My responses are inserted in blue.
Mehul Kamdar
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
- The Riddle of Epicurus
2. I have not been reading Avijit's article on "atma". Probably I will read it
one day. No scientific investigation will ever be able to prove the existence of
"soul" as a concrete material object that is indestructible and that moves from
one abode to another. Proof of nonexistence of such a soul will obviously create
some psychic disequilibrium among those who are still at the lowest levels of
their religious belief. The rest will still continue to pursue the
psychological, metaphysical and philosophical "soul". Jung believed in soul.
Avijit Roy's Atma Niye Etong Bitong Prosonge [Bangla]
WRT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/46165
Some thoughts and observations with reference to my friend Nripen's well written
article which I have read in its entirety.
1. Atheists are social animals. In their personal, family and other social
lives they are among and surrounded by believers. Simply in order not to hurt
the feelings of other family members and also to show their belongingness to the
society, they sometimes donate money for temples, perform social functions such
as marriage, onnoprashon, shraddho religiously arranging them in temples and
getting them presided over by the priests. A staunch atheist will take such a
compulsion as a tragedy of his moral and ethical life.
Some thoughts and observations with reference to my friend Nripen's well written
article which I have read in its entirety.
1. Atheists are social animals. In their personal, family and other social
lives they are among and surrounded by believers. Simply in order not to hurt
the feelings of other family members and also to show their belongingness to the
society, they sometimes donate money for temples, perform social functions such
as marriage, onnoprashon, shraddho religiously arranging them in temples and
getting them presided over by the priests. A staunch atheist will take such a
compulsion as a tragedy of his moral and ethical life.
All human beings are social animals. Atheists are no exception. It is religions which eulogise monastic aloofness with so-called prophets going out into the deserts and what not. As far as "staunchness" is concerned, that is a word that is more representative of believers, not of atheists, as it refers to being fundamentalist about a doctrine or belief. Atheism cannot be "staunch" in any sense as it is not a dogma, rather, it is the absence of one.
2. I have not been reading Avijit's article on "atma". Probably I will read it
one day. No scientific investigation will ever be able to prove the existence of
"soul" as a concrete material object that is indestructible and that moves from
one abode to another. Proof of nonexistence of such a soul will obviously create
some psychic disequilibrium among those who are still at the lowest levels of
their religious belief. The rest will still continue to pursue the
psychological, metaphysical and philosophical "soul". Jung believed in soul.
Jung believed in souls and even made horoscopes of his patients. So what? Had he believed in the tooth fairy as a schoolboy, would that also have been a matter of significance?
3. A discussion about soul cannot be complete if it is discussed exclusively
as a religious construct. It must incorporate psychological, philosophical, and
metaphysical theories and ideas also.
3. A discussion about soul cannot be complete if it is discussed exclusively
as a religious construct. It must incorporate psychological, philosophical, and
metaphysical theories and ideas also.
Says who? The Gospel of Subimal Chakrabarty? There are enough descriptions of souls and other claimed religious phenomena in various scriptures and those are the descriptions that atheists refer to. Indeed, they have to as these are the overwhelmingly accepted commonplaces that the pious believe in.
A teen-aged neo-atheist throws a
challenge: "I am cursing God. You see your God cannot do me any thing." People
with deep religious belief terms such a challenge simply as childish. Proof of
nonexistence of God must be much more convincing and must be able to address the
concerns and issues of those with highest levels of religious belief.
challenge: "I am cursing God. You see your God cannot do me any thing." People
with deep religious belief terms such a challenge simply as childish. Proof of
nonexistence of God must be much more convincing and must be able to address the
concerns and issues of those with highest levels of religious belief.
Again, take the "highest levels of religious belief," according to which authority, specifically religious, does this description come from? There is more sense in the challenge of a "teen-aged neo-atheist" as it directly challenges religious scripture than in the contortedly silly explications of religious doctrine by geriatric apologists for scripture. While the former confronts religious in its essence as derived from religious scriptures, the latter comes up with nonsense like intelligence design, Vedic arithmetic and other such frauds.
4. Being able to convince a potential suicide bomber that no "huri" is waiting
for him (what about a she-suicide bomber!) in the "behest" will hopefully lead
to inaction. But what about a Tamil suicide bomber who is probably a socialist
and has no God to reward him after his action?
4. Being able to convince a potential suicide bomber that no "huri" is waiting
for him (what about a she-suicide bomber!) in the "behest" will hopefully lead
to inaction. But what about a Tamil suicide bomber who is probably a socialist
and has no God to reward him after his action?
The Sri Lankan Tamil suicide bombers are NOT socialists. The LTTE and other groups like PLOTE, TELO, EPRLF etc started as a Hindu and Christian Tamil reaction to the Buddhist-Sinhala dominance of politics on the island. Don't confuse TAmilnadu politics (which is itself no longer atheist in anything but name) with the turmoil in Sri Lanka. Indeed, in the first major defeat of the LTTE when the Sri Lankan army managed to capture JAffna some years ago, Sri Lankan intelligence managed to decode some communication from an astrologer who suggested to Prabakaran that his forces launch an attack on a particular day as it was a good day. The Sri Lankans were unusually well prepared after being in a losing war for a long time and that became one of the first major blows to the LTTE, something that it has never recovered from. But when conjecture and opinion seek to replace facts, accuracy is the last thing to be expected.
----SC
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Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm
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Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf
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MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.
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Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm
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Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm
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Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/
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MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm
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German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm
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Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm
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VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/
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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190
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