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NovaKart
Joined: 18 Nov 2009
Location: Iraq
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 Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 4:38 pm Post subject: New Age = Creationism of the progressives |
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http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/12/new_agers_and_creationists_sho.html
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New Age beliefs are the Creationism of the Progressives. I move in circles where most people would find it absurd to believe that humans didn't evolve from prehistoric ancestors, yet many of these same people quite happily believe in astrology, psychics, reincarnation, the Tarot deck, the i Ching, and sooth-saying. Palmistry and phrenology have pretty much blown over.
If you were attending a dinner party of community leaders in Dallas, Atlanta, Omaha or Colorado Springs and the conversation turned to religion, a chill might fall on the room if you confessed yourself an atheist. Yet at a dinner party of the nicest and brightest in New York, Chicago, San
Francisco and (especially) Los Angeles, if the hostess began to confide about past lives, her Sign and yours, and her healing crystals, it might not go over so well if you confessed you thought she was full of it. |
This is an interesting humorous article by Roger Ebert. You can read more at the link above. He makes a good point about how New Age believers may scoff at Evangelical Christianity but they don't exactly have a monopoly on science either.[/quote] |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:06 pm Post subject: Re: New Age = Creationism of the progressives |
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| NovaKart wrote: |
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/12/new_agers_and_creationists_sho.html
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New Age beliefs are the Creationism of the Progressives. I move in circles where most people would find it absurd to believe that humans didn't evolve from prehistoric ancestors, yet many of these same people quite happily believe in astrology, psychics, reincarnation, the Tarot deck, the i Ching, and sooth-saying. Palmistry and phrenology have pretty much blown over.
If you were attending a dinner party of community leaders in Dallas, Atlanta, Omaha or Colorado Springs and the conversation turned to religion, a chill might fall on the room if you confessed yourself an atheist. Yet at a dinner party of the nicest and brightest in New York, Chicago, San
Francisco and (especially) Los Angeles, if the hostess began to confide about past lives, her Sign and yours, and her healing crystals, it might not go over so well if you confessed you thought she was full of it. |
This is an interesting humorous article by Roger Ebert. You can read more at the link above. He makes a good point about how New Age believers may scoff at Evangelical Christianity but they don't exactly have a monopoly on science either. |
When progressives start demanding en masse astrology, tarot, and the like are taught in science class, then this will become a proper analogy. When progressives start insisting astrology, tarot, etc are valid alternative explanations for a phenomenon a scientific theory attempts to describe, this will become a proper analogy. Until then, I don't see the correlation.
There's a difference between believing in X despite having no evidence for it, and believing in X contrary to all availible evidence. New Agers generally seem to fall into the former category. Literalist Creationists are in the later category. I don't have a lot of respect for either, but they're clearly not the same thing, and the latter is pretty clearly more intellectually destructive than the former. |
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NovaKart
Joined: 18 Nov 2009
Location: Iraq
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| Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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| He's saying it's funny how certain new age liberal people will mock creationism but then go on about their past lives and such. Of course New Age ideas are not politically popular. I can't imagine a political candidate who says she's a Neo-Pagan witch who believs in healing crystals. He's making a point there are nutty people on both sides. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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| NovaKart wrote: |
| He's saying it's funny how certain new age liberal people will mock creationism but then go on about their past lives and such. Of course New Age ideas are not politically popular. I can't imagine a political candidate who says she's a Neo-Pagan witch who believs in healing crystals. He's making a point there are nutty people on both sides. |
Well, this is definitely true. It's just also not a big deal until the nutty people start legislating their nuttiness. That's the real reason many progressives are concerned with things like creationism, after all; social conservatives are constantly trying to legislate regarding it. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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| I can't imagine a political candidate who says she's a Neo-Pagan witch who believs in healing crystals. |
Is Nancy Reagan close enough? |
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Rteacher
Joined: 23 May 2005
Location: Western MA, USA
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| Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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New Agers tend to be pseudo-spiritualists who think that by looking within themselves "deeply" they can somehow find all the answers.
Like hard-core materialists, they are averse to approaching the Supreme Authority (aka God) for understanding Absolute Truth and our relationship to it. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Rteacher wrote: |
New Agers tend to be pseudo-spiritualists who think that by looking within themselves "deeply" they can somehow find all the answers.
