"Intuition" is VERY important; "Pattern Recognition," as in, "Beauty" and "Proportion;" ..."Memory," as in Awareness of "Time" and "History;" ... and, yes, "Feeling" ...
There is a LOT of Human Awareness that ISN'T strictly about analytical "Logic" or systematic "Reason" ...
Indeed, "Reason" and "Logic" are SOME -- but NOT the ONLY -- Creator-given Tools for investigating and understanding Life, The Universe and Everything ...
Ironically, it ISN'T entirely "Logical" or "Reason-able" to rely SOLELY on "Logic" and "Reason" ...
Because I understand that reason and intelligence are the primary capacities that God granted to humans (that this is indeed what "made in God's image" means), I most certainly don't see atheism offering any help in that regard.
Got anything else you might wish to offer?
Well, the "reason and logic" thing is largely the fault of theists, IMO. People love to talk about God in very touchy-feely terms, and go off on flowery side-trips about the wonderful, warm feelings they get from their faith. That's all well and good. But God is a God of reason and intelligence, I think.
Without reason and intelligence, what do you have? Nothing. All the touchy-feeling things can't exist -- at least not in any real, meaningful manner -- if you do not first have reason.
Reason, knowledge, discovery -- that's what it's all about.
I'm not arguing that we don't have qualities outside of, or transcending, what we call reason and logic. Or, that we should live only by reason and logic. We're not Vulcans, for heaven's sake.
What I'm saying is, without reason and intelligence first firmly in place, those other qualities can often just lead down blind alleys. They can be mind-numbing. They can lead to pointless self-absorbtion, or, simply blindly following authority figures or tradition, rather than thinking for oneself.
I am a Humanist. I believe in a rational philosophy of life, informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by a desire to do good for its own sake and not by an expectation of a reward or fear of punishment in an afterlife.
...What I'm saying is, without reason and intelligence first firmly in place, those other qualities can often just lead down blind alleys.
God beliefs is one of those blind alleys.
They can be mind-numbing. They can lead to pointless self-absorbtion, or, simply blindly following authority figures or tradition, rather than thinking for oneself.
Religious extremists, such as fundamentalist christians, are proof of that.
Dave - Just a Man in the Mountains.
I am a Humanist. I believe in a rational philosophy of life, informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by a desire to do good for its own sake and not by an expectation of a reward or fear of punishment in an afterlife.
Yes ... A "stunted" Human Being, who embraces only SOME of her/his Humanity in all its Rich Depth and Variety, will encounter more Frustration than Fulfillment ...
"Intuition" is VERY important; "Pattern Recognition," as in, "Beauty" and "Proportion;" ..."Memory," as in Awareness of "Time" and "History;" ... and, yes, "Feeling" ...
There is a LOT of Human Awareness that ISN'T strictly about analytical "Logic" or systematic "Reason" ...
Indeed, "Reason" and "Logic" are SOME -- but NOT the ONLY -- Creator-given Tools for investigating and understanding Life, The Universe and Everything ...
Ironically, it ISN'T entirely "Logical" or "Reason-able" to rely SOLELY on "Logic" and "Reason" ...
Because I understand that reason and intelligence are the primary capacities that God granted to humans (that this is indeed what "made in God's image" means), I most certainly don't see atheism offering any help in that regard.
Got anything else you might wish to offer?
Well, the "reason and logic" thing is largely the fault of theists, IMO. People love to talk about God in very touchy-feely terms, and go off on flowery side-trips about the wonderful, warm feelings they get from their faith. That's all well and good. But God is a God of reason and intelligence, I think.
Without reason and intelligence, what do you have? Nothing. All the touchy-feeling things can't exist -- at least not in any real, meaningful manner -- if you do not first have reason.
Reason, knowledge, discovery -- that's what it's all about.
I'm not arguing that we don't have qualities outside of, or transcending, what we call reason and logic. Or, that we should live only by reason and logic. We're not Vulcans, for heaven's sake.
What I'm saying is, without reason and intelligence first firmly in place, those other qualities can often just lead down blind alleys. They can be mind-numbing. They can lead to pointless self-absorbtion, or, simply blindly following authority figures or tradition, rather than thinking for oneself.
