Comments on: Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has

By: James Smith, João Pessoa, Brazil

James Smith, João Pessoa, Brazil — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:56:36 +0000

Let me see, are you neither sober or miserable, or just one of those? These things can be so hard to grasp…. ;)

For sure, it could not have been either Winston Churchill or W.C. Fields! For that matter, I doubt it was Mr. Clemens either, as he had been known to “indulge” now and then!

By: John C

John C — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:53:52 +0000

“Mankind will never truly be free until the dark yoke of religion is lifted by the clear light of truth”…

So true, “religion” is such a bondage, an oppressive burdensome thing and so the very “reason” why Christ despised it so, came to do away with it and saved His harshest rebukes for the hypocrites and long-robed ones. The effect of truth is always greater liberty.

By: Siberia

Siberia — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:40:37 +0000

Cheers, dear compatriot!
As someone (Mr. Clemens? I never remember) said, I’d rather be sober and miserable (which I’m not) than drunk and merry…

By: James Smith, João Pessoa, Brazil

James Smith, João Pessoa, Brazil — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:12:35 +0000

“Blind choices”? That’s what religious people do. They choose to believe something that logic and all observable evidence should tell them that “This cannot possibly be true.”

As Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) said, “Faith is believing in what you know ain’t true.” But if your idea of a “better life” is spending a good proportion of your time and resources praising a non-existent deity that does not and never has done anything for anyone, then be happy, stay ignorant.

By: Sunny Day

Sunny Day — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:09:00 +0000

If you are making blind choices hoping that it will lead to a better life, you are failing.

By: James Smith, João Pessoa, Brazil

James Smith, João Pessoa, Brazil — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:28:13 +0000

“Religious hypocrisy and tyranny”? Isn’t that rather redundant? I have never known any religious person who was not a hypocrite, a liar, or a fool. Often, they are all three.

Most of the problems of the world are, and always have been caused by religion. Mankind will never truly be free until the dark yoke of religion is lifted by the clear light of truth and logic.

By: onecae

onecae — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:59:32 +0000

What guides scientific reasoning? How do we choose what to investigate? Why do we choose to ignore some parts of our existence and examine others?
On what basis can these questions be answered when we admit we have no knowledge until after we have made our choices and investigated?
Science is extremely important, but everyone has to make choices about what to do when they don’t know what to do. They hope they’ll choose something that will make their lives better. Is it reason that leads them to hope that their blind choices might lead to a better life?

By: Gary W

Gary W — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:18:41 +0000

I’ve never seen anything that states he was the father of the protestant reformation, the reformation gives a clue. He was one of many that disliked the way the catholic church was going. If he had been a lone voice the church would have killed him, in a legal manner of course. Even in his time the beliefs he held were splitting into splinter groups. How many different churches in the Lutheran tradition exist today? The majority of protestant churches do not think they are Lutheran churches. It would take a great tree to hold all the branches.

By: Janet Greene

Janet Greene — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:35:32 +0000

Interesting points Gary. However, because Luther is the “father” of the protestant reformation, and I’m a victim of that, I have a special place in my heart for him. Influential people are held to a higher standard in my view.

By: Gary W

Gary W — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:15:04 +0000

A slightly different view can be gained here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_luther

This in no way means I condone the teachers of any religion during that period or this. Peoples lives were so foreign from us. Luther was excommunicated because he hated the sale of indulgences and
wrote a thesis about it. The catholic church said you could pay them to buy your way to heaven. This
was very popular with people who had a child die before baptism, or the rich who loved to sin. Luther was not the first man to say reason was wrong when used against the church.

By: Janet Greene

Janet Greene — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 06:20:02 +0000

I did not properly “vet” the site. I rather assumed that these were quotes from his writings, but I never checked out its accuracy. Maybe I should become a reporter on Fox News – I seem to have the right qualifications! lol. However, my understanding is that Luther stood out as a weirdo even among his crowd – he was quite mentally ill, and had major issues with an abusive father (from some accounts anyway). His obsession with the devil is about a loony-toon as you get. But I do give him credit for one thing. It was studying Luther (and our protestant roots) that got my former-christian sister to question, and finally abandon, christianity. So maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on him!

By: Gary W

Gary W — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:24:40 +0000

Janet- did you check out the site about Martin Luther. The person who posted it has many weird things to blither about. I said in an earlier post that no one would go to church if it was run as it was in the past. At one stage the catholic church had the biggest army in the world, and killed millions of people. At one stage they had two popes. Don’t just pick on Martin, by today’s standards they were all deranged by are standards. Many churches were against science and reason because in interfered with their hiracry. It’s not really possible to compare the past with the present. The site about Martin (I’m not defending him) but they were not his word. They are an interpretation of what some one many years later thought he said. If you enjoy history look up others from his era or slightly before or after. By are standards they all sound like barbarians, but that was what life was like.

By: casey

casey — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:46:17 +0000

Prove it.

By: John C

John C — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:11:56 +0000

Well at least you got one thing right there Ms. Janet! :) Religion is a man made institution, but God is very, very real. In fact in Him we (now) live and move and have our very being.

By: Janet Greene

Janet Greene — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:53:03 +0000

I would never blame god for religion. God doesn’t exist, so that wouldn’t make much sense. I blame people for religion.