Is belief necessary for faith?
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- Created on Tuesday, 18 June 2013 07:06
- Published on Tuesday, 18 June 2013 07:06
- Written by John Draper
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To an atheist and I would think most people, faith means believing in something. You cannot have faith without belief. Yet Tanya Marie Luhrmann, a professor of anthropology at Stanford argues that many people who go to Church, who call themselves Christians are not sure if they believe or not (NY Times). At least not in the sense of thinking that God exists and that the Bible is true. They see belief as an experience. They like what they experience at a Church, especially at a fundamentalist Church with lots of emotional content. They don't like delving into heavy philosophical, intellectual and seemingly abstract questions like "Is there a God?" and "What is God?" They prefer to focus on the benefits of belief - how it makes them feel.
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Write comment (0 Comments)Can Prejudice be good?
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- Created on Sunday, 16 June 2013 06:11
- Published on Sunday, 16 June 2013 06:11
- Written by John Draper
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Contrary to what most people think, not all prejudice is bad. It's a trait that's been developed for our survival. Literally, according to the Oxford dictionary, prejudice means a "preconceived opinion". For example, you are prejudiced against wolves, tigers, snakes and other predatory animals. You have a preconceived opinion that they could well try to attack you. You are prejudiced against them. Humans (and other animals) have an excellent ability to recognize patterns - even patterns of events and behaviours. So when we see an animal attack someone, we tend to assume they will do it again. And when we see a human with certain characteristics attack someone, we assume anyone with those characteristics might do it. In ancient times it was essential for our survival to have this ability. But now, we can easily get confused by it.
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Write comment (3 Comments)Why Jesus?
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- Created on Friday, 14 June 2013 06:43
- Published on Friday, 14 June 2013 06:43
- Written by John Draper
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Why did God decide to have a virgin birth of his son in Israel? Why was Jesus born into a Jewish family? Why not into a powerful Roman family where he would be able to get the word out to more people? Or was the intent to deliberately put him amongst rebels so he could be crucified? While I’m asking questions, why did God choose that year? Or century or millennia? Why allow so many people (born before he came) to have no chance of “salvation”? Or at the other extreme, why not in the 20th or 21st century where the word could be spread much quicker and to more people? If Jesus were to show up today, his miracles could be subject to scrutiny and would surely convince millions of people. Or did he not want to convince too many? Did he want people to “Have Faith” without any convincing evidence? And why not come again now?
Write comment (1 Comment)Bill Maher: Does Religion do harm?
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- Created on Wednesday, 12 June 2013 07:20
- Published on Wednesday, 12 June 2013 07:20
- Written by John Draper
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Bill Maher is both an atheist and a comedian so it's no surprise that he makes fun of religion. Most of the clips with Bill are taken from his show but sometimes he does a monologue - in this case at a show he called "I'm not wrong" which he presented in the fundamentalist stronghold, Raleigh, North Carolina.
One of the top comments made by people defending religion is that - "it does no harm - in fact it can be a comfort so leave it alone." Here Bill talks about that.
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Write comment (0 Comments)Useful Idiots
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- Created on Monday, 10 June 2013 07:15
- Published on Monday, 10 June 2013 07:15
- Written by Dagmar Gontard
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The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions
Perhaps one day a curious historian with a taste for 20th century history will stop and take a close look at the film The Confession, a work considered essential for an understanding of the mechanism of totalitarian ideologies and the role of those involved in their operation.
The Confession by Costa-Gavras is based on the book of the same name and tells a story set in Czechoslovakia in the 1950s, where a man is forced to develop his own prosecution for a political trial. When Costa-Gavras decided to make this film, the famous couple Simone Signoret and Yves Montand were assigned the leading roles. It was for them an opportunity to make their own personal mea culpa. Fervent advocates of communism, true friends of the Soviet Union, they had never made any secret of their solidly left-wing sympathies… until 21st of August 1968. In her book Nostalgia Isn’t What It Used to Be, Simone Signoret describes their change of heart as a thunderbolt. She and Montand were shocked to learn that they had been wrong. They had been played for fools. For Montand, his role in the film was a form of penance, fully inhabiting his character to the point of losing 16 kg in order to do so.
Write comment (0 Comments)Multiculturalism does not work
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- Created on Saturday, 08 June 2013 07:19
- Published on Saturday, 08 June 2013 07:19
- Written by John Draper
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Sometimes in life, we have a choice of one thing or the other - not a range of choices - just choose this or that. For example, agreeing to help someone or not; believing in a god or not; tolerate a behaviour or not; speak out against a wrong or not etc. Many religions teach that morality is absolute - Catholics are taught that an action is either right or wrong. For example, abortion is always wrong no matter the circumstances. One version of Islam teaches that all Christians are infidels and should be killed. Other religions teach that morality is relative - abortion is OK sometimes, killing in self-defence is allowed but not murder etc. - and that is a saner judgement. But when considering cultures, there are many moral values that are defined by the culture. However, if you compare cultures, there are values and moral preferences that are mutually exclusive - you can't have one and also have the other.
Even if we want to, we can't blend or compromise or harmonise or take a little from this culture and a little from that and come up with an acceptable new, blended, merged culture. Having one set of values simply rules out the other, period.
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Write comment (2 Comments)Do people change their beliefs?
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- Created on Tuesday, 04 June 2013 06:12
- Published on Tuesday, 04 June 2013 06:12
- Written by John Draper
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If people are born into a religion, is there any hope that they will ever change? Not much - although obviously some do. Research has shown that for political facts at least, people do not change their mind even when confronted with facts contrary to what they believe. (Springer Link) In fact, when confronted with facts that prove they are wrong, some people will get even more entrenched in their thinking. They hate to admit to themselves or the world that they are wrong. Further, the more misinformed the person is to start with, the stronger their rejection of facts that disprove their belief!
Although this research was done on political beliefs, it is clear that this would apply to religious beliefs as well. People do not want to change their minds - they cling to what they already "know". They even choose facts to accept and reject and twist others to suit their pre-conceived notions.
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Write comment (0 Comments)Is non-religious the same as atheist?
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- Created on Thursday, 06 June 2013 06:53
- Published on Thursday, 06 June 2013 06:53
- Written by John Draper
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They are obviously not the same but many people talk about them as if they were. Non-religious would mostly fit into the label of agnostic – but the truth is, both categories are rising in the world. Another measure is whether a person attends a “place of worship” – but again, for many, this is mostly a cultural thing. Last year (2012) and also in 2005, Gallup International asked people around the world: “Irrespective of whether you attend a place of worship or not, would you say you are a religious person, not a religious person or a convinced atheist?“
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Write comment (1 Comment)Why do people believe what they do?
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- Created on Sunday, 02 June 2013 06:41
- Published on Sunday, 02 June 2013 06:41
- Written by John Draper
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Why do others have political beliefs that you disagree with? Why do they believe in superstitious things like lucky charms, astrology, divining sticks, psychics, ghosts and most amazing of all – why do they believe in a God and the associated stories made up by some ancient guru – like Jesus, Mohammed etc? We can never be really sure because the only way to know is to be them. We have to live in their skin or as is colloquially said, “walk in their shoes.” The reason you believe as you do is because of your life experiences and your personality.
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