Material for Parts
I,
II, &
III comes from the translation by Joseph McCabe of selected essays by Voltaire entitled:
"A Treatise on Toleration and Other Essays."
WHETHER IT IS USEFUL TO MAINTAIN THE PEOPLE
IN SUPERSTITION
Such is the weakness, such the perversity, of the human race that it is better, no doubt, for it to
be subject to all conceivable superstitions, provided they be not murderous, than to live without religion.
Man has always needed a curb; and, although it was ridiculous to sacrifice to fauns or naiads, it was
much more reasonable and useful to worship these fantastic images of the deity than to sink into atheism.
A violent atheist would be as great a plague as a violent superstitious man.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, May 17, 2008.
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Material for Parts
I,
II, &
III comes from the translation by Joseph McCabe of selected essays by Voltaire entitled:
"A Treatise on Toleration and Other Essays."
OF THE DANGER OF FALSE LEGENDS, AND OF PERSECUTION
Untruth has imposed on men too long; it is time to pick out the few truths that we can trace amid
the clouds of legends which brood over Roman history after Tacitus and Suetonius, and have almost
always enveloped the annals of other nations.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, May 17, 2008.
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Material for Parts
I,
II, &
III comes from the translation by Joseph McCabe of selected essays by Voltaire entitled:
"A Treatise on Toleration and Other Essays."
In just 70 pages in paperback Voltaire produced a major work as timeless today as when he wrote it.
For example:
|
When the risk and the advantage are equal, astonishment ceases, and even pity is enfeebled. But when an innocent father is given into the hands of error, of passion, or of fanaticism; when the accused has no defense but his virtue; when those who dispose of his life run no risk but that of making a mistake; when they can slay with
impunity by a legal decree--then the voice of the general public is heard, and each fears for himself. They see no man's life is safe before a court that has been set up to guard the welfare of citizens, and every voice is raised in a demand of vengeance. |
Posted by RoadToPeace on Friday, May 16, 2008.
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Voltaire
Many essays from Voltaire’s hand were published anonymously. This is one of them where he writes on the role of a society president who leads the prayer and preaches the sermon. For brevity, we excerpt and paraphrase:
“My brethren, religion is the secret voice of God speaking to men. It ought to unite men, not divide them; hence every religion that belongs to one people only is false.”
Posted by RoadToPeace on Tuesday, April 15, 2008.
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“The Questions of Zapata”
An essay from:
A Treatise on Toleration and Other Essays - Voltaire.
(Essay translated by Dr. Tamponet, Sorbonne)
The books of the Bible were culled from a much larger body of literature, much of which was regarded by scholars of the day as either patently false or as unsuitable for various reasons. Nearly all of such literature reflected earlier myths or pagan dogma clothed in new terms to better fit the times. Only a few of the populace could read; fewer still were scholars. The latter often disagreed, sometimes violently. Power and influence often meant more than logic in selecting which pieces of literature ascended to holy scripture.
It is not surprising therefore that inconsistencies crept into the Bible.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Sunday, April 06, 2008.
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Book Review with excerpts, and [Commentary]
[Walter Russell Mead, in his classic "God and Gold" plows fertile ground in no-man's-land between Western maritime empires and the has-been and would-be
empires of Islam. He sees centuries-long humiliation of Islamic culture as being as unforgettable by the humiliated as it is forgotten by the victors. The victors
of the moment no longer remember their own origins. Every chapter in Mead's book has many eye-openers. We excerpt part of one in particular that addresses our
era. Although Mead is optimistic for the long term, his message for Americans is not pretty.]
Posted by RoadToPeace on Sunday, March 16, 2008.
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Updated 23 May 2010
Cecil Bothwell
Extended Book Review
A man of the cloth preaching war? Hard to believe! Yet, it is true.
For six decades Billy Graham preached war and American hegemony to presidents, their advisers and to his "crusaders." Graham had a great deal to do with the
rise of the militant right in American Politics. Graham is a master of backroom politics. Instilling fear is his modus operandi. His actions were most often self-serving.
In the process he became a multi-multimillionaire. That's not bad for a born-again preacher.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Sunday, January 06, 2008.
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How Religion Spoils Everything
Christopher Hitchens
Book Review With Commentary
Hitchens is not only fine story teller, but an accurate historian of religion. As an atheist he focuses on the bad points of religion; hence his sub-title. Our present take, is while societies everywhere practice religion of one sort or another, it is the uncommon extremists who co-opt religion (as well as other sectors of societies) for no good that are at the root of the association between
Monotheism and Violence.
Hitchens brings many new facts and common threads to that association. We recommend this book to all who are concerned about violence in today's world. It does not provide all the answers we need, but it is surely one brick in the wall otherwise known as
the origins of violence.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Tuesday, May 29, 2007.
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"Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left doesn't get it."
