Reason vs. religion

Deep inside I feel that what the explanations that my reason accepts or prefers are the whole and only answer I need. Here is an excerpt from a T. Dalrymple essay that begs the question:

we continue to long for a transcendent purpose immanent in existence itself, independent of our own wills. To tell us that we should not feel this longing is a bit like telling someone in the first flush of love that the object of his affections is not worthy of them. The heart hath its reasons that reason knows not of.

Of course, men—that is to say, some men—have denied this truth ever since the Enlightenment, and have sought to find a way of life based entirely on reason. Far as I am from decrying reason, the attempt leads at best to Gradgrind and at worst to Stalin. Reason can never be the absolute dictator of man’s mental or moral economy.

The search for the pure guiding light of reason, uncontaminated by human passion or metaphysical principles that go beyond all possible evidence, continues, however; and recently, an epidemic rash of books has declared success, at least if success consists of having slain the inveterate enemy of reason, namely religion.

Dalrymple goes on to quote liberally from the writings of an Anglican Bishop of Victorian vintage to illustrate the kind of sonorous prose that apparently gives him more inner or soul comfort than any of Dennett et al.

Thus:

When, as yet, he had not so much as the comfort of a child to succeed him, thy prophet is sent to him, with the heavy message of his death: “Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.” It is no small mercy of God, that he gives us warning of our end. . . . No soul can want important affairs, to be ordered for a final dissolution.

This is the language not of rights and entitlements, but of something much deeper—a universal respect for the condition of being human.
For Hall, life is instinct with meaning: a meaning capable of controlling man’s pride at his good fortune and consoling him for his ill fortune.

I often feel the need for consolation in facing the inevitability of infirmities in my old age and then  my death.

Dyson and his scientific memoir

A month or so ago, I bought a used copy of Disturbing the Universe by Freeman Dyson.

I started reading it a week or so ago and discovered that it is a personal and scientific memoir. Dyson turns out to be, and I am not surprised by that, a lucid and entertaining writer. He gives a very personal view of the development of Physics in the aftermath of the Manhattan Project.

Dyson wasn’t part of it but in 1947 and ‘48 he interacted with the main protagonist’s, Hans Bethe, Robert Oppenheimer and Dick Feynmann. He also knew and contended intellectually with Julian Schwinger, who provided a mathematical interpretation of QED to match Feynmann’s physical interpretation and conception. Dyson is writing demonstrates for me the clarity of his thinking because it is so easy to follow and read. Am I being lulled into the notion that I understand? I certainly feel that I have a better comprehension what QED is about and why Feynmann was such a dominant influence on modern non-Einsteinian Physics.

Dust Mites

Your Bed is a Haven for Uninvited Guests – It’s time to kick them out!

A recent article in a PARADE magazine supplement discussed the importance of proper home maintenance in keeping it free of allergens and germs. The bedroom was noted as a particular haven for dust mites. These microscopic creatures thrive on human skin cells, which are shed in the millions by each of us, daily. Not surprisingly, the bed is a “dust-mite smorgasbord.” In fact, Dr. Philip Tierno – director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Medical Center – notes that a typical mattress accumulates enough “debris containing mites, insects, food particles and other unpleasant matter” to double in weight every ten years.

The supreme comfort of a Kenko™ Sleep System is already enough reason to replace your current mattress. But consider the fact that the KenkoAire™ Mattress includes a top layer of woven bamboo fiber, a natural anti-allergen. The adjustable air chambers mean an interior construction that discourages infestation. What’s more, the cover can be zipped off for thorough cleaning — a clear advantage over conventional mattresses. In the end, there’s really no comparison between an ordinary bed and clean Kenko Sleep Technology. Restore your bedroom to the sanctuary it was meant to be. Learn more about the benefits of the Nikken Kenko Sleep System by clicking here.

Does religion work as well as science is claimed to?

Seed is the new standard in popular science writing. It seems to be attracting scientists who are web aware and visible on the web, or blogosphere. The excerpt below is taken from Seed and provides one of the reference points for the question posed in my title above.

