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Saturday, January 26, 2008

Naut on Religion…XXVIII (Islam)...

Those of you who have followed this series from the beginning will know it is an attempt at demonstrating that religion is a ‘natural’ and probably necessary human construct, rather than one of dwelling on the characteristics of any specific religion. It has been my position throughout that the... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Nautikos at 12:49 PM | add or view comments (12) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, January 11, 2008

Naut on Religion…XXVII (Islam)...Another partial response to Lindo

This began as a response to my one and only pleasant Muslim interlocutor, whose remarks I appreciate, because they make me think. My response again became too long, so I have turned it into another post, for the few readers who are still with me, LOL. Her comments can be found in the previous post.... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Nautikos at 8:41 AM | add or view comments (30) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Naut on Religion…XXVI (Islam)...In partial response to Lindo

Lindo, I will here and now acknowledge again, as I have done before, that in the past Muslims have certainly made great contributions to the arts and sciences. But that is not the topic here. I have also acknowledged that, over the millennia, Christians have committed many crimes and atrocities,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Nautikos at 11:49 AM | add or view comments (9) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Naut on Religion…XXV (Islam)

Almost every sura (verse) of the Koran, with very few exceptions, begins with the words ‘In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.’ But a close reading of the Koran makes it clear that Muhammad as well the other authors [1] had in mind a God who is merciful only to the believer! “As for... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Nautikos at 6:59 PM | add or view comments (18) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, December 24, 2007

Naut on Religion…XXIV (Islam)

This part arises out of the beginning of a debate with my one and only thoughtful, articulate and pleasant Muslim critic. It is, in fact, a slightly re-worked response to her comments in my previous post, which can be read there. I hope it helps to clarify what I mean when I speak of a religion’s... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Nautikos at 7:59 AM | add or view comments (9) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Naut on Religion…XXIII (Islam)

From a theoretical point of view, what is most interesting about the ‘creation’ of Islam is that we can observe the way in which a new myth, a new overarching way of explaining the world, emerges, and how it necessarily takes into account and is influenced by what already exists. To put it most... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Nautikos at 11:31 AM | add or view comments (11) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, December 17, 2007

Naut on Religion…XXII (Islam)

So far, at least the later sections have been about our tradition. That tradition is neither just Canadian, nor North American, or merely European: it is, for want of a better term, Western thought and civilization. And that it is possible to speak meaningfully of this tradition as a ‘whole’, with... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Nautikos at 1:06 PM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Naut on Religion…XXI (Islam)

Now, a few words about pathologies... Writes Christopher Hitchens, “ Violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism, invested in ignorance and hostile to free enquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive towards children: organized religion ought to have a lot on its conscience...”,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Nautikos at 6:30 PM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, December 10, 2007

Naut on Religion…XX

We are entering the final phase of this series, and it may be useful to take stock. Everyone who has read this far knows my convictions: I am an agnostic who takes the position that it is impossible to know whether there is a God in principle, and who utterly rejects the notion that ‘scripture’... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Nautikos at 5:34 AM | add or view comments (10) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, December 3, 2007

Naut on Religion…XIX

I ended the previous part with a question that was meant to be rhetorical, namely: what can account for the relative health of Christianity in America, while in Europe it is clearly languishing? But of course, even rhetorical questions elicit responses, and I had several interesting ones, which I... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Nautikos at 12:20 PM | add or view comments (19) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

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