Occasionally, we all get asked the question: Do you believe*** in God? Lots of people have no problem answering this: Yes. Others, such as myself, are tempted to answer the question with a question: What do you mean by "God?" That has been my strategy for many years, but now I'm beginning to think it misses the issue. Let me put aside those who define "God" any way they like and assert that they "believe" in whatever that is. That boils down to linguistics- a dispute about words. ** The important issue is whether you believe in the God described in the major "theistic" religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam.) This, in turn, is a question of whether you accept the mythology, theology and rituals of the given religion (whether or not you actually participate.) So, if your answer to the key question is "no," then you are claiming that all the actions based on religious motives are based on nothing . For example, prayer is pointless, ...

D&D dance  around the terrible reality of death. It's fascinating to watch two of the world's leading atheists grapple with the big issue that religion supposedly deals with. Typically, Dawkins waxes eloquent, firing off an impressive display of wordy fireworks that almost makes you forget what he's talking about. We see them both grasping for "big ideas" that make life make sense. To my mind, they both avoid what Buddha saw: that suffering is inevitable. Suffering must be faced head-on. The "self" is ephemeral. All things come to an end. What D&D are doing is making death part of a grand and compelling story, which is exactly what "religion" does. Death is a terrible tragedy. Is it not possible to face it without fear, without rationalization?

Interesting discussion between leading atheists  Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris , Ayaan Hirsi Ali A wide-ranging discussion of subtle issues with atheism, including an unusually subtle treatment of why people accept religion - the process of assimilation and the difficulty in freeing people from assimilation. Risks associated with criticizing Islam; When to take the gloves off - being polite to people who have been indoctrinated; Vetting the authorities; How liberal kids get assimilated to radical Islam; Sam Harris speaks eloquently about the powerful meme of Islam; Dawkins doesn't understand that everyone doesn't think like he does; Dennett refers to the "narrative arc" in TV shows and movies, which primes a person for assimilation; The appeal of Islam to intelligent, liberal women; Ali calls Islam a form of madness; Dennett compares crime committed for religious reasons with drunk driving Harris points out that religious delusion is excluded in DSM  Ar...

A friend writes ... You know that I am an atheist, or at best, an agnostic, ... I should like to go back to the simple belief I had in childhood, ... I am a product of a 'church' primary school, and the knowledge base, plus the experience of ritual is there. Nevertheless, I find that my mind has rejected Christianity, along with organised religion en mass Because I place myself in what I call the "Christian Tradition", my readers often assume that I'm obligated to defend "Christianity" and they expect me to attempt to "convert" them. This is very far from the case. I was born into this tradition. I cannot change that any more than I can transform myself into a zebra. The Christian Tradition goes back at least 3,500 years. We find ourselves at one particular point in its unfolding history. Because it is the very nature of "religion" to pretend that it is the guardian of eternal truth, the historical nature of its dogma is routinely swe...