Delight In Him - Top Christian Views Online, Faith in God, Spiritual Life

Religion as a Natural Phenomenon – Daniel C. Dennett

In Breaking the Spell, Daniel C. Dennett, the widely known professor of philosophy at Tufts University, and co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies, argues for the exposure of religion to empirical scrutiny.  Dennett leads us on an evolutionary account of human religion, which finds religion to be an evolutionary artifact that may have once had value but is not necessary any longer.  To Dennett, it is nothing more than a toxic concept or “meme” that refers to no transcendent reality and does a great deal of harm.  Dennett devotes himself to breaking through the prejudice (the “Spell”) against scientifically plausible but unverifiable Darwinian explanations of religion. Follow the link for more http://www.delightinhim.com/breaking-the-spell-religion-as-a-natural-phenomenon

The End of Faith by Sam Harris

Sam Harris in The End of Faith makes the impassioned central premise that belief without evidence is irrational and religious belief, in particular, leads to many world conflicts between the major faiths.  His earnest and critical scrutiny is essential because we live in an era of nuclear and biological weapons that, in the hands of religious leaders, may well kill us all.  At the end of the first chapter, however, he drops his bombshell–it isnot fundamentalists who pose the greatest danger but religious moderates. Find more at http://www.delightinhim.com/the-end-of-faith-by-sam-harris.html

Uzbekistan Entry #7 – Khiva

The most remote Silk Road city, 300 miles West of Bukhara, is an open-air museum more intact than both Samarkand and Bukhara.  It is a maze of mosques, madrasahs and palaces; most enclosed within an area less than one mile square.  Khiva became prominent in the 16^th Century in a bitter rivalry with Bukhara, which had fallen in wealth and strength when traders shifted to sea routes.  The competition between these two cities fueled an architectural arms race.  The largest medieval madrasah was built in Khiva, called Muhammad Amin-Khan, with 125 hudjras and 260 pupils in a structure 100 yards by 75 yards. Follow the link for more http://www.delightinhim.com/uzbekistan-entry-7-khiva-.html