As I was walking southward on Conestoga Avenue I noticed that I was being paced by a pair of coyotes on the other side of the road. I think they were wanting to cross over but were prevented from doing so by my presence. There was a lot of brush over there and even though I took seven shots with my camera only one of them caught a full body photo. Here it is:
Coyote ambling down Conestoga Ave., Tucson, AZ
_____
The Humane Society of The United States is the nation's largest and most effective animal protection organization
This is s real-life Rescued Dog
Now living with a family that cares.
_____
Sam Harris Is Still Around
His latest book is:
Lawrence M. Krauss, theoretical physicist, Director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, author of The Physics of Star Trek and Quantum Man wrote:
Reading Sam Harris is like drinking water from a cool stream on a hot day. He has the rare ability to frame arguments that are not only stimulating, they are downright nourishing, even if you don’t always agree with him! In this new book he argues from a philosophical and a neurobiological perspective that science can and should determine morality. As was the case with Harris’ previous books, readers are bound to come away with previously firm convictions about the world challenged, and a vital new awareness about the nature and value of science and reason in our lives.
Okay... I admit that I have not yet read The Moral Landscape but I intend to do so soon.
_____
Animism
The New Atheists' Narrow Worldview is the title of an article by Stephen T. Asma in The Chronicle Review, published January 32, 2011
The article's basic premise seems to be that The New Atheists (Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens Dennett, PZ Myers, et al.) are "throwing out the baby with the bathwater" by lumping 'all' religions together in the same (superstitious nonsense) pot -- that they're wrong in imagining that the primary job of religion is morality; that they are ignoring non-western beliefs such as Buddhism, for example, which is about finding a form of psychological happiness.
Animism is defined by dictionaries as:
Animism (from Latin anima "soul, life") refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle.
According to this article, animism is the belief that there are many kinds of persons in this world, only some of whom are human, and that animism in its various forms is the world's largest religion.
Stephen T. Asma is a professor of philosophy and a fellow of the Research Group in Mind, Science and Culture at Columbia College Chicago. His latest book is "Why I Am a Buddhist"
As is often the case, some of the rational comments following this article are more illuminating than is the article itself.
I can't say that I wholeheartedly agree with Stephen Asma's Buddhist conclusions, but as always for me, new ideas are worth reading and considering, and I will admit that the subject of animism is fascinating food for thought.
And I intend to delve more deeply into this subject of animism.
__________
No comments:
Post a Comment