[MD] The End of Faith

[pholden at davtv.com]

Hi Ham, 

Well said, my friend. Atheists should address some of the points you make,
especially the role of Christianity in fostering individual freedom and morality.

Regards,
Platt


Quoting Ham Priday <hampday1 at verizon.net>:

> Steve, Akshay, Ron, Platt, and all --
> 
> It seems to me that trying to categorize Faith as Religion, Intellect, or a
> "social pattern" complicates the issue.  Faith is simply what we as
> individuals believe in, whether our belief requires intellect, religion, or
> esthetic appreciation.  If you are a rationalist, you believe in conclusions
> drawn from logical reasoning.     If you're an objectivist, you believe in
> the empirical world as the primary reality.  If you're an theist or a
> mystic, you believe in an entity that transcends the empirical world.  If
> you're an MoQist you believe in Dynamic Quality and its four levels of
> patterned phenomena.
> 
> Akshay has made two assertions that seem ludicrous to me:
> > The existence of God is of relatively low importance. We only
> > have to define God and then find out if such an entity exists.
> 
> If the existence of God is "of low importance", why do the atheists protest
> so vehemently against theism?
> Why, indeed, has belief in a divine being been fundamental to the history of
> virtually every nation that has survived to become part of Western Society?
> Is it just coincidental that the concept of individual freedom and human
> morality is rooted in the Judeo-Christian beliefs of the Free World nations?
> 
> Akshay's second assertion is easier said than done.  By all means, let's
> find out if "such an entity exists" and then define it.  Theologists,
> prophets,
> mystics, philosophers, and cosmologists have devoted their lives to
> "proving" and/or "defining" God for at least seven thousand years, yet
> mankind is no closer to a definitive answer in our technological era than
> were the medievalists.  What has taken us so long?  I might offer a
> reasonable answer, but in deference to Steve's wish that "Ham should not see
> my quoting him as an invitation to tell me more about Essentialism," I'll
> simply suggest that perhaps we were not meant to know.
> 
> It's far easier to profess atheism today.  It doesn't require any intuitive
> reasoning or belief in a supernatural source.  It doesn't contradict
> experiential reality or the findings of Science.  It can't be criticized as
> making dogmatic or idealistic pronouncements, setting up false idols, or
> analyzing platypuses.  Like egalitarianism, it's also "progressive" in that
> it does away with magic, superstition, discrimination, spirituality,
> wonderment, and all the other ideas that have wrought such evil in times
> past.  (I guess that's what is meant by "the end of faith".)
> 
> Good luck to all,
> Ham




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