“….the day will come when religion is…………………………….no longer cool–except in its socially valuable forms, where it will be one type of allegiance among many. Will those descendant institutions still be religions? Or will religions have thereby morphed themselves into extinction? It all depends on what you think the key or defining elements of religion are. Are dinosaurs extinct, or do their lineages live on as birds?
Why am I confident that this will happen? Mainly because of the asymmetry in the information explosion. With the worldwide spread of information technology (not just the internet, but cell phones and portable radios and television), it is no longer feasible for guardians of religious traditions to protect their young from exposure to the kinds of facts (and, yes, of course, misinformation and junk of every genre) that gently, irresistibly undermine the mindsets requisite for religious fanaticism and intolerance. The religious fervor of today is a last, desperate attempt by our generation to block the eyes and ears of the coming generations, and it isn’t working.”
Daniel C. Dennett, Philosopher; University Professor, Co-Director, Center for Cognitive Studies, Tufts University; Author, Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. Quoted in The Edge, World Question Center
For full text : http://edge.org/q2007/q07_1.html#dennett
People like to believe in something, and the committed and fanatical end up in charge, pulling the strings. In additions to the usual suspects, this applies to many types of other strongly-held beliefs: communism, fascism, capitalism, free-marketism, atheism, nationalism, neoconism, gotta-have-an-enemy-ism of the US Republicans, and, of course, zionism, to name a few. There are also many good “isms” one can think of, but they are seldom pursued with the fanaticism of these para-religions that bring so much angst and misery to the world. We have a long way to go before we rid ourselves of religious fervor.
Atheist claptrap! Science is just a collection of theories. No one has proved a thing. Arent you afraid of the coming of Jesus, when all will be judged? You will be damned for sure.
Yes Charlie, you are absolutely right. Science is a collection of theories and no-one has proved a thing. You have summed up Popper’s hypothetico-deductive method of reasoning upon which Scientific Method is built. Scientists present a hypothesis (testable statement) which is able to be falsified, and their peers endeavour to falsify it. If they cannot, then it stands, but never do we say it finally proves the hypothesis, we can only say that so far it has not been falsified. So far many hypothesis stand. (including the age of rocks, dare I say)
To say that Robert will be damned is a hypothesis which may very well be falsified – in any event, it is God that judges Not you or I , Charlie…. be carefull about damning people – lets be a little more loving and optimistic. eh?
If you take Jesus into your heart you are saved. I’m sorry for Robert, but it’s his choice. All he has to do is to believe and take Jesus as his Lord. What happens if he doesn’t is written right there in the Good Book.