Contents contributed and discussions participated by ken meece - Science - Spirituality in Dialogue

The Mahablog » The Wisdom of Doubt, Part I - 0 views

www.mahablog.com/...the-wisdom-of-doubt-part-i

ksm mahablog

shared by ken meece on 11 Dec 07 - Cached

One who believes himself to be leading a supreme war against Evil on behalf of Good will be incapable of understanding any claims that he himself is acting immorally.
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These days religious people want to be called “people of faith.” But I object to the practice of using the word faith as a synonym for religion. Faith is a component of religion, to one degree or another, but not religion itself.
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Zen students are told that the path of Zen takes “great faith, great doubt, and great determination.”
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...5 more annotations...
Great Faith and Great Doubt are two ends of a spiritual walking stick. We grip one end with the grasp given to us by our Great Determination. We poke into the underbrush in the dark on our spiritual journey. This act is real spiritual practice - gripping the Faith end and poking ahead with the Doubt end of the stick. If we have no Faith, we have no Doubt. If we have no Determination, we never pick up the stick in the first place.
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true faith requires true doubt; without doubt, faith is not faith
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in the histories of the major monotheistic religions — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — you can find many great theologians, scholars, rabbis, contemplatives, and mystics whose religious understanding came from wrestling with their doubts.
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To religious seekers and mystics, “A state in which the mind is suspended between two contradictory propositions and unable to assent to either of them” is a fertile place from which profound understanding may grow. Certainty, on other hand, is a sterile rock that grows nothing.
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Unfortunately, religious institutions tend to be run by dogmatists, not seekers.
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UC Davis Philosophy 22 Lecture Notes: The Skeptical Crisis in European Philosophy - 0 views

www-philosophy.ucdavis.edu/...skeptic.htm

philosophy skeptical

shared by ken meece on 28 Jan 08 - Cached

ken meece on 28 Jan 08

Around all matters of religion and theology also, there rages violent controversy. For while the majority declare that gods exist, some deny their existence. . . . And of those who maintain the existence of gods, some believe in the ancestral gods, others in such as are constructed in the Dogmatic systems--as Aristotle asserted that God is incorporeal and "the limit of heaven," the Stoics that he is a breath which permeates even things most foul, Epicurus that he is anthropomorphic, Xenophanes that he is an impassive sphere." (Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Book III, 218

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Around all matters of religion and theology also, there rages violent controversy. For while the majority declare that gods exist, some deny their existence. . . . And of those who maintain the existence of gods, some believe in the ancestral gods, others in such as are constructed in the Dogmatic systems--as Aristotle asserted that God is incorporeal and "the limit of heaven," the Stoics that he is a breath which permeates even things most foul, Epicurus that he is anthropomorphic, Xenophanes that he is an impassive sphere." (Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Book III, 218</div>

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Apocalypse? Mmm, bring it on - 0 views

www.timesonline.co.uk/...article3105421.ece

apocalypse

shared by ken meece on 26 Jan 08 - Cached

ken meece on 26 Jan 08

To atone for our mistakes - wars, global warming, whatever - we subconsciously long for catastrophic punishment

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">To atone for our mistakes - wars, global warming, whatever - we subconsciously long for catastrophic punishment</div>

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roman philosopher skeptic Sextus Empiricus - Google Search - 0 views

www.google.com/search

philosophy roman sextus empiricus skeptic

shared by ken meece on 26 Jan 08 - Cached

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Sextus does allow beliefs, so long as they are not derived by reason, philosophy or speculation; a skeptic may, for example, accept common opinions in the skeptic's society. However, the content of such beliefs is purely conventional or subjective. Thus, on this interpretation, the skeptic may well entertain the belief that God does or does not exist or that virtue is good. But he may not believe that such claims are true by nature.
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profound impact on Michel de Montaigne, David Hume, and Hegel, among many others
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ken meece on 26 Jan 08

Sextus Empiricus advises that we should suspend judgment about virtually all beliefs, that is, we should neither affirm any belief as true nor deny any belief as false. This view is known as Pyrrhonian skepticism, as distinguished from Academic skepticism, as practised by Carneades, which, according to Sextus, denies knowledge altogether. Sextus did not deny the possibility of knowledge. He criticizes the Academic skeptic's claim that nothing is knowable as being an affirmative belief. Instead, Sextus advocates simply giving up belief: that is, suspending judgment about whether or not anything is knowable.[2] Only by suspending judgment can we attain a state of ataraxia (roughly, 'peace of mind'). Sextus did not think such a general suspension of judgment to be impractical, since we may live without any beliefs, acting by habit.

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Sextus Empiricus advises that we should suspend judgment about virtually all beliefs, that is, we should neither affirm any belief as true nor deny any belief as false. This view is known as Pyrrhonian skepticism, as distinguished from Academic skepticism, as practised by Carneades, which, according to Sextus, denies knowledge altogether. Sextus did not deny the possibility of knowledge. He criticizes the Academic skeptic's claim that nothing is knowable as being an affirmative belief. Instead, Sextus advocates simply giving up belief: that is, suspending judgment about whether or not anything is knowable.[2] Only by suspending judgment can we attain a state of ataraxia (roughly, 'peace of mind'). Sextus did not think such a general suspension of judgment to be impractical, since we may live without any beliefs, acting by habit.</div>

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Towards a New Ethic of Science - 0 views

www.ratical.org/...newethic.html

ethics science

shared by ken meece on 25 Jan 08 - Cached

Pray-as-you-go . . . daily prayer for your MP3 player - 0 views

www.pray-as-you-go.org

ksm qdiigo

shared by ken meece on 24 Jan 08 - Cached

Annual EDGE Question - 2008 - 0 views

edge.org/q08_print.html

answers change edge mind questions science

shared by ken meece on 09 Jan 08 - Cached

ken meece on 09 Jan 08

WHAT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT? WHY? Science is based on evidence. What happens when the data change? How have scientific findings or arguments changed your mind?" 165 contributors; 112,600 words

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">WHAT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT? WHY? Science is based on evidence. What happens when the data change? How have scientific findings or arguments changed your mind?" 165 contributors; 112,600 words</div>

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Faith & Beliefs - Big Think - Browse Ideas - 0 views

bigthink.com/faith-beliefs

beliefs faith ksm qdiigo

shared by ken meece on 08 Jan 08 - Cached

Barbara Kay: Religion without God - Full Comment - 0 views

network.nationalpost.com/...152533.aspx

ksm qdiigo

shared by ken meece on 31 Dec 07 - Cached

Los Angeles Times: Two authors, a rabbi and an atheist, debate religion and science - 0 views

www.latimes.com/...s29dec29,1,6787254,print.story

atheist debate religion

shared by ken meece on 30 Dec 07 - Cached

ken meece on 30 Dec 07

Two authors, a rabbi and an atheist, debate religion and science

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Two authors, a rabbi and an atheist, debate religion and science</div>

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