Skip to main content

Home/ Reason/s & Belief/ Group items tagged reference

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Sunny Jackson

Council for Secular Humanism - 0 views

www.secularhumanism.org/index.php

Cached ≡ Humanism

shared by Sunny Jackson on 22 May 13 - Cached
  • secular humanists don't believe in a God or an afterlife
  • secular humanism encourages people to think for themselves and question authority
  • secular humanism says the morality of actions should be judged by their consequences
  • ...57 more annotations...
  • There is no central authority
  • People come to secular humanism by following their own curiosity and reasoning
  • secular humanism is not so much a body of beliefs as a method for reaching understanding
  • It is an approach to life that tries to be positive, rational, realistic, and open-minded
  • we are not expressing a doctrine
  • doing our best to state the consensus shared
  • Secular humanists believe morality and meaning come from humanity and the natural world
  • It is our human values that give us rights, responsibilities, and dignity.
  • We believe that morality should aim to bring out the best in people, so that all people can have the best in life.
  • morality must be based on our knowledge of human nature and the real world
  • treat others with the same consideration as you would have them treat you
  • the common moral decencies - for example, people should not lie, steal, or kill; and they should be honest, generous, and cooperative - really are conducive to human welfare
  • Humanists realize that individuals alone cannot solve all our problems, but instead of turning to the supernatural, we believe that problems are solved by people working together, relying on understanding and creativity
  • humanists are committed to promoting human values, human understanding, and human development
  • Humanists also emphasize the importance of self-determination - the right of individuals to control their own lives, so long as they do not harm others
  • freedom of choice
  • people create their own meaning and purpose in life
  • The value and significance of life comes from how we live life, not from some supposed transcendent realm
  • The moral differences between secular humanism and religion do not justify the allegation that secular humanist have no morals. This claim is not an argument, just an insult.
  • Nonreligious, humanistic moral systems existed before Christianity
  • the Epicureans, Skeptics, and Stoics of classical Greece and Rome
  • the common moral decencies are found throughout the cultures of the world
  • The most important moral and political concepts of the modern era have developed out of humanistic thinking
  • You will search the Bible in vain for opposition to slavery or support for democracy and equality
  • neither the Supreme Court, nor this circuit, has ever held that evolutionism or secular humanism are `religions'
  • they refused to reverse a ruling that secular humanism is not a religion
  • Secular humanism is not a religion by any definition: There are no supernatural beliefs, no creeds that all humanists are required to accept, no sacred texts or required rituals. Humanists are not expected or required to have "faith" in what is said by any authority, living or dead, human or "supernatural."
  • humanists derive their meaning and values from the natural world. Secular humanism is a naturalistic, nonreligious worldview
  • humanists don't worship anything
  • Humanity's constant challenge is to understand itself and improve itself
  • We don't pretend that our ethics and values are divine: we recognize that they are human, and therefore part of nature
  • individual secular humanists differ
  • the human species has evolved by the same natural processes as every other species
  • some of our most treasured traits, such as language and the ability to understand and care for others, are on an evolutionary continuum with communicative and cooperative behaviors of other animals
  • humans have a moral responsibility towards the rest of the natural world
  • secular humanists cover a wide spectrum
  • One political view that secular humanists do share is unswerving support for democracy, freedom, and human rights
  • All secular humanists are utterly opposed to totalitarian systems
  • The United States Constitution and Bill of Rights contain no references to God or Christianity. Their only references to religion establish freedom of religion and separation of church and state
  • The motto on the Great Seal of the United States, unchanged since its adoption in 1782, is E Pluribus Unum ("From Many, One")
  • The Pledge of Allegiance did not contain an oath to God, until it was added in the 1950s
  • In 1797 the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Treaty of Tripoli which stated that "the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."
  • the remarkable thing about the United States is precisely that it was created as a secular republic organized around the rights and freedoms of its citizens
  • on the basis of shared philosophical principles and ideals
  • The myth that secular humanists are unAmerican is an insult to the patriotism and distinguished service of millions of people.
  • all beliefs are fallible and provisional, and that diversity and dialogue are essential to the process of learning and developing
  • we value tolerance, pluralism, and open-mindedness as positive and beneficial qualities in society
  • Humanists are staunch supporters of freedom of religion, belief, and conscience, as laid out in both the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These rights protect the freedom of religious belief equally with the freedom of nonreligious belief, the freedom of religion equally with the freedom from religion.
  • the neutrality of a secular society
  • Secular humanists believe that a healthy society supports a variety of worldviews
  • We also believe that religious and philosophical views should be every bit as open to debate and discussion as political beliefs.
  • All these claims make the same mistake: they confuse neutrality with hostility
  • neutrality toward different worldviews is the best protection from persecution
  • Separating church and state doesn't mean that the state promotes atheism and humanism, but that it provides equal protection to all beliefs
  • The amoral, power-hungry "secular humanist" conspiracy described by some religious conservatives is a myth
  • the vibrant movement that champions a moral approach to living based on reason and happiness is alive and growing
  • there are secular humanists. But no, there is no bogeyman.
Sunny Jackson

