tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30354654.post7348268111761392962..comments2023-07-31T04:12:15.594-07:00Comments on Random Thoughts: Bill Maher Interviews "New Atheist" Sam Harrisstuartresnickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16879896068458013439noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30354654.post-81438450942271506212009-10-11T13:51:08.868-07:002009-10-11T13:51:08.868-07:00mikenmar said...
When she says "doing religi...mikenmar said... <br /><i>When she says "doing religion," I think she means "practicing compassion and selflessness"</i><br /><br />Thanks again, mikenmar. Surely some New Atheists have a problem with selflessness... but many do not. I like how Harris specifically makes clear that his objection to "Faith" or "Religion" isn't directed against practicing stuartresnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16879896068458013439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30354654.post-73377217513882277512009-10-11T13:13:09.389-07:002009-10-11T13:13:09.389-07:00When she says "doing religion," I think...When she says "doing religion," I think she means "practicing compassion and selflessness", not necessarily going to church, kneeling, or singing hymns.mikenmarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30354654.post-16664838944797607532009-10-11T11:58:47.814-07:002009-10-11T11:58:47.814-07:00Thanks for posting the blurb from Armstrong, miken...Thanks for posting the blurb from Armstrong, mikenmar. (Italicized stuff below are Armstrong quotes.)<br /><br /><i>When we are talking about God, nobody has the last word because what we call God lies beyond the reach of speech.</i><br /><br />"God" is a name for what exists <b>before</b> words and thinking. So it's true that nobody has the last word... perhaps also true that stuartresnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16879896068458013439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30354654.post-37788603622215747112009-10-11T09:19:28.906-07:002009-10-11T09:19:28.906-07:00Nice little blurb from Armstrong in today's Wa...Nice little blurb from Armstrong in today's WaPo:<br /><br />"Why did I write "The Case for God"? I was becoming increasingly concerned about the nature of the discussion that followed the publications of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam HarrIs and wanted to bring to the table some of the things that I have learned from my study of world religion during the last 20mikenmarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30354654.post-18141554010243637712009-10-04T20:38:12.175-07:002009-10-04T20:38:12.175-07:00Doug wrote...
I call myself a Buddhist, and believ...Doug wrote...<br /><i>I call myself a Buddhist, and believe there's some kernel of truth to the Buddha's teaching and all the millenia of accumulated Buddhist doctrine, but I take almost none of it literally.</i><br /><br />That's why the metaphor of "a finger pointing to the moon" is so common and helpful. Buddhist doctrines point at something that we can perceive and stuartresnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16879896068458013439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30354654.post-53909181488238299412009-10-02T22:52:24.569-07:002009-10-02T22:52:24.569-07:00I call myself a Buddhist, and believe there's ...I call myself a Buddhist, and believe there's some kernel of truth to the Buddha's teaching and all the millenia of accumulated Buddhist doctrine, but I take almost none of it literally. The Buddha and his spiritual descendants taught and teach very often via parable. So did Jesus for that matter. Were the parables literally true? I don't really care, that's entirely beside Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17877698540296040262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30354654.post-90533287857859505842009-10-02T10:09:07.120-07:002009-10-02T10:09:07.120-07:00Karen Armstong's "The History of God"...Karen Armstong's "The History of God" is a fascinating study of how and why we humans have created various forms of deities. It is interesting to ready about how different ideas of God have replaced others at various points of history. In considering any type of spiritual "higher power," I think that Karen Armstrong's work is a good reference point about how we are The Smuggler's Daughterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05322206586825470964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30354654.post-26754959386814002302009-09-30T09:20:39.023-07:002009-09-30T09:20:39.023-07:00Thanks for posting, mikenmar. If you'd like, p...Thanks for posting, mikenmar. If you'd like, please post here an idea from Karen Armstrong that you think is particularly useful or insightful.stuartresnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16879896068458013439noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30354654.post-4929152897658873042009-09-29T21:55:17.789-07:002009-09-29T21:55:17.789-07:00BTW, Karen Armstrong has a British accent too!BTW, Karen Armstrong has a British accent too!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15250662170542783583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30354654.post-35483041834779093582009-09-29T21:54:02.068-07:002009-09-29T21:54:02.068-07:00I don't particularly like Dawkins, and not bec...I don't particularly like Dawkins, and not because of his atheism. He speaks in a way that is bound to insult other people, and so he does very little to advance the conversation.<br /><br />I haven't read it yet (it is just now coming out), but based on the several interviews I've heard with her, I'd put Karen Armstrong's "The Case For God" up against Dawkins any Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15250662170542783583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30354654.post-77603448630400960222009-09-27T03:03:17.865-07:002009-09-27T03:03:17.865-07:00//Theists make "God" and and then believ...//Theists make "God" and and then believe in him, while Atheists (using the non-Harris definition) make God and then dis-believe in him. I'm more interested in the option of not making God.//<br /><br />Well said!அக மாற்றம்https://www.blogger.com/profile/11837501695397421246noreply@blogger.com