There is clearly no greater obstacle to a truly empirical approach to spiritual experience than our current beliefs about God. ~ Sam Harris. The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason p. 214

In a universe created exclusively by an omnipotent, perfect, omnibenevolent God, how could [sin] possibly arise? The Judeo-Christian answer lies in the first chapters of Genesis, in Eden; the blame falls on a talking serpent. Sure. But allow a measure of allegory; the serpent spoke for Satan, they say. So how did Satan arise? He was a fallen angel ( Read more... )

Ain Soph Aur
Ain Soph
Ain

Not
is
God
!

God = Not!

!God

I have a friend who talks about wisdom and I think about what wisdom is. To me the cultivation of wisdom is a yearning for God, whatever God may be. I think wisdom comes from recognizing and admitting ignorance and error. Humans err. Recognizing it in oneself dispels ignorance. Recognizing your ignorance equips you to avoid error. Wisdom ( Read more... )

Teeth and the pain and expense they cause are a damning indictment of special creation unless that is what god intended, in which case god is twisted and demented and should be made to suffer.