I got a link to a news article from David, the article is about the University of Oxford’s study to determine the origins of faith in god.

Wired News - AP News
He said anthropological and philosophical research suggests that faith in God is a universal human impulse found in most cultures around the world, even though it has been waning in Britain and western Europe.

It seems that the leading figures in this study are in the mindset that religion is built-in to our systems. Do you think this would be an objective study?

“One implication that comes from this is that religion is the default position, and atheism is perhaps more in need of explanation,” Roger Trigg said.

Can you really prove that faith is innate?

I don’t think so. While history shows that societies in general have always had a religious inclination, I doubt that this trend will continue in the coming centuries or even millenia. As humanity, if we survive our conflicts of faith, then it is safe to say that science, the argument of reason and logical thinking will lead the way for future generations. I think that we’ve always been religious because we didn’t have any other way to explain our world around us. Our ancestors had to try to make sense of the rain, the sun coming up in the morning and setting down at night, other phenomena were simply unexplainable to them. Their explanation was that a “greater being” was in control of all this. We obviously now know that there is a scientific reason why things happen, and it is not magically designed.

I was blown away by the latest book I read. This book, much like Sam Harris’ really made me think. Overall, this book gets a thumbs up.

This book, with its seemingly simplistic title opens up with a very head-on approach. The first chapter, Putting It Midly, caught my interest because of the poignant questions; I was enticed to continue page after page. Here are some of the thoughts Hitchens presents us with.

If Jesus could heal a blind person he happened to meet, then why not heal blindness? What was so wonderful about his casting out devils, so that the devils would enter a herd of pigs instead? That seemed sinister. . .

This rings so true to me, why wouldn’t he do something to cure blidness for once and for all? Then you wonder, if it was all a perfect plan, why would there be such a thing as blindness to begin with? Almost any devout religious person would explain that it is part of our punishment, for the original sin. Christopher poignantly addresses as many of the arguments that religion gives us to keep itself in control.

When speaking of religion:

Even the men who made it cannot agree on what their prophets or redeemers or gurus actually said or did. Still less can they hope to tell us the “meaning” of later discoveries and developments which were, when they began, either obstructed by their religions or denounced by them. And yet –the believers still claim to know! Not just to know, but to know everything.

Although reading some of the history in there made me cringe, the author points out how terrible some of the faith-based laws and regulations actually are killing us. Religion Kills is the title for another chapter and it is named appropriately. He talks about Yusra al Azami. . .

“[She] was shot dead in April 2005, for the crime of sitting unchapperoned in a car with her fiancé. The young man [the fiance] escaped with only a vicious beating.

Allabu Akbar means God is Great, and this is where the title of the book comes from God is not great, How Religion Poisons Everything. Lately books are working hard on keeping your attention with catchy subtitles, but this is not just a gimmick, it really sums up the body of the book. After Hitchens lays down the groundwork, and poses some faith shattering questions, he dives head first into the major areas of our lives and humanity. Then makes some very compelling arguments to explain How Religion Poisons Everything. Continue Reading “Completed: God Is Not Great.” »

I’m seriously sick of reading all the religious crap that we have to face in our everyday life. To be blunt, as many other better men and women have said before me:

My freedom is more important than your faith.

Or as I’d like to put it, my freedom to do whatever the heck I want without infringing on your safety or rights to do the same, is more important than any of your delusional beliefs.

I found a first post article on Ziggyray.com that pointed out to a common trend in recent years. The absolute non-sense that some religious groups are advocating for. Take this very example, a group of delusional muslims have requested that Wikipedia removes references to their so called prophet. Mohammed, Muhammed, Mahomet or whatever you want to call this guy, seriously did a number on these people.

Remember the whole fiasco with the cartoons? Have you read about some religious nuts refusing to have their face showing on their drivers’ licenses? Duh, what do you think a picture id is for? Well, the latest nonsense is a demand against Wikipedia to remove certain images. Notice how the page of the so called petition has most of the participants listed as anonymous; what a bunch of cowards.

The nerve they have to ask that we remove all references to their prophet, or god or anything else they feel is “offensive” are not only ridiculous but simply ludicrous. Why would or should we want to stop the spread of knowledge? If you want to remain in the cavemen era and limit your options by a lack of education then I seriously invite you to turn off the computer and go into a cave to meditate or do whatever else god has commanded you to do. Seriously, you can’t have it both ways… you either get on the bandwagon of progress or you don’t.

