Some beliefs are so dangerous that it may be ethical to kill people for believing them. – Sam Harris. This is a dangerous quote from Mr.Harris because it muddles the line between action and intent. How can there be any sort of dialogue when one faction can be singled
Continue readingTag: religion
The Disaffected Lib: Religion’s Twelve Deadly Sins
Alternet’s Valerie Tarico has written an insightful piece about 12-concepts, integral to organized religions, that “promote conflict, cruelty, suffering and death rather than love and peace.” First up is the concept of “chosen people” – that separates believers from non-believers, the believers alone linked to God. Then there’s the
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – Eloquence
‘Nuff said. Filed under: Religion Tagged: Bible, Christianity, DWR Sunday Religious Disservice, Science
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: A Devilishly Smart Pope
A DEVILISHLY SMART POPE
One of the books I’m reading now is John D. Barrow’s ‘The Book of Nothing’. The subject is a look at the concept of ‘nothing’, the void, emptiness, zero, the vacuum and so on. There’s actually quite a bit to say about nothing, and book ranges from a history of the mathematical sign for zero, through the ‘philosophic concept’ of nothingness, to the idea of the vacuum in physics, its explanation by the ‘ether’ and the eventual overthrow of that concept. Temperatures (absolute zero) and the place of the vacuum in quantum mechanics, relativity and cosmology come on stage, and the book ends with a return to the philosophic concept itself. Yes, quite complex, and I’ve barely gotten to chapter 2. Nice to have a roadmap to a blank space. I’ll be reviewing the book when done.
But one of the matters that did come up was the story of Pope Sylvester II, one of the few admirable holders of the keys of Peter in the Middle Ages. This is a story appealing enough to shove its way to the front of the ‘Molly Line’. Sylvester II was born Gerbert de Aurillac (945 – 1003). He reigned as Pope from 999 to 1003. Yes the Pope in the Chair during the turn of the millennium. The world didn’t end, and Gerbert/Sylvester was definitely one of the more capable Popes of the age. A lot of his accomplishments were political and hardly bear mention here. Defending the property of the Church. Playing off one ruler against another though he was usually in alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor of the time. The politics of Italy at the time were particularly chaotic, and once both he and the Emperor had to flee Rome during one of the revolts. He even tried to reform the Church’s organization and reduce abuses such as simony, concubinage and nepotism. This was an Herculean task, and even with the assistance of St. Jude (the patron saint of the impossible) the Church remained just about as corrupt as always. He did, however, succeed in significantly increasing the Church’s title holdings. Maybe this goal was in direct contradiction to the idea of making the Church into a more ‘Holy’ outfit. He also played a major role in the Christianization of Eastern Europe, appointing Metropolitans for both Poland and Hungary, and in the later case naming that country as a ‘Kingdom’. Thus the Crown of Hungary became dependent on the Papacy.
His political accomplishments were minor compared to his intellectual contributions to European culture. He had early on spend considerable time as an envoy to the far more civilized Muslim states of southern Spain, and he turned his natural curiosity to good effect there, absorbing much of the culture of Andalucía. When he returned to France he was appointed head of education for the Archdiocese of Rheims, and from there he significantly elevated the clerical level of education throughout the French Kingdom.
When his patron died he was considered the natural successor, but the Capetan monarchy had other ideas, and a relative of the King was appointed in his stead even though Gerbert was a supporter of Hugh Capet whose reign marked the end of the Carolingian dynasty. Barrow has this matter somewhat confused as he lists this Episcopal position without mentioning that Gerbert’s appointment was overthrown. Consistent with the political level of the time the King’s appointee was later removed because of suspicion of treason to his sponsor. Gerbert who initially was himself accused of treason to the House of Capet was reappointed, but this was challenged and his appointment declared invalid. When he did finally become Pope he pretty well washed his hands of the matter by declaring his competitor as the legitimate Archbishop. Barrow also confuses another appointment of his, as Archbishop of Ravenna, supposing him to be the ‘Abbot’ of Ravenna. All this is quite forgivable as the politics of the time, clerical and lay, were by their very nature confusing.
