Aut: Christian fundamentalism may understand God in this blank, literal way, but the rest of us understand that language is limited and that God language in church is but shorthand for a deeper reality

Christian Fundamentalism is no different to Islamic Fundamentalism. They would have any Atheist chained to a Post & burnt as witches is given half a chance.

Aut: The God that atheists reject is a mean conception and is easily discarded. Of course, we all need to discard this conception.

Amen to that.

Aut: The hole in our lives that could have been filled with spiritual depth haunts us and accounts for the frenetic nature of modern life.

What “hole” This is a God Centric Idea that is simply not true.

Aut: Many say that life cannot return to the way it was because the pandemic has exposed our weaknesses, our greed, our lies confected for political purposes, and our neglect of community and the poor.

Well, true to a point. As they say, “The more things change the more they stay the same.” The Greedy will not be weeded out so easy & if they are they will be replaced by another, just as greedy.

Aut: All of these reforms are rational ways of correcting the economy. Why is it so hard for the electorate to hear them?

Because the Greedy in the Electorate might lose out on their Scams.

Aut: Both left and right are stuck by the perceived intransigence of the electorate.

Aut: Part of our stultification is caused by our clinging to economic theory that was forged at another time and in different circumstances.

Oh, so true. The Books & Theories that these Economists cling to were mostly written well over 100 years ago. Different Time. Different People. Different Thinking all round. Entirely different World to the Times they were written.

Dear David,

>> I do not have the arrogance to define what a Christian ... believes because I know that religion is a complex phenomenon ...<<

This is a commendable attitude. Unfortunately, your next post, where you ridicule some Christian beliefs, seems to contradict this.

Many people who do not understand higher mathematics do not feel the need to ridicule what e.g. relativity or quantum physics is about but simply admit that they cannot understand. [One can ridicule e.g. Einstein’s theory by pointing out that if the object A moves with the speed 2c/3 and B with the speed 2c/3 in the opposite direction then the speed of A with respect to B is 4c/3; hence c cannot be the maximum speed.]

Dear George,

I am immensely glad you are posting.

I cannot define what Christians believe as Christians believe many things. However, any belief can be subject to doubt if it seems ridiculous. Religion should not be insulated from doubt, and belief in a virgin without any compelling evidence seems a ridiculous belief.

' Religion should not be insulated from doubt, and belief in a virgin without any compelling evidence seems a ridiculous belief.'

and the idiotic theory of this earth coming from nothing or big bang should be open to ridicule.

Why do I get this feeling of deja vu?

//One can ridicule e.g. Einstein’s theory by pointing out that if the object A moves with the speed 2c/3 and B with the speed 2c/3 in the opposite direction then the speed of A with respect to B is 4c/3; hence c cannot be the maximum speed.//

This is a misunderstanding of special relativity:

http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/askaphysicist/physics-answer.cfm?uid=20130130105151