Religion. Politics. Wars.
Religion
1) The End of Faith, by Sam Harris
Undoubtedly the best book i have read this year. totally and unrelentlessly critical of faith-based religion. even though peace-loving me finds it a little too acidic, there is no denying that it offers an argument that few can refute with a rational mind. Read the interview with the author to get a basic idea. but for God's sake (literally), do grab a copy of this book from the shelves.
"How comforting would it be to hear the President of the United States assure us that almighty Zeus is on our side in our war on terrorism? The mere change of a single word in his speech—from God to Zeus—would precipitate a national emergency."
Richard Dawkins, after 9/11 incident:
Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that. Revealed faith is not harmless nonsense, it can be lethally dangerous nonsense. Dangerous because it gives people unshakeable confidence in their own righteousness. Dangerous because it gives them false courage to kill themselves, which automatically removes normal barriers to killing others. Dangerous because it teaches enmity to others labelled only by a difference of inherited tradition. And dangerous because we have all bought into a weird respect, which uniquely protects religion from normal criticism. Let's now stop being so damned respectful!
This account of Richard Dawkins reminds me of huimin's view on science and beauty:
"His (Dawkin's) popular work Unweaving The Rainbow takes John Keat's claim – that by explaining the rainbow, Isaac Newton had diminished its beauty – and argues for the opposite conclusion. Deep space, the billions of years of life's evolution, and the microscopic workings of biology and heredity, Dawkins argues, contain more beauty and wonder than myths and pseudoscience."
Politics
2) Michael Moore's Fahrenfeit 9-11
I recently watched the film, and am immensely impressed. Very insightful views on Bush Administration's response to Sept 11 incident. the film also presents a very stark and realistic view of war, and argues that the forefront and immediate purpose of the war is none other than oil.
Politics, eventually, is a game played by the powerfuls and wealthies. and the cost of this game so often looked-over, is our very precious humanity.
Wars
3) it's not difficult to see that every war in humanity stems from religion and politics (duh, what else?) Sometimes we just need to take a step back to examine the fundamental purpose of these subjects to find out how screwed we are. Love thy neighbours love thy enemy by Crusades? Serve the people serve the nation by sending sons of the land to die for your dirty oily cause?
love is the cause of everything. Of work, of leisure, of romance, of care, of hatred, of prejudice, of wars, of destruction.
i will elaborate more.
1) The End of Faith, by Sam Harris
Undoubtedly the best book i have read this year. totally and unrelentlessly critical of faith-based religion. even though peace-loving me finds it a little too acidic, there is no denying that it offers an argument that few can refute with a rational mind. Read the interview with the author to get a basic idea. but for God's sake (literally), do grab a copy of this book from the shelves.
"How comforting would it be to hear the President of the United States assure us that almighty Zeus is on our side in our war on terrorism? The mere change of a single word in his speech—from God to Zeus—would precipitate a national emergency."
Richard Dawkins, after 9/11 incident:
Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that. Revealed faith is not harmless nonsense, it can be lethally dangerous nonsense. Dangerous because it gives people unshakeable confidence in their own righteousness. Dangerous because it gives them false courage to kill themselves, which automatically removes normal barriers to killing others. Dangerous because it teaches enmity to others labelled only by a difference of inherited tradition. And dangerous because we have all bought into a weird respect, which uniquely protects religion from normal criticism. Let's now stop being so damned respectful!
This account of Richard Dawkins reminds me of huimin's view on science and beauty:
"His (Dawkin's) popular work Unweaving The Rainbow takes John Keat's claim – that by explaining the rainbow, Isaac Newton had diminished its beauty – and argues for the opposite conclusion. Deep space, the billions of years of life's evolution, and the microscopic workings of biology and heredity, Dawkins argues, contain more beauty and wonder than myths and pseudoscience."
Politics
2) Michael Moore's Fahrenfeit 9-11
I recently watched the film, and am immensely impressed. Very insightful views on Bush Administration's response to Sept 11 incident. the film also presents a very stark and realistic view of war, and argues that the forefront and immediate purpose of the war is none other than oil.
Politics, eventually, is a game played by the powerfuls and wealthies. and the cost of this game so often looked-over, is our very precious humanity.
Wars
3) it's not difficult to see that every war in humanity stems from religion and politics (duh, what else?) Sometimes we just need to take a step back to examine the fundamental purpose of these subjects to find out how screwed we are. Love thy neighbours love thy enemy by Crusades? Serve the people serve the nation by sending sons of the land to die for your dirty oily cause?
love is the cause of everything. Of work, of leisure, of romance, of care, of hatred, of prejudice, of wars, of destruction.
i will elaborate more.
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