As psychologist Daniel Gilbert puts it in his book Stumbling on Happiness, “Each of us is trapped in a place, a time, and a circumstance, and our attempts to use our minds to transcend those boundaries are, more often than not, ineffective.” The reason science does manage to be astonishingly effective is not because large groups are automatically wiser or less prone to self-deception than individuals. History adequately demonstrates that, if anything, the opposite is more nearly the case. Science works because its core dynamics—not its methods or techniques per se—are rooted in pitting intellects against one another. Science eventually yields impressive answers because it compels smart people to incessantly try to disprove the ideas generated by other smart people.

Yes there are some smart people who try to disprove religious ideas generated by other smart people. People like John Haught, Charles Taylor, John Polkinghorne to mention a few of the more prominent. But the popular image of smart religious people was interviewed on Larry King tonight. His name is Joel Osteen and he seems to be smart and very popular since he preaches to tens of thousands of people who describe themselves as Christians.

Joel Scott Hayley Osteen (born March 5, 1963^[1] in Houston, Texas) is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, North America’s largest^[2] and 2006’s fastest growing church,^[3] averaging more than 47,000 attendees at weekly services.^[2] He is married to Victoria Osteen, who serves as co-pastor. The Lakewood was formerly then arena of the Houston Rockets and the nearby Interstate has ramps designed especially to bring people to this facility. Joe credits that design to the act-of-God.

Joel Osteen was featured as one of Barbara Walters‘ “10 Most Fascinating People of 2006″^[4] and was named “Most Influential Christian in America” in 2006 by churchreport.com^[5] He is also the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Your Best Life Now. It reached the top of the New York Times bestseller list, and has sold more than four million copies since its release in October 2004. The book is available in 19 languages. His television ministry is the most watched inspirational program in the United States.

Lots of preachers in the Christian America and some of them are very smart and very rich. But for me they don’t conform very well to the image of scientists who are bent on disproving ideas proposed by their scientific colleagues, or by religionists who dabble in the arena of public discourse about scientific values vs. religious values.

Investing during turbulent financial times

One World, Taking Risks Together

By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ

HUGE financial losses in the United States spark fears in Europe. A credit crisis ensues. Soon the fear spreads to Wall Street, where the biggest banks fight off rumors of insolvency amid a broader economic panic, and Washington is forced to step in. The market swoons. If this sounds familiar, it should. Except we’re not talking about the subprime mortgage crisis, or the deal brokered by the Treasury Department last week with three American banking giants to cough up $75 billion for a fund aimed at stabilizing the global credit market, or Friday’s 366-point drop in the stock market.

In fact, it’s a brief history of the Panic of 1907, which culminated exactly 100 years ago today.

This was the week that E and I sat down with a Chinese investment advisor at HSBC. I learned, no surprise if I had taken the time to think about it, that I was taking “big risks” with her savings. By the end of this week XLE’s slight dive put the investment fund down $1,000. Welcome to bad timing and choices that were ill informed and running against market forces globally. First of all I did not take into account currency fluctuation, which hit our profit taking. Then I picked the wrong ETF. It’s not easy to make money in the short term with a modest amount of money. But that’s not new for me!

I never pretended to be a financial genius and my sense of timing is disastrous, completely unlike my sense of direction, most of the time. But my impatience tends to lead me into costly choices over and over again. Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh!

This is a remarkable day in history already!

Image via Wikipedia

I was born on this day in 1935 in Barcelona, Spain. At the time of my birth, my parents, siblings and I were all British subjects.

My parents arrived in Barcelona in May 1923 so that my father could begin his appointment as Assistant Branch Manager of the Royal Bank in Barcelona. By the end of July 1936 my mother, siblings and my nanny Pensa Gomez were on our way to Montmagny QC since a bloody civil war broke out in Spain on July 17-18, 1936. Government forces supported by armed workers fought off Nationalist forces led by General Franco and his brother officers of the Spanish Army in Barcelona and Madrid.

It is an interesting coincidence that today some 72 years later the NY Times reports via AP news:

October 8, 2007

Spain Addresses Civil War, Dictatorship

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:11 p.m. ET

MADRID, Spain (AP) — Spain took a bold first step toward addressing one of its darkest chapters — carving out an agreement that would honor victims on both sides of the Spanish civil war, and the ensuing rightwing dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco.

