Maybe the world would be a better place if going drinking with your friends on Sunday mornings were the sociological norm instead of attending religious services.
I like his take on this. I normally describe myself as an atheist but only because I don't believe that any of the religions I've studied are true. But I am open to other possibilities and I think this guy describes that well.
Is there anyone outside of a mental institution who isn't open to other possibilities? There has to be something seriously wrong with you if you are willing to state a priori that you will not consider unequivocal evidence of a new phenomenon, should it appear.
There are loads of Christians who proudly proclaim that there's nothing, absolutely nothing, that could possibly change their minds about anything related to their faith. Even peripheral doctrinal issues, like whether or not prayers for healing work. They see this as virtuous, an ideal of unwavering faith to which they should all aspire.
(Note that I'm not saying this is unique to Christians, or that it applies to all or even most Christians. Here endeth the disclaimer.)
There are lots of people like that. It's very common and normal. Regardless of what people are willing to state, many will simply not consider unequivocal evidence of new phenomena if it contradicts their beliefs. They may recognize that the popular thing to do is claim to be open minded, and then disregard the evidence anyway. They may not even realize they're doing it.
Could you name some inconvenient evidence that people on the atheist side tend to ignore? I'm not claiming that there isn't such evidence, but often when people criticize "people on both sides", they're committing an equivocation fallacy because it sounds wise. I'm curious to see if you did, too.
The argument from morality is the first that comes to mind. Few atheists are willing to really embrace the moral nihilism that a materialist philosophy seems to require.
And yet he doesn't kill and eat my family the moment I turn my back. He doesn't need philosophy as a source of morality, and he doesn't need faith... he only needs socialization.
Perhaps; can you elaborate on the difference? What exactly would be the property of a social animal -- dogs, humans, whatever -- that allows it to restrain its own baser instincts? In humans the term morality is often used to describe this property, but I'll admit I don't know how correct that is.
Well, to cite Wikipedia, "Moral nihilism is the meta-ethical view that nothing is moral or immoral."
The primary opposing viewpoint is moral realism, which holds that statements like "Intentionally killing an innocent person is immoral" are both meaningful and capable of being evaluated as a truth claim.
In general, I believe the ability of a social animal to restrain "baser" instincts would be referred to as social cooperation. For humans, a moral realist would say that while morality is closely related, it also can't be reduced to merely social cooperation.
For humans, a moral realist would say that while morality is closely related, it also can't be reduced to merely social cooperation.
Sure, I'd buy that. But I will also stand by my assertion that what you're calling "social cooperation" is sufficient for a workable morality to emerge. At no point is there a necessity for religion.
I will eventually get feedback from customers, once the actual app launches - but for now, just wanted some feedback from the wonderful resource I have access to here :)
I asked myself the same question, and the best fit I found was zimbra. It's ajax-powered and open source.
I use it for SMB clients and host it for them on a VPS. If you're looking for something simple for your personal mail there are several places that host it for $4-$5 /month. http://zimbra.com
Fat, sugar, and salt. The former head of the fda has been writing about how we are biologically predisposed to get even hungrier and crave more when we eat something with fat sugar and salt together. That's why applebees can serve a 1500 calorie appetizer that they know will make you even hungrier.
So you can make vegetables and fruits a crazy craving by following the same logic.
