Over at HuffPo Religion, Matt Rossano has written a thought provoking piece — which some may find surprising — on the relationship between war and religion. In Why Religion Does Not Equal War, Rossano begins with the common knowledge that religious differences often lead to war, or that religious differences are often used to justify [...]
Entries Tagged as 'religion'
Religious Wars and Nationalism
July 18th, 2010 · No Comments · Cultural Evolution, Economy, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, History, Power
Tags:aggression·Arabs·Civil Religion·conflict·Cyrus the Great·Darius the Great·Egyptian pharaoh·God & War: An Audit & An Exploration·god-kings·Greek-Persian wars·Greg Austin·group cohesion·Israelis·Jews·kinship·Matt Rossano·Muslims·nationalism·religion·Religious War Audit·religious wars·Thom Oommen·Todd Kranock·war·Why Religion Does Not Equal War·Xerxes the Great
Non-Religious Chimpanzees Cooperate and War for Territory
June 28th, 2010 · No Comments · Cultural Evolution, Ecology, Economy, Evolution, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct, History, Hunter-Gatherers, Neolithic, Power, Shamanism
There have been many articles over the past week reporting that an unusually large group (150 members) of chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda has been engaging in systematic territorial expansion by attacking and killing neighboring groups. The Nature article notes that this is “cooperative behavior” and then quotes from the New York Times story:
These [...]
Tags:aggression·Blackfoot·Cheyenne·chimpanzees·chimps·city-states·cohesion·Comanche·cooperation·Cree·Crow·David Sloan Wilson·ecology·Egypt·Flathead·foragers·Gros Ventre·group level selection·Kibale National Park·kinship·Kiowa·Lakota·Levant·Matt Rossano·Mesopotamia·Nicholas Wade·Plains Indians·power·religion·religious warfare·Sarsi·shamans·Shoshoni·territoriality·The Faith Instinct·war
Deepak Chopra’s “Theory”: Consciousness as Godhead
June 26th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Cognition, Daily Devolutions, Definitions, Evolution, New Religions
Over at HuffPo Religion, Deepak Chopra opines on the non-existent “war between science and religion.” Religion is of course being investigated by scientists and examined by historians, but this does not make the interrogation a war. Religion is simply another object or category of positivist inquiry.
Chopra’s piece begins with some surprising concessions:
What is the war [...]
Tags:awareness·consciousness·cosmos·creativity·Darwin·Deepak Chopra·evolution·experiment·fact·facts·faith·Genesis·godhead·intelligence·matter·mind·mysticism·New Age·observation·origins·positivism·premises·religion·replication·science·self-regulation·theory·universe·war
Hitchens Soul-Hammers Prince Charles
June 17th, 2010 · No Comments · Atheism, Daily Devolutions, Emotions, Magic, Power, Ritual
Whether or not you like Christopher Hitchens, one thing is certain: he can turn an incisive phrase. At his best, Hitchens writes with an acerbic aplomb that can be charming; at his worst, he is downright nasty.
With the latter Hitchens in mind, I have not yet been able to bring myself to read his jeremiad, [...]
Tags:atheism·caliphate·Christopher Hitchens·consumerism·crystals·fundamentalists·Galileo·God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything·Islamic empire·jihad·Khalil Gibran·Laurens van der Post·materialism·Muslim·mysticism·mystics·New Age·Prince Charles·radical Islam·religion·science·sharia·soul·universal soul
Appeasing Religionists and Cramping Science
May 23rd, 2010 · 1 Comment · Atheism, Classifications, Daily Devolutions, Definitions, History, Methodology
Over at HuffPo Religion, the evolutionary biologist Michael Zimmerman has posted an article titled “Religion and Science: Respecting the Differences.” Zimmerman argues that science has its domain and boundaries and that religion has its domain and boundaries, and that science should stick to science and religion should stick to religion.
It all sounds measured and reasonable [...]
Tags:appeasement·boundaries·creationism·detente·ecumenical·evolution·intelligent design·Michael Zimmerman·positivism·positivist·religion·science·truth
