Mid-term report Skye and Don

Atheism & Philosophy

PHIL 3310-001

Dr. James P. Oliver

Our fellow classmates in case you did not receive the handout, here is the complete list and Skye and Don focused on three reasons - # 37, 41,& 44. You are welcome to select others for any comments or discussions, but their quiz will be taken from those three and any part of their presentation. Quiz questions will be presented in a separate post.

For their mid-term report they addressed in a modified debate format a presentation on the question of the existence of God.

Don will represent the affirmative and will present an argument from one or more of the reasons below that people give for believing in god, modified or expanded at his discretion.  Skye will represent the negative and present a rebuttal to his argument.

They chose Guy P. Harrison’s book, 50 reasons people give for believing in a god.

1.       My god is obvious.

2.       Almost everybody on Earth is religious.

3.       Faith is a good thing.

4.       Archaeological discoveries prove that my god exists.

5.       Only my god can make me feel significant.

6.       Atheism is just another religion.

7.       Evolution is bad.

8.       Our world is too beautiful to be an accident.

9.       My god created the universe.

10.   Believing in my god make me happy.

11.   Better safe than sorry.

12.   A sacred book proves my god is real.

13.   Divine justice proves my god is real.

14.   My god answers prayers.

15.   I would rather worship my god than the devil.

16.   My god heals sick people.

17.   Anything is better than being an atheist.

18.   My god made the human body.

19.   My god sacrificed his only son for me.

20.   Atheists are jerks who think they know everything.

21.   I don’t lose anything by believing in my god.

22.   I didn’t come from a monkey.

23.   I don’t want to go to hell.

24.   I feel my god when I pray.

25.   I need my god to protect me.

26.   I want eternal life.

27.   Without my god we would have no sense of right and wrong.

28.   My god makes me feel like I am part of something bigger than myself.

29.   My religion makes more sense than all the others.

30.   My god changes lives.

31.   Intelligent design proves my god is real.

32.   Millions of people can’t be wrong about my religion.

33.   Miracles prove my god is real.

34.   Religion is beautiful.

35.   Some very smart people believe in god.

36.   Ancient prophecies prove my god exists.

37.   No one has ever disproved the existence of my god.

38.   People have gone to heaven and returned.

39.   Religion brings people together.

40.   My god inspires people.

41.   Science can’t explain everything.

42.   Society would fall apart without religion.

43.   My religion is so old, it must be true.

44.   Someone I trust told me that my god is real.

45.   Atheism is a negative and empty philosophy.

46.   Believing in a god doesn’t hurt anyone.

47.   The earth is perfectly tuned to support life.

48.   Believing is natural so my god must be real.

49.   The end is near.

50.   I am afraid of not believing.

Your task will be to write a short essay to objectively evaluate both the affirmative and negative arguments indicating parts that you believe were strong and those that were weak and comment on whether you gained any additional knowledge that you can use in future discussions in or beyond the classroom.

Devin Syke Irish

Don Enss

50 reasons

“It fascinates me that believers have made faith in a god's existence into an admired and respected concept. Some people brag endlessly about their great faith in a god, never once considering that giving up on their mind's ability to weigh evidence and analyze arguments may not be such a good thing. I cannot imagine how it can ever be right to default to faith when considering an unusual claim.” 

More Guy Harrison quotes...

Alt questions from A&A by Brewster (6-10)

1.       The guilt machine especially among Utah Mormons is well oiled. What is one of the main hooks they use to keep an individual in the faith? (77).

2.       According to James, when you stop thinking in black and white, you become what? (78).

3.       According to Shawn Mirza, what is the most gruesome sound on Earth that you will ever hear? (81).

4.       David Hoelscher’s belief in the efficacy of faith was beginning to lose what the psychologist and philosopher of religion, William James, famously called what? (87).

5.       According to David, “the atheist movement has been slow to direct any significant attention to what? And why do you think this is so?

6.       Stephen Mills attributed his higher education as revealing to him what religion has been created for. What were some of his reasons and have you experienced anything similar? (99).

7.       What did Sherilyn Connelly say was the great thing about Carl Sagan’s writing? (102).

 Alternative discussion questions.

1.       What does James Mouritsen, (#6 – User Error: Coming Out as Atheist in Utah) share with Cora Judd, (#4 Ex-Mormon)? Compare their childhood experiences.

2.       Brewster described the familial response to individuals coming out as gay as more palatable to family members than their coming out as an atheist. Do you agree? Is this something that will change over time as more people feel comfortable in describing themselves as an atheist? Can TV and movies hasten the acceptance? 

Alt questions from A&A Brewster (2-5)

1.       What answer did Lynette get to the question – “What kind of god kills a woman for looking back at her home but doesn’t raise a finger when a father is willing to let his own daughters be gang-raped? (35).

2.       How did Mark, Lynette’s youth group leader, respond to her question on the notecard – “Why was it seen as a good thing that Abraham obeyed God’s orders to sacrifice Isaac?” (35).

3.       What were the two mysteries of our universe that were even more satisfying for Chris to ponder and stand in awe of than God? (46).

4.       What did the Mormon teacher’s response to Cora Judd’s question about the Mountain Meadows massacre reveal to Cora? (50).

5.       What was the unmistakable feeling of clarity that Cora felt about all the Mormon doctrine and history? (54).

6.       Why is it more difficult to question widely accepted beliefs that are wedded to American mainstream values? (66).

 Alternative discussion questions.

1.       One of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament says one should honor thy father and thy mother. Based on several personal stories in our readings this week, do you understand why some children may question that commandment? One of the arguments for Prohibition was the domestic abuse that resulted from alcohol abuse. How many children today are still being subjected to physical and emotional abuse by their parents? Think of the Turpin parents in California.