Pity. A sense of historical plausibility is something else that theists can learn from atheists.
You're making a range of assumptions there.
For starters, I understand religion to be relative to time and place, and progressive. Therefore, "X" predates "Y" doesn't make "Y" invalid -- any more than what one learned in second grade makes what one discovers in college invalid.
But what you learned in college isn't what you learned in second grade. The creation story in Genesis is the crude theology of a barbarous and superstitious people. Modern theologians should simply discard it instead of pretending that it embodies their own more sophisticated ideas.
Yes ... A "stunted" Human Being, who embraces only SOME of her/his Humanity in all its Rich Depth and Variety, will encounter more Frustration than Fulfillment ...
"Intuition" is VERY important; "Pattern Recognition," as in, "Beauty" and "Proportion;" ..."Memory," as in Awareness of "Time" and "History;" ... and, yes, "Feeling" ...
There is a LOT of Human Awareness that ISN'T strictly about analytical "Logic" or systematic "Reason" ...
Indeed, "Reason" and "Logic" are SOME -- but NOT the ONLY -- Creator-given Tools for investigating and understanding Life, The Universe and Everything ...
Ironically, it ISN'T entirely "Logical" or "Reason-able" to rely SOLELY on "Logic" and "Reason" ...
Because I understand that reason and intelligence are the primary capacities that God granted to humans (that this is indeed what "made in God's image" means), I most certainly don't see atheism offering any help in that regard.
Got anything else you might wish to offer?
Well, the "reason and logic" thing is largely the fault of theists, IMO. People love to talk about God in very touchy-feely terms, and go off on flowery side-trips about the wonderful, warm feelings they get from their faith. That's all well and good. But God is a God of reason and intelligence, I think.
Without reason and intelligence, what do you have? Nothing. All the touchy-feeling things can't exist -- at least not in any real, meaningful manner -- if you do not first have reason.
Reason, knowledge, discovery -- that's what it's all about.
I'm not arguing that we don't have qualities outside of, or transcending, what we call reason and logic. Or, that we should live only by reason and logic. We're not Vulcans, for heaven's sake.
What I'm saying is, without reason and intelligence first firmly in place, those other qualities can often just lead down blind alleys. They can be mind-numbing. They can lead to pointless self-absorbtion, or, simply blindly following authority figures or tradition, rather than thinking for oneself.
Well, there's more than one way to approach life. Otherwise, it would be awfully boring.
Pity. A sense of historical plausibility is something else that theists can learn from atheists.
You're making a range of assumptions there.
For starters, I understand religion to be relative to time and place, and progressive. Therefore, "X" predates "Y" doesn't make "Y" invalid -- any more than what one learned in second grade makes what one discovers in college invalid.
But what you learned in college isn't what you learned in second grade. The creation story in Genesis is the crude theology of a barbarous and superstitious people. Modern theologians should simply discard it instead of pretending that it embodies their own more sophisticated ideas.
But what you learned in college isn't what you learned in second grade. The creation story in Genesis is the crude theology of a barbarous and superstitious people. Modern theologians should simply discard it instead of pretending that it embodies their own more sophisticated ideas.
I understand the Genisis story to be allegorical.
Why? It doesn't look much like other allegories in the Hebrew Bible. They're more explicit and often clearly identified as allegories. That something in the Bible isn't literally true doesn't necessarily mean that it's true in some poetic sense. It may simply be wrong.
But what you learned in college isn't what you learned in second grade. The creation story in Genesis is the crude theology of a barbarous and superstitious people. Modern theologians should simply discard it instead of pretending that it embodies their own more sophisticated ideas.
I understand the Genisis story to be allegorical.
Why? It doesn't look much like other allegories in the Hebrew Bible. They're more explicit and often clearly identified as allegories. That something in the Bible isn't literally true doesn't necessarily mean that it's true in some poetic sense. It may simply be wrong.
I think it can have many "meanings." It's not a yes or no question.
In any case, it's "wrong" (if you want to use that term) in the sense of trying to use it as a literal history of how life on Earth began. And to claim, for example, that this planet is only 6,000 years old, and Noah's flood literally covered the entire globe.
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