Final Post Phil 8

To the class, thank you so much, I have enjoyed reading all your postings, I think it's almost to seven hundred now. It has been fun reading and seeing the different opinions that we all have. I'm so glad that I get to take a break from the reading though, it's been tough,not to mention the hours watching videos. I'm curious if any of you would sit and talk to your computers as you were listening to some of the lecturers? My husband got a good laugh occasionally.
To Professor Lane, thank you for finding all this information and assembling it for us, I know I would have never looked for it. It's been fun going through your surfing videos, they are all pretty cool.
Good luck and enjoy.
Cherie

Beyond Belief 9

This was the best conference so far and it is all because of Mr. Melvin Konner. I loved it when he stood up and said that he basically stopped believing in God when he was ten, then he finished with the analogy of a physician. This is basically what I have been saying from the beginning of class. Stop arguing about it, some of are believers and some of us are not. It is okay to disagree, we do not have anything to prove to each other. There is going to be a middle ground someday, where we can all meet and have conversations about all of it. We just need to be patient and respectful until we reach that point so that we do not do irreparable damage to each other.

Richard Dawkins: Frequently asked questions

Well I think I dislike Mr. Dawkins as much as I dislike Mr. Weinberg. I disagree with the majority of his ideas, and thoughts. I believe there is a purpose to all of us, and that we are able to evolve is definitely a positive thing. Just the way we have all changed in this century is truly amazing and awe inspiring. If we can not be proud of the changes, why do we bother. Maybe Mr. Dawkins needs to live without some comforts in his life so that he can remember why we keep trying to improve ourselves.
I also do not believe that things are mutations, just because we may not understand why something is the way it is. I happen to think giraffes are beautiful animals and that their long necks serve them not us. I also don't think that genes have anything to do with certain behaviors, I think the behaviors come from the conditions in which the individual lives. All and all it was my least favorite article.

James Watson DNA and the Brain

What a wonderful man, he seems so patient, and good humored. What an interesting life he has led. It was fascinating to find out that he was only 23 years old when he discovered the double helix with Mr. Crick. I don't think this lecture even begins to touch on this mans life and life works. The amount of things he has experienced and discovered is phenomenal. I would like to know if the study they have been doing on DNA in regards to Autism is only because of the funding they received or if there was some fact that caused them to start with that. I also think it is good that he sees the sciences joining together, it will be better if the scientist can work together on the discoveries, and not worry about being the first to discover, because I think it would go faster.

Philosophy in Less than Five Minutes

These videos are great. I never learned how to do these in school so now I have my son trying to teach me. The second five videos are just as good as the first, however they are alittle more abstract. I had to watch a couple of them a couple times to try and understand the meanings behind them.
In Existentialism- I found my favorite quote, "Freedom is what you do with what has been done to you." I love it.
In Fundamentalism, A mental disease- I basically disagreed with this entire video. Creationism is not taught by those who can't think, but I'm beginning to think that Evolution is being taught by close minded scientists!
Truth Lies- I think that we all need a purpose otherwise what are we doing. We wake up each morning with some idea of how we would like our day to go and usually it goes a different way. But by the end of the day we can look back over the day and see what was accomplished. Maybe God invented us to give himself purpose!!
Survival of the sufficient- I think that if survival of the fittest, or natural selection were completely true then we would be seeing less and less birth defects, mental illness, and other such things. I think that survival of the sufficient is a much better explanation. The reason that bacteria thrives so well is that it is sufficient in multiplying,nature gives us the wiggle room.
A Glorious piece of meat- What comes first neurons or awareness? This is funny because it can not be answered just like the chicken or the egg. The brain is a funny thing, it gives us abilities that have not even been discovered yet. Deju, memories, intuition, we will probably never fully understand the workings of it. But what a ride its going to be.

Intelligent Design

This article seemed to be a collection of complaints about why Intelligent Design should not be taught in school. I disagree with this view if for no other reason than it is a form of censorship. Student need to be taught about all the options so that they can grow and make intelligent decisions on their own. Things change so quickly in our world, that we need to be given some information before it can be proven beyond a shadow of doubt. That's okay though because we change also, just a few years back everyone did not walk around with a phone in their ear.
Even people that have been studying science their entire life can change or broaden their views. It wouldn't be unacceptable for others to do the same whether it was for or against Intelligent design should not matter. The information should be given, and people can choose what they want to believe, investigate, or discard. We are all responsible for our own actions and the consequences that we may suffer because of our actions. Schools are teaching children different things each year as we learn more and discover more. It would be okay if they taught Intelligent Design in school along with all the other theories.

