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thatcrazycajunWired News has an excellent essay on atheism this week, which you can (and should) read here. While I profess to be agnostic rather than atheist (there are just too many damned things in the universe, to my mind, that argue against there being no god[s] at all), it does make one think, especially in light of a recent (very eloquent) post by ![[info]](https://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
osewalrus in response to my previous entry re Democrats and religion (see below). And by the by, if in either that post or this one I have given offense to him or anyone truly, deeply religious, I did not intend such and herewith humbly apologize.
"'I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, 'for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.'
"'But,' says Man, 'the babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It proves that you exist, and so by your own arguments, you don't. Q.E.D.'
"'Oh, dear,' says God, 'I hadn't thought of that,' and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
"'Oh, that was easy,' says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed at the next zebra crossing."
—Douglas Adams, may he rest in peace
osewalrus in response to my previous entry re Democrats and religion (see below). And by the by, if in either that post or this one I have given offense to him or anyone truly, deeply religious, I did not intend such and herewith humbly apologize."'I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, 'for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.'
"'But,' says Man, 'the babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It proves that you exist, and so by your own arguments, you don't. Q.E.D.'
"'Oh, dear,' says God, 'I hadn't thought of that,' and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.
"'Oh, that was easy,' says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed at the next zebra crossing."
—Douglas Adams, may he rest in peace
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-23 09:32 pm (UTC)The idea that religion or religious doctrines are inherently evil, or have caused more evil in the world is, as far as I can determine, crap. When we see the horrors of the 20th Century, what stands out is the absolute horribleness committed in the name of science, reason, nationalism, the good of humanity, or any of a dozen other explanations.
When I first started at Department of Energy, one of my first declassification/FIOA/Privacy Act projects was a mound of data on how the U.S. had conducted secret experiments on dosing people with plutonium. Why? Because folks like friend Dawkins in the article saw no harm in it, and they were curious what would happen.
My point is not that atheistic science is evil. My point is that science or atheism are no defense against evil. Religion has inspired nobility and cruelty. So has every other "big idea" that gets into the human brain. Wipe out religion and you will still have all many of nasty things plaguing the world.