i really enjoyed friedmans book, and i feel it gave me a lot more knowledge about the world that produced the bible and a greater appreciation for the bible itself.
i would like to ask for your recommodations on what the "next" book about the bible i should read?.
Try these ... very good scholarship:
http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Unearthed-Archaeologys-Vision-Ancient/dp/0684869136
http://www.amazon.com/Unauthorized-Version-Truth-Fiction-Bible/dp/0679744061
http://www.amazon.com/Palestinian-Parties-Politics-Shaped-Testament/dp/033402238X
http://www.amazon.com/Early-History-God-Biblical-Resource/dp/080283972X
http://www.amazon.com/Creation-History-Ancient-Israel/dp/0415194075
.
right on bert.as a philosopher, if i were speaking to a purely philosophic audience i should say that i ought to describe myself as an agnostic, because i do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one can prove that there is not a god.
on the other hand, if i am to convey the right impression to the ordinary man in the street i think that i ought to say that i am an atheist, because, when i say that i cannot prove that there is not a god, i ought to add equally that i cannot prove that there are not the homeric gods.bertrand russell, collected papers, vol.
Oh, forgot another nice one:
"Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones. " - Bertrand Russell
.
right on bert.as a philosopher, if i were speaking to a purely philosophic audience i should say that i ought to describe myself as an agnostic, because i do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one can prove that there is not a god.
on the other hand, if i am to convey the right impression to the ordinary man in the street i think that i ought to say that i am an atheist, because, when i say that i cannot prove that there is not a god, i ought to add equally that i cannot prove that there are not the homeric gods.bertrand russell, collected papers, vol.
Here my favourite Russell's quote:
I think we ought always to entertain our opinions with some measure of doubt. I should't wish people dogmatically to believe any philosophy, not even mine. - Bertrand Russell
pakistani doctor held under blasphemy law .
associated press.
pakistani authorities have arrested a doctor on suspicion of violating the country's contentious blasphemy laws after he threw away the business card of a man who shared the name of the prophet.. .
Associated Press
Pakistani authorities have arrested a doctor on suspicion of violating the country's contentious blasphemy laws after he threw away the business card of a man who shared the name of the Prophet.
The blasphemy law was widely criticised after Asia Bibi, a Christian woman, was sentenced to death for insulting Islam. Critics say the law should be repealed because it is used to settle grudges, persecute minorities and promote extremism.
Naushad Valiyani, a Muslim doctor in Hyderabad, in Sindh province, was arrested after a complaint to police alleging he had insulted the Prophet.
The case began when Muhammad Faizan, a pharmaceutical representative, gave Mr Valiyani his business card. When the doctor threw it away, Mr Faizan filed a complaint, noting that his name was the same as the Prophet's.
source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/pakistani-doctor-held-under-blasphemy-law-2158702.html
This news item suggested biologist PZ Myers an interesting idea:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/12/now_im_thinking_about_getting.php
wonder if anyone had a scan available of the 2010 annual report, which can normally be found in the 2011 yearbook.. .
thanks in advance!.
I got no scans, only the worldwide grandtotals:
Publishers: max 7.508.050; average 7.224.930; increase 2,5 %
Baptised: 294.368
Regular pioneers max: 844.901
Congregations: 107.210
Hours preached: 1.604.764.248
Bible studies: 8.058.359
Memorial attendance: 18.706.895
bottles with molotov cocktail were thrown into the building for liturgical sermons of jehovah's witnesses, located in the city of labinsk, krasnodar territory.
the building caught fire; the door and some window frames were knocked out by the blast.
fortunately, there were no human casualties.. the news item about the arson of the building, committed at night on november 25, was released today by the press service of jehovah's witnesses in russia.
Bottles with Molotov cocktail were thrown into the building for liturgical sermons of Jehovah's Witnesses, located in the city of Labinsk, Krasnodar Territory. The building caught fire; the door and some window frames were knocked out by the blast. Fortunately, there were no human casualties.
The news item about the arson of the building, committed at night on November 25, was released today by the press service of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. It is reported that on the night of the incident Sergey Vinokurov, a member of a religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses, came into the building and together with a husband of one of the believers could suppress the fire.
"We - believers - did not hurt and harm anyone. It is a pity that people express their negative feelings in this way," Sergey Vinokurov expressed the feelings of his fellow-believers.
The militiamen who arrived at the scene of the explosion found remains of four bottles with combustible mixture inside the building. The damage caused to the building made, according to the report circulated by the press service of the Jehovah's Witnesses, over 69,000 roubles.
