29 NOV 2016 by ideonexus
Earthseed 61-65
61. What others say
Beware:All too often,We sayWhat we hear others say.We thinkWhat we’re told that we think.We seeWhat we’re permitted to see.Worse!We see what we’re told that we see.Repetition and pride are the keys to this.To hear and to seeEven an obvious lieAgainAnd again and againMay be to say it,Almost by reflexThen to defend itBecause we’ve said itAnd at last to embrace itBecause we’ve defended itAnd because we cannot admitThat we’ve embraced and defendedAn obvious lie. ... 1 
notes
notes09 NOV 2015 by ideonexus
The Big Gods Hypothesis
...without supernatural enforcement of cooperative, “moral” behavior, ancient Egypt—as well as nearly every other large-scale society in history—wouldn't have been able to get off the ground. All-knowing big gods are “crazily effective” at enforcing social norms, says Norenzayan's collaborator Edward Slingerland, a historian at UBC Vancouver. “Not only can they see you everywhere you are, but they can actually look inside your mind.” And once big gods and big societies existed...Folksonomies: civilization theology
Folksonomies: civilization theology
1 notes
notes30 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
The Printing Press is the Messiah
The printing press has come like a true Messiah to emancipate the great family of mankind from this double yoke. This Messiah is immortal, and its saving powers must be universal and perpetual. By this, and by no other Messiah, can man be saved from ignorance and misery; the only hell that he has to fear. It will prove the true Messiah of the Jew, of the Christian, of the Mahometan, and of the Pagan. It is a Messiah for all, and it will go on to unite under the name and title of Man and Citiz...
3 
3 It serves all religions and one should exist in every home.
06 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Random Atheist Quotes from Kedar Joshi
The more I find life to be a great design, the more I suspect it to be singular in existence; the more I suspect it to be singular, the more I feel it to be specific and personal; the more I feel it to be personal, the more I think of it to be a mere question; And the more I think of it to be a question, the less I understand the questioner.
Certainty is the most vivid condition of ignorance and the most necessay condition for knowledge.
Energy is the inherent capacity of the universe to m...Folksonomies: quotations
Folksonomies: quotations
1 notes
notesThese are witty and profound.
28 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Most Professors of Religion are Considered Liars
We no more deny the essential value of religion because we hold most religions false, and most professors of religion liars, than we deny that of science because we can see no great difference between men of science and theologians. Folksonomies: religion
Folksonomies: religion
1 notes
notesReligious followers consider all other religions lies, but maintain faith in their own religion.
12 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Science Must Remain Apolitical
The traditional boundaries between various fields of science are rapidly disappearing and what is more important science does not know any national borders. The scientists of the world are forming an invisible network with a very free flow of scientific information - a freedom accepted by the countries of the world irrespective of political systems or religions. ... Great care must be taken that the scientific network is utilized only for scientific purposes - if it gets involved in political...According to Nobel Laureate Sune K. Bergström, if science is to maintain its status as a force for development that builds networks of people from all over the world.
01 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
Do Not Attempt to Reconcile Science and Religion
Since religion intrinsically rejects empirical methods, there should never be any attempt to reconcile scientific theories with religion. [An infinitely old universe, always evolving may not be compatible with the Book of Genesis. However, religions such as Buddhism get along without having any explicit creation mythology and are in no way contradicted by a universe without a beginning or end.] Creatio ex nihilo, even as religious doctrine, only dates to around AD 200. The key is not to confu...Folksonomies: religion spirituality
Folksonomies: religion spirituality
1 notes
notesQuote by Hannes Alfvén on religion's rejection of empirical methods.
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.
01 JAN 2010 by ideonexus
The Science Haves and Have-Nots
Today the greatest divide within humanity is not between races, or religions, or even, as widely believes, between the literate and illiterate. It is the chasm that separates scientific from prescientific cultures. Without the instruments and accumulated knowledge of the natural sciences--physics, chemistry, and biology--humans are trapped in a cognitive prison. They are like intelligent fish born in a deep, shadowed pool. Wondering and restless, longing to reach out, they think about the wor...Folksonomies: spiritual naturalism
Folksonomies: spiritual naturalism
Without science, people are trapped within a "cognitive prison".
