Monk

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“If people freak at evolution, etc.,” he wrote in an e-mail message, “how much more will they freak if scientists and philosophers tell them they are nothing more than sophisticated meat machines, and is that conclusion now clearly warranted or is it premature?”

-- Dennis Overbye for The New York Times

For those who never tire of the Free Will question, this is a must article.

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“I am myself an atheist. Atheism is one of the live rails of American politics-touch it and you're toast. Fair enough. Those are the current facts of life. Not so long ago, you couldn’t be elected if you were Catholic, or Jewish, or African-American. But shouldn't we install another live rail, on the opposite side of the religious spectrum?

“It ought to be just as much a fact of life that anybody who declares that their allegiance to their religion comes before their allegiance to democracy is simply unelectable.”

-- Daniel C. Dennett for The Washington Post

Another word on religion and civic life from Daniel C. Dennett, one of my intellectual heroes. It may be recalled that his book, "Consciousness Explained," played a pivotal role in my philosophical life, giving me the final nudge to get off the fence and become a materialist, eschewing supernatural factors in my analytical and interpretive thought, though I have enough doubts and reservations about Ultimate Reality that I am not really an atheist, though neither am I a believer (in the supernatural). I try to be a 'realist,' but I am not without fanciful notions and hope.

I will make one critical note on this essay. Mr. Dennett's critical assumption is that there is a separation of church and state in the First Amendment. Although I adhere to that doctrine, that separation is hardly clear and hard law, which is a big opening that our expansionist sectarians use in waging battle in our Culture War. The principle of the separation of church and state is still to be fought over, itself.

( Dennett essay )

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