Path: utzoo!hoptoad!cpsc6a!rtech!mtxinu!unisoft!gethen!farren
From: farren@gethen.UUCP (Michael J. Farren)
Newsgroups: alt.flame
Subject: Re: Christmas Celebration
Message-ID: <483@gethen.UUCP>
Date: 27 Dec 87 11:29:09 GMT
References: <3445@ihlpl.ATT.COM> <7706@eddie.MIT.EDU> <5409@sol.ARPA> <7709@eddie.MIT.EDU> <22254@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <7712@eddie.MIT.EDU> <22258@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <22264@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <17787@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Reply-To: farren@gethen.UUCP (Michael J. Farren)
Organization: Sci-Fido - Unix in Oakland
Lines: 41

In article <17787@bu-cs.BU.EDU> bzs@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Barry Shein) writes:
>	1. Religion is wrong.

Why?  While I'll admit that religion has little relevance to
MY life, why does that make it wrong for anyone else?  The
thing which is wrong is treating religion any differently
than any other sphere of human activity, NOT religion itself.

>	2. Religion itself has absolutely no
>	interest in "tolerance" so its demands
>	for that in others is merely a cheap trick.

Rather a sweeping statement, don't you think?  There are many religions
in the world which make no claims to being the sole and only truth.

>	3. Tolerance of religion is no virtue.

Why not?  Seems to me to be the same as tolerating anything else that
I don't accept, but which does me no harm.  I reserve the right to
not tolerate any religion which tries to usurp my own freedom of
choice, but beyond that, am quite willing to tolerate anyone believing
any weird thing they like.

>The only true religion is Science (also known as phenomenologically
>provable nature worship.) It claims no authority other than that which
>you may perceptually demonstrate for yourself and is able to yield to
>contradictions and admit fallability.

Hmm.  I know of several bodies of religious belief whose basic tenets
are that they, themselves, have no authority other than that which
can be perceptually demonstrated for one's self.

I can only hope that your article was either a satiric attack, or
a forgery.  I've come to expect more from you than this kind of
mindless attack.

-- 
Michael J. Farren             | "INVESTIGATE your point of view, don't just 
{ucbvax, uunet, hoptoad}!     | dogmatize it!  Reflect on it and re-evaluate
        unisoft!gethen!farren | it.  You may want to change your mind someday."
gethen!farren@lll-winken.arpa |     Tom Reingold, from alt.flame