BTW there's also a great article by Hauser and Singer here on this same theme.
(Published in Faith and Philosophy 2011. Volume 28, Issue 2, April 2011. Stephen Law. Pages 129-151) EVIDENCE, MIRACLES AND THE EXISTENCE OF JESUS Stephen Law Abstract The vast majority of Biblical historians believe there is evidence sufficient to place Jesus’ existence beyond reasonable doubt. Many believe the New Testament documents alone suffice firmly to establish Jesus as an actual, historical figure. I question these views. In particular, I argue (i) that the three most popular criteria by which various non-miraculous New Testament claims made about Jesus are supposedly corroborated are not sufficient, either singly or jointly, to place his existence beyond reasonable doubt, and (ii) that a prima facie plausible principle concerning how evidence should be assessed – a principle I call the contamination principle – entails that, given the large proportion of uncorroborated miracle claims made about Jesus in the New Testament documents, we should, in the absence of indepen
Comments
Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism ans Sikhism are major religions to arise in India. They have different perceptions about liberation etc. But they have EXACTLY the same set of ethical rules or guidelines or laws etc.
At least this living example proves that morality can be independent of religion.
R. C. Sharma,
rcscwc@yahoo.co.in
However, in reference to the Hauser/Singer article, I'm getting tired of atheists passing off reductionist explanations of moral phenomena as a 'moral faculty' of the mind. It's not. It simply a beneficial adaptive strategy that explains certain behaviour but has no moral content (in the same way that reciprocal altruism isn't really altruism—it just looks like it).
Dawkins does the same thing in Chapter 6 of The God Delusion, and he has the gall to bookend it (before and after) with the observation that the Christian who behaves 'morally' out of fear of hellfire isn't behaving morally at all because they're not displaying moral agency. No, they're not behaving morally, but neither is the person who dives into a river to save a drowning child because they're hardwired to do so. The same argument applies to both.
I starting to notice this line of argument more and more frequently, and from people who know better. Hauser, Singer, Dawkins etc. are all-too-well aware that they're being misleading with these claims (at least Sam Harris openly acknowledges it - p.185, End of Faith). While I understand why they do it, I think they should just be open about the conclusions that current research is drawing.
Cheers,
Chris.
PhilosophicalMisadventures.com