Gospel of Unbelief

That's exactly how I felt when I realized I had to read another book by this man. I'm so opposite of this man that I have a hard time having to write about him. Comparing Christians to herd animals, sympathy for weakness, and that pity is a bad thing???? Sympathy, compassion, empathy are traits that I very much value and admire in people. It in no way makes these people weak or less valuable as a human being. It takes great courage and a strong will and personality to hold on to the very qualities that make us human.
Mankind can prove him wrong over and over and he will not be able to recognize it because of his closed mindedness.I realize that there have been many wars fought over religion, and many people have sacrificed their lives in the name of their religion but I believe that those people fought and died for what they believed in. I do not condone their ways but I respect their right to choose their beliefs, whether I understand them or not. I also believe that the people that choose morality and values over living like animals are making the right choice. Humans are flawed, but that is what contributes to our originality and our ability to be above other animals on this earth.

Beyond Good and Evil

Well, I will never cease to be surprised. I'm not sure where I should begin with this one. It took me four days to read this entire assignment because I had to keep going back to see if I had read it correctly or misunderstood it. I think that I agree with maybe two points he made, but because there is so much I disagree with I'm alittle afraid to get started here. The first point that I would say that I can agree with is the "will". I have always believed that we have free will and that we make calculated decisions with our will. Some people use it for good and some people use it for bad. The second thing that I feel the same about is when he spoke about judging actions based on the spirit behind the action verse the motive. I don't however feel that that applies to all actions. In this area we completely disagree and I would have to say that any respect for this mans viewpoint is completely gone.
I don't believe that I have ever read anything that had so much negativity in it ever before. I'm not sure I could even point out something that I thought he had any good feelings for with the exception of maybe himself. He wrote about how he feels that "God is dead", and that people need something to believe in, and that people wanting power want people to see things their way. That is exactly what I would say about him, and that I hope he does not have many followers. I don't believe I will be reading anything of his very soon.

John Polkinghorne

"A Divine mind behind the wondrous and beautiful world." This from a man that spent his life using the scientific method, searching for explanations to many more things than the average person will ever come in contact with. I completely agree with Mr. Polkinghorne, the universe is such a finely tuned, unique, reaction. I completely agree with scientific reasoning also, but I still think that there are things that can not be completely explained, and even if they are explained the conditions that have to be just right for them, or the unpredictablity of things, proves that the world can't be contained or controlled.I believe that the divine being has an avid interest in us. Look how we have an interest in us, anyone watched any reality television lately? I like the combination of the Religious belief and the Science belief.They make me feel comfortable, and they can compliment each other.Humans are a very arrogant animal and we need to understand that it is okay to not figure everything out.

Philosophy in less than five minutes

These are so fun!!! I love the old cartoons, I bet most of this class has never seen them before.Matter- This was cool because it was like the neural surfer broke in and took over the broadcast, it would be great if science teachers could use this to teach about protons and electrons.Crop Circles- I don't know about this one!! I have a really hard time believing a man or a group of men can go out and make these seemingly perfect figures in the corn. I don't know if I can believe that aliens made them but I think that if people were doing it someone would have caught them by now.Consciousness- This said it all,"Philosophy is like heartburn-Something that didn't digest well".Flame On!- This was my least favorite out of all ten.Inner Visions and running trains- This was a good film to go with Faqir Chands belief that peoples minds produces the visions we need to help us survive, as in the case of the men in the army.Great break from all the reading.

Question to Ponder

I'm curious to find out others opinions. I currently work in a high school as an aide to a young man with muscular dystrophy. One of his classes is earth science. I took this class when I attended high school over twenty years ago. The information given to the students today is far different than anything told to my generation. Science has advanced so far,and technology also.What my question is, that the majority of people that have or come from strong religious backgrounds are older, or come from an older family,with the exception of course of the born again Christians, so do you think it is harder for us older generation to now question our faith because of the new information? And do you think that it stubbornness, or fear of change that makes it harder, or lack of education?

