Religion held total dominance for thousands of years – & mankind stagnated amid constant war, disease & ignorance. As soon as science began to gain acceptance, & religion ceased to be the dominant force in society, our progress accelerated rapidly up to our present level of knowledge.

Unfortunately, the defenders of ignorance over reason are legion … & entropy is on their side.

I fear we will soon return to the same barbarism we came from, as our selfish society implodes from choking on its own material & ethical detritus. Reason will be rejected more & more passionately, even while the need for it grows strongest, & superstitious atavism will become dominant once again … the faithful will praise their all-knowing idols for finally defeating the demonic conspiracy of science once & for all, all the way back to the caves.

Velocipede… You do indeed have the right to speak your mind, but respect for others is a trait not often seen in those with a self-centered attitude. So… speak away, but Joseph also has the right to speak his opinion.

http://www.biola.edu/news/articles/2008/081007_hazen.cfm

Hazen is a professor of comparative religion

He’s preaching to the choir. His fans feel good about themselves and their superiority to the “morons”, and meanwhile the people who actually know something about textual criticism and ANE linguistics and philosophy feel sorry for them. Oh, and Kristopher your claim regarding atheism is self-contradictory.

And even if card carrying athiests like myself went around saying “there is no god” it would at most be ignorance of the “have no knowledge of God” kind, where as most religious endeavors are predicated on dishonest manipulations and abject fabrications.

C.S. Lewis did a lot of drugs.

As a Kerry supporter in the previous election and one of those who chose to enter the classroom, I find your analogy quite unhelpful. In fact, the more science that I learn, the more I believe in God. As far as my choice of religion, that is irrelevant. The fact is… this country was founded on the idea of freedom of religion. That means we are all free to choose our own beliefs…. religious or not. The point of my inquiry is to establish that the things that humans value, whether due to religion or not, cross the boundaries of religion or anti-religion. The value for human life (when that begins depends on who you talk to), security for our families, freedom of choice, etc. are important. We have the right to speak our minds regarding things that we cherish. That is what is so great about our country. That is why Bill Maher is able to produce his movie and not worry about the government intervening. I agree that religion should not be part of the political process. It is just a side show to distract people from what is really important. Throughout history MAN has used religion to dominate, to torment, etc. by playing on the things that people value. However, these political and many times religious leaders give a bad name to the same religion that seeks to help those in need. The real culprit is not the religion or God. It is greed and power and the people that will do anything they can to attain it.

I enjoyed reading all of your posts… on both sides of the argument, and I look forward to seeing the film.