RE: The Valiant Non-Believer
August 17, 2009 at 8:20 pm
(This post was last modified: August 17, 2009 at 8:24 pm by Oldandeasilyconfused.)
@Interesting article, beautifully typed..
Pen Jillette is a moderately bright,autodidact and comedian,but not a profound thinker. EG you CAN in fact "prove a negative; it's called "falsification", a common scientific tool.Can I PROVE there is no elephant in the trunk of my car? Of course: By opening the fucking trunk!
ALL religions are reflections of the society which invent them.They meet many human needs.Unfortunately those needs change over time.Practices which had a survival value (such as the strict 613 mitzvot (commandments) of Mosaic law) become largely irrelevant.The brighter believers recognise this and change. The not so bright remain simple, bloody minded literalists.
Each of the Abrahamic faiths has enough contradictions to support just about any kind of faith,from the fanatic to the hermit ascetic. All believers AND critics cherry pick from the sacred books to support their point of view.Views are invariably supported by anecdotal evidence.
I've simply expressed a view,not the basis for an argument..It's unlikely either of us will change our position on the basis of what some bloke writes on some forum.I'm happy to agree to differ.
Falsification:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsification
Mosaic Law:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_Mitzvot
Pen Jillette is a moderately bright,autodidact and comedian,but not a profound thinker. EG you CAN in fact "prove a negative; it's called "falsification", a common scientific tool.Can I PROVE there is no elephant in the trunk of my car? Of course: By opening the fucking trunk!
ALL religions are reflections of the society which invent them.They meet many human needs.Unfortunately those needs change over time.Practices which had a survival value (such as the strict 613 mitzvot (commandments) of Mosaic law) become largely irrelevant.The brighter believers recognise this and change. The not so bright remain simple, bloody minded literalists.
Each of the Abrahamic faiths has enough contradictions to support just about any kind of faith,from the fanatic to the hermit ascetic. All believers AND critics cherry pick from the sacred books to support their point of view.Views are invariably supported by anecdotal evidence.
I've simply expressed a view,not the basis for an argument..It's unlikely either of us will change our position on the basis of what some bloke writes on some forum.I'm happy to agree to differ.
Falsification:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falsification
Mosaic Law:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_Mitzvot