Gerbert was lauded for his scholarly contributions in a number of fields. He became the tutor of both Emperors Otto II and his son Otto III, and, as mentioned above, he was elevated to the Papacy with the support of the latter. Gerbert was a true polymath. He was the accepted authority in the liberal arts in his day and a major influence on theology. He was also something of an engineer, designing a hydraulic organ that didn’t require air to continually be pumped in as it played. He is also credited with advances in the art of clock making due to one which he designed for the Cathedral of Magdeburg. Even this is confused. Some sources such as the ‘Catholic Encyclopedia’ say that he was the inventor of the pendulum clock. Others say that his clock was mechanical but weight driven rather than using a pendulum. Still others say that his clock was actually simply a sundial. It was, however, in the field of science and mathematics that he made his greatest contributions.
Gerbert was credited with a number of innovations. He introduced the abacus to Europe, and also the use of the Arabic/Indian number/decimal system. Both were necessary foundations for the later rise of commercial enterprises in the Renaissance. Hard to do proper accounting with Roman numerals. Not that they were always appreciated. In 1299 the decimal system was outlawed in Florence supposedly because it was more vulnerable to fraud. The worry about this matter delayed the adoption of decimal numbers in northern Europe until the sixteenth century. For Gerbert, however, they were a Godsend, and he was the foremost expert on mathematics, geometry and astronomy of his day. Much of this was based on what he had learned in southern Spain even though he was creative enough in his own right.
He is credited with the reintroduction of the ‘armillary sphere’ to western Europe. This is a 3D model of the heavens, and fitted with viewing tubes it was an early prototype of the telescope. It should be noted that such a sphere would imply that the Earth itself was a sphere. Not that the idea of a flat Earth was universal in Medieval times, but it was common enough even though the use of spheres such as this proliferated.
Barrow’s book corrected a misconception of my own, one that I had held for more than a few years. I knew that Sylvester II was a remarkably educated and knowledgeable man well ahead of his time. I also knew that one of the medieval Popes had been dug up from his grave and the corpse put on trail. I’d always assumed that the uncommunicative defendant was Sylvester. During his lifetime and after his death rumours circulated that he was in league with the Devil, that he had even constructed a bronze head that would answer questions posed to it. Sort of an early robot I guess. I assumed that this was the reason for the exhumation. Wrong I was. The corpse was that of one Pope Formosus, and the charges were much more mundane. After the guilty verdict was pronounced the hapless cadaver was chopped to pieces, burnt and the ashes thrown into the Tiber. That will teach him.
The accusations of witchcraft would certainly be a likely medieval explanation for Sylvester’s brilliance, but no – he stayed in the ground. Not that he rested easily though. The legends of his life followed him into the grave, and typically they are also confused. One legend says that when a Pope is due to die that Sylvester’s bones rattle in the tomb. Another says that the walls of the crypt weep on the sad occasion. I guess there’s no reason they can’t both be right.
Continue readingMolly'sBlog: A Devilishly Smart Pope
A DEVILISHLY SMART POPE One of the books I’m reading now is John D. Barrow’s ‘The Book of Nothing’. The subject is a look at the concept of ‘nothing’, the void, emptiness, zero, the vacuum and so on. There’s actually quite a bit to say about nothing, and book ranges
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – MisterDeity responds to the Pope.
