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| Evolution is ungoodthinkful |
Thoughtcrime Prevention in England
More on the war between religion and science, with a report on a proposed debate on evolution at South Kensington Madrassa (formerly known as Imperial College) which had to be cancelled due to intimidation by followers of The Religion of Peace™.
Evolution is such a threat to their politicised religion that they can't tolerate even hearing it debated. In order to censor their own thought processes, they need to shut down any external temptations towards heretical thoughtcrime. Darwinism especially is doubleplusungood.
Ministers of Truth
The reason that evolution is such a major threat to the RoP is that jihadists believe the Koran is the literal word of God. Any major error in the Koran would reveal it to be a hoax, and everything built upon it to be founded on a 1400-year-old confidence trick. So it's all or nothing, there's no scope for flexibility or compromise. The Koran can't just be true in some parts and fictitious in others. Either the Koran is divinely authored, or the whole thing is a fraud.
Saving spirituality from scientism
As attitudes harden and polarize in the war of religion against science, perhaps only the rational approach of Buddhism can find a middle way between the rock of irrefutable scientific fact, and the hard place of totalitarian religious dogma.
The full story is here
Related articles
Buddhism and Science
Creationism Crisis for Christianity = Opportunity for Buddhism
Evolution, Emptiness and Delusions of the Darwinian Mind
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6 comments:
Unfortunately most people in the science and physicalist community don't even know about the teachings of interdependent origination and emptiness. The debate seems to be mostly about evolution verses monotheism.
Monotheism truly has ruined spiritual contemplation. It is very rare to meet someone who is not either a physicalist or a monotheist.
Hi Brendan
I agree that there is an increasing polarization between physicalism (aka mechanistic reductionism or scientism) and pig-ignorant monotheism , with true spirituallty being squeezed out. This is why it's so important for Buddhists to familiarize themselves with the arguments for a spiritual dimension to existence.
The Buddhists have a much easier task in establishing a valid intellectual foundation for their religion, due to the strong philosophical basis provided by the Four Seals.
All the Buddhists have to do is refute physicalism (including arguments from qualia , intentionality and freewill ) and the rest follows logically.
The monotheists also need to establish a spritual dimension, but then they have three additional increasingly difficult tasks:
(i) Provide a cast-ron argument for the existence of God.
(ii) Provide an argument for the existence of their God against competing versions ( Allah is very different from Jehovah )
(ii) Justify their creation myth against scientific evidence.
I am personally agnostic as to the existence of God, though I have reservations about any of the alternatives currently on offer by the competing monotheisms.
Hi Sean,
If one has a clear cognition of interdependent origination it dosnt seem possible to even be agnostic to the concept of (god).
From the monotheistic position god is a form of monism, god being the single and only source to _all_ of reality. This view clearly was refuted by the Buddha it is the view of eternalism. Also this view leaves no room for anything else, if this reality is true there can be no you or me there would only be god.
This seems to be the highest view a mystical monotheist can come up with "god is" , with out realizing how silly "they sound" . From a Buddhist perspective it is just another form of the view of eternalism but to a monotheist it is perfection. Unfortunately suffering still continues. Not to mention the ethical problems that this view also carries, why is the god allowed to cause so much misery? Also this view allows the monotheist to do what it wants when it wants due to the individual believing after death it will go to eternal peace. This last point being the major problem with monotheism the formation of the egotistical I am never wrong "I".
Thankfully for the being that can cognize interdependent origination they are able to realize that they are also part of the problem as opposed to a monotheist cognition of believing they are being sent from the god to fix a problem that they did not cause.
Also from a physicists perspective they still haven't proven there is life they can only prove there are senses, but proving there are senses does not prove there is life.
Hi Brendan,
I would agree that in the last 3000 years no-one has come up with a philosophically coherent definition of God, so I'm not holding my breath for it happening any time soon. Nevertheless, it's very difficult to prove a negative.
However, some people may find the idea of God a useful stepping stone on their spiritual path, so as a matter of skillful means I don't think it's sensible for Buddhists to adopt a position of militant atheism.
Also, some Christians have an idea of God that may be more compatible with Buddhism than is the 'warlord in the sky' of the Old Testament and Koran. For example Quakers believe in God as an 'Inner Light', which may have similarites with the idea of Buddha Nature.
The concept of god gives people a false sense of security. The Quakers god like all the other gods don't protect us as we still experience suffering.
When we realise that there is _no_ place were there is not suffering then we will be having a nice time.
The concept of god is just a holiday to reality.
Anyway thanks again for taking the time to write your blog.
I might add the Dali Lama has stated that people who practise dorje shugden may be harming him.
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