A very reasonable post from Pharyngula

Woo peddlers drive me crazy, and Deepak Chopra is a repeat offender. PZ Myers wrote a funny post, and this user comment balanced his humor with a sensible response.


A quick question for Deepak Chopra

Posted by: Antiochus Epiphanes | March 2, 2010 12:22 PM

but I'd like to know what evidence can be shown against the position that if EVERYONE was honest and helpful that the world's problems wouldn't be solved!?

The world's problems don't all arise from dishonesty and selfishness. If everyone were honest and helpful, diseases would still exist, there would still be conflict between the needs humans have for food and water and our need to preserve biodiversity, we would still need to find ways to obtain energy more efficiently, we would still need to solve conflicts concerning humane animal use, blah, blah, blah.

Also, the argument that "spirituality" promotes honesty and kindness is taken as a given. I would challenge that notion. Further, "spirituality" provides no cure for ignorance, a serious problem.

Promoting knowledge and rationality would be much more effective at solving the problems of the world than honesty and kindness.

My Faves

Sometimes it's handy to have lists. Here are some of my favorite people, books, and ideas. I'll work on this as I have time.

Mark Twain - The first and last word in American literature. Hilarious, skeptical, and thought provoking. Among my favorites are A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses, The Innocents Abroad, Huckleberry Finn, and Letters from the Earth.

Carl Sagan - I love the PBS Series Cosmos, and the book The Demon-Haunted World.

His Dark Materials, a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman.

Dr. Seuss. He can provide great moral lessons using simple rhyming language and wonderful illustrations. The Sneetches, The Lorax, The Butter Battle Book, Yertle the Turtle, and others.

The Hubble Ultra Deep field in 3D.

TED talks.
EDGE
Globe Forum.

Question Boldly, Mr. Jefferson

When I was in college, I gained a strong appreciation for Thomas Jefferson, and the role he played in the development of American notions of liberty. The Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom are perhaps the two most critical documents of the American Revolution. They established, at that point in time, an entirely new relationship between the state and the individual.

I was always fascinated by Jefferson's religious views, and how his lack of faith in the Christian God shaped his perspective on morality and liberty. The Jefferson Bible, formally known as The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, is a version of the Bible with most of the supernatural and spiritual elements removed. It offers an amazing insight into Jefferson's religious notions, and how he viewed the life of Jesus as noteworthy, but not divine.

Among his numerable quotes regarding religious belief, I find a paragraph regarding religion in a letter written to his nephew, Peter Carr, August 10, 1787, to be extremely enlightening:

Your reason is now mature enough to examine this object. In the first place, divest yourself of all bias in favor of novelty & singularity of opinion. Indulge them in any other subject rather than that of religion. It is too important, and the consequences of error may be too serious. On the other hand, shake off all the fears & servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.

Jefferson encourages us to read the Bible as if it were a history from Tacitus or Livy, which I did myself during my sophomore year at UT. It's been a fascinating ride ever since.

Basava Premanand

Basava Premanand wrote a final letter declaring his non-belief in gods or the afterlife. He felt it necessary because so many "godmen" have claimed death-bed confessions for non-believers, Albert Einstein among the more notable.

His life is one about which I'm interested in learning more. Being a rationalist in the midst of a very spiritualistic India could make for a compelling biography.

The Atheist Experience: Jonathan Park and the Mind Pathetically Misled: a rant

The Atheist Experience: Jonathan Park and the Mind Pathetically Misled: a rant: "This is why we fight. Minds are at stake. Somewhere in the world is a student who will go on to cure AIDS, extend human life expectancy, and solve other ills that befall us, and that student will have to understand evolution. Creationists fear this, and want this destroyed at all costs. Religion doesn't care what destruction it leaves in its wake, as long as it comes out on top in the end."

Believe what you want, but don't force it on me

Religious people have every right to believe and worship and live according to their faith, as long as their actions do not harm others. However, these people cannot force others to believe their myths or obey their religious tenets. It's as simple as that.

PZ Myers blogged about a story that illustrates the point effectively. The short version is that a journalist in Israel was attacked for reporting on a story about a parking lot that would remain open on the Shabbot. She was attacked because she herself wasn't observing the Shabbot, even though she wasn't Jewish.

PZ's opinion here is much like my own:

This is something too many religious people fail to understand — you can practice your religion, other people can practice their religion, but you don't get to tell other people that they must practice your religion. If your crazy superstition says you aren't allowed to push a button on a certain day of the week, then don't. If your old myths claim that your god turns into a cracker when the right ritual is carried out, go ahead and believe that. If your dogma dictates that you should visit a certain magic rock before you die, then go ahead, make your pilgrimage.

But excuse us, everyone who doesn't have these wacky ideas has a perfect right to push the button, disrespect your cracker, or stay home and skip the crowds…and we also have the right to point and laugh at you.

A shocking statistic

Today I ran across one of the most interesting pieces of Biblical scholarship that I've ever seen. Steve Wells at
Dwindling in Unbelief has tallied up all of God's killings and massacres enumerated in the Bible. The total? 2,301,427.

This jaw-dropping number would be even higher if he included massacres that are unnumbered (such as the slaughter of the Midianites that I mentioned in my earlier post).

He is also retelling all of the stories of God's killings. It's a most extraordinary exercise.