Posts tagged reason
Born Okay The First Time In Lower Alabama
Still Not Asking For It!
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Indignation Is Not Righteous
The Twin Fallacies of Appeal to Righteous Indignation and Appeal to Sanctity.
Appeals to righteous indignation or sanctity—which attempt to shield ideas from contemplation, discussion, investigation, or criticism—are common, impede rational discourse, and should be recognized as logical fallacies.
Riots erupted on the streets in Afghanistan in late February 2012 in response to an apparently accidental burning of a few copies of the Koran. Placed in an incinerator along with other materials confiscated from Taliban prisoners, the singed Koranic remains were discovered later by Afghan workers. Apologies from United States officials were immediately forthcoming. However, rioting continued and reports indicated that at least twenty-nine Afghans and six American soldiers were killed in the violence (Rubin 2012).
For many Muslims, including an influential council of Muslim scholars (Rubin 2012), the apology was greeted with righteous indignation. The response of the rioters was continued (and perhaps even intensified) rage, as demonstrated by the murder of people who had nothing to do with prior events. A second outbreak of such violence in Libya (where the United States ambassador was murdered) and other Muslim countries occurred in September 2012 after a virulent anti-Islamic independent video appeared on the Internet via YouTube.
The problem of righteous indignation is conspicuous in, but not unique to, the Muslim world—it permeates cultures across religious, ethnic, and national boundaries. The destruction of Andres Serrano’s artwork, “Piss Christ,” by Catholic fundamentalist protesters in Avignon, France, is another well-known example.
Profound feelings of insult to a deeply held belief ranks among the most pervasive, powerful, and potentially dangerous failures of human reasoning. This reaction carries with it both practical dangers that threaten harmonious interactions between and among peoples, and also the capacity to insulate not merely a person, but an entire culture, from criticism and self-reflection.
We argue that “Appeal to Righteous Indignation” and the related “Appeal to Sanctity,” warrant recognition as fallacious types of reasoning and should be included in the larger lexicon of fallacies. (See “The Top 20 Logical Fallacies” by Jesse Richardson in the July/August 2012 Skeptical Inquirer for an overview of commonly recognized fallacies.)
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Carl Sagan’s “Does Truth Matter”
Read the full essay, of which this is a small excerpt: http://www.csicop.org/si/show/does_truth_matter_science_pseudoscience_and_civilization
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Science, Reason and Critical Thinking Time Lords
Dr Who and Skeptics - Crispian Jago tackles a subject that abaldwin360 is interested in!
Haha! Had to reblog it!
Thank you!
XD
(Source: living-as-if)
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Creationism creeps into mainstream geology
http://www.earthmagazine.org/earth/article/456-7db-6-a
It was easy to miss the part where the field trip leader said the outcrop formed during Noah’s Flood. After all, “During these catastrophic flood flows, turbulent, hyperconcentrated suspensions were observed to transform laminar mudflows” sounds like a reasonable description of alluvial fan processes. And “massive marine transgression” sounds scientific enough. But when creationist geologists use those phrases, they take on a very different meaning.
In almost every way, the “Garden of the Gods at Colorado Springs” excursion at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) last year was a normal — even enjoyable — field trip. Standard geologic terminology was used in the accompanying field trip guide, and throughout the trip itself. The trip leaders discussed past events in terms of millions and billions of years. At each stop along the trip, the guides relied on orthodox geologic thinking, including a standard examination of sedimentary features and the nature of contacts between units.
But in reality, the trip was anything but a normal geology field trip. Instead, it was an example of a new strategy from creationists to interject their ideas into mainstream geology: They lead field trips and present posters and talks at scientific meetings. They also avoid overtly stating anything truly contrary to mainstream science.
But when the meeting is over, the creationist participants go home and proudly proclaim that mainstream science has accepted their ideas.
It’s a crafty way of giving credence to creationism. But is there anything mainstream scientists, or the conveners of meetings and field trips, can or should do about it?So, more “main stream” science where creationism is creeping in. Twisting fact into evidence for their religion. Ignoring the “real” evidence that is right there in front of them.
This is brainwashing, misinformation and indoctrination and it’s down right dangerous.
What is going on here, is they are teaching people to ignore critical thinking and taking an appeal from dogma and authority as fact, believing what they want to believe, ignoring the evidence laid out in front of them and instead attempting to mix their religion into science.
Why is this dangerous? Number one, they are taking people and “educating” then that if you don’t like the facts, change the facts, the reason science and religion are at odds, is science shows religion for what it really is. Fairy tales. They fear the loss of followers if the stories don’t line up.
This mode of thinking shows up in our current political climate. Look at the religious dedication that many followers of the tea party show to their politicians. Look how religion is being used to control several social aspects of our current culture, and how it’s used to distract from the real issues.
This is all part of a larger plan to subvert a population of people, it’s not in their best interest for people to be properly educated, this is why educational funds are always under attack, and this is why the US is rapidly falling behind the rest of the world in science education.
They are trying to send us right back to the dark ages.
Well said and very accurate. The Christian Right has been diligently working to undermine public education ever since its inception.
At their best, public schools teach students how to think critically. They teach the scientific method instead of belief and encourage skepticism instead of credulity.
As a result, public education done right threatens the religious rights authority and reduces the numbers in their flock. This is why much of energy and resources of the Christian Right are dedicated to winning school board elections. By infiltrating the system from the bottom up, they are able to successfully propagate their religious and moral beliefs as school policy.
Until all secular Americans realize this and become just as determined to defend the Constitutional principle of Separation of Church and State, the slide of our education system will continue to creep back into the darkness.
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It is impossible to establish one miracle except by another — and that would have to be established by another still, and so on without end. Human testimony is not sufficient to establish a miracle. Each human being, to be really convinced, must witness the miracle for himself.
They say that Christianity was established, proven to be true, by miracles wrought nearly two thousand years ago. Not one of these miracles can be established except by impudent and ignorant assertion — except by poisoning and deforming the minds of the ignorant and the young. To succeed, the theologians invade the cradle, the nursery. In the brain of innocence they plant the seeds of superstition. They pollute the minds and imaginations of children. They frighten the happy with threats of pain — they soothe the wretched with gilded lies.
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We are tired of barbarian bibles and savage creeds. Nothing is greater, nothing is of more importance, than to find amid the errors and darkness of this life, a shining truth. Truth is the intellectual wealth of the world. The noblest of occupations is to search for truth…
How is Truth to be Found?
By investigation, experiment and reason.
Every human being should be allowed to investigate to the extent of his desire — his ability. The literature of the world should be open to him — nothing prohibited, sealed or hidden. No subject can be too sacred to be understood. Each person should be allowed to reach his own conclusions and to speak his honest thought.
He who threatens the investigator with punishment here, or hereafter, is an enemy of the human race. And he who tries to bribe the investigator with the promise of eternal joy is a traitor to his fellow-men.
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The foundation of morality is to…give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about this beyond the possibilities of knowledge.
(Source: amazon.com)
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Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me, I always noticed that the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those that I do understand.
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