http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/07-10-24/ Promoting Science and Critical Thinking Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:58:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/07-10-24/#comment-2485 Mr.Rudranil Ghosh Mon, 15 Nov 2010 11:19:45 +0000 http://www.skeptic.com/eSkeptic/?p=250#comment-2485 SIR, I AGREE WITH U 100%.RELIGION OF ANY SORT IS A CURSE TO HUMANKIND.ONLY SCIENCE CAN COME OF FULL USE TO HUMAN BEINGS.SCIENCE CAN CREATe A WORLD WHERE ALL ,IRRESPECTIVE OF REGIONALITY,SKIN COLOUR,GENDER,SEXUAL ORIENTATION,SOCIAL STATUS,WILL BE CONSIDERED EQUAL.I AM AN INDIAN.AM PLEASED TO C THAT WE YOUNG GENERATIONS R NO LONGER INTERESTED IN THE "AYODHYA CASE"(DISPUTE REGARDING THE PLACE OF BIRTH OF HINDU GOD "RAM")WIC BACK IN 1992 LED TO VIOLENT RIOT ALL OVER INDIA.BUT TODAY NO ONE IS INTERESTED IN THE COURTS VERDICT.RATHER WE R INTERSTED AS TO HOW WE CAN IMPROVE OUR ECONOMIC SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY.GOD'S MOST PRECIOUS GIFT TO MANKIND IS NOT RELIGION BUT "SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY". SIR,
I AGREE WITH U 100%.RELIGION OF ANY SORT IS A CURSE TO HUMANKIND.ONLY SCIENCE CAN COME OF FULL USE TO HUMAN BEINGS.SCIENCE CAN CREATe A WORLD WHERE ALL ,IRRESPECTIVE OF REGIONALITY,SKIN COLOUR,GENDER,SEXUAL ORIENTATION,SOCIAL STATUS,WILL BE CONSIDERED EQUAL.I AM AN INDIAN.AM PLEASED TO C THAT WE YOUNG GENERATIONS R NO LONGER INTERESTED IN THE “AYODHYA CASE”(DISPUTE REGARDING THE PLACE OF BIRTH OF HINDU GOD “RAM”)WIC BACK IN 1992 LED TO VIOLENT RIOT ALL OVER INDIA.BUT TODAY NO ONE IS INTERESTED IN THE COURTS VERDICT.RATHER WE R INTERSTED AS TO HOW WE CAN IMPROVE OUR ECONOMIC SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY.GOD’S MOST PRECIOUS GIFT TO MANKIND IS NOT RELIGION BUT “SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY”.

]]> http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/07-10-24/#comment-2421 Vernon Hamilton Mon, 25 Oct 2010 22:17:25 +0000 http://www.skeptic.com/eSkeptic/?p=250#comment-2421 Creationism and especially intelligent design have been around since medieval Christian apologetics was firmly founded by St. Augustine and later more systematically by Thomas Aquinas. The core argument was dealt a devastating blow in David Hume's 18th-century Dialogues of Natural Religion, possibly the central text for serious discussions on the existence of the supernatural. Mr. Schermer and other popular advocates for skepticism on religious questions need not go much beyond what Hume presented. But it's baffling that they rarely deal with the questions that are so trenchantly asked in Hume's work. The other issue I'm concerned with in Schermer's publications on religion is also one of absence. Mr. Schermer focuses his criticism of religion on one religion, Christianity. While he may argue this choice of an antagonist is purely for convenience, he cannot defend the equally damaging effect that the other institutional religions have had on rational thought. Even though they may have played a minor role in shaping Western culture, they still must be cross-examined when the topic is identified as "religiosity." Does religiosity just concern Christianity? If so, then Mr. Schermer needs to present a convincing case why Christianity is so different in religiosity from other major religious practices that it deserves such exclusive treatment. Creationism and especially intelligent design have been around since medieval Christian apologetics was firmly founded by St. Augustine and later more systematically by Thomas Aquinas. The core argument was dealt a devastating blow in David Hume’s 18th-century Dialogues of Natural Religion, possibly the central text for serious discussions on the existence of the supernatural. Mr. Schermer and other popular advocates for skepticism on religious questions need not go much beyond what Hume presented. But it’s baffling that they rarely deal with the questions that are so trenchantly asked in Hume’s work.
The other issue I’m concerned with in Schermer’s publications on religion is also one of absence. Mr. Schermer focuses his criticism of religion on one religion, Christianity. While he may argue this choice of an antagonist is purely for convenience, he cannot defend the equally damaging effect that the other institutional religions have had on rational thought. Even though they may have played a minor role in shaping Western culture, they still must be cross-examined when the topic is identified as “religiosity.” Does religiosity just concern Christianity? If so, then Mr. Schermer needs to present a convincing case why Christianity is so different in religiosity from other major religious practices that it deserves such exclusive treatment.

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