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30 Dec 11 - 12:05 PM (#3282000) Subject: BS: Top Religion Author 2011 From: Jack the Sailor Guess Who? You can't make this stuff up! |
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30 Dec 11 - 12:27 PM (#3282008) Subject: RE: BS: Top Religion Author 2011 From: Richard Bridge ROTFLMAO! |
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30 Dec 11 - 12:30 PM (#3282010) Subject: RE: BS: Top Religion Author 2011 From: Ebbie This morning on a political commentary show, they said that the only 'celebrity' endorsement that would help any GOP presidential candidate would be that of Tim Tebow. In 10 years - 5 years?- Tebow will be just another televangelist with bulging midriff and slicked back hair. |
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30 Dec 11 - 12:49 PM (#3282014) Subject: RE: BS: Top Religion Author 2011 From: Jack the Sailor I agree with you both. |
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30 Dec 11 - 04:40 PM (#3282112) Subject: RE: BS: Top Religion Author 2011 From: Stringsinger Tim Tebow is the epitome of Christian hypocrisy in the U.S. Football is a silly venue for any kind of religion. It's a blood sport and people get hurt doing it. |
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30 Dec 11 - 05:04 PM (#3282130) Subject: RE: BS: Top Religion Author 2011 From: Don Firth Kinda reminds me of the boxer who told a sports reporter, "Jesus is my inspiration," after he finished beating his opponent to a bloody pulp. John 11:35: Jesus wept. In this world, there is much cause for the weeping of Jesus. Don Firth |
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30 Dec 11 - 06:00 PM (#3282151) Subject: RE: BS: Top Religion Author 2011 From: Paul Burke Top all religion authors, every year. Diocletian was only half right; he only sent the Christians to the lions. |
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31 Dec 11 - 02:49 PM (#3282562) Subject: RE: BS: Top Religion Author 2011 From: Stringsinger My top religious author is Bart Ehrman, U. of North Carolina. Bart Ehrman |
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01 Jan 12 - 10:57 AM (#3282961) Subject: RE: BS: Top Religion Author 2011 From: John on the Sunset Coast Happy New Year, Frank-- I agree with you (must be the end of the world!) on your choice of Ehrman, at least as a Christian religious author/teacher/lecturer. He is also a heck of a nice person, having answered an e-correspondence from me whilst he was on vacation. As atheism is now (legally) considered a religion, I think think that the recently deceased Christopher Hitchens' polemic against religion gave food for thought. Although I have not read the book, I feel he did not fare well in his defense of his thesis on the several talk shows on which I heard him discuss the work. |
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01 Jan 12 - 02:11 PM (#3283019) Subject: RE: BS: Top Religion Author 2011 From: Jack the Sailor I've heard Ehrman a few times on the Chapel Hill public radio station. He is intelligent and thoughtful. I think atheism is a religion for people like Hitchens. Perhaps we need a new word for those who don't believe and don't care to evangelize their disbelief. |
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02 Jan 12 - 11:50 AM (#3283449) Subject: RE: BS: Top Religion Author 2011 From: Stringsinger As a FreeThinker (I prefer that term to atheist) I think it's important to study the world's religions at least to know what they say. There are valuable elements in any of the world's religions as there are things to ignore. In the Bible, I think, Matthew 25 deserves mention as a social ideal. The Sermon on the Mount offers the main element of the ten commandments, "Thou Shalt Not Kill". There are those who separate "killing" from "murder" in defense of so-called "just wars" but I feel that this is sophistry and parsing language (ala Bill Clinton) who does this in his biography. I think we can find nuggets of wisdom in the Quaran, Ghita, Torah, Bible, and other religious books because the motivation behind these precepts are meant to improve society and the way we get along. Joseph Campbell says quite importantly that we need our "myths" as educational societal tools. This is the value of folklore, not to be taken as actual and literal truths but perhaps a different kind of truth, an underlying reasoned approach to getting along as a species. There are scientific truths (actual) and mythical truths (not actual but universal precepts by which our behavior as a species can be defined. Hitchens represents only one point of view of the non-religious community, often argumentative and aggressive, but not to be taken as religious doctrine. The interesting thing is that he brings the discussion of religion into focus, which has long been taboo and assumptions made about it that don't reflect an overall picture of how religious people think and act. His is only one point of view, however, and other points of view need to be aired. Some of these viewpoints are not religious in nature, however, and should not be construed as being so. Being a FreeThinker requires an open mind and understanding of many points of view regardless of whether you agree or disagree. Happy New Year John, Jack and everyone on Mudcat. Frank |