RDFRS US:
The mission of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science is to support scientific education, critical thinking and evidence-based understanding of the natural world in the quest to overcome religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and suffering.
The Magic of Reality
for the iPad
Sean Faircloth:
Attack of the Theocrats!
Hey Tony, Nice, succinct answers. I appreciate it :)
I believe I exist, because if I didn't exist, I'd have no opinion on the matter - a la Descartes. This is evidence for my existence, as opposed to a 'lack of evidence against'.
Well we don't put "complete" credence in our predecessors judgement. We compare it with what we know and observe in our lifetimes, and if it is consistent, we can safely assume it is a reliable account of history. If it defies what we know about our world (ie laws of physics) then we don't readily assume it's all true, or at least not the way it was recorded. We also tend to give more credence to the accounts taken more recently in our history as literacy became more common and multiple accounts were recorded during the time of the events.
Well that's a little scary, because Jesus was not the most upstanding of guys, and society is a little different these days. I hope you don't think it's ok to hit your slaves. And I hope you don't have slaves. I hope you don't think it's ok to kill children that disrespect their fathers. I hope you don't... get angry and curse at fig trees that don't produce in their off-season (that's not really that bad, but it's always amusing). :P
The father from the old testament? That guy's the worst fictional monster I've ever heard of.
Permalink Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:08:42 UTC | #533397