….cont: The concept of a god of any kidney is an affront to the Natural World, to the flora and fauna that it nurtures and the physical and chemical orderliness that keeps chaos, at bay. What we observe around us is a "movable feast" between Cosmos and Chaos where the phenomenon of life and the forces of chemical attraction/bonding maintain a delicate balance. Human conceit, (the trait that makes and defines gods) chooses to downplay the mechanics over which it has no control and puts a human construct at the controls, a construct that actually looks like a human! In the Cosmic schematic, is this not the ultimate conceit? That an unproven part of the whole should usurp a greater significance than its due and strive somehow to be master of the whole, but where intellect has no place, is non-sequitur. Doctrine, dogma and apologetics, as unstable and superficial as they are, replace intellect.

Life and self-awareness are traits few genera of animalia possess. So far, only humans have constant awareness of an imminent death. To dwell on this is destructive and can bring great anguish, so we fantasise the hell out of the truth to make ourselves feel better, even to live a more satisfying life. The quality of life, then, is moderated by human consciousness and this is the agency whereby we make fantasies of what we don't understand and what we fear. The very traits demanded of humans by gods of many stripe but most popularly that world of fantasy that sprang from the god of a bunch of murderous semitic tribes that burst out of the Arabian wilderness when the Middle East was probably much greener. It is a cause for some chagrin among free-thinkers that China, Nepal and Tibet were so distant, that Lao Tzu, Kung fu tze and Buddha were not the foundations upon which a world religious movement could be founded, where tranquility, love of the natural world, equanimity in the face of adversity and community of living were widely recognised and observed. (342) Cont…

Cont….There is a nostalgia for a god. It's about time you were confronted and pressed to explain precisely who your god is, his traits, his composition and his purpose for being. His mental stability marks him more with human traits than is healthy in a god. I commend Richard Dawkins' description for it pays homage to the book of which this god was Editor in Chief, if not the author. The nostalgia is as dishonest and as idiotic as the Latino nations yearning and waiting for the catholic version prior to Spanish conquest.

"Like the prodigal, we feel unmoored, and our newfound freedom has the taste of desperation."
"Unmoored''......."We" feel no such thing and resent your suggestion. It is not within the purview of politeness to attribute to "us" anything of the sort. This is a very satisfying figment of your imagination for you to view "us" in some unenviable situation. It is human conceit made holy by self-deceit.
"Newfound freedom"? You'll understand if a skeptic, atheist/humanist calls you out on your straw-man dishonesty and in branding your assertion as utter bovine excreta. Considerable numbers of us will have no compunction in branding you a liar. We assert that we have never suffered deprivation of our freedom and with rising hackles absolutely deny you the right to describe us so, especially when it is done in the interest of your self-glorification. (233) cont….

Cont…. "the taste of desperation"? Where in your faith does it adjure your denigration, belittlement and derision of those who disagree with you? You ascribe desperation to your opposition. Demonstrate that desperation........or is that the way you imagine you might feel if you were ever "free" of religious faith? (284) cont…

Cont…. "the taste of desperation"? Where in your faith does it adjure your denigration, belittlement and derision of those who disagree with you? You ascribe desperation to your opposition. Demonstrate that desperation........or is that the way you imagine you might feel if you were ever "free" of religious faith? (284) cont….

Cont….In the above, what has been demonstrated is a meanness in the faithful, a meanness of thought that surely, when properly recognised, is anathema to any remnant of charity and goodwill that festers in your faith.

Alotting religious faith the status of magisterium, as Stephen Gould did, is nonsensical in its weak-kneed, lily-livered cringe before popularity and unconscious, collective crowd-think.

I would deal with every word of your disreputable missive but my time is worth more than that. An hour spent every now and then is sufficient to keep me in trim. Your cerebral pathology gets no more respect from me than you would grant to your interlocutors. And herein lies a clue to which I'm sure your faith prohibits you access.

While you find it necessary to present your mean, conceit of a faith as some longed-for ideal and build your argument on a basis of ridiculing, misrepresenting and lying about those who disagree with you, then there will be vehement challenges. And there will be no more of your current acquaitance struggling to be Mr Nice Guy.

Warren Glover (formerly Pogi) 7 May 2021 (186) Fin

Jujutsu writes P1: "Time is understood as being linear and directed towards the establishment of the kingdom of heaven/God on earth."
The passage of time is not at the beck and call of a supernatural "power"/ "force" as the whim takes it. Time can be described in different ways but putting it in a supernatural setting and leaving it to the vagaries of religious dogma is anathema to rational processes. Time is endowed with nobler and richer origins. Its birth-place is currently unknown but may have heralded our Universe in the remnant Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (or CMB or Relic Radiation or the vernacular abomination, the Big Bang). It is one of the four fundamental forces- electromagnetism, so its ancestry and authority trumps anything religious faith can give it.
So it serves a nobler purpose for humankind (using "purpose" metaphorically of course.)
" Distorted vision and unrealistic expectations are a recipe for disappointment."
This opinion tells us only that you know nothing of the world outside your own fantasies. Hundreds of millions of people see your assertion that their visions are distorted and their expectations unrealistic as a measure of your bigotry and exclusivity. With equal legitimacy they can suggest that you suffer the focus on your own conceits and then publish a recipe minus the imaginary ingredients. (218) Cont…

Cont…"Human life on earth is better likened to a school. Earth will never become heaven, nor should it and suffering will never be eliminated because it is part and parcel of the process of learning."
Wherever any life is it learns by experience but life on Earth, for thousands of genera is a school moderated by family teaching. For Homo sapiens sapiens, schools are institutions provided by the state and includes family teaching as well, You had better check with a lot of others whether there will never be heaven on Earth. I believe you could be challenged severely for this assertion. You demonstrate a religious selectivity of a most egregious kidney when you honour your fantasies with capitalisation but deny such honour to the ark that birthed you and sustasins you in the Universe and and without which you would be nothing. Your biological mother is not the only mother in your life.

"Society ought to be based on truth, not on fantasy."
This is laughable coming from one who can utter the following with a grimly set jaw and steely gaze, knowing the readership will giggle at the confusion the utterer suffers.

"True leadership ought to facilitate personal and spiritual growth so as to help us graduate...."
As there is not yet a universally agreed definition of :spirituality", how can it possibly be part of a responsible government department's education curriculum? FANTASY

"True" leadership? Or a leadership of which you approve? FANTASY. It seems you disapprove of the principle of separation of church and state and see a real benefit in returning to the horrendous religious tyranny of the Dark Ages.
"....and move on to live with God in heaven...." FANTASY, (285) Fin.

It was the author, not me, who wrote: "Time is understood as being linear and directed towards the establishment of the kingdom of heaven/God on earth.". I objected to that statement in the article and so far neither the author nor his supporters attempted to refute my objections.

But well, what can I say for someone who can (and likes to) write, but cannot read, not even names or quote-signs (")? perhaps the young generation finds it fashionable to consider this "progress"...

To create heaven on earth is a materialistic fantasy, for one thing is for sure - there will come a time when this earth and universe, in which fools place their hopes, will be no more:

“What is the greatest wonder in the world?
That, every single day, people die,
Yet the living think they are immortal.”

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7650435-what-is-the-greatest-wonder-in-the-world-that-every