[MD] The End of Faith

[ian glendinning]

Hi DMB, the distinction was in the word "profess" - highlighted in
scare quotes and omitted from your caricature of what I said. Your
point was about "actual" beliefs - the ones that actually drive their
actions - the difference between professed and actual beliefs is
hypocrisy - a subject I've also raised before.

But I've already agreed with you about the the risk in wishy-washy /
incoherent moderation - potentially more dangerous (pragmatically)
than extreme opposition. Harris I will be reading. Thanks.

The kind of moderation you were talking about was one you imagined
(and I expect exists) but it was not the kind I was expressing.
Ian

On 1/24/08, david buchanan <dmbuchanan at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Ian said:
> What matters is not what people "profess" to believe, a "label" they adopt, but what people do with such beliefs, tolerance of other beliefs, pragmatism in the face of empirical evidence etc ... quality & values.
>
> dmb says:
> It doesn't matter what people believe? It only matters what people do with their beliefs? Since nobody ever acted in the absence of their beliefs, I think you've made a distinction without a difference. I mean, beliefs matter precisely because people do things with them. Those actions define the problem being discussed, no? I think you're just being wish-wishy in a way that gives breathing room to all kinds of nonsense. I agree with Harris in thinking that this kind of "moderation" only lends support to fanaticism. It's a kind of grotesque even-handedness. It is a form of moderation that serves some very immoderate things, which means it is incoherent too.
>
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Helping your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging.You IM, we give.
> http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/?source=text_hotmail_join
> Moq_Discuss mailing list
> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
> Archives:
> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
> http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
>