tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255765354647516808.post1924136770618331078..comments2024-02-19T00:39:49.642-08:00Comments on We Alone on Earth: A Space for Secular EthicsMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05279969393617122722noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255765354647516808.post-42803398862106134112011-03-19T23:40:56.615-07:002011-03-19T23:40:56.615-07:00"without get caught up in a circular debate o..."without get caught up in a circular debate over definitions and principles."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255765354647516808.post-3966411169071325402011-03-16T08:13:20.651-07:002011-03-16T08:13:20.651-07:00This is actually a huge blind-spot in my reasoning...This is actually a huge blind-spot in my reasoning. In my mind, I cannot empathize at any significant level with people who adhere strongly to any given religion. From my own experience, people adhere to religions because it is socially very costly to defect, and they are stripped at an early age of the ability to reason about their faith. In other words, I'm not sure that there actually Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05279969393617122722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255765354647516808.post-33360802340096470622011-03-16T08:01:39.333-07:002011-03-16T08:01:39.333-07:00Incidentally, Wikipedia has some particularly inte...Incidentally, Wikipedia has some particularly interesting and relevant things to say about secularism.<br /><br />1) Many scholars believe that the meaning of secularism is changing.<br />2) In Europe, secularism is thought to be approximately equal to modernization esp. in the face of traditionalism.<br />3) In America, secularism is less prevalent except in its role of "separation of Beckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15623702114152344862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255765354647516808.post-86834817403580487492011-03-16T07:36:14.082-07:002011-03-16T07:36:14.082-07:00I also am concerned that these definitions promote...I also am concerned that these definitions promote a false appearance of symmetry between religion, science, atheism, and secularism. I've seen the religious fringe label Reason itself as fanatical, tyrannical, and a religion in its own right. This is not OK. Reason can refute religions dogma, but the only thing that refutes reason is better reason. The asymmetry is clear.<br /><br />It seemsMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05279969393617122722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-255765354647516808.post-27207170680676715862011-03-16T07:02:55.512-07:002011-03-16T07:02:55.512-07:00I've got some bones to pick with this. First o...I've got some bones to pick with this. First off:<br /><br />"Faith is the personal relationship with one's source of irreducible concern.<br />Religion is the pursuit of faith in a community.<br />Religious ethics is ethics in a religious community."<br /><br />These definitions raise some questions. To be honest, I think the redefinition of "Religion" is of more Beckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15623702114152344862noreply@blogger.com