Ethical movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/...Ethical_movement

info Wiki

shared by Sunny Jackson on 03 Jul 13 - No Cached
  • Ethical Culture is premised on the idea that honoring and living in accordance with ethical principles is central to what it takes to live meaningful and fulfilling lives, and to creating a world that is good for all. Practitioners of Ethical Culture focus on supporting one another in becoming better people, and on doing good in the world.
  • Felix Adler said "Ethical Culture is religious to those who are religiously minded, and merely ethical to those who are not so minded."
  • if we relate to others in a way that brings out their best, we will at the same time elicit the best in ourselves
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • By the "best" in each person, we refer to his or her unique talents and abilities that affirm and nurture life.
  • We use the term "spirit" to refer to a person’s unique personality and to the love, hope, and empathy that exists in human beings.
  • When we act to elicit the best in others, we encourage the growing edge of their ethical development, their perhaps as-yet untapped but inexhaustible worth.
  • Human Worth and Uniqueness – All people are taken to have inherent worth, not dependent on the value of what they do. They are deserving of respect and dignity, and their unique gifts are to be encouraged and celebrated.
  • Eliciting the Best – "Always act so as to Elicit the best in others, and thereby yourself"
  • we are all interrelated, with each person playing a role in the whole and the whole affecting each person
  • Our interrelatedness is at the heart of ethics.
Sunny Jackson

Creed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/Creed

info Wiki

shared by Sunny Jackson on 03 Jul 13 - Cached
  • A creed is a statement of belief
  • The term "creed" can also refer to a person's political or social beliefs
  • derives from the Latin credo, which means "I believe"
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The term "creed" can be used to refer to a set of non-religious beliefs, like political or social beliefs.
Sunny Jackson

As Religion Fades, Will Atheism Be Enough? | Psychology Today - 0 views

www.psychologytoday.com/...n-fades-will-atheism-be-enough

Humanism

shared by Sunny Jackson on 22 May 13 - No Cached
  • the atheist identity refers only to the singular issue of god-belief
  • approaches the world from a natural standpoint
  • rejects all supernatural beliefs, not just the singular issue of divinities
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • seeking truth and knowledge
  • accepts empiricism, science, and reason
  • holds certain values, including a support for human rights, peace, democracy, and personal liberty with a sense of social responsibility
  • humanism rejects outright the notion of dogma
  • humanism is a progressive, forward-looking lifestance that encourages creativity, critical thinking, and personal fullfillment within the context of social well-being
  • Many humanists, but not all, also identify as atheists; many atheists, but not all, also identify as humanists.
  • the "atheist" label is wrongly stigmatized in American society
  • My humanism is more important to me than my atheism
  •  we're doing a service if we can help the public to realize that atheists should not be feared
  • the important element will be the broad, affirmative values of humanism, not a singular notion of nonbelief
Sunny Jackson

