This is beyond debate.

It’s not abut religious people vs the intelligentsia. HUMANS are gullible, to a greater or lessor degree. I remember as an 8 year old, when my contemporaries thought it great fun to shatter my Santa Clause illusions. Their favorite comment was “You’re SO gullible.”,,,and I was,,,still am, to a certain extant, though these days, when I hear something said that is fantastic, it usually illicites a raised eyebrow. I have a tendency to believe people unless there is a conflict between what I’ve learned and what they say. Fortunately, over the years, I’ve learned a lot.

Zinging people because they believe in an intelligence beyond themselves is, to some extant, just mean. Remember, Muslim means “slave or servant of God”. This is a reflection of our biological urge to conform to tribal expectations and we lived in such tribes for a million years or so. It must have some powerful survival advantage for us.

The Chinese have an old saying; “May you live in interesting times.”

That is NOT considered a blessing, for interesting times are times of change and change is stressful. Remember Tofflers book “Future Shock”? We’re in the middle of the most powerful period of change in history. Is it any wonder people world wide are responding to this stress with a clinging to old time values, even to the extent of running screaming from new knowledge, to denying it most vociferously?

I have my own “little blue blanket”. It’s faith that reason WILL prevail,,,

GAry 7

Wow, hadn’t heard that story about it – thanks.

I thought Mecca was already a sacred shrine complete with Kaaba stone before Mohammads day. That’s just .. wow.

Nerdiest comment of the day?

My friend Saib Al Ghamdi told me the myth that is attached to that. Seems Mohammed saw this chunk of rock falling from the sky, held up his hand and said “Stop!” and the rock hung suspended above the ground. It was then moved to the Great Mosque and a granite block was placed under it, just in case the “miracle” failed.

When I asked him if any scientists had examined the rock to see if it was still suspended, he retorted, “That would be an abrogation of faith, which is not acceptable.”

Ah, humans. Such an interesting and contradictory tribe of naked apes. Convoluted thinking is not limited to christian fundamentalists. ALL humans are susceptible to imaginary thinking. It’s both a great strength(as in imagining different ways of doing things) and a great weakness(as in adherence to an imagined reality, despite all evidence to the contrary).

,,,and yes, admittance to the great mosque is forbidden to non-muslims.

GAry 7

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/Black-rumped_Flameback_I_IMG_7424.jpg/220px-Black-rumped_Flameback_I_IMG_7424.jpg

No Phil, you’re insufficiently pious enough to see THE TRUTH.
Its obviously a menstruation stain from the Holy Virgin Mary!