Eckankar

I think it is a noble thing that people do when they expose something that was once very important to them. You have to remember that for some reason they were searching for something to believe in, they joined a group for their own personal reasons, then something happens that makes them leave. They don't have to tell anyone, or even admit to having taken part in it. The fact Professor Lane is willing to stand up and be heard is important to the people that may look to join later. Even if he only stops one person from joining, then he has made a difference. The risk to himself and his family is unacceptable and these people should be made to stop. I find it amazing that Professor Lane can be sued but no one has made these groups prove their claims. They receive all kinds of money from unsuspecting people (followers), who feel closer to whatever by sending people money. I think these types of religions should be let the buyer beware. Who can truly believe that these "new" religions are more real than the ones that have been around forever? Thank you Professor Lane.

Beyond Belief Session 7

Mahzarin Banaji has been my favorite speaker so far. I am also very interested in Sociology because humans amaze me each and every day. In no other species do we see such conflict or saying one thing and behaving in a completely different way. Ms. Banaji's remark about, "When you study human beings you see very little of God", struck home for me. In my search for my own faith, it was amazing to me how people would go out into society and behave in very non God Like behaviors, then show up Sunday to church and confession and truly feel like they were forgiven. Sincerity did not seem to play a part in their though process whatsoever. This raises a big question to me about the morality. I think that most scientists have a problem with this because it can not possibly be an exact science for this reason. Our ability as humans to get different interpretations from what we learn and read is mind boggling. Two people read the same text and come up with completely different conclusions. This goes against scientific methods completely.
I think in Loyal Rues lecture he puts his finger right on the cause of this. We all come from different backgrounds, religious beliefs. Our traditions, and stories come from the same source but are expressed in completely different ways. Each religion has a base of a supreme or all seeing and knowing entity. Then from there the rules, expectations, rituals all begin to differ, then they come around again at the end to be good enough to end up in the final place. I also agree with him that it is a lot of work to keep it together, if it wasn't would we all value it so much??

Beyond Belief Session 6

Out of all the sessions so far 6 and 7 have been my favorite. I like all the speakers and there thought have been the most interesting to me. I'm not sure if it is because I'm beginning to think about things in a different way or if it is because I have finally figured out how to listen to the speakers with better ears.
I think that faith has a lot to do with our morality. If we choose to be morally good people then we want to be validated for our"Good behavior", God will reward us. If we choose to walk down the other road then we don't need validation because we would be making choices for our own best interest and we would receive the rewards from our self gratification. This is pretty interesting to me because on a day to day basis, as I make decisions in my life, when I actually at the moment decide to do something or not do something, I don't feel like I concentrate on how that will affect me in God's eyes. That comes later, as I'm regretting or pleased with a decision, then I thank God, or ask his forgiveness for my poor choice.
I do not feel after watching over half of these sessions of Beyond Belief that we need religion to maintain ethics, and that is because of the people participating in the conference. For the most part they were all very ethical, moral, and thoughtful people, and most of them do not feel or practice religion.

Mark Juergensmeyer

I found this lecture interesting on many different levels. He is an excellent speaker and I did not feel like I had sat for an hour listening to him because he kind of captivates you with his candor and honesty. I love that he was able to ask the question, "What are the goals America has for being in Iraq?". This is a question we all should be asking ourselves and our government. I am always against war unless it is to protect our way of life here in America. If someone asks us for help we should help in a non conflict and non violent way if at all possible. In Iraq we should have gone in asked who would like to leave, escort them out, and shut down the borders. If they choose to live the way they want, that should be fine with us as long as they live that way in their country. If they choose to live in another way they should be allowed to leave.
I think it is very interesting that the belief of the people from these countries is so different from what we are told here. I am an American, but I am also intelligent enough to know that we are not given all the information, and that we are told what someone thinks we should know. We all need to look with better eyes. If these things were happening in our country would we not fight back also?? I would not want people from foreign places coming into America and telling me how I should behave, what I should believe, or who should be in control. There has to be a way to open up communication so that the best interest of the people can be carefully and thoughtfully restored to a peaceful and harmonious way of life.
There have been wars for centuries fought in the name of God, is this truly what he hoped for? I can't believe it is. I choose to believe he would want to have us grow into people that can use words and understanding for our fellow humanity, and find a way to co exist on this small planet. I really feel that this is Mr. Juergensmeyer's goal also. Communicate our beliefs and needs to each other and in a respectful way figure out how to make it work.