Reference Desk - 0 views

www.infidels.org/desk.html

shared by Sunny Jackson on 22 May 13 - Cached
Sunny Jackson

Bundlr - Reason(s) & Belief - 0 views

bundlr.com/reasons-and-belief

shared by Sunny Jackson on 22 May 13 - No Cached
  • contrived
  • circumstantial evidence
  • all members of that religion would speak with one voice regarding ethical and theological issues
  • ...97 more annotations...
  • some piece of knowledge that the people of the time couldn't possibly have known but that is now known to be true
  • still explicable as the result of purely human forces
  • To convince me, a miracle would have to be genuine, verifiable, and represent a real and inexplicable divergence from the ordinary.
  • If a given religion's sacred text consistently promotes peace, compassion and nonviolence
  • Anything that can be explained by peer pressure, the power of suggestion or the placebo effect does not count.
  • Did God intend to communicate his message clearly but failed to do so?
  • if that religion's history reflects that fact
  • I'll be happy to believe in God if he tells me to in person, as long as he does it in such a way that I could be sure that it was not a hallucination
  • interesting theological problems
  • subjective experience
  • self-fulfilling
  • impressive
  • a dramatic, statistically significant increase in recovery rate
  • True inerrancy
  • Almost every religion claims their scripture is perfect, but none that I know of have actually met this exacting standard
  • almost every religion that has ever had the power to do so has persecuted those who believed differently, and I do not think it likely that a morally good deity would allow his chosen faith's good name to be smeared by evil and fallible humans
  • It seems reasonable to expect that, if there existed a god that was interested in revealing itself to humanity and desired that we follow its commands, that god would write down whatever instructions it had to give us in a way that was only amenable to one interpretation.
  • for no apparent reason
  • tended to explode in flames
  • interesting
  • even minor but objectively verifiable miracles would do
  • Favorable coincidences or kind or courageous acts performed by human beings also do not meet this standard.
  • the temporal lobes, especially the left lobe, are somehow involved in religious experience
  • compelling
  • this could still be the result of human influence
  • detailed, specific and unambiguous
  • result could be repeated and confirmed
  • multiple reliable witnesses
  • I invite all theists to respond by preparing a list of things that they would accept as proof that atheism is true.
  • glowing auras of h*** light
  • Why doesn't this happen any more today?
  • conclusive
  • proposed those ideas long ago
  • a double-blind study
  • verified by independent evidence
  • indisputable proof
  • circumstantial, not conclusive, evidence
  • a h*** text entirely without error or self-contradiction
  • extra-biblical evidence
  • I'm not interested in the testimonials of people who converted to a religion, not even if they used to be atheists.
  • to protect them from harm
  • independent of any claim
  • faith healing, or people being "slain in the Spirit" and toppling over, owes more to showmanship and the placebo effect used on eager-to-please individuals that have been worked up into highly excitable, suggestible states
  • possible to disprove
  • there must be independent verification that the piece of knowledge was written in texts that existed well before it was actually discovered by science
  • Everyone has moments of weakness in which emotion overrides logic.
  • Biblical miracles are people raising their hands and telling something impossible to happen, and it happens.
  • something so counter-intuitive that the odds against guessing at it correctly would be staggering
  • the lone success among a thousand failures
  • members of all faiths claim to have had convincing subjective experiences of the truth of that faith
  • something surprising, unlikely or unique
  • if faith healers could restore severed limbs...
  • explain what logic and evidence persuaded them
  • If you attempt to prove God's existence to me by listing the evidence for a young earth, more likely than not you'll be disappointed. (Though I'm always happy to debate the merits of evolution.)
