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Post by James Hannam on Jan 2, 2009 15:30:10 GMT
www.richarddawkins.net/articleComments,1802,Science-owes-its-origins-to-Christianity-or-Religion,RichardDawkinsnet,page1#comments They have been asked to reply to the objection to atheism that Christianity gave rise to science. There are two schools of thought. Most of them simply deny it, sometimes with a positivist pocket history attached. Others, clearly wanting to avoid the issue, insist it is irrelevant. Well, it is irrelevant to the truth of religion, but it is certainly relevant to the question of whether or not religion is a bad thing. And it is this that tends to exercise new atheists more. Best wishes James
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Post by humphreyclarke on Jan 2, 2009 16:33:52 GMT
Had to laugh at this comment from 'the ultimate samurai' (and the quote he used from Mark Twain. Twain obviously read Dickinson White!'.
"The so-called Christian nations are the most enlightened and progressive...but in spite of their religion, not because of it. The Church has opposed every innovation and discovery from the day of Galileo down to our own time, when the use of anesthetic in childbirth was regarded as a sin because it avoided the biblical curse pronounced against Eve. And every step in astronomy and geology ever taken has been opposed by bigotry and superstition. The Greeks surpassed us in artistic culture and in architecture five hundred years before Christian religion was born." ~mark twain.
of course that statement was more true in twains time,the atheistic nations have surpassed the christian nations substantialy. japan is largely atheists...but...not quite (they are shinto, but they do not consider themselves religious...they just like the ceremonies.) switzerland is largely atheistic and are generaly winning in..everything..
so, religion may have been a start...but now its a hinderance, we have outgrown it, and like the child who doesnt let go of his security blanket into his 40's...its not healthy anymore. "
Did the Swiss win the Americas cup because they are godless?
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Post by krkey1 on Jan 18, 2009 1:14:56 GMT
If I was in a mean mood I would observe that all of these Atheistic countries have negative birthrates and their Atheistic populations are soon going to become extinct because of this.
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Post by turoldus on Jan 19, 2009 17:12:08 GMT
If I was in a mean mood I would observe that all of these Atheistic countries have negative birthrates and their Atheistic populations are soon going to become extinct because of this. Only because they have bad family policies. Europeans, atheistic or not, are quite willing to have babies as long as the State takes care and gives the big bucks. France is a good example. Besides, there is not a thing like an "atheistic" country, just ones with little or no religiosity at all. It doesn't mean people there subscribe to a naturalistic view of the world and believe it's just about chance and necessity. Actually a drop in religious affiliation is often correlated with a rise in superstition and "new age" claptrap. |
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