically, gnostic knowledge is considered a mystery that cannot be understood by logic, which must be learned from someone else who already knows it, they in turn from someone else who knew it first. This is the process of obtaining knowledge generally employed by religions, and it is why science minded folks don't like religion.Back to God with Camille Paglia
Click to Listen to the Show (24 MB MP3) The route to a renaissance of the American fine arts lies through religion… When a society becomes all-consumed in the provincial minutiae of partisan politics, as has happened in the US over the past 20 years, all perspective is lost. Great art can be made out of love for religion, as well as rebellion against it.
Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton: Building a Successful Case for Atheism 2.0? | martijnboersma.com
How could you not want to read a book that is titled Religion for Atheists ? The title appeals to both believers and non-believers, and phrased in web terms, it makes the perfect link bait. Although the term link bait often has a negative connotation, stemming from the practice of luring people into reading content using a provocative title, De Botton’s book shouldn’t be judged by its cover. In the end it is the content that determines whether the author will be accused of link baiting or will be praised for writing good content, or in this case, a book. But before I elaborate further on the content of Religion for Atheists, it is helpful to know a bit more about De Botton himself.The Virtues Project comes as a response to the wave of discussion and feedback that followed the publication of my book, Religion for Atheists , and a growing sense that being virtuous has become a strange and depressing notion, while wickedness and evil bask in a peculiar kind of glamour. My ultimate aim for the project is that it ignites a vital conversation around moral character to increase public interest in becoming more virtuous and connected as a society. In the modern world, the idea of trying to be a ‘good person’ conjures up all sorts of negative associations: of piety, solemnity, bloodlessness and sexual renunciation, as if goodness were something one would try to embrace only when other more difficult but more fulfilling avenues had been exhausted. Throughout history, societies have been interested in fostering virtues, in training us to be more virtuous, but we're one of the first generations to have zero public interest in this.
Ten Virtues for the Modern Age
A great divide splits contemporary society between those who believe in a transcendent God, and those, including myself, who do not.
BEYOND REDUCTIONISM: REINVENTING THE SACRED By Stuart A. Kauffman
More Science :: Skeptic :: June 24, 2008 :: :: Email :: Print See Inside Can emergence break the spell of reductionism and put spirituality back into nature?
Sacred Science: Using Faith to Explain Anomalies in Physics
Atheists and agnostics are more driven by compassion to help others than are highly religious people, a new study finds. That doesn't mean highly religious people don't give, according to the research to be published in the July 2012 issue of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. But compassion seems to drive religious people's charitable feelings less than it other groups. "Overall, we find that for less religious people, the strength of their emotional connection to another person is critical to whether they will help that person or not," study co-author and University of California, Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer said in a statement. "The more religious, on the other hand, may ground their generosity less in emotion, and more in other factors such as doctrine, a communal identity, or reputational concerns."
Atheists More Motivated by Compassion than the Faithful
Allison V. Smith for The New York Times The house band started a service one recent Sunday at the Life in Deep Ellum church in Dallas.
New Churches Focus on Building a Community Life
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Sea of Faith - BBC documentary - Playlist
Investigating Wittgenstein, part 1: Falling in love | Giles Fraser | Comment is free
Back in the early 80's, I spend many an afternoon in a cramped and stuffy office in King's College, London, with an informally gathered group of mostly graduate students, going through Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations paragraph by paragraph, line by line. It was often terribly slow going. We might ponder two or three sentences for a couple of weeks, coming back to the same point several times. It felt a bit like Bible study.The need for new myths, rituals, symbols and authentic spirituality by Herman de Roos, Utrecht, Netherlands. | [ open myth source ]
Never in my life did I really fit in. Among others I was a professional soldier and a coordinator in logistic operations. People always wondered why I had chosen this kind of professions. This stopped after I gave up my career and went back to university in order to study interreligious spirituality. Somehow this seemed to fit with my personality. People stopped wondering and asking questions.Authoritarian followers Mind Control Subliminals
The Battle for Your Mind: Brainwashing Techniques Being Used On The Public By Dick Sutphen
A hypertext essay by Scott Bidstrup "I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you.
Why Fundamentalism is Wrong
Does Religion Cause Violence? | Harvard Divinity School
William T. Cavanaugh Everyone knows that religion has a dangerous tendency to promote violence.Essene roots of Christianity A t the time of Jesus of Nazareth there were two major currents or sects within Judaism: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees were extremely concerned with strict external observance of their interpretation of the Mosaic Law, ritual worship, and theology. The Sadducees, on the other hand, were very little concerned with any of these and tended toward a kind of genteel agnosticism. Today these two groups might be compared with the Orthodox and the Reformed branches of Judaism respectively.