Like hard-core materialists, they are averse to approaching the Supreme Authority (aka God) for understanding Absolute Truth and our relationship to it. |
Alternatively, they simply haven't seen any actual reason to believe a supreme authority of any sort exists. You need to understand that while you feel a supreme authority exists, that doesn't make it some kind of obvious truth. It's not merely a matter of, "Accept the supreme authority," or, "Rebel against the supreme authority." "I don't see a supreme authority to accept or rebel against," is a totally valid additional situation, and it's the category many people fall into.
If Krisnha wants to come down, say hi, and have a chat with me about accepting or rejecting him, I'm happy to have it. I really am. That hasn't happened yet, and he hasn't given me any reason to believe he exists. Hell, if I hadn't bumped into a few Krisnha cultists, I would never have even heard of him. |
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Rteacher
Joined: 23 May 2005
Location: Western MA, USA
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| Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 7:28 pm Post subject: |
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Those who are bent on enjoying the material world should not utter the name Krishna - or any other transcendental Holy Name.
(Once they do it's only a matter of time before they're dragged back to the spiritual world - because God hears them calling...) |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Rteacher wrote: |
Those who are bent on enjoying the material world should not utter the name Krishna - or any other transcendental Holy Name.
(Once they do it's only a matter of time before they're dragged back to the spiritual world - because God hears them calling...) |
If saying Krishna makes it more likely that -- in the event of him actually existing -- I'll actually acquire some direct observation of him, I'm fine with that. Quite the contrary to your false belief, I -- like many atheists -- am simply interested in the truth. If Krishna is out there, I'd love to know about it.
So, don't worry yourself about me. |
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kabrams
Joined: 15 Mar 2008
Location: your Dad's house
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| Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Rteacher wrote: |
Those who are bent on enjoying the material world should not utter the name Krishna - or any other transcendental Holy Name.
(Once they do it's only a matter of time before they're dragged back to the spiritual world - because God hears them calling...) |
My God is prettier than your God.  |
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kabrams
Joined: 15 Mar 2008
Location: your Dad's house
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| Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| If Krishna is out there, I'd love to know about it. |
For real, though! Wouldn't it be amazing to actually know that a God/Gods exist? |
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banjois
Joined: 14 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Most "progressives" I know would chuckle up their sleeves a little bit confronted with a genuine believer in past-life regression or crystals. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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| kabrams wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| If Krishna is out there, I'd love to know about it. |
For real, though! Wouldn't it be amazing to actually know that a God/Gods exist? |
Honestly I think most atheists would jump on the chance. This is something certain theists on this board just don't grasp. They like to claim we don't believe because we're afraid, or because we're rebelling, or so forth. Nonsense; most atheists don't believe in the divine because we've no reason to. If Krishna, or Jesus, or 하나님 comes down tomorrow and wants to chat, I'd love it. I have no problem with the idea of accepting the divine exists, assuming there's actually any evidence for it. |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004
Location: All over the map
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| Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| kabrams wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| If Krishna is out there, I'd love to know about it. |
For real, though! Wouldn't it be amazing to actually know that a God/Gods exist? |
Honestly I think most atheists would jump on the chance. This is something certain theists on this board just don't grasp. They like to claim we don't believe because we're afraid, or because we're rebelling, or so forth. Nonsense; most atheists don't believe in the divine because we've no reason to. If Krishna, or Jesus, or 하나님 comes down tomorrow and wants to chat, I'd love it. I have no problem with the idea of accepting the divine exists, assuming there's actually any evidence for it. |
Yeah, I have nothing against the possibility of there being a God. I do, however, have a problem with alot of the people who claim to work for 'Him' (or 'Her) and profess to have special insight into the divine plan. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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| caniff wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| kabrams wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| If Krishna is out there, I'd love to know about it. |
For real, though! Wouldn't it be amazing to actually know that a God/Gods exist? |
Honestly I think most atheists would jump on the chance. This is something certain theists on this board just don't grasp. They like to claim we don't believe because we're afraid, or because we're rebelling, or so forth. Nonsense; most atheists don't believe in the divine because we've no reason to. If Krishna, or Jesus, or 하나님 comes down tomorrow and wants to chat, I'd love it. I have no problem with the idea of accepting the divine exists, assuming there's actually any evidence for it. |
Yeah, I have nothing against the possibility of there being a God. I do, however, have a problem with alot of the people who claim to work for 'Him' (or 'Her) and profess to have special insight into the divine plan. |
I'm with caniff.
But also, Fox, the idea of a god coming down to prove himself to a mortal is absurd. Its like Clinton answering that he wore boxers (or was it briefs?), you're trying to fool the gods into lowering their dignity to declare themselves. It won't work, if they/he/she/it exist(s), surely the entity is smarter than that. |
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