  • “There exist instances of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse" (Rowe, 1979, p. 336).
  • travel to every planet in the universe individually
  • what arguments and tactics are likely to be ineffective at convincing an atheist to change their mind
  • religious hallucinations associated with epilepsy
  • "An omniscient, wholly good being would prevent the occurrence of any intense suffering it could, unless it could not do so without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally as bad or worse" (Rowe, 1979, p. 336).
  • In order to leap the chasm from deism to theism; from deism to Christianity - you need to establish that Yahweh was not merely the natural evolution of Canaanite polytheism, and more importantly, rationalize how an all-powerful, all-knowing and all-good God, is compatible with pointless animal suffering.
  • case histories with hallucinations of a religious nature
  • Family religion was focused on the god of the settlement
  • "God by definition is all-powerful, all knowing and all good. If God is all-powerful, He can prevent evil. If God is all knowing and can prevent evil, He knows how to prevent it. If God is all good, He would want to prevent evil. But since there is evil God cannot exist” (Martin & Bernard, 2003, p. 316).
  • there is a profound chasm between (1) deism and (2) theism
  • The Christian God does not exist.
  • The Bible is not the Word of God.
  • The Bible is not 100% factually accurate.
  • This god was the patron of the leading family and, by extension, of the local clan and the settlement
  • the magnetic configurations, not the subjects’ exotic beliefs or suggestibility, were responsible for the experimental facilitation of sensing a presence
  • Convergence involved the coalescence of various deities and/or some of their features into the figure of Yahweh
  • The Cosmological argument, the Kalām cosmological argument, the Teleological or Design argument, and the Ontological argument - merely take you to the deists' side of the chasm.
  • Features belonging to deities such as El, Asherah, and Baal were absorbed into the Yahwistic religion of Israel.
  • religion was predominantly a matter of the family
  • speaks in tongues (glossolalia)
  • Jesus was not God.
  • “The text itself of each Gospel is anonymous and its title represents what later tradition had to say about the identity of the author … the first Gospel was put together by an unknown Christian who utilized the Gospel of Mark, the Matthean collection, and other special sources.” (Metzger, 2003, p. 114)
  • Allegiance to the clan god was concomitant with membership of the clan
  • Epicurus (341 - 270 BCE) Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
  • "Many of the books of the New Testament are pseudonymous – written not by the apostles but by later writers claiming to be apostles" (Ehrman, 2009, pp. 5-6).
  • God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
  • Ecclesiastes 9:5 – "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten."
  • Religious experience can be replicated using magnetic fields
  • at least one of the gospel authors is making content up
  • “The text itself, like all the gospels, is anonymous.” (Price, 2006, p. 493)
  • At least one of the gospels is incorrect
  • seizures can also be “focal”; that is, they can remain confined largely to a single small part of the brain
  • even if both phrases were said together, he could only die immediately after one of them
  • 80% of normal people will feel a sensed presence within the room if you stimulate a person’s temporal lobes with magnetic fields
  • at least one gospel is making content up
  • they cannot both be true
  • “To refer to the author as Matthew is only a convention.” (Miller, 1995, p. 56)
  • “Like all the gospels, our so-called Matthew was originally anonymous.” (Price, 2006, p. 114)
  • if they happen to be in the limbic system, then the most striking symptoms are emotional.
  • God changed his mind
  • put to death men and women, children and infants
  • “The text itself of each Gospel is anonymous and its title represents what later tradition had to say about the identity of the author.” (Metzger, 2003, p. 114)
  • there do exist instances of intense suffering which an omnipotent, omniscient being could have prevented without thereby losing some greater good or permitting some evil equally bad or worse” (Rowe, 1979, p. 337).
Sunny Jackson

