[zensphere]

A fun debate between Sam Harris and Michael Shermer vs. Deepak Chopra and Jean Houston on the future of “God.”

Master debaters! ;D

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaceOff/#

[Robyo]

woo woo 😀

[zensphere]

Yeah, Deepak got pretty upset about that. 😀

[Pauldo]

Philosopher: Why we should ditch religion

(CNN) — For the world to tackle truly important problems, people have to stop looking to religion to guide their moral compasses, the philosopher Sam Harris told CNN.

“We should be talking about real problems, like nuclear proliferation and genocide and poverty and the crisis in education,” Harris said in a recent interview at the TED Conference in Long Beach, California. TED is a nonprofit group dedicated to “ideas worth spreading.”

“These are issues which tremendous swings in human well-being depend on. And it's not at the center of our moral concern.”

Religion causes people to fixate on issues of less moral importance, said Harris, a well-known secularist, philosopher and neuroscientist who is the author of the books “The End of Faith” and “Letter to a Christian Nation.”

“Religion has convinced us that there's something else entirely other than concerns about suffering. There's concerns about what God wants, there's concerns about what's going to happen in the afterlife,” he said.

“And, therefore, we talk about things like gay marriage as if it's the greatest problem of the 21st century. We even have a liberal president who ostensibly is against gay marriage because his faith tells him it's an abomination.

“It's completely insane.”

Watch Harris' talk at the TED Conference

Harris also said people should not be afraid to declare that certain acts are right and others are wrong. A person who would spill battery acid on a girl for trying to learn to read, for instance, he said, is objectively wrong by scientific standards.

“It's not our job to not judge it and say, 'Well, to each his own. Everyone has to work out their own strategy for human fulfillment.' That's just not true,” he said.

“There's people who are wrong about human fulfillment.”

Harris placed no faith in the idea that Muslims and Christians will be able to put their differences aside and cooperate on global issues.

“There's no way to reconcile Islam with Christianity,” he said. “This difference of opinion admits of compromise as much as a coin toss does.”

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/25/ted.sam.harris/index.html

[Pauldo]

Deepak got schooled!  Fat lady was a tard.

[Robyo]

Deepak got schooled!  Fat lady was a tard.

uhm, not really

[zensphere]

I thought everyone made some interesting and valid points from their respective views, although it didn't seem like they were all taking part in the same conversation or even that they were able to…

I can understand how those who subscribe to irrational beliefs or an irrational worldview would fail to see the value or relevance of rational argument, and vice versa.

Of course, “reality” stands on it's own merit without need of our adding any conceptual window dressing to it, and I think the rationalists are at least trying to see the world with naked eyes, devoid of cultural bias…

I don't imagine that anyone really succeeds at this, but at least we can try. I also don't imagine that many people are particularly interested in doing this in the first place… hence the need for tolerance and compassion and education.

[Pauldo]

Deepak got schooled!  Fat lady was a tard.

uhm, not really

I don't understand how someone couldn't see it that way!  Deepak just talked nonsense, misused physics to support his magical beliefs, bleh!  It was such a joy to hear the logical and reasonable arguments from the atheist side of the discussion.  Loved the theoretical physicist at the end who got up and sparred with Deepak.

[Ascension]

I read that cnn article, didn't watch the video- I assume it went like any other debate with the same setup.

I'm starting to agree with the growing mentality that we shouldn't feel required to tolerate oppressive religions. Pouring battery acid on a woman for trying to learn is just inhumane and wrong. I don't see how you can value human life and practice something like that.

[zensphere]

^hard for a sane person to argue otherwise!

[aktif]

I read that cnn article, didn't watch the video- I assume it went like any other debate with the same setup.

I'm starting to agree with the growing mentality that we shouldn't feel required to tolerate oppressive religions. Pouring battery acid on a woman for trying to learn is just inhumane and wrong. I don't see how you can value human life and practice something like that.

WATCH THE FUCKING YOUTUBE VIDEO OR I WILL START KILLING PEOPLE FOR EVERY HOUR THAT PASSES THAT THE YOUTUBE VIDEO GOES UNWATCHED…

[Ascension]

I read that cnn article, didn't watch the video- I assume it went like any other debate with the same setup.

I'm starting to agree with the growing mentality that we shouldn't feel required to tolerate oppressive religions. Pouring battery acid on a woman for trying to learn is just inhumane and wrong. I don't see how you can value human life and practice something like that.

WATCH THE FUCKING YOUTUBE VIDEO OR I WILL START KILLING PEOPLE FOR EVERY HOUR THAT PASSES THAT THE YOUTUBE VIDEO GOES UNWATCHED…

No daddy, not the hand with the rings on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Machi]

I'm starting to agree with the growing mentality that we shouldn't feel required to tolerate oppressive religions. Pouring battery acid on a woman for trying to learn is just inhumane and wrong. I don't see how you can value human life and practice something like that.

is this religion or people who are fucked up?

[Ascension]

I'm starting to agree with the growing mentality that we shouldn't feel required to tolerate oppressive religions. Pouring battery acid on a woman for trying to learn is just inhumane and wrong. I don't see how you can value human life and practice something like that.

is this religion or people who are fucked up?

Fucked up people following a fucked up religion.

[Machi]

I'm starting to agree with the growing mentality that we shouldn't feel required to tolerate oppressive religions. Pouring battery acid on a woman for trying to learn is just inhumane and wrong. I don't see how you can value human life and practice something like that.

is this religion or people who are fucked up?

Fucked up people following a fucked up religion.

I don't think erasing any religion would change anything as long as there are fucked up people in this world….if not religion they will follow something else…adolf hitler for example 🙂

and when will you guys start distinguishing religion from what catholic church and extreme muslims have been doing for ages to manipulate people?

[Author]

Posts