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From: David
Category: Category 1
Date: 21/09/05
Time: 10:18:59
Remote Name: 222.153.109.249
I don`t think Mark Lilla simply intellectualized his path . I think he was also an accute and observant bystander as well as a participant .And weren`t his observations telling ! He observed the stereotypes but still managed a valid overview . However we must judge the message and not be overinfluenced because of the messengers .
I think that what we do learn is that Skepticism is an acquired skill - a learned behaviour . It does not reflect in it`s purest form prejudice even if others attempt to present it in that light . Nor must it be purely a negative . If anything it is an a priori position of total neutrality . Skepticism should not be wielded or peddled as a negative to be proselytized like some religion . It deserves better than that ! Quite ironically it can be a form of salvation . To protect our sanity from the obscure and absurd that would frustrate our attempts to give coherence to meaning and ,consquently, our lives .
The article I found compelling whatever one thought of the main character . It prompted me to wonder- viz
That first question from your child asking about the wonders of cosmology , the nature and basis of morality , meaning itself and, as a corollary, the legitimacy of religion in general . Those will be the most important questions that a parent will encounter . We have a responsibility to get our answers dead right .There is a parallel to questions relating to sex education of your child . Are you going to leave it to chance to the hit and miss experience of the schoolyard on the one hand . Or, to peer pressure of those "saved " and - dogmatic and intrusive enough to tinker with the emerging psyche of your child`s mind and subsequent "Life "?
No ! There is far too much at stake to so abandon your child to such subliminal or persuasive forces .
Consider how vulnerable your child is when he/she opens a Bible for the first time . To be categorically told that that Book holds all the answers to life`s questions !
What a corruption and stultifying of that child`s mind and personality . To infer that the contribution of all those scientists and philosophers down the centuries need have no input beyond that obscure Book . To impose our dogmatic religious belief upon our children is as bad as imposing unbalanced skepticism .
What does , or did , the Catholic Church say ? Words to the equvalent of "Give us a child to the age of seven and he(she) will be our`s for life ". That kind of charter causes one to reflect upon those films we have all seen . Films depicting a darker side to human existence say in Ireland . A bleak Dark Age of a repressive , desensitized and authoritarian Church whose affairs are conducted by many unfeeling and misfit individuals "Called "to it`s ranks to introduce hell on earth .
More recently we live in a world where serious philosophical writers contribution to human thought have been discounted or discarded to be superceded by the quick-fix , half-educated homilies of evangelical gurus . Neophytes who breed but a narrow fanaticism of followers well-versed in but the heavily-thumbed and turned down pages of one well promoted best-seller . What chance does that child have ? I -read the article again . Though lengthy it could not present the dilemma better !