Post by Murph on Nov 9, 2007 15:38:39 GMT -6
New Atheism
Ron Coody - 11/9/2007
A rash of bestseller books and international debates has brought several atheists into public prominence. They argue that we now know for certain that God does not exist because natural processes can explain everything from lightening to life, from the origin of the universe to the origin of your ability to read this article. Richard Dawkins, leader of the pack, admits that cosmology still holds many mysteries as to why the cosmos appears highly fined tuned for life, but he has faith---oops, I mean, hope--that eventually cosmology will have a breakthrough similar to the one Darwin gave biology.
The tragedy of 9/11 fuels the new atheism. They like to point out, “See, this is where belief in God takes you. You can do terrible things including killing yourself and others if you believe that’s what God wants you to do and will reward you in the next life.” They like to lump all religions together and claim that more evil has been done in the name of God than any other way. They think that at best religious belief is a benign delusion and at worst the root of all the world’s evils.
Let the new atheists bask in the limelight. But they have one glaring problem in their logic. When it comes to the question of good and evil, they want to have their cake and eat it too. For example, when pressed about whether morality is absolute (for example, is lying, or stealing, or murder absolutely wrong) Sam Harris said that yes, some things are absolutely wrong. But…why? Is it because Harris says it is, or because someone else says it is, or because our genetics say it is?
www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3696&cid=12&sid=118
Ron Coody - 11/9/2007
A rash of bestseller books and international debates has brought several atheists into public prominence. They argue that we now know for certain that God does not exist because natural processes can explain everything from lightening to life, from the origin of the universe to the origin of your ability to read this article. Richard Dawkins, leader of the pack, admits that cosmology still holds many mysteries as to why the cosmos appears highly fined tuned for life, but he has faith---oops, I mean, hope--that eventually cosmology will have a breakthrough similar to the one Darwin gave biology.
The tragedy of 9/11 fuels the new atheism. They like to point out, “See, this is where belief in God takes you. You can do terrible things including killing yourself and others if you believe that’s what God wants you to do and will reward you in the next life.” They like to lump all religions together and claim that more evil has been done in the name of God than any other way. They think that at best religious belief is a benign delusion and at worst the root of all the world’s evils.
Let the new atheists bask in the limelight. But they have one glaring problem in their logic. When it comes to the question of good and evil, they want to have their cake and eat it too. For example, when pressed about whether morality is absolute (for example, is lying, or stealing, or murder absolutely wrong) Sam Harris said that yes, some things are absolutely wrong. But…why? Is it because Harris says it is, or because someone else says it is, or because our genetics say it is?
www.globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=3696&cid=12&sid=118