Also, if you are a muslim then, isn’t the internet as a whole intrinsically bad (for lack of a better word) for your beliefs? You must be afraid that when your fellow muslims begin reading, and learning, — and this is inevitable with globalization– they will actually find that their religious faith is, like all others simply based on false pretenses.

Get over it. Wikipedia is here to stay. As for the rest of us, rational, reasonable human beings, we will continue to read, and write of the knowledge we’ve found. We aren’t here to indulge your feelings.

I’m glad Wikipedia has stood by their commitment to providing quality factual researched content. Here’s the discussion page by Wikipedia.

Woot! another book read, onto the next one soon. First I thought I’d give you my take on this one.

The Year of Living Biblically. One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible.

A.J. Jacobs is hilarious, this medium sized hardbound will keep you reading if not for its insights, at least for its light tone and comical nature; its hard to put down. It is a funny memoir that takes Jacobs, and sometimes his family through a year of radical changes in lifestyle. You are quickly exposed to the determination that AJ musters to bring you the results of this crazy experiment.

I must admit that the wide range of topics in this book touch on a lot of recurring themes in my life. The search for truth, the notion of spirituality, the reason behind ancient customs, to name a few all surface constantly in my life. Until I was 12 or so, I was raised Catholic, the whole shebang; kneel, sit, stand, pray, sing, eat crackers, rinse and repeat. Then after several years of freedom from religion, I chose to become a Christian. For over four years I was a firm believer in Christ. I participated in a non-denominational Christian church extensively, to the point that you could find me with some friends on the corner of Main street preaching to anyone that would listen and some that wouldn’t about Jesus. That’s all in the past now and perhaps topic for another discussion later on, but I wanted to point out that I’m not unfamiliar with religion, especially Christianity and Judaism. It is perhaps this familiarity with religion, faith and all that comes rolled up in that pacakge that sparked the desire to read this book.

The book has a strong contrast to Sam Harris’ book, The End of Faith which advises us (and I agree) to stop believing everything you are told without demanding real evidence from a source other than that which demands your faith. A.J. on the other hand must follow almost everything he is told by the Bible and his wise guy circle as I call it –a large group of experts that help him clear up some cryptic biblical stuff. Lots of times he is told to just go along with it. A.J. opens up by explaining how he’s going to do exactly what the title implies; live biblically for a year. Each chapter is a month and the whole book is narrated in journal style highlighting the most important days. Jacobs constantly is at odds with things that the Bible tells him to do and how he feels about it.

He takes us through his visit to the Holy Land, to visit his crazy uncle Gil, all the way to a meeting with Jimmy, a snake handling preacher in Knoxville, Tenessee. I love the way he enthusiastically tells a story and I lost count of how many times his narration of the ordeals made me laugh out loud. Having lived under rules from the Bible for years at one point, I can only admire Jacobs for actually completing a full year and then some of this grueling project. Julie, his wife also deserves credit if only for putting up with the lunacy of this undertaking, most of it while pregnant with twins! That’s love right there.

I don’t want to tell you much more about the book, it truly is worth reading, it all goes by quickly because of the way it is written. He begins with 72 pages and 700+ rules collected after reading the Bible from beginning to end. Towards the end of the journey, he collects over 100 books on biblical law, tradition, cooking and other relevant topics that help him discern these nutty laws. I think this is a great insight into what your life might be like if you truly tried to live in accordance to the Bible.

Here’s one of my favorite days. Simply because of the way it starts:

Day 181, afternoon. I was on the subway today, sitting a few seats down from a Buddhist monk. He looked at me, with my white raiment and bushy beard, I looked at him, with his orange robes, and we exchanged a knowing nod and smile.

It was a great moment. I felt like I’d been let through the velvet rope at a holy nightclub.

On another one of my favorite passages he actually stones –if you can call it that, an old guy in NY. It cracked me up.

I think the great sense of humor the A.J. displays is a big part of what gets him through this endeavor. Coincidentally as I found out just today when I finished this book, he is also the author of another book that has been in my sights, The Know-It-All, and the now famous article My Outsourced life. If you haven’t read that article, I recommend you take a peek, I read it a long time ago on Steve’s website, and it is definitely funny and informative. On a side note, lately have been actually testing the whole concept of outsourcing your life; mainly thanks to that article.

Two thumbs up for this book and its author, I now want to read his other book, The know-It-All.

Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.
- Thomas H. Huxley
Huxley used the term ‘agnostic’ to describe his own views on religion, a term whose use has continued to the present day, and which throws light on his demanding criteria for proof in science