"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins

[bodie]

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diba, he's the guy who also mentioned that saying your child is a christian child is a form of child abuse??

Haha.... yes it was. It was a quote in an essay that he published. I cant remember the name, but I think I have a link in my bookmarks. If your interested, I can dig it up.

Anyway, in the interest of keeping things in context, the story was about a woman who was sexually abused (fondled) by a priest as a child and who also had a friend who converted to protestantism. I cant remember the exact details but it mentioned that the woman suffered more mental trauma thinking that her friend was consigned to hell for eternity for turning away from Catholicism than from the fondling at the hands on the priest.

[Ramini]

kadtong usa ka ministry nga maghimog play "duping" kids into believing that hell is real..the thing is they make the play as scary as they can so that the children or the audience will be convinced...the problem is they're using fear as a means to inculcate or should i say force the concept of hell into the audience...well sakto man pd si dawkins pero not to the point of child abuse..abuse of the term lang cguro..in a way sakto man pd..ang dli ganahan ni dawkins is religious schools in england are brainwashing kids to believe in a literalist form of creation..being a scientist himself appaling man pd paminawon nga the earth is the center of the universe..wherein you yourself know and has the evidence to back it up...mao btaw against pd ko sa mga religious groups e.g. jesuits, franciscans etc. to form schools since they already have a bias in their religion.

[regnauld]

I think Richard Dawkins is slowly accepting about the ESSENCE of Spirituality!

[bodie]

btaw that's what i like sa mga ingon nga klase nga authors you can still gain something without ever adhering to the author's ideas...just like Sitchin..you can dump and disregard his annunaki alien concept but still your time won't be wasted kai after ana you'd be a semi-expert on Sumerian and Mesoamerican cultures.

True. I dont know if you agree with me on this, but one of the reasons why some become athiests is because we tend to ask questions and digg deeper into the why. Not that im saying anything against religious folk, but a lot of us atheists in the Philippines were likely raised as Catholics so its more likely that something triggered us to "switch sides" is you will.

For me it was an inconsistency regarding the interpretation of the origin of man. I remember debating about in class and a classmate telling me that its impossible for us to come from apes since the bible said different. Later on, my CL teacher from boys high took me aside and told me not to take the bible literally. Unfortunately for her, I took her words to heart. That is the significant point in Dawkins favor, I think. He proposes rational arguments to support his ideas. Its not exactly concrete, but its way better than what I heard from the other side so far.

[bodie]

I think Richard Dawkins is slowly accepting about the ESSENCE of Spirituality!

I dont know if its been discussed in other threads here, but you can be spiritual without being religious

[regnauld]

I dont know if its been discussed in other threads here, but you can be spiritual without being religious

Correct! That's why I don't call myself religious!

[Ramini]

mao man gd na ang dli na nako ganahan sa catholicism..they continually keep you in the dark..even the priest himself doesn't know when he says.."let us proclaim the mystery of faith"..it's soo convenient for them to say mystery mana sya...sa ginoo nman na..pero kng sa uban ipa explain jd nila..and what i don't like is the bible is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooo indirect..daghaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan nnnnnnnnn symbolism..why not go straight to the point?...the only thing i appreciate sa bible is the parable and most of the old testament..wherein klaro jd ang ginoo ba..if you don't love me then patay ka..if you do then you live...and to think nga gipilian ra diay ang bible so arbitrary diay ang paghimo sa bible dli jd ang ginoo like what he always does in the old days..mkadungog lang kag voice then you follow him...just like samuel, daniel and others...pero sa council of nicea wla oi..it was formed para mahunong ang gubot..and para mklaro kng unsa jd sundun..and to think nga nag debate pa sila sa godhood ni jesus...if he's god then nganong i debate pman na?..jeez..dha lang daan and of course the ever libog of them all...the bible has a very SERIOUS issue on PRONOUNS..sometimes he sometimes them ambot..and ang mga stories nga klaro na kaayo ang sabot pero the next thing wla diay gtuman..tsk2x "thou shalt not lie"...well except nako kai ako mai ginoo..hehe!

[regnauld]

I AM not against RELIGION per se. I am against RELIGIOUS FANATICISM!

Notice that the most superstitious ages have always been those of the most horrible crimes... The superstitious man is ruled by fanatics and he becomes one himself. On the whole, the less superstition, the less fanaticism, and the less fanaticism, the fewer miseries.

From Voltaire's Dictionnaire Philosophique 1776.

[regnauld]

For nearly 50 years Voltaire preached freedom of thought and denounced cruelty and oppression in all its forms. Voltaire was bourgeois, not a democrat. He believed in reasonable dissent. He believed in natural religion and praised French artistic and cultural achievement during the Age of Louis XIV. Politically he advocated the concept of Enlightened Despotism. Above all others Voltaire stood as the champion of reason and tolerance. As a young man he was known in Paris for his plays and his wit and conversation. He once offended the aristocrat Chevalier de Rohan, who, too proud to fight a duel with a commoner ordered his servants to give Voltaire a street beating. He was then ordered to the Bastille. By agreeing to leave France Voltaire was granted his freedom. He immediately left for England.

[bodie]

Its getting off topic, pero I cant help myself.

Akong pet peeve the Catholicism is Mary. The tradition and mysticism I can understand and respect. The sermons, not so much, pero mada-da ra after a day or so.

Pero deifying mary?! Have you heard of the litany of the virgin mary lately?

Queen of confessors
Queen of the Afflicted
Queen of Angels
Queen conceived without original sin
Queen of heaven

Asa man intawn na gikan oi. Too close to The Anti-Christ Revealed for comfort.