2.       The biblical narrative describes how Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God, but the bulk of the blame was attributed to Eve. Have you ever reflected on how different the relations between the sexes would be today if women and men had been considered from the beginning as equal partners confronting life’s challenges?

3.       As we celebrate Black History month, have you ever read any writings that would cast insight into why African Americans seem to have accepted Christianity even though throughout our history they have been discriminated against or mistreated by individuals from most sects of the Christian faiths? What about Christianity appeals to them?

Quiz Feb 6, 8

AA 2-5

1. What common misunderstanding of those who leave the faith does Lynnette attribute to many Christians?

2. What comforted Lynnette in compensation for her father's inadequacies?

3. How did Lynnette talk to God? (What did she take to mean that He was telling her something?)

4. Why does Lynnette feel happier as a nontheist?

5. For what was Chris taught sin is responsible?

6. What led Chris to reject hell?

7. What existentialist philosophers did Chris read? What did he conclude about the origins of morality?

8. What puzzled Cora about prayer?

9. What did Cora read that shocked her?

10. Striving for "perfect compliance" with Mormon principles prevents what?

11. What choices did Naima not know she had?

12. post yours please

DQ

• Have you known any formerly-ardent OR formerly-tepid theists who are now enthusiastic nontheists? Are you one yourself? 
• "Until my last year of High School, I don't think I ever had any doubts" (32) - when did you first entertain conscious doubts as to your early religious training?
• Besides Lot's wife & daughters, and Abraham & Isaac, what other examples from the Bible might incline a reasonable person to ask "What kind of god...?" (35)
• What's your view of the tendency of theists to rationalize their consternation over seeming injustice by invoking God's mysterious ways? Why is our inability to understand His ultimate mystery not, in their minds, equally an argument against belief?
• Did you discover any blogs or other online forums that contributed positively to your own evolving views and your opinion of godlessness?
• COMMENT: "The blackness and the vastness of the universe terrified me." 40
• Do you find cosmic mysteries pleasant and satisfying to ponder? 46 What specific sorts of mysteries do you find most compelling - physics, consciousness,, language,..., ?
• Did you feel pressured, as a theist, always to "study more, pray more, repent more, forgive more..."? 48
• Do you agree that "blacks are invisible in the secular community"? 70 
• post yours please

Quiz Feb 8, AA 6-10

1. How does James say the Holy Spirit communicates with members of LDS?

2. Mormons support what with a feeling of moral duty?

3. Fear of what confrontation made James reluctant to come out as an atheist?

4. Where did James take refuge?

5. Shawn's parents' advanced degrees did nothing to... ?

6. Adults who claim godliness are also children in what sense?

7. How did Shawn's parents' generation view children?

8. What does David say psychologists call a hardwired predisposition to infer a God who answers prayers?

9. David struggled with filling our what part of an online form?

10. What tradition focuses on altering the "condition(s) requiring illusions such as religiosity"?

11-12. post yours please

DQ

• Do you agree that "it's easy to be an atheist if you grew up in a liberal community"? 72
• Do you think Mormons are more "terrified when a a family member is questioning or has left the faith" than other religionists?
• Do you find references to the Goddess any less objectionable than those to a Heavenly Father? Or do you find neither of them at all grating or annoying?
• Are nontheists less likely to treat their children as "extensions of themselves," or more likely to recognize and encourage their autonomy?
• What do you think of the way Alcoholics Anonymous and other recovery programs invoke a "higher power"? 86
• Have you ever misrepresented your own religious orientation, to avoid unwanted consequences? How did that work out for you?
• Why do you think LGBTQ people might be 3x more likely to be agnostic or atheist? 92
• Do you admire Quaker spirituality? 96
• Did you have any godless peers during childhood? 
• Did you read any life-changing books as a young person, with an impact comparable to that of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors on Sherilyn?
• How old were you when you ceased to take seriously any "lingering fears of a punishment" in the afterlife? Or do you still?
• 
  

Reports

We'll sign up in class for midterm group reports, in groups of 2 or 3. Indicate the topic & text you want to work on, if you have one in mind. If not, just put down your name. We'll take time during class for uncommitteds to get together and discuss topical possibilities. 

Reports will take the form of 15-minute presentations (or longer), plus discussion (be sure to give us at least a couple of discussion questions) and a quiz over your presentation (and over any material you'd like to assign for us to read in advance). Be relevant, interesting, and provocative. Have fun.

Groups, post 10+ pages of relevant text OR a link thereto, AND a 6+ question quiz on your report, at least a day prior to your designated reporting date; see "Step By Step Instructions to Embed a PDF On Blogger" below.

A bonus run to the group that volunteers to go first, a week from today (Feb 8).

• FEB 13 Kathryn Modine
• MAR 20 Ashley Rice - Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen 
• FEB 27 Logan Mize, Marcus Strode, 
• FEB 22 Garrett Phay, James Adcock, "Speaking to god and spiritual experience"
• MAR 1  Lucas Byrd, Raine McKee 
• FEB 15 Nora Alzirgani, Malika, and jonathan maxwell (Life After Death)
• MAR 15 Alex Old
• FEB 8 Skye Irish and Donald Enss--Reasons Why People Believe in God - VOLUNTEER
• MAR 15 Nick Marion
• MAR 13 Brandon Benson and Mat Case 

Robots with feelings?

Can robots one day be programmed with AI which allows them to simulate human feelings? It seemed like a far-fetched idea a few years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0ThCdQyu8E