Re: An insult

On Aug 27, 9:33 am, "Peter H.M.Brooks" <pe...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Lance wrote:
On Aug 26, 10:18 pm, Dave Smith <da...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 26 Aug, 07:40, Richard Corfield <Richard.Corfi...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I wonder if it's a human nature to look for god like things at times.
E. O. Wilson has certainly claimed so. In his book 'On Human Nature'
he commented:

"The predisposition to religious belief is the most complex and
powerful force in the human mind and in all probability an
ineradicable part of human nature. Emile Durkheim, an agnostic,
characterized religious practice as the consecration of the group and
the core of society. It is one of the universals of social behavior,
taking recognizable form in every society from hunter-gatherer bands
to socilaist republics....."

Surely atheists contradict this claim? And note that atheism is not a
modern phenomenon - there were plenty in roman and Greek times.

Atheists are a counter example, yes, but that doesn't mean that it isn't
a fundamental part of human nature. Sex, after all, is an even more
fundamentally powerful part of animal nature, and we have monks, nuns,
hermits and others who all provide possible counter examples.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hmm. The quote says relious practice is the "core of society" and a
"universal of social behaviour." Are tehse things the same as human
nature? It seems to me entirely possible to have societies,
organisations, and social behaviour without religious practice.

Lance

.

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