Religion
In reply to the discussion: what is the most important aspect of the interaction between belivers and non believers [View all]Manifestor_of_Light
(21,046 posts)have? There is no evidence for a historical Jesus.
Note:
I am quoting Douglas Adams and Richard Dawkins because they are far more eloquent than I am, not as an argument to authority.
"A widespread assumption, which nearly everybody in our society accepts---the non religious included---is that religious faith is especially vulnerable to offense and and should be protected by an abnormally thick wall of respect, in a different class of respect that any human should pay to any other.
"I have previously drawn attention to the privileging of religion in public discussions of ethics in the media and in government.
"Whenever a controversy arises over sexual or reproductive morals, you can bet that religious leaders from several different faith groups will be prominently represented on influential committees, or on panel discussions on radio or television. I'm not suggesting that we should go out of our way to censor these people. But why does society beat a path to their door, as though they had some expertise comparable to that of, say, a moral philosopher, a family doctor or lawyer?"
--The God Delusion, (2008) Richard Dawkins, p. 42
"Why should it be that it's perfectly legitimate to support the Labour Party or the Conservative Party, Republicans or Democrats, this model of economics, Macintosh instead of Windows--but to have an opinion about how the universe began, about who created the universe...no, that's holy?
...We are used to not challenging religious ideas but it's very interesting how much of a furore Richard creates when he does it!
Everybody gets absolutely frantic when he does it because you're not allowed to say these things. Yet when you look at it rationally there is no reason why those ideas shouldn't be as open to debate as any other, except that we have agreed somehow between us that there shouldn't be.
---Douglas Adams, quoted in The God Delusion, pp.42-43.