The report notes that this is not the Russia's only case of attacks on prayer houses of Jehovah's Witnesses in November 2010. Vandals have also damaged the Kingdom Halls (the name Jehovah's Witnesses call their worship buildings, - note of the editor) in Lipetsk and in the village of Chunskiy, Irkutsk Region. The total material damage from three cases of vandalism exceeds 160,000 roubles.
baby dies after parents refuse blood transfusiondecember 13, 2010a 2-month-old baby born with heart defects died recently after her parents, members of jehovahs witness, refused to allow surgery because of their faith prohibiting blood transfusions, hospital officials said yesterday.
the baby, identified by her surname lee, was born in august with a congenital heart disease.
doctors at the seoul asan hospital, where she was first admitted, concluded that she needed surgery, but her parents refused to give permission, according to the officials.
| |
| A 2-month-old baby born with heart defects died recently after her parents, members of Jehovah’s Witness, refused to allow surgery because of their faith prohibiting blood transfusions, hospital officials said yesterday. The baby, identified by her surname Lee, was born in August with a congenital heart disease. Doctors at the Seoul Asan Hospital, where she was first admitted, concluded that she needed surgery, but her parents refused to give permission, according to the officials. Hospital officials, ethics teams and lawyers sought and won a court order in October allowing doctors to override the parents’ objections and perform the surgery, but the parents refused to comply and transferred their child to another hospital, whose name was withheld, which they claimed succeeded in performing the same kind of surgery without a blood transfusion. The baby died less than a week after she was moved. “Even if I go back to that time again, I would insist on surgery without a blood transfusion,” the mother said. |
24 more young people refused the alternative military service, all of them simultaneously, stated alexander amaryan, the head of the center for aid and rehabilitation to the victims of destructive cults.. as the expert noted at a news conference in yerevan, jehovahs witnesses do not recognize the statehood, leading the state to complete downfall.. psychologist karine nalchajyan, in turn, characterized the sectarians actions as a stab in the back of the state.
they keep speaking about humanism, while refusing a work that could actually help people, she stressed.. the law on alternative service effective since 2004 provides conditions for alternative service for members of religious organizations.
article 2 of the law stipulates: alternative service is a special state service delivered by the citizen of the republic of armenia not related to carrying, keeping, maintaining and using weapon.. the law envisages 36 months alternative unarmed military service or 42 months alternative civilian community service.. after the law came into force, 22 jehovah's witnesses chose the latter option and were assigned to special civilian hospitals, including armenia's largest psychiatric clinic.
24 more young people refused the alternative military service, all of them simultaneously, stated Alexander Amaryan, the head of the center for aid and rehabilitation to the victims of destructive cults.
As the expert noted at a news conference in Yerevan, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not recognize the statehood, leading the state to complete downfall.
Psychologist Karine Nalchajyan, in turn, characterized the sectarians’ actions as a stab in the back of the state. “They keep speaking about humanism, while refusing a work that could actually help people,” she stressed.
The Law on Alternative Service effective since 2004 provides conditions for alternative service for members of religious organizations. Article 2 of the law stipulates: “Alternative service is a special state service delivered by the citizen of the Republic of Armenia not related to carrying, keeping, maintaining and using weapon.”
The law envisages 36 months’ alternative unarmed military service or 42 months’ alternative civilian community service.
After the law came into force, 22 Jehovah's Witnesses chose the latter option and were assigned to special civilian hospitals, including Armenia's largest psychiatric clinic. But they soon discovered that these facilities are essentially under military control, regularly checked on by military police officers, confined to the medical institutions for 24 hours a day and even fed by the army. 15 sectarians were sentenced for 2-3 years in prison on charges of desertion, and were set free after serving 7 months’ prison term.
in kentucky, noahs ark theme park is planned.
facing a rising tide of joblessness, the governor of kentucky has found one solution: build an ark.. the state has promised generous tax incentives to a group of entrepreneurs who plan to construct a full-size replica of noahs ark, load it with animals and actors, and make it the centerpiece of a bible-based tourist attraction called ark encounter.. since gov.
steven l. beshear announced the plan on wednesday, some constitutional experts have raised alarms over whether government backing for an enterprise that promotes religion violates the first amendments requirement of separation of church and state.
In Kentucky, Noah’s Ark Theme Park Is Planned
Facing a rising tide of joblessness, the governor of Kentucky has found one solution: build an ark.
The state has promised generous tax incentives to a group of entrepreneurs who plan to construct a full-size replica of Noah’s ark, load it with animals and actors, and make it the centerpiece of a Bible-based tourist attraction called Ark Encounter.
Since Gov. Steven L. Beshear announced the plan on Wednesday, some constitutional experts have raised alarms over whether government backing for an enterprise that promotes religion violates the First Amendment’s requirement of separation of church and state. But Mr. Beshear, a Democrat, said the arrangement posed no constitutional problem, and brushed off questions about his stand on creationism.
“The people of Kentucky didn’t elect me governor to debate religion,” he said at a news conference. “They elected me governor to create jobs.”
The theme park was conceived by the same Christian ministry that built the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., where dioramas designed to debunk evolution show humans and dinosaurs coexisting peacefully on an earth created by God in six days. The ministry, Answers in Genesis, believes that the earth is only 6,000 years old — a controversial assertion even among many Bible-believing Christians.
Although the Creation Museum has been a target of ridicule by some, it has drawn 1.2 million visitors in its first three years — proving that there is a sizable paying audience for entertainment rooted in a literal interpretation of the Bible.
