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Originally posted by marfknox

moakley wrote:

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Curious? What is the set of basic principle that an atheist fundamentalist adheres to? I would suspect that for most it would be based on the diligence of the scientific methods.

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Harris talks about ethics far more than he talks about science, and alas, while reason can be applied to ethics, it cannot be applied with even close to the amount of certainty as saying 1+1=2.

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Originally posted by marfknox

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Does the book in question take a rather extreme stance on the dangers of faith?

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Considering that many atheists, such as myself, are upset about this book, yes, I would say that his position is extreme. Certainly by mainstream public standards it is extreme. This is not to say that I don?t agree with some of his specific criticisms of religion in general and all of his criticism of religious extremists.

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Originally posted by marfknox

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Does the book support its claim for faith being dangerous? With many examples past and present. Has faith been used as justification for heinous acts against others? Too many times.

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Being used as a justification doesn?t mean religious beliefs are the cause. Other things have been used as justification for heinous acts too often in history. Race and nationalism are right up there with religion, and neither of them require any religious-type of faith. They only require strong feelings and irrational beliefs, and everyone, including atheists, is susceptible to those. This as a blanket criticism of religion in general is just rather pointless.

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Originally posted by marfknox

It can?t be denied that many humanitarian acts have been inspired also by religion.

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Originally posted by marfknox

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One of the harmful actions impacts the future by teaching children how to believe and not how to think. In line with the original post.

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That statement is so vague that it is practically meaningless. It sounds more like empty rhetoric than a practical call for better social policies.

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(me)It can?t be denied that many humanitarian acts have been inspired also by religion.

(moakley)The book does not deny this.

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All we can say, as religious moderates, is that we don't like the personal and social costs that a full embrace of scripture imposes on us. This is not a new form of faith, or even a new species of scriptural exegesis; it is simply a capitulation to a variety of all-too-human interests that have nothing, in principle, to do with God. Religious moderation is the product of secular knowledge and scriptural ignorance--and it has no bona fides, in religious terms, to put it on a par with fundamentalism.

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(me)That statement is so vague that it is practically meaningless. It sounds more like empty rhetoric than a practical call for better social policies.

(moakley)Why not ask for clarification.

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In a nut shell:
- Does the book present a realistic or viable solution to the dangers of extreme positions based on faith in some god inspired book? Hell no.
- Does it effectively point out the dangers of these extreme positions? In my opinion, Yes.
- Is it possible to take an extreme position in order to sell more books? Hell, I don't know. Lets ask Ann Coulter.

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Teachers in some northern Quebec communities say they are being told not to talk about the theory of human evolution because it offends some Inuit people.

Alexandre April, a teacher in Salluit, Que., said his school principal had told teachers not to discuss the issue.However, when students asked questions, April said Thursday he answered them as a teacher and biologist, telling them about Darwin's theory.

April said that's when he got the complaint.

"A mother called, and she said that I'd told her daughter that she was a monkey. It's not the way I presented it. Not at all. So I've been told not to do it again," April said.

April said he believes his students in the tiny Inuit community on Hudson Strait have the right to learn about evolution, just like all other Canadian students.

"We are able to talk about evolution of animals, but nothing about the origin of man," April said, adding the school threatened him with disciplinary action.

'They don't want to hear this kind of stuff'

The Kativik school board says it's just being sensitive to local beliefs.

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Hwever, he waffled on human evolution, saying something about the need to be sensitive to Inuit beliefs.

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Originally posted by marfknox
[brOh yeah, now we can fight that type of Creationism too.

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It seems that this being driven by Pentascotals - one of the audio links I provided includes an explanationof why this religion is so popular among the Inuit. Christian fundamentalism is behind this with the Inuit card being played to make it "Politically Correct".
This way they can claim the Quebec Ministry of Education is being racist by enforcing the provincial curriculum.

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It seems that this being driven by Pentascotals - one of the audio links I provided includes an explanationof why this religion is so popular among the Inuit. Christian fundamentalism is behind this with the Inuit card being played to make it "Politically Correct".
This way they can claim the Quebec Ministry of Education is being racist by enforcing the provincial curriculum.

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Article 7 of the "United Nations draft declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples" (26 August 1994) defines "Cultural genocide" ... :

Indigenous peoples have the collective and individual right not to be subjected to ethnocide and cultural genocide, including prevention of and redress for:

(a) Any action which has the aim or effect of depriving them of their integrity as distinct peoples, or of their cultural values or ethnic identities;
(b) Any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them of their lands, territories or resources;
(c) Any form of population transfer which has the aim or effect of violating or undermining any of their rights;
(d) Any form of assimilation or integration by other cultures or ways of life imposed on them by legislative, administrative or other measures;
(e) Any form of propaganda directed against them.

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Originally posted by HalfMooner

I do not believe for a second that an arctic native people had a traditional abhorrence of monkeys and apes. The Pentecostals cynically are using some of their Inuit converts not to defend any Inuit creation myth, but to reinforce their own. Indeed, a little reading on the Web has opened my eyes to the fact that the Pentecostals are particularly heavy handed ideologically in dealing with the Inuit, not only pushing for Biblical literalism in schools, but for anti-gay legislation, etc.

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But spokeswoman Debbie Astroff says the beliefs and culture of the local Inuit need to be respected in the classroom.

"The teacher's rationale was that Nunavik students should have the same right to the same education as other students. And we agree, but the Inuit of Nunavik should also have the right to have their views and way of life respected by our teachers," she said.

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Originally posted by Ghost_Skeptic

I wonder if Dr. Mab has any insight on the Pentacostal aspect of this.

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First, it's been more than 10 years since I broke free from their mind-numbing grasp. Secondly, modern Swedish Pentacostals are less political and more liberal than any American counterparts.

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