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TOF once wrote an article entitled "The Great Ptolemaic Smackdown and Down 'n Dirty Mud-Wrassle" which described the century-l...
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Hello family, friends and fans of Michael F. Flynn. It is with sorrow and regret that I inform you that my father passed away yesterday,... -
1. The Great Ptolemaic Smackdown 2. The Great Ptolemaic Smackdown: Down for the Count 3. The Great Ptolemaic Smackdown: The Great Gali...
Is there anything worse than ingratitude?
ReplyDeleteIt would appear so.
DeleteThat might depend on what kind of ingratitude.
DeleteAnd on what kind of gratitude was being expected on what grounds.
Dear Mr. Flynn:
ReplyDeleteHow would you respond to this sort of thinking:
"Science and reason are SUBSTITUTIVE and ELIMINATIVE: new ideas replace old ideas. Religion is ADDITIVE and/or SCHISMATIC: news ide as proliferate alongside old ideas. For instance, the development of Protestantism did not put an end to Catholicism, and the development of Christianity did not put an end to Judaism. With science, we get BETTER. With religion, we get MORE. (The emphasis is NOT mine)"
Please ignore the implicit scientism: to point that out is too easy. What I'm asking, since you're more knowledgable on science and the history of science, is whether the author's understanding of science is even correct.
Thank you.
Christi pax.
So your friend is saying in effect that whatever the current science is, it is probably wrong?
DeleteThe person I'm discussing this with is actually quoting a Dr. David Eller, who is apparently a cultural anthropology (http://infidels.org/kiosk/author/david-eller-473.html).
DeleteThe responder and the doctor seem to be using the "all religion are really all the same" response to dismiss all religion (you would think such a thing, if true, would actually validate religion instead of cause one to reject it).
I guess I can just post the whole post: http://www.strangenotions.com/the-appropriate-reaction-to-a-physical-theory-of-life/#comment-2040626596
Thank you for the response.
Christi pax.
Uh...any cultural anthropologist who thinks "all religions" are the same type of thing that Christianity is, is stealing his paychecks. Buddhism is arguably the only other game in town; everything else is concerned only with the luck and upright behavior necessary to worldly happiness, and leaves the existential questions of the cosmos absolutely unanswered.
DeleteI think my intellectual sparing opponent would respond that some of our science is probably wrong, and new correct ideas will eventually replace the incorrect ones.
DeleteChristi pax.
On the subject of "Thank You", thank you for writing, Mr. Flynn. I have countless happy evenings of reading to be grateful to you for.
ReplyDeleteJust on the note of context: is there some quote from a formerly famous comedy involved where a divorce ends by reconciliation after wife burgles into "ex-husband's" house?
ReplyDeleteOr what?