tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post6892963795913098484..comments2023-09-25T04:26:51.568-06:00Comments on The Barefoot Bum: Religion is bullshitLarry Hamelinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-47959146641701463222010-12-29T16:43:47.040-07:002010-12-29T16:43:47.040-07:00Time will prove me right.
It'll have to, bec...<i>Time will prove me right. </i><br /><br />It'll have to, because reason, logic, fact and evidence have failed you.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-68028723064721088962010-12-29T16:14:29.992-07:002010-12-29T16:14:29.992-07:00Are atheists saints?
Some of the worst criminals...Are atheists saints? <br /><br />Some of the worst criminals: Stalin, Mao, probably Hitler filled the Atheist paradise that was suppose to be communism with the blood of millions, and turned out to be one of the worst tyrannies. With a worse crime history than Christianity in 2000 years.(And only in less than 100 years).<br />Are you a religio-phobic? <br /><br />Obvious? - Matter more than energy? -<br /><br />No one knows what dark energy is, but it is. Hawking is bringing new thinking about gravity that seems to bring matter from nothing, and if something exists is because it can, even out of randomness... . These are some facts that make obvious there is more to matter than energy. <br /><br />Time will prove me right.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-52565012162640613572010-12-29T13:19:23.763-07:002010-12-29T13:19:23.763-07:00Claiming something as "obvious" removes ...Claiming something as "obvious" removes the need to provide evidence.<br /><br />And I didn't have any bad feelings at all towards the religious... until I started talking to them about religion.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-7837095056012031812010-12-27T08:03:29.774-07:002010-12-27T08:03:29.774-07:00Your rage against religion has blinded you, and do...Your rage against religion has blinded you, and do not see the obvious.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-42936634261961273392010-12-27T04:50:35.685-07:002010-12-27T04:50:35.685-07:00Is it not obvious that there is more to matter tha...<i>Is it not obvious that there is more to matter than just energy? There is a mysterious ingredient that makes possible what is.</i><br /><br />"Obvious" is big red flag for bullshit. It is not only not at all obvious, but it is also actually false.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-63896320453910103912010-12-27T04:15:11.857-07:002010-12-27T04:15:11.857-07:00Some of you atheists are so narrow minded that are...Some of you atheists are so narrow minded that are a shame to skepticism. Just like fundamentalists are a shame to Christianity.<br /><br />You say we are star dust -and it is right- but what kind of marvelous dust produced a human being?. Is it not obvious that there is more to matter than just energy? There is a mysterious ingredient that makes possible what is. A principle of matter that can bring to life the primordial dust. <br /><br />Now use your great power of rationality which star dust gave you.<br /><br />Carlos VidalAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-59982498577954084462010-12-26T13:35:14.448-07:002010-12-26T13:35:14.448-07:00"But to condemn melioration as evil is itself...<i>"But to condemn melioration as evil is itself melioriative: it must aim to curb the evils of melioration; and the position seems inherently contradictory."</i><br /><br />It is not contradictory if you interpret them as saying that it's only medium and long term change that is impossible. While they speak, for at least a short while they can change minds. This has always been my understanding and though I will keep what you said in mind the next time I hear them, the principle of charitable interpretation militates towards not reading in that contradiction if it isn't explicitly there.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11958115795753496384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-26670350866595216922010-12-26T11:11:26.487-07:002010-12-26T11:11:26.487-07:00It's not that his kind don't believe in ev...<i>It's not that his kind don't believe in evil exactly, they are just historical determinists who think that no real progress can be made. That's behind the extreme pacifism: no new system will be better than the old system, so no war can be worthwhile. </i><br /><br />First, it's not that they don't believe in evil, it's that they say, or more precisely I interpret them as saying, that no amelioration of evil is practicable. And it doesn't just extend to war, it extends to criticism or even the expression of the possibility of meliorism. (Hedges definitely criticizes atheists on this grounds only for criticizing and verbally condemning religion, not for advocating war against the religious.)<br /><br />But to condemn melioration as evil is itself melioriative: it must aim to curb the evils of melioration; and the position seems inherently contradictory.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-68569852424730342832010-12-26T07:16:18.632-07:002010-12-26T07:16:18.632-07:00It's not that his kind don't believe in ev...It's not that his kind don't believe in evil exactly, they are just historical determinists who think that no real progress can be made. That's behind the extreme pacifism: no new system will be better than the old system, so no war can be worthwhile. <br /><br />He doesn't argue that abandoning attempts at moral improvement causes society to better itself, but that pursuing betterment causes harm. Most saliently, the attempt at moral improvement does cause evil in his view since only by believing in progress can a project involving tearing down to rebuild be justified. He won't abide any number of true statements about Muslims or Islam, lest they be employed for evil. After all he thinks no good can come of them.<br /><br />I don't think he intends evil, rather it is all plausible if one makes certain assumptions, such as: unique features of religions/societies are irrelevant and each will spawn fundamentalists/moderates/liberals as the result of other factors, societies cannot be more or less moral so evidence to the contrary is wrong or the result of incorrect interpretation, it's a good thing that Steve Buscemi and Scott Adams dumped their seed into the same radioactive sewage plant from whence he spawned all those years ago.<br /><br />Not too different than the assumptions needed to assume Bush, Obama, the pope, or anyone else is trying to act in good faith but is overmatched by reality. I believe that about basically everyone.<br /><br />I don't mean to focus unduly on Hedges as he only typifies the mindset, it's not unique to him.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11958115795753496384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-63698822667267942692010-12-26T05:50:09.428-07:002010-12-26T05:50:09.428-07:00Also, since he views moral improvement as impossib...Also, since he views moral improvement as impossible, he has no particular reason not to lie or be disingenuous.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-64185017617253624522010-12-26T05:48:10.616-07:002010-12-26T05:48:10.616-07:00It's interesting to take Hedges' reasoning...It's interesting to take Hedges' reasoning to its logical conclusion. If no moral improvement were possible, then the attempt at moral improvement, with its concomitant evils, is no more objectionable than the evils it purports (falsely) to cure. (Surely one could not honestly argue that abandoning attempts at moral improvement would cause moral improvement.)<br /><br />Therefore how are we to view Hedges statement? Clearly he doesn't want to ameliorate any evils. Thus we must view his comments as an attempt to gain power. He wants to be the hammer, not the nail; he must therefore want to be the one perpetrating the evil, not suffering it.Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-23915538030982156872010-12-26T05:40:34.090-07:002010-12-26T05:40:34.090-07:00"...without critical thought, what hope do we...<i>"...without critical thought, what hope do we have of ever improving?"</i><br /><br />Leftists like Chris Hedges deny that it is possible for us to improve in aggregate. That's how they weather your criticism and support religion. It's also why they are obsessed with pretending crimes by First World actors are as worse than they are, by both factual dishonesty and conflating unalike wrongs. The goal of their evidence gathering and reasoning is to arrive at the conclusion that no moral progress has been made.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11958115795753496384noreply@blogger.com