Help me with an argument
Khartoum
of A Purpose Driven Lif* (name and title munged because he found my
original post with a vanity search). I checked the headers of the
E-mail and traced it back to the church that Mr. Warr*n is a member of
in So Cal. I am 95% certain that the message came from him.
Here is my original post that questions the validity of a quote from
Bertrand Russell in Mr. W*rren's book. "Unless you assume a God, the
question of life's purpose is meaningless."
http://makeashorterlink.com/?W23F15B76
Please look at my responses below and give me any suggestions about my
arguments. I'm not sure if my poor grammar, spelling and written
communications skills are due to my 12 years of Catholic education or to
my never diagnosed dyslexia.
TIA (text of e-mail follows)
Thank You for the response Mr. Warren,
Sorry for the delay in my response but Dr. Moorhead's book was not
available at my local library system or at any of the local university
libraries. It took me awhile to track it down.
*Dear "Khartoum"
* The Bertrand Russell quote is not made up and it is not taken out
*of context. In fact, you can see a picture of it in *Bertrand
*Russell's own personal handwriting, in the book, "The Meaning of Life",
*compiled by Dr. Hugh S. Moorhead, *former Dean of Department of
*Philosophy at Northeastern Illinois University (Chicago Review Press
*1969, reprinted 1988). *Of course, this is one of the few things I
*think Bertrand Russell was right about. It is also repeated in LIFE's
*Meaning of *Life- Vol 2- I believe.
(I am still trying to get a copy of _The Meaning of Life_ by Dr.
Moorhead. The Bertrand Russell Society is tracking it down for me. If
the quote is accurate and in context I will reply that BR was referring
to the Question being meaningless and not life.)
* A little history. Bertrand Russell's grandparents and family were
*very famous Christian leaders, and writers in England *(Hannah
*Whitall Smith wrote the classic "The Christian's Secret of a Happy
*Life.") . Russell turned away from the faith, not *out of intellectual
*conclusions, but as a coping defense for ways he was hurt by so-called
*relgious folks. "No thanks God!" *Alot of people make the same mistake.
*Hurtful things are done in the name of God, and people mistakenly start
*denying *God's existence.
Hannah Whitall Smith was not BR grandmother. She was his first wife's
mother.
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/guides/smith/smith1.html
His father wrote the book _An Analysis of Religious Belief_ in which he
sets forth his belief in a non personal god and rejects the divinity of
Christ and was critical of a historical Jesus. At the age of four BR
was raised by his grandfather, who was Prime Minister John Russell and
his Grandmother Lady Francis Russell. Lady Russell was a Unitarian that
"Like her husband, Lady Russell considered theology the greatest enemy
of true religion."
http://www.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/russellfamily.html
Please give specific example's from Bertrand Russell's works from where
you concluded that "Russell turned away from the faith, not out of
intellectual conclusions, but as a coping defense for ways he was hurt
by so-called relgious folks."
* Of course there is evil in the world. Humans tend to be
*self-centered. The real quandery is, if we are all a result of random
*chance, and survival of the fittest is what propagates the species, how
*do you account for all the GOOD in the world. It *defies the premise of
*a world by accident. The fact is, if there is no God, neither your
*life , nor mine, nor anyone else's *matters. We just accidents in the
*universe.
What evidence do you have against the Theory of Evolution and do you
understand that survival of the fittest is not in any way an argument
about morality? What objective empirical evidence do you have for
creationism or intelligent design? What evidence do you have that
Christians account for more of the "GOOD" in the world than secularist?
I personally believe that I live a highly moral life without a belief
in god. Why cant you understand that you do not need some mythical
deity to give you meaning?
* But, from a thousand different way, God has shown us that our lives
*DO matter and have a purpose.
My life does matter and has a purpose without God.
* Now you have not only your wife praying for you, but I will too, if
*you don't mind. (I truly don't mean this as anything *negative, but as
*an expression of friendship.) Please give my greetings to your wife.
None taken. My wife enjoyed your book and the study that accompanied
it. Please try to understand my perspective and realize that I once
came from your perspective.
* I just happened to see your posting today (Nov 4) while surfing
the *net. God bless you in your search for truth. Rick W*rren (yes, I
*really am the author)
Thank you again for you response to my post,
Jason Wallace AKA Khartoum
***********************************************
Khartoum aa#2110
When two men of science disagree, they do not invoke the secular arm;
they wait for further evidence to decide the issue, because, as men of
science, they know that neither is infallible. But when two theologians
differ, since there is no criteria to which either can appeal, there is
nothing for it but mutual hatred and an open or covert appeal to force.
Bertrand Russell
Can Religion Cure our Troubles 1954