Christian | Define Christian at Dictionary.com - 0 views

dictionary.reference.com/...christian

shared by Sunny Jackson on 01 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ
  • a person who believes in Jesus Christ
Sunny Jackson

Premise | Define Premise at Dictionary.com - 0 views

dictionary.reference.com/...premise

shared by Sunny Jackson on 07 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • a proposition supporting or helping to support a conclusion
  • a basis, stated or assumed, on which reasoning proceeds
  • a statement that is assumed to be true for the purpose of an argument from which a conclusion is drawn
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • a previous proposition from which another follows
Sunny Jackson

Presumption | Define Presumption at Dictionary.com - 0 views

dictionary.reference.com/...presumption

shared by Sunny Jackson on 07 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • assumption of something as true
  • belief on reasonable grounds or probable evidence
  • a ground or reason for presuming or believing
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • a belief or assumption based on reasonable evidence
  • a ground or basis on which to presume
  • an inference of the truth of a fact from other facts proved, admitted, or judicially noticed
Sunny Jackson

Axiom | Define Axiom at Dictionary.com - 0 views

dictionary.reference.com/...axiom

shared by Sunny Jackson on 07 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • a self-evident truth that requires no proof
  • a universally accepted principle
  • a proposition that is assumed without proof for the sake of studying the consequences that follow from it
Sunny Jackson

Sophistry | Define Sophistry at Dictionary.com - 0 views

dictionary.reference.com/...sophistry

shared by Sunny Jackson on 07 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Sunny Jackson on 07 Jun 13
     
    a subtle, tricky, superficially plausible, but generally fallacious method of reasoning.
Sunny Jackson

Unequivocally | Define Unequivocally at Dictionary.com - 0 views

dictionary.reference.com/...Unequivocally

shared by Sunny Jackson on 07 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • Sunny Jackson on 07 Jun 13
     
    unambiguous; clear; having only one possible meaning or interpretation
Sunny Jackson

Reason - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/Reasoning

info Wiki

shared by Sunny Jackson on 03 Jul 13 - Cached
  • the capacity human beings have to make sense of things, to establish and verify facts, and to change or justify practices, institutions, and beliefs
  • a definitive characteristic of human nature
  • sometimes referred to as rationality
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Reason is closely identified with the ability to self-consciously change beliefs, attitudes, traditions, and institutions, and therefore with the capacity for freedom and self-determination
Sunny Jackson

Semiotics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/Semiotics

info Wiki

shared by Sunny Jackson on 03 Jul 13 - Cached
Sunny Jackson

Ignosticism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/Ignosticism

info Wiki

shared by Sunny Jackson on 03 Jul 13 - Cached
  • if that definition is unfalsifiable, the ignostic takes the theological noncognitivist position that the question of the existence of God (per that definition) is meaningless
  • a coherent definition of God must be presented before the question of the existence of God can be meaningfully discussed
  • the concept of God is not considered meaningless; the term "God" is considered meaningless
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • "What is meant by 'God'?"
  • Some philosophers have seen ignosticism as a variation of agnosticism or atheism,[1] while others have considered it to be distinct.
  • An ignostic maintains that they cannot even say whether they are a theist or an atheist until a sufficient definition of theism is put forth.
Sunny Jackson

Wikipedia:Verifiability - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/...Wikipedia:Verifiability

info Wiki

shared by Sunny Jackson on 03 Jul 13 - Cached
  • a reader's ability to check cited sources that directly support the information in an article
  • It must be possible to attribute all information in Wikipedia to reliable, published sources that are appropriate for the content in question.
  • Verifiability
  • ...22 more annotations...
  • Neutral point of view
  • All quotations and any material challenged or likely to be challenged must be attributed to a reliable published source
  • The citation should fully identify the source, and the location within the source (specifying page, section, or such divisions as may be appropriate) where the material is to be found.
  • The burden of evidence lies with the editor who adds or restores material.
  • Editors might object if you remove material without giving them time to provide references. It has always been good practice to try to find and cite supporting sources
  • consider adding a citation needed tag
  • article
  • paper
  • or book
  • creator
  • document
  • publisher
  • published sources with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy
  • Sources should directly support the material presented
  • appropriate to the claims made
  • academic and peer-reviewed publications are usually the most reliable sources
  • Material from reliable non-academic sources may also be used, particularly if it appears in respected mainstream publications.
  • university-level textbooks
  • books published by respected publishing houses
  • journals
  • magazines
  • mainstream newspapers
Sunny Jackson

The Myth of Militant Atheism | Psychology Today - 0 views

www.psychologytoday.com/...the-myth-militant-atheism

shared by Sunny Jackson on 26 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • When the media and others refer to a "militant atheist," the object of that slander is usually an atheist who had the nerve to openly question religious authority or vocally express his or her views about the existence of God.
1 - 20 of 20
Showing 20▼ items per page