tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post3544598191881103232..comments2024-03-28T07:08:58.221-04:00Comments on Todd Seavey: DEBATE AT LOLITA BAR: Does Religion Make People Better? (plus: Hire Helen Rittelmeyer!)Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-17073930215963631822009-11-02T01:16:00.000-05:002009-11-02T01:16:00.000-05:00I see the Haredi (i.e., Hasidic) Jews as a cancer ...I see the Haredi (i.e., Hasidic) Jews as a cancer on the face of the Jewish comunity — crude, violent, corrupt, and incapable of handling even a simple, much less complex idea. Truly, they are the Jewish equivalent of the Taliban. This hyper-conformist cult is further proof that localism doen’t necessarily lend itself to liberty. They make me ashamed to be Jewish.Seeknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-83509519547525227082009-04-11T16:27:00.000-04:002009-04-11T16:27:00.000-04:00Here’s audio of the Debate at Lolita Bar on the qu...Here’s audio of the Debate at Lolita Bar on the question “Does Religion Make People Better?” <br><br><a href="http://www.dnasci.net/?p=152" rel="nofollow">http://www.dnasci.net/?p=152</a>toddseaveynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-24494489909612407462009-04-02T19:54:00.000-04:002009-04-02T19:54:00.000-04:00[...] •Perhaps the offense against scientific stan...[...] •Perhaps the offense against scientific standards of rationality committed by “young-Earth creationists” (of whom we likely had none in last night’s skeptic-heavy debate audience, which, despite a courageous and very well-received effort by Rabbi Simcha, voted overwhelmingly that religion does not make people better). [...]Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-10969092138028422112009-04-01T11:32:00.000-04:002009-04-01T11:32:00.000-04:00[...] Ten idiocy-related texts for this April Fool...[...] Ten idiocy-related texts for this April Fool’s Day (which is also the day of our big Debate at Lolita Bar about religion between Secular Conscience author Austin Dacey and Up, Up, and Oy Vey!/Shtick Shift author Rabbi Simcha Weinstein, of course): [...]Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-18918348925756315972009-03-26T18:18:00.000-04:002009-03-26T18:18:00.000-04:00Personally I think the issue is not liberalism or ...Personally I think the issue is not liberalism or tradition, but rather hierarchies based on absurd superstitions that lead followers to believe that priests, rabbis, Zen masters, etc. have special spiritual authority and are thus to be given a pass for certain types of behavior. The abusers obviously use this to keep victims quiet and the communities are often complicit for similar reasons.Christophernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-61379105463964891152009-03-26T16:32:00.000-04:002009-03-26T16:32:00.000-04:00I will say — without knowing details — that one po...I will say — without knowing details — that one possible disanalogy is that the bad Catholic priests apparently have tended to be from a liberal 1960s cohort, sometimes in relationships with teen boys rather than smaller children, which arguably makes that organization’s problem one of managing liberal transformations rather than one of pure traditionalist insularity. That excuses nothing but makes it more difficult to discern which way reform lies. <br><br>Of course, you could do away with such (t)horny issues by just disbanding all religions, which may be what we do next week if things get _really_ interesting. There’ll still be plenty of bad people in the world, though. <br><br>Interestingly, stats suggest, I gather, that atheists are more law-abiding than religious believers — but that _unchurched_ but _believing_ individuals are the most prone to criminal and anti-social acts. So the trick is to leap-frog to law-abiding atheism for the whole population without going through a period of merely unchurched moral drift. I cannot promise this will go smoothly.Todd Seaveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08589187886030112999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-610803938756668468.post-74499606276288905472009-03-26T15:27:00.000-04:002009-03-26T15:27:00.000-04:00“a horde of Orthodox Jews here in New York — for...“a horde of Orthodox Jews here in New York — for all their admirable sense of community and traditionalism”<br><br>There have actually been some interesting articles recently about a growing number of sex abuse scandals in Orthodox communities in NY. It seems like such things have been going on for some time but have been kept “within the community” until recently.<br><br>Catholics, any advice to offer now that your priests have basically become punch-lines for sex abuse jokes?Christophernoreply@blogger.com