12 MAY 2015 by ideonexus
Decline of US Religion Between 2007 and 2014
To be sure, the United States remains home to more Christians than any other country in the world, and a large majority of Americans – roughly seven-in-ten – continue to identify with some branch of the Christian faith.1 But the major new survey of more than 35,000 Americans by the Pew Research Center finds that the percentage of adults (ages 18 and older) who describe themselves as Christians has dropped by nearly eight percentage points in just seven years, from 78.4% in an equally mass...
1 26 FEB 2014 by ideonexus
MarsOne Response to Muslim Fatwa
And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colors: verily in that are Signs for those who know. (Quran 30: 22)
The Muslim world has a rich tradition of exploration. The verse from the Quran above encourages Muslims to go out and see the signs of God’s creation in the ‘heavens and the earth’. The most influential example of this was the Moroccan Muslim traveller, Ibn Battuta, who from 1325 to 1355 travelled 73,000 mile... 1 
notes
notes...against voyaging to Mars because it constitutes "suicide."
20 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
The Explosion of Sub-Cults
The techno-societies, far from being drab and homogenized, are honeycombed with just
such colorful groupings—hippies and hot rodders, theosophists and flying saucer fans, skindivers
and skydivers, homosexuals, computerniks, vegetarians, bodybuilders and Black
Muslims.
Today the hammerblows of the super-industrial revolution are literally splintering the
society. We are multiplying these social enclaves, tribes and minicults among us almost as
fast as we are multiplying automotive options. ... 1 notes
notesWe can see this phenomenon in online cultures, but I like how this passage ties it into the issue of personal identity. The cults/fandoms we choose are also a choice about how we are defining ourselves.
24 APR 2012 by ideonexus
Muslim Science, European Science
The strangest thing of all is that our ulama these days have divided science into two parts. One they call Muslim science, and one European science. Because of this they forbid others to teach some of the useful sciences. They have not understood that science is that noble thing that has no connection with any nation, and is not distinguished by anything but itself. Rather, everything that is known is known by science, and every nation that becomes renowned becomes renowned through science. M... 1 notes
notesQuoting Sayyid Jamal ad- Din who observes Muslims rejected Western science in response to imperialism, where science recognizes no nation or culture.
28 AUG 2011 by ideonexus
Religion Influences Responses to Epidemics
The Christian tradition, set by the example of Jesus as a healer, stands out, Hughes says. Helping the sick was one way to ensure a trip to Heaven, so risking death from a disease's spread was encouraged. Other religions did not promote such extreme altruism. Islamic teachings basically disavowed the existence of contagious disease, despite some Arabic scholars thinking otherwise at the time. Thus Muslims believed there was no sense in trying to avoid sick people, and the emphasis was on cari... 1 notes
notesA person's religion may prompt them to overcome their survival imperative and assist the contagiously ill, while people moving into cities are drawn into religion for the support group it provides.