On Friday, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Kentucky’s second-largest newspaper, criticized Mr. Beshear in an editorial for a plan that it said would result in low-wage jobs and a poor image for the state.
“Anyone who wants to believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible has that right,” the editorial said. “However, the way the Beshear administration handled this makes it appear Kentucky either embraces such thinking or is desperate to take advantage of those who do.”
The developers of Ark Encounter, who have incorporated as a profit-making company, say they expect to spend $150 million, employ 900 people and attract 1.6 million visitors from around the world in the first year. With the Creation Museum only 45 miles away, they envision a Christian tourism corridor that would draw busloads from churches and Christian schools for two- and three-day visits.
“It’s our opportunity to present accurate, factual biblical information to people about a subject that they’re really interested in,” said Mike Zovath, a senior vice president of Answers in Genesis.
In the interest of verisimilitude, the ark is to be built with wooden pegs and timber framing by Amish builders, Mr. Zovath said. Animals including giraffes — but only small, young giraffes — will be kept in pens on board.
“We think that God would probably have sent healthy juvenile-sized animals that weren’t fully grown yet, so there would be plenty of room,” said Mr. Zovath, a retired Army lieutenant colonel heading the ark project. “We want to show how Noah would have taken care of them, taken care of waste management, taken care of water needs and food needs.”
Ark Encounter is designed to be a model of environmentally sensitive development, Mr. Zovath said, to minimize its carbon footprint. “I don’t believe in global warming,” he said, “but I do believe we’ve got to be good stewards of everything God’s given us.”
The park will include a 100-foot Tower of Babel, a first-century Middle Eastern village and a journey through the Old Testament, with special effects depicting Moses, the 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. For children, there will be a petting zoo, live bird and animal shows and a play area with ziplines and climbing nets — all Bible-themed. Even the trainer, Dan Breeding, will present animal acts with a Gospel message about creation.
Under Kentucky’s Tourism Development Act, tourist attractions can get back up to 25 percent of their development costs over 10 years from sales tax generated at the facility. Ark Encounter stands to receive $37.5 million — a quarter of its investment.
The entry fee for adults would be somewhere in the middle- to upper-$30 range, said Cary Summers, the lead consultant, who has run large entertainment attractions in Branson, Mo., and helped expand the Bass Pro Shops into shopping and entertainment complexes.
Mr. Summers said the developers had options on 800 acres of land in Grant County, Ky. If all the approvals are granted, they expect to break ground next year and finish by 2014.
He said they had been offering the proposal quietly for two years, and also showed it to officials in Ohio and Indiana. But Kentucky was by far the most receptive and offered the most generous financial incentives, he said, because it sees tourism as a promising means of economic development.
Officials in Kentucky’s Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet said in a telephone interview that they examined the constitutional issues carefully before proceeding. They said that Ark Encounter is unlike the Creation Museum, which is run by the Answers in Genesis ministry and received no tax incentives.
Ark Encounter is owned by a profit-making company, of which Answers in Genesis is a part owner. The ministry will manage the park’s day-to-day operations.
William Dexter, general counsel for the tourism cabinet, said the most applicable precedent was American Atheists Inc. v. the City of Detroit Downtown Development Authority. A federal Court of Appeals found that Detroit could give grants to churches as well as businesses to encourage urban renewal.
“Our facts are quite similar, except that in our case it’s a tourism development by a for-profit corporation,” Mr. Dexter said.
But some advocates of separation of church and state say that by providing tax incentives to an explicitly Christian enterprise, Kentucky is violating the constitutional prohibition on government establishment of religion.
Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional scholar and founding dean of the School of Law at the University of California, Irvine, said: “If this is about bringing the Bible to life, and it’s the Bible’s account of history that they’re presenting, then the government is paying for the advancement of religion. And the Supreme Court has said that the government can’t advance religion.”
He added, “The fact that it’s an economic development plan doesn’t excuse it.”
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/us/06ark.html?_r=3
http://www.asanet.org/images/journals/docs/pdf/asr/dec10asrfeature.pdf.
abstract.
although the positive association between religiosity and life satisfaction is well documented, much theoretical and empirical controversy surrounds the question of how religion actually shapes life satisfaction.
http://www.asanet.org/images/journals/docs/pdf/asr/Dec10ASRFeature.pdf
Abstract
Although the positive association between religiosity and life satisfaction is well documented, much theoretical and empirical controversy surrounds the question of how religion actually shapes life satisfaction. Using a new panel dataset, this study offers strong evidence for social and participatory mechanisms shaping religion’s impact on life satisfaction. Our findings suggest that religious people are more satisfied with their lives because they regularly attend religious services and build social networks in their congregations. The effect of within-congregation friendship is contingent, however, on the presence of a strong religious identity. We find little evidence that other private or subjective aspects of religiosity
affect life satisfaction independent of attendance and congregational friendship.
In few words: it's not theology or spirituality, it's the socializing and the sense of belonging.
