tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post5745814681439062096..comments2024-03-19T09:06:21.507-04:00Comments on Irtiqa: Nano-Bible, failed resurrection, and the four horsemenSalman Hameedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04327330113822656571noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post-57951166393437251302007-12-30T21:53:00.000-05:002007-12-30T21:53:00.000-05:00I completely agree. There are many places, one can...I completely agree. There are many places, one can argue, where religion has made things worse. However, it is an oversimplification to singularly focus on religion and ignore other more important factors.<BR/><BR/>Scott Atran has been saying for a while that the New Athesists do not base their arguments on any data. For suicide bombings, check out his talk here: http://thesciencenetwork.org/BeyondBelief2/watch/atran.php<BR/><BR/>I will also post it on the blog.Salman Hameedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04327330113822656571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post-51676289557145566232007-12-30T16:27:00.000-05:002007-12-30T16:27:00.000-05:00After I finished watching that, I found the link t...After I finished watching that, I found the <A HREF="http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/Atran07/index.html" REL="nofollow">link</A> to Scott Atran's presentation you gave in another post. His talk by and large contradicts nearly everything that Hitchens has to say -- that "Islamo-fascism" is less about Islam and more about disaffected and poorly educated and culturally integrated people fighting a system they view as alien and deliberately oppressive. His suggestion that more has to be done to integrate disaffected people into society is a lot more likely to produce results than Hitchens' secular equivalent of "kill them all, and let God sort them out."<BR/><BR/>Likewise, I'd argue fundamentalism in America is more a function of an complacent, apathetic, and disorganized educational system that lost its way since its peak in the 1950's and 1960's than about religion. I never got the impression that my poorly-performing students in introductory astronomy classes did so because their religion interfered with their ability to process and internalize what I was teaching. It was much more likely to be poor preparation prior to college.<BR/><BR/>(I apologize if I'm veering wildly off the topic at hand, but Hitchens pissed me off....)Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18336895080318689408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post-17353378716130689682007-12-30T11:35:00.000-05:002007-12-30T11:35:00.000-05:00Hmmm...unless it has to do with his solution invol...Hmmm...unless it has to do with his solution involving the 42nd airborne. In many ways, he sees the current global conflict in the same black & white way as Bush (and supports his policies in this regard). He may have avoided getting into this debate because Dennett and Dawkins don't agree with him on this issue and it may have derailed the conversation.Salman Hameedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04327330113822656571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38085367.post-21598403324471669902007-12-29T17:48:00.000-05:002007-12-29T17:48:00.000-05:00I finally finished both videos of the conversation...I finally finished both videos of the conversation. It was an interesting listen, but I was struck by Hitchens' comment at the end stating his fatalistic view of the outcome of global religious conflict. Even if he does believe that is the likely outcome, why not follow up his comment with some ideas on how to prevent it? I can think of several right now -- why leave that kind of despairing comment hanging?<BR/><BR/>He may despair that Western Civilization will suffer fatal harm in a coming global conflict, but wouldn't that outcome imply that we are in truth an intellectual and social "evolutionary dead end"? If Western Civilization is genuinely great, prove it and save it.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18336895080318689408noreply@blogger.com