Jim Wallis
Book Report With Commentary
The second subtitle:
A New Vison for Faith and Politics in America resonates throughout the book. Politics and religion are both out of kilter in our day. Will the 2006 election repudiating Neocon and religious Right policies aiming at world dominance be a turning point? We can only hope so.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Wednesday, November 15, 2006.
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Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
Sam Harris
Book Review
"I know of no society in human history that ever suffered because its people became too reasonable"
Sam Harris |
With this simple statement, Harris captures his most basic thesis. The converse, of course is not true, a point which Harris makes again and again with poignant examples.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Wednesday, May 17, 2006.
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Excerpts from
Der Spiegal On Line - December 26, 2005, 04:34 PM
SPIEGEL Interview with Evolution Philosopher Daniel Dennett
"Darwinism Completely Refutes Intelligent Design"
Posted by RoadToPeace on Monday, December 26, 2005.
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Wahhabism, an extreme form of Islam, has provided many foot soldiers for terrorist groups over most of the
Middle East and much of the world. It is the state religion of Saudi Arabia and exerts much influence elsewhere in the Middle East.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Monday, November 28, 2005.
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Karen Armstrong
Book Review With Commentary
After summarizing the early myths, Armstrong gets down to business in the middle of her book.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Friday, November 18, 2005.
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About half the world has become monotheistic; most of the rest adhere to Eastern religions and philosophies; growing numbers are agnostic or atheistic.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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WASHINGTON DIARIST -- Excerpts
God Again
by Leon Wieseltier
The New Republic
...It was amusing to watch the conservatives at the lectern argue that the monument of the Ten Commandments on the grounds of the state capitol in Austin deserves the protection of the Court because it is the historical,
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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Revised 19 April 2006
Predator/victim and turf-war scenarios, so prevalent in nature, seem to carry over into civilizations living side by side.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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Leaders of Judaism and Islam agree on one point. Religion is the rightful governor of the state. Catholics did too--until the Reformation. This belief no doubt came about within the religions themselves. In early times, religions arose from and were related to authority whether, family, tribal, city, king, or prophet in origin. Faith systems were needed desperately to provide, with some variations, a purpose to existence, a hereafter, and moral directives.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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WHAT AMERICA CAN LEARN FROM ITS ATHEISTS.
To properly understand a thesis, one must also understand its antithesis.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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Once a great Religion, Taoism was virtually wiped out by Mao and the Communists. There are perhaps 20,000,000 Taoists on Earth today, principally in Taiwan.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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Confucianism is one of the three great pillars of Chinese society that comes down to us today.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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Monotheism is a compelling idea. At once, the monotheisms provide purpose and fellowship here and now with paradise hereafter for the faithful. See
Religion and Violence for an eyeopener on the fellowship side.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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Patriarch, Prophet, and Progenitor of prophets
Monotheism as we know it, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, began formally with Abraham even though he did not claim there are no other gods but God. He did claim that God is supreme.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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Like Zionism, if we fail to understand the Muslim mind and society, we do so at our own peril. The primary tumor of this cancer called terror lies in Palestine. We must fully understand and appreciate the culture of each side before we can begin to formulate an effective long-term response. The Trade Center and Pentagon bombings were metastatic expressions.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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Islam in the Middle East and Europe -- Some Ramifications of Cultures in Conflict
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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The Arabic word for peace is salaam; it is included in Arabic/Muslim greetings. Islam means surrender or submission in Arabic. A Muslim is one who submits to Allah. For many the word Muslim conjurs up thoughts of suicidal bombers. Such stereotyping of all Muslims may be faithful to the authoritarian way, but is wide of the mark.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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Links For Research
About Hinduism
Hinduism Online
HinduismToday
Hinduism: The Way of Life
Hindu Universe
Karma is a major element of the Hindu belief system.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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There may be nearly as many views of God as there are people on earth. Some believe there is no god; others think God is revealed in nature; many others are polytheists; still others believe in some form of anthropomorphic god--the monotheists.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 20, 2005.
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This branch of extremist Islam originated in India in 1867 as a reaction to Western colonialism. When Britain made it clear that India would be independent after WW II, The Muslim League, faced with the alternative of living in a Hindu state, declared their allegiance to Britain, and Pakistan emerged as a British colony separate from India in 1947. Nine years later Pakistan became fully independent.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, August 06, 2005.
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What Buddhism is and isn't.
On this page we rely heavily on
Buddhism and Zen by Zenzaki and McCandless, using many quotes.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Friday, August 05, 2005.
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Christian Evangelism
Preaching to convert others to Christianity is the work of evangelism.
An early posting on
gospelcom.net provided the following introduction:
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, July 16, 2005.
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A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths
Bruce Feiler
Book Review with commentary
To know Abraham, one must also know something of one's self as well as of his scribes. With stunning insights, Feiler leads us through the hundreds of descriptions of Abraham across three faiths.
Posted by RoadToPeace on Saturday, July 16, 2005.
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Who we are