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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
 Posted - 05/22/2005 : 19:02:59
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NPR has a little feature on its website called "This I Beleive" wherein people famous or not get to write about, well, stuff they beleive.
I was curious about the most recent one because if the headline: How Is It Possible to Believe in God?
But since it was William F Buckley's essay, I knew that he wasn't going to conclude in the negative.
Feel free to read it-- I posted it here because it bugged me so much and I felt the need to vent. He starts of with a little anecdote and then writes that the story "more than once [has] reminded me that skepticism about life and nature is most often expressed by those who take it for granted that belief is an indulgence of the superstitious." Then, after an appeal to personal incredulity ("who is to say that the arrangement of the stars is more easily traceable to nature, than to nature's molder?"), he claims thatquote:
The skeptics get away with fixing the odds against the believer, mostly by pointing to phenomena which are only explainable -- you see? -- by the belief that there was a cause for them, always deducible. But how can one deduce the cause of Hamlet? Or of St. Matthew's Passion? What is the cause of inspiration?
Then, amazingly, we getquote:
It is intellectually easier to credit a divine intelligence than to submit dumbly to felicitous congeries about nature
Ture, indeed. I'm not sure, though, how to take Buckley's "dumbly." I imagine, though, that he means "speechless" and not "stupid." In any case, he tells another anecdote-- about how no one can really be "rootless" before finally claiming that "it is as likely that there should be a man without a country, as a world without a creator." Neat. It's good to know that best one of the main intellectual forces of the right can do when it comes to arguing for their god is "I can't imagine that there isn't one."
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2005 : 20:28:24 [Permalink]
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By Buckley:quote:
This I believe: that it is intellectually easier to credit a divine intelligence than to submit dumbly to felicitous congeries about nature.
Indeed. And one thing that all Christian demoninations teach (so far as I know), is that the wide and easy pathway leads only to damnation. Buckley and others are free, of course, to disregard the Bible's own wisdom (however metaphorical that damnation may be), but they obviously do so at their peril, especially considering what they believe.
Despite the source of that particular pearl in the inception of Christianity - when belief really could get one in serious trouble (lions, anyone?) - it holds sway in many aspects of life. Take the easy route with regard to exercise, and you'll grow around the middle like I have. Take the easy route with personal finances, and you won't have anything to fall back on in case of layoff or retirement. Take the easy route with automotive maintenance, and your engine will sieze when your oil gets low enough.
In truth, the vast majority of Christian faithful (worldwide) approach science as the method where we - as mere mortals - can discover the methods of Divine creation. But they don't prove the existence of a Creator. Buckley seems to clearly be arguing against cynics, not skeptics. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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the_ignored
SFN Addict
2562 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2005 : 23:41:51 [Permalink]
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Beh! You think Buckley's bad? I was watching John Hagee today. Holy crap! Ranting on and on about atheists...they've just rejecting a god that they know exists, the verse that says "the fool says in his heart there is no god, atheists are fools"! and etc. and then saying that evolution has "no proof, and never will have any proof" etc.
Sorry, I just had to vent. Why in hell was I watching that shit anyway? |
>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.
What brought that on? this. Original posting here.
Another example of this guy's lunacy here. |
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ConsequentAtheist
SFN Regular
641 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2005 : 12:23:42 [Permalink]
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| To compare Hamlet wih St. Matthew's drivel is laughable indeed, and anyone unclear as to the latter's 'inspiration' should be deemed unqualified to discuss early Chrisrianity. |
For the philosophical naturalist, the rejection of supernaturalism is a case of "death by a thousand cuts." -- Barbara Forrest, Ph.D. |
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist
USA
4955 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2005 : 13:14:52 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by the_ignored
Beh! You think Buckley's bad? I was watching John Hagee today. Holy crap! Ranting on and on about atheists...they've just rejecting a god that they know exists, the verse that says "the fool says in his heart there is no god, atheists are fools"! and etc. and then saying that evolution has "no proof, and never will have any proof" etc.
But the point is that Buckley is mainstream-- he's a big-time Conservative "thinker." But if he's a trend-setter when it comes to Neo-Con cocksucers when it comes to their Jebus-thinking, it's an embarassement! Any moderately intelligent Christian/theist should be able to see through his crap. But perhaps that's the point. He's not out to convince the thinkers; he's out to convince the nit-wits (read: President Bush) that their theistic position is right. |
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2005 : 14:16:47 [Permalink]
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| I like the "be cool to the pizza dude" lady. |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2005 : 18:51:26 [Permalink]
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| Hi ConsequentAtheist... Long time no see. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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ConsequentAtheist
SFN Regular
641 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2005 : 06:36:28 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Mabuse
Hi ConsequentAtheist... Long time no see.
Hi, Doc. I see you're still kickin'. |
For the philosophical naturalist, the rejection of supernaturalism is a case of "death by a thousand cuts." -- Barbara Forrest, Ph.D. |
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