6-Minute Blog

Hobbes was an atheist and did not include any "appeal to divine creation, purpose, redemption, or judgement" in his theories. Considering he lived in the seventeenth century, he could not be open about his lack of faith without being persecuted. However, he was open about the fact that "he wanted to subordinate all churches to the authority of the state."

Do you agree with Hobbes' theory of church vs. state? How would life in the seventeenth century been different for the average person if the division had been present?

Response to Mary Marcil: Different Perceptions

Mary asked in her recent blog, "What other things make people perceive the 'world' differently?" She was referring to our talk about Solipsism, which--in Mary's words--"is the result of entertaining radical doubt of our every perception."

I'm sorry if this offends some people, but the obvious answer is drugs. Marijuana, LSD, ecstasy, magic mushrooms, cocaine, heroin, opium. They all alter a person's perception of the world around them, and their position in it. For instance, if someone is stressed out, they might smoke pot to relax because it makes things seem a lot less pressing and important. LSD and magic mushrooms both alter what things look, smell, taste, and sound like. Ecstasy convinces you that the best thing to do at the time is have as much sex as possible. Cocaine makes a person really paranoid, and they think they can't trust anybody. Heroin induces euphoria, and one feels like life is the best it's ever been for a while.

By the way, before anybody gets the wrong idea, I'm not some sort of junkie drug lord. I know all this from stories and common knowledge and, in some cases, research.

There are six drugs listed above. Say you took one every day of the week, with Monday being a day for sobriety. Your reality would be different every single day.

Another thing that can change people's perspectives about the world and their lives is death. When people have a near-death experience, they tend to change their perspectives on what's important in their lives. They may start being overly cautious and pious in an attempt to hold off their inevitable death. Some people have a near-death experience and decide to start living their lives without any thought of the consequences. They might start doing drugs and hooking up with various partners and buying extravagant things that they've always desired. The death of a loved one can have the same effects.

Response to Joshua Nitti: Lack of Evidence?

Joshua Nitti posed the question: Do you think that people believe in the idea of christian atheism because of lack of evidence?

I myself am an atheist. I am of the personal opinion (no offense to those who believe differently) that there is no supreme being who has the ability to decide how my life should be lived and what the circumstances of my actions are. Up until last week, I had never even heard of "Christian Atheism," but since I discovered what it was I find that I can identify with it.

Christian atheism has a few main views. According to BBC, those include:

• Religion is about internal spiritual experiences, and that is all.
• There is no world other than the material world around us.
• There are no beings other than the living organisms on this planet or elsewhere in the universe.
• There is no objective being or thing called God that exists separately from the person believing in him.
• There is no 'ultimate reality' outside human minds either.
• We give our own lives meaning and purpose; there is nothing outside us that does it for us.
• God is a projection of the human mind

Basically, there is no such thing as God, we are in charge of our lives and give them meaning, there is no heaven or hell. Christian atheism is about living by Jesus' love thy friend, love they neighbor, etc principals, without believing in the messiah or God. To me, it seems like Christian atheists don't believe in God because, like me, they think the likelihood of some man in the sky controlling our actions is a little ridiculous. Maybe lack of evidence has something to do with it, but it's more likely that they just don't want to have to worry about pleasing somebody who, in the end, can't fully be pleased. Just like Confucius believed it was impossible to be a sage, I think it's impossible to follow every rule of the Bible and Christianity. Perhaps so do the Christian atheists, so they follow the ones that make sense, and are good moral people who don't believe in God.

The Bible: Promoting Incest?

There is a section of the Bible (Genesis 19:30-36, to be exact), where a strange incident occurs. When breaking it down and examining it, it is clear that incest is occurring between Lot and his daughters. The passage goes something like this:

"And Lot...dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters with him...the first born said to the younger...there is no man in the earth to come in unto us...Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine: and the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she rose. And it came to pass on the morrow, the firstborn said, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve the seed of our father."

Basically, Lot's daughters got him so drunk off of wine that he didn't even realize he was committing incest. Twice. I believe there are three ways this passage could be interpreted. 1) This passage is supposed to warn one of the dangers of alcohol. 2) This passage is supposed to warn of the wickedness of women. 3) This passage is advocating incest in times desperate times of solitude.

So, I guess my question is this: If the Bible preaches against such things as overindulgence in booze and incest, why do you think this passage was included in the Bible?