“Religious Bigotry” is equivalent to “Personal Threat”
What is religious bigotry?
In order to answer this question, I will quote one paragraph from the book:
“The MEANING of HUMAN EXISTENCE”
By EDWARD O. WILSON
EDWARD O. WILSON is widely recognized as one of the world’s preeminent biologists and naturalists. The author of more than twenty books, including The Creation, The Social Conquest of Earth, and Letters to a Young Scientist. Wilson is a professor emeritus at Harvard University. The winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, he lives in Lexington, Massachusetts USA.
Religious Bigotry is a sensitive and important concept for all TF USA affiliates, hence I will quote one full paragraph from the book The MEANING of HUMAN EXISTENCE. This will be helpful for TF USA affiliate’s discussion of this concept.
Section VI
IDOLS OF THE MIND
HUMANITY’S INTELLECTUAL FRAILITIES
IDENTIFIED BY FRANCIS BACON,
IN ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE FIRST ENLIGHTENMENTS,
CAN NOW BE REDEFINED BY SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION.
Topic RELIGION [from page 147 to 158]
Page 154 last paragraph:
Religious warriors are not an anomaly. It is a mistake to classify believers of particular religious and dogmatic religion like ideologies into two groups, moderate versus extremist. The true cause of hatred and violence is faith versus faith, an outward expression of the ancient instinct of tribalism. Faith is the one thing that makes otherwise good people do bad things. Nowhere do people tolerate attacks on their person, their family, their country —– or their creation myth. In America, for example, it is possible in most places to openly debate different views on religious spirituality – including the nature and even the existence of God, providing it is in the context of theology and philosophy. But it is forbidden to question closely, if at all, the creation myth — the faith – of another person or group, no matter how absurd. To disparage anything in someone else’s sacred creation myth is “religious bigotry.” It is taken as the equivalent of a personal threat.
Posted by nSalik [Noor Salik]
I will write my comment on this posting later on.
Let us see how other TF USA affiliates respond to it.
I established a new thread in TF USA website because in my opinion this thread will clarify some ambiguities if it is discussed by enough affiliates.
I am reading this book “The MEANING of HUMAN EXISTENCE”.
I gave the name and brief background of the writer.
I wrote a note from section IV.
I mentioned the chapter “Religion” – pages 147 to 158
I listed full paragraph from page 154 on ‘Religious Bigotry’.
For my own clarities, I looked in the dictionary the meaning of the following words after establishing the thread.
(1) anomaly
(2) myth
(3) disparage
(4) bigotry
The writer of the book is a renowned scientist – but intellectually he is multi-faceted.
He knows science, but he is well versed in liberal arts as well. He is the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes.
Sometime back (recently) I remember some TF USA affiliate shared with us an interesting quote. The same quote I read on page 153 of this book. This quote is by Roman stoic philosopher Seneca: [He was a Roman not Greek (neighbors but different)]
Religion is regarded by common people as true,
by the wise as false, and
by rulers as useful.
nSalik (Noor Salik)