Sometimes the Pope makes a error when speaking. We all do. But this was not one of those times and Mr.Deity unabashedly and quite colourfully rips into the perfidious pontiff over his comments about the recent murders in France. *Strong Language Warning* I’m not sure what the pope was thinking
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Logic: How to PWN an argument, without getting the RPOJ
If you want to take down somebody else’s argument, a certain familiarity with the nature of intellectual or philosophical (as opposed to playground) argument is required, so that you can construct your own counter-argument. In an intellectual argument, the person putting forth an argument sets out a number of premises
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Words and Virtue
Scott Long wrote an excellent article separating the act of supporting free speech from the act of supporting the words and images created by Charlie Hebdo. But I disagree with this one bit: “Words don’t kill…” As I said in a comment there, too many young people have lost lives
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – Charlie Hebdo
Oh, those wacky religious Muslim terrorists are at it again going all murder happy on people who dare to make fun of their religion. This event is completely ludicrous and, in 2015, should not be happening, some reasons off the top of my head: 1. Mohammad, Jebus, Krishna, Sif –
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – The Very Best of 2014
Ms. Betty Bowers hits the highlights of christian religious folly from 2014. Filed under: Religion Tagged: Betty Bowers, Humour, The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – The Mice and the Piano
Wow, it has been a long time since Theramin Trees has made any videos. Let me assure you, it has been well worth the wait. In this video he illustrates the power of stories and their ability to circumnavigate our critical faculties. I really appreciate Theramin’s videos as his perspective
Continue readingMontreal Simon: What Christmas Means to Me. Again
It's Christmas Day, and although I'm an atheist, and I believe that our beautiful planet is our heaven and our hell.And that it's up to us to decide what world we want to live in. Not up to some invisible deity or some bloodthirsty Godzilla. And although I hate the shopping
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – Dear American Youth Pastor
Did you need another reason to be critical of christianity? Let’s take a look at what can happen when you preach hate and intolerance in your holy house of risible stupidity. You see, I’m all for the idea of having a meeting place in the community because people need to
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Sex Ed, Double Standards, and the Red Herring of Consent
We discussed Erin Anderson’s article from Friday’s Globe and Mail in my philosophy class on Friday, and it provoked a whole gamut of topics. I’ll try to encapsulate some of them here. The article starts with an important question: “The question left is whether we’ll waste this moment, leaving the teenagers today
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – Blasphemy!
Wacky Weligious News! When will people say “enough”? I mean, how much more silly do religious beliefs need to become before we can all agree that we are really great story tellers, but the stories we spin need to stay safely in the land marked FICTION. But, until
Continue readingScripturient: Blog & Commentary: Hate Crimes Against Non-believers Growing
We all know about the hate crimes religious believers commit against one another, against people of a different faith. It’s headlines news, almost daily. Protestants against Catholics. Sunnis against Shiites. Muslims against Christians. Hindus against Muslims. Buddhists against Muslims. Christians against pagans. Christians against Jews. Muslims against Jews. Cults against
Continue reading350 or bust: Dr Katherine Hayhoe: A Climate For Change
Dr. Katherine Hayhoe, climate scientist, communicator, educator, and CCL science advisor, spoke at Citizens’ Climate Lobby Canada’s Carbon Fee Prosperity conference last month. Dr Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist and associate professor of political science at Texas Tech University, where she is director of the Climate Science Center. She is
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Disservice – Demons Of Sickness Part 3
Are you sick? It’s your own fault. See also all those positive energy quacks, the Secret and other assorted bullcookery. I especially love the part where women’s sicknesses are caused by hating their husband… Filed under: Religion Tagged: Demons of Sickness, Discern4, The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The DWR Sunday Religious Disservice – Generational Curses?
Wow. Just highlighting doctrinal christian stupidity. I don’t have the words for this one. Filed under: Religion Tagged: Christain Fail, Discern4, DWR Sunday Religious Disservice, Generational Curses, Religion
Continue readingExponential Book: Don’t mix me with them!
In these two videos [1,2], prominent non-believers [1] Neil deGrasse Tyson and Sam Harris reject the denomination “atheist” as not only inaccurately portraying their views on the (non) existence of God, but also, according to them, of little content or use, and even potentially pernicious. The Oxford Dictionary defines Atheism
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