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First of all, I'm not at all sure that empathy is an "evolved trait." But laying that aside, I say again: what is the empirical test for what actions are right and which are wrong? There is no basis in science for that. Who cares if they're inconsistent? Are you saying that because there...

Who, exactly? I don't like to discuss people and groups in the abstract. Yes, there are lots of religious people who believe things that I think are silly, like that God can perform supernatural miracles. That doesn't mean that it's a part of religion per se, any more than "faith," however...

So your definition of religion is having faith in XYZ unproveable beliefs and assumptions? First, I'm not crazy about that definition. Second, not all beliefs (religious or otherwise) have anything to do with empirical testing. Ethics doesn't. Believing that killing is wrong has nothing to...

Another short thing. Someone asked me in a rep comment what I thought of Dawkins' The God Delusion. I had actually never looked at it until a few years ago, when I took Zuckerman's class on atheism and secularity. In a nutshell, I wasn't that impressed. Dawkins only engages the most...

Well, first I'd challenge you on the two psychological motivations you pose. Process theology may well appeal to people like that, but it might well be some other motivation -- like a desire to find meaningfulness in life, or even just a desire to understand the universe better. I think I may...

Well, I do work at the Center for Process Studies, so one would hope I'd have suggestions. The one book that we generally recommend for people who walk in the Center and want an introductory text is Process-Relational Philosophy: An Introduction to Alfred North Whitehead by Bob Mesle (Amazon...

Thanks, I'm blushing! Well, now that I've just made my previous post, this statement will hopefully make more sense: we're all divinely inspired, if you want to put it that way. But on the process conception, we could also talk about divine inspiration in degrees. A person who was more...

Let me see what I can do to explain it. First, this aspect that is the "lure for feeling" is referred to by Whitehead as the "primordial nature." He has this to say about it: God's role is not the combat of productive force with productive force, of destructive force with destructive force...

I decided to look at my Netflix "taste profile" and look at everything I'd rated five stars in the past couple of years that's still available to stream. Here's the list, starting with most recently rated. Black Mirror Still Mine The Kids Are All Right Sling Blade Galaxy Quest Django Unchained...

Well, first off, in the process conception, God does indeed know everything (past and present, not future). God is conceived as having two aspects: one that is a "lure for feeling" to all entities in the universe (i.e. luring them toward unrealized possibilities), and another that receives and...

I have pretty much the same feeling about Cards. It's missing something that's hard to define. It feels very distant and antiseptic. But not bad for all that.

I actually prefer Orange over Cards. Both good, though. Just personal preference.

I am in total agreement. "Supernaturalism" is bunk. If a "God" exists, it is part of the natural universe and does not get to break natural laws. In fact, one of process philosophy's/theology's foremost thinkers -- David Ray Griffin -- wrote a book entitled Reenchantment without...

Black Mirror is indeed pretty great. I've watched four of the six episodes and liked them all. An oldie but a goodie is The West Wing. At this point it's pretty solidly my favorite TV show ever. It's what I watch when I don't know what else to watch. And since I'm one of those people who...

Siro and I have had this conversation before, but it's been a while, so it seems like a good time for me to re-state some thoughts. As far as the existence of God goes, my thinking these days usually begins with Charles Hartshorne's modal argument -- which is less an argument than it is a...

Sure, but you'll notice that my statement is pretty heavily qualified: Labels are relevant most of the time, otherwise they wouldn't exist as labels very long. But I don't think it's helpful to call Tillich a theist and Comte-Sponville an atheist, because when you get down to brass tacks...

This reminded me of something. In my last semester of PhD coursework, I took a class from atheist sociologist Phil Zuckerman on "Atheism and Secularity" (Zuckerman is a pretty big/famous voice in this field). I enjoyed the class, but the thing that really stuck with me the most was that God...

But the thing is, I haven't seen a lot of evidence showing that religiosity is a cause of problems rather than an effect. Certainly both are true to a degree; it's an extremely complex issue. But I think there's a lot to the "security thesis" of Norris and Inglehart, which basically says that...

Interesting. Some comments: 1. I have difficulty believing that in 2003, 83% of Americans believed in the virgin birth of Jesus and only 28% believed in evolution. I suspect both numbers were much closer to 50%. I'd like to see the actual data and actual questions asked for that one. 2. I...

To each his own. I enjoyed it, although it really should have ended when William Petersen left. And what was so bad about House? The first three seasons were great fun.