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Tuesday, 13 March 2007 15:19 |
By JOHN NORTH
HENDERSONVILLE ó In a moderated discussion and question-and-answer period following John Hendersonís Feb. 6 lecture on ìGodís Nonexistence,î there was much questioning of the merits of religion.
Hendersonís address was part of the Great Quotes lecture series, cosponsored by the UNC Asheville Philosophy Department and the Institute for Applied Philosophy. About 40 people attended the program at UNCAís Kellogg Center.
An unidentified man began by lamenting to Henderson, ìYou never give the Bible credit for allegories.î
Since he believes there is no supernatural being, Henderson said he feels analysis of the Bible is not worthwhile.
Persisting, the man said of the Bibleís allegories, ìThey might be illustrating worthwhile lessons.î
Perhaps so, Henderson interjected, but ìyouíd have to pick and choose.î
ìThereís the
Jefferson Bible,î the man said. (The reference to The Jefferson Bible,
or ìThe Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazarethî as it is formally titled,
was an attempt by Thomas Jefferson to glean the teachings of Jesus from
the Christian Gospels. Jefferson wished to extract the doctrine of
Jesus by removing sections of the New Testament containing supernatural
aspects as well as perceived misinterpretations he believed had been
added by the four apostles.)
Henderson then noted that, ìright off the lot, God screwed up. He created Lucifer and God had to kick him out.î
Margo Nagel, a long-time philosophy lecture attendee, said she believes ìthereís something stronger than myself.î
ìI disagree,î Henderson said. ìPeople would be better off without a belief that there is a great being out there.î
To the contrary, Nagel said, ìBelieving in something thatís supernatural ó thereís something wonderfulî about it.
Regarding
Hendersonís belief that ìGod is a manmade concept,î a man asked,
ìArenít all concepts manmade? Where do you learn about afterlife before
Plato?î
ìNow Iím not a
biblical authority,î Henderson admitted. ìIím not a professional
philosopher or theologian.î However, ìI feel I know as much about God
as anyone else.î
A woman said, ìI
am an artist. I think that a sense of wonderî is important. ìThere
might be more to reality than I can detect with my senses.î She said
Henderson seemed dogmatic in many of his assertions during his talk.
She also wondered, ìIs it possible youíre confusing religion with
religiosity?î
Generally speaking, Henderson conceded, ìI think youíre right. Iím making a lot of dogmatic statements.î
A man asked, ìDo
you think, perhaps, the reason so many people invent a deity is the
usefulness of appealing to a higher authority?î He noted that ìthatís
how people get things doneî in the corporate world.
Henderson said that ìto appeal to an authority that doesnít exist ó like God ó I think itís dangerous.î
Why is it dangerous to appeal to an authority that does not exist? a woman asked.
ìBecause so much
bigotry and fighting is done in the name of that supernatural being,î
Henderson said. ìItís not the only cause. If you got rid of religion,
youíd get rid of many problems.î
To the contrary, a man said, ìPeople will fight. If religions were wiped off the world, thereíd be wars, still.î
ìI disagree,î Henderson said.
A woman asked Henderson if he thought people with strong faith are better equipped to get through tough times.
ìItís a delusion that helps you get through your difficulty,î Henderson answered. ìA shot of cocaine would do the same thing.î
ìDo you think thereís any kind of extraordinary phenomena?î the woman asked.
ìYes,î Henderson
quipped, ìbut I think theyíre just outside my ignorance.î More
seriously, he said, ìItís nice to call on a higher power for help on a
problem, but that has nothing to do with the real world of cause and
effect ... Getting on your knees and praying ó millions of people think
it works.î
He added, ìWeíve never tried our world without religion. Weíve always had it.î
A woman asked, ìDo you believe in fate?î
ìI have to
assume thereís free will in the world,î Henderson replied. ìI think
fate plays a part in every life. Iím not sure how much. I believe
people can alter their lives.î
During the
open-discussion portion of the program, a man said, ìPeople are
contentious. Weíre a contentious species. If there were no religion,
itíd just be harder to sign young men up for war.î
Another man said, ìMy short response is itíd be about the same,î insofar as the outbreak of wars, irrespective of religions.
He added that
religion ìis a factor, certainly. I think itís really a matter of who
lives by whose rules.î He then cited the Soviet Union ìas an atheistic
society ó and they were still militaristic.î He later amended his
contention to assert that ìone could say communism was their religion.î
In defense of
Christianity, a man said fundamentalist Christians urge people to ìcome
to our church,î while Muslim say, join their religion or ìdie.î
Dr. Al Iosue,
founder of the IAP, asked, ìWhy does the idea of God keep popping up?
Itís very simple. Thereís something that yearns to be explained. We
make intuitive judgments, spontaneous judgments and intellectual
judgments....
ìPhilosophy is the art of intellectual explanation. What is it trying to explain?î
He defined ìthe religious sentimentî as ìthe sense of a greater power than me. All else is explanation of that greater power.î
He added, ìFor
man, there are judgmental states, the state of being and the state of
existence. Jesus, in fact, exists, as do unicorns, but not in the world
of being. In the world of existence, they exist.î
Further, Isosue noted, ìI do believe in a collective mind.î However, he said, ìNeed and wish do not equal reality.î
Another man said
there is one war ó the Israeli-Palestine conflict ó ìthat screams that
ëitís all about religion.í That would be one less war, if religions
were done away with.î
He added that
ìthe Old Testament in the Christian bible is mostly blood and guts. But
Christians see that as allegory. Muslims donít see it as allegory ...
Muslims teach that those who oppose them are to die.î
Iosue said
German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel believed war is a collective mind
activity and, ìat least historically, itís been a male collective mind
phenomenon.
ìIf you read the
Koran, itís a very masculine religion,î he said. ìChristianity is a
feminine religion ... Itís a collective mind battle of Muslimsî and the
forces of the West.
In the ìfinal
wordî segment, Henderson said, ìI agree we should make God feminine. If
weíre going to have a God, letís have a decent one.î
He also agreed that ìman is basically selfish. You canít tell me we wouldnít have fewer wars if we could get rid of religion.î
Henderson noted
that when German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote that ìGod was
dead,î there was a public outroar. However, what Nietzsche sagely was
saying is that ìGod never existed,î he said.
ìThe young
people, especially in Europe, are getting along just fine without God,î
Henderson said. ìYou can get on your knees five times a day, but itís
not going to solve any problem.î
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