There is still work to do before the bill, known as the Historic Memory Law, becomes law, but an agreement reached Monday by lawmakers of the ruling Socialists and several smaller parties was a breakthrough after months of deadlock.

Spain’s 1936-1939 civil war left half a million people dead and pitted brother against brother. But dealing with the war’s atrocities and aftermath has been largely taboo, both in the Franco years and since the country returned to democracy in 1978, with many saying they would prefer not to dredge up painful memories.

That could all be about to change.

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• Spanish archive sheds light on Franco
• Spain fights civil war’s last battle

A Nation of Christians is not . . .

a Christian nation! Jon Meacham, who is or was managing editor of Newsweek and a thoughtful presence on talk TV wrote a piece in NY Times yesterday that I missed. Here is the Intro:

October 7, 2007

Op-Ed Contributor

A Nation of Christians Is Not a Christian Nation

By JON MEACHAM

JOHN McCAIN was not on the campus of Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University last year for very long — the senator, who once referred to Mr. Falwell and Pat Robertson as “agents of intolerance,” was there to receive an honorary degree — but he seems to have picked up some theology along with his academic hood. In an interview with Beliefnet.com last weekend, Mr. McCain repeated what is an article of faith among many American evangelicals: “the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation.”

According to Scripture, however, believers are to be wary of all mortal powers. Their home is the kingdom of God, which transcends all earthly things, not any particular nation-state. The Psalmist advises believers to “put not your trust in princes.” The author of Job says that the Lord “shows no partiality to princes nor regards the rich above the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.” Before Pilate, Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world.” And if, as Paul writes in Galatians, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus,” then it is difficult to see how there could be a distinction in God’s eyes between, say, an American and an Australian. In fact, there is no distinction if you believe Peter’s words in the Acts of the Apostles: “I most certainly believe now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears him and does what is right is welcome to him.”

My Sunday AM input about US politics from Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com

Wow, did he suggest a cranky and rather vituperative link knocking Sat Review and the likes of Jonah Goldberg et al. This is what I have felt about GWB & Co for a long time.

It seems eerie to me how our Harper regime in Ottawa tries to seem Bush look alikes but not quite the incompetent and almost anti-human act alikes. Unlike Bush, Harper has to deal with a minority govt in a parliamentary system. It’s a fact that Bush’s special incompetences would have been found out much earlier in our form of govt. But I guess that’s the big reason they’re American and we Canadian. Only the really smart and literate can make it as head of govt in Canada.

GG included a link to images from Iran that gave me pause since so many faux hawks, like the brave Canadian right nutter David Frum, are pointing to the inevitable pre-emptive bombing of Iran. After looking at the photos I realized how absurb and downright fascist all this talk is. The people in the images, except for some of the head dressing, could be from Anywhere USA!

The monster and the abyss circa 2007

Image via Wikipedia

Ms. Dowd of NYT found this quote from a precursor of fascism:

“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster,” Nietzsche said. “And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”

We’re gazing into the abyss all right, and Blackwater is gazing back.

Is this a prediction, a warning to heads of state, a philosopher’s musing about the sad fallout of war, premeditated or not? For Ms. Dowd it’s a way into examining the current monster in US armed forces privatized version. There is something obvious here. Any policy of muscular national defence usually leads to bad decisions, especially in a country whose political power structure is dominated by a toxic mix of conservatism, too much money and religion. Voila Blackwater. Nepotism is also mixed in here just to juice things up. The GWB regime is cold, heartless and unaware of a reasonable moral compass in public affairs. No surprise it then finds ways of funnelling $$ into the hands of thugs, who operate under the cover of legal relations with the government. Thugs and murderers!

What moral compass? Who cares really, apart from wimpy intellectuals and left-wing “bougoisie”? Meanwhile the political opposition is caught in between its objective to redeploy national assets from war to peace and fighting the broad conservative juggernaut doing its very best to maintain its hold on power.