by allenwrench » Sat 31 May 2008, 09:58:59
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Grifter', 'B')ritish ex Prime Minister Blair has launched a faith foundation with the following three aims.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')o promote faith as a force for good, improve awareness between religions and tackle poverty and war.
linkYou see, having faith for no apparent reason other than
it sort of sounds good will be of a much greater benefit than having an understanding of the world through evidence and rational inquiry.
If people don't waste their time trying to make sense of the world and events that present themselves, the ruling class will have an easier time sorting out the problems on our behalf.
I guess that is the thinking anyway.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n an era of globalisation, there is nothing more important than getting people of different faiths and cultures to understand each other better and live in peace and mutual respect; and to give faith itself its proper place in the future
We don't want people having different opinions of how things should be run now do we?
We should all, of course, have the same blind faith that everything will be ok whatever happens here because the next life will be much better.
When it comes to faith...faith must always be based on the fact of a 'first see-er' or 'first contact' that is telling the truth.
We do not come up with ideas to base faith on all on our own.
All religious faith is based on someone else's reports.
If this persons report is based on lies, than the faith must evaporate.
I am not shy to benefit from spiritual and religious tools. The only requirement is that the tool can be tested for practical application. And if the tool can't be tested and requires faith, I have to let it go for the most part since there are so many lies that religion of man is based on and no one can prove or disprove any of it.
See:
Jesus Never ExistedThat is the beauty of being a freethinker. We can think for ourselves. As such, when we get a toolbox we can decide which tools to use for the job. Some tools are used a lot, other tools are left alone for the time being, and still others are trashed when we see they are broken and useless.
Traditional freethinkers do not accept me as one of their group, since I draw from spiritual paths as well as wordily areas to garner wisdom to live at peace. Traditional freethinkers do not like anything that comes from religion. Kind of a misnomer isn't it...I'm a freethinker...but I must block out everything that comes from religion and spiritual traditions and whatever other prejudice I wish to inject into the equation?
Psychologist William James once said, "A great many people believe they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."
Religious practicers as well as atheists need to open their mind and see things without the delusions that both sides of this topic are stuck in.
'Honor dies where interest lies.'
As an agnostic freethinker my interest is in discovering truth.
When we limit personal prejudice we can open our minds to truth and peace. And realize the truth of Blake's words that "all deities reside within the human breast."
If it is religion that atheists or theists need to adopt, they only have to look as far as the religion of humanity. But just paying secular humanism lip service will not do any good. Our talk of spiritual values must match our actions.
I discuss this topic of faith with an ex-rabbi towards the end of this thread:
Jesus Never Existed II
From my own perspective since religion is riddled with lies and ambiguities, the need for faith is where I leave off.
I test the spiritual traditions for veracity. Those areas that cannot be tested or otherwise proved are let go of and those that can be tested are either peace producing or peace destroying.
If peace destroying I let them go and if peace promoting I try to implement some of them in my life.
Peace is always a personal choice as no one can do it for us.
Inner peace does not take faith...it takes testing and practice.
"Just as water floes downhill without effort but requires outside forces and energy to make it move uphill. So the human consciousness falls to its lowest levels of the senses without effort and energies to make our consciousness gravitate to more than our base desires." ~ Hindu Sage
by vision-master » Sat 31 May 2008, 11:21:33
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('billbrasky2', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Grifter', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'F')aith in what? Reptilian Overlords?
Nah. Just faith. you know erm.....faith
Like George Michael
I like Steve Winwood better
Traffic.
by Ferretlover » Sat 31 May 2008, 15:37:49
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Novus', 'S')o we made him faster, we made him better, we made him stronger, we made him harder.
I thought that was the Bionic Man? *giggle*
"Open the gates of hell!" ~Morgan Freeman's character in the movie, Olympus Has Fallen.
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by Grifter » Sat 31 May 2008, 15:44:02
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Grifter', '
')To paraphrase Richard Dawkins, organising freethinkers is a bit like herding cats.
I don't think you can belong to the group.
I belong to a semi-organized group of freethinkers who meet regularly for lunch (in public!). And I'm not even an atheist....
Good grief, you meet in public!
Do you do anything other than have lunch? Like (not sure what you call it over there) lobby parliament and such. Sounds interesting, I don't know anyone who doesn't just read comic type news stories. A friend of mine was interested in the Mars landing recently, that was quite surprising.
Usually though its either sport, celebrity gossip, people we know or how to get women to have sex.
I hate to admit that but its mostly true.
I used to be a member of a vegetable growing society. I was the youngest member by at least a decade. I talked about permaculture once but found myself receiving kind of glazed expressions. Learned a lot about growing potatos though.
by Novus » Sat 31 May 2008, 15:45:36
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ferretlover', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Novus', 'S')o we made him faster, we made him better, we made him stronger, we made him harder.
I thought that was the Bionic Man? *giggle*
The Bionic Man still needs a Bionic Messiah.
