In Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.
Having taught philosophy in college, I have observed that many students express a dissatisfaction with philosophy, because it doesn’t provide clear-cut answers. Instead, it poses various questions that may never be answered, various problems that may never be resolved, and various controversies that may never end. In many other subjects, there are right and wrong answers, but in philosophy, students are often left not knowing what the right answers are. Many are left feeling uncomfortable about this.
Religion usually deals in answers to the big questions philosophy poses, such as what is morality, what is our place in the universe, how should we live our lives, all answered by God Himself. When religious people feel they have the right answers, they often become intolerant of anyone who would question their answers. Here’s an example that was posted to my YouTube channel:
It’s a crime for you to question what Jesus did for you on the cross. How shameful for you to question it! — SwordandShield7
This attitude has been typical of religious people for centuries. The Inquisition was all about punishing people for questioning the answers and authority of the Catholic church. The Crusades were about killing people who did not accept the answers and authority of the Catholic Church. Protestants got in on this too. John Calvin murdered Michael Servetus. Queen Elizabeth I murdered many Catholics. The Puritans in Salem persecuted people for Witchcraft. In recent times, Muslims have been persecuting unbelievers, and this practice goes back to Mohammed himself, who would have people murdered for questioning him. Pagans have also murdered people for disagreeing with them. The Romans are known for feeding Christians to lions. And Socrates, the father of western philosophy, was put to death by the people of Athens for questioning their beliefs and authority.
Plato wrote several dialogues featuring Socrates as the protagonist. In these dialogues, there is usually someone who believes he has the answers to some question. Socrates comes along and begins questioning him about what he believes. It normally turns out that he can’t answer all of Socrates’ questions, and Socrates’ search for wisdom continues, because he didn’t find the answers he was seeking from the person he spoke with. Socrates may be contrasted with various religious teachers. The religious teachers normally come along and say something to the effect of, “Here, I have the answers, all provided to me by God, the supreme and final authority.” Instead of coming with answers, Socrates came with questions.
People may prefer answers to questions, but when so many people profess to have different answers, all from the unassailable authority of God, the question arises, “Who is right?” They can’t all be right. Muslims and Christians cannot both be right. Protestants and Catholics cannot both be right. Presbyterians and Methodists cannot both be right. And so on, ad nauseam. With such a glut of different answers available, we need some way to sort through them. Even if we can’t know which is the correct answer, it would help to be able to toss aside answers that just won’t do. This is where questions come in. It may be preferable to have answers rather than questions, but we must ask questions if we are to ever find correct answers. Without questions, lies become enshrined as unquestionable orthodoxy. As preferable as answers may be, having the wrong answers is much worse than having unanswered questions, and questions are a necessary tool in any intellectually honest quest for truth.
Note how the word quest is related to the word question. The quest for truth is not about following someone who tells you he has the answers. The quest for truth is about seeking answers on your own by asking questions, by seeking their answers, and by questioning the answers you find. The questions may often go unanswered, but sometimes there are answers. Scientific progress has come about by people asking questions. The technological advances we enjoy today came about because people asked questions. If everyone had just accepted authority, we would still be living in the dark ages. You may not find all the answers to all your questions in your lifetime, but you may make some progress, and the progress you make may help others in their quests for truth. Also, asking questions keeps us from getting stuck in dead ends. When people try to tell you what to believe, you should ask questions. Question what you’re told and see whether it stands up. If it doesn’t, move on. It is always better to leave with questions than it is to settle on wrong answers. And if you don’t question what you’re told, odds are extremely good that you will settle on the wrong answers. So question.
But perhaps you worry that questioning is wrong and that you will suffer eternal punishment if you question. If there is a God, that God is reasonable. If there is a God, he understands that it is wrong to expect people to believe unquestioningly without evidence of any kind. If there is a God, he wants us to search for the truth, not just settle on wrong answers. So I do not believe in any God who would punish people for asking reasonable questions. I cannot tell you that there is a God. The question of God’s existence hasn’t been answered to my satisfaction. But I can say something about what God must be like if there is a God. If there is an omniscient, omnibenevolent, omnipotent being whom we may call God, he knows what it is reasonable to expect of people, and he would never damn anyone for asking honest questions. I know that much to be true even if I don’t know whether there is a God. So seek truth, quest after it, and ask questions. Whether or not we find answers to all our questions, asking questions steers us better in life than unquestioningly accepting the answers provided to us.
so can i say that ‘Questions that May Never be Answered (by normal human), Answers that May Never be Questioned(by normal human)’? :D
What do you have in mind by adding this qualification?
by adding this, it is easier to differentiate and understand both of these concept better. By feeling, hearing, speaking and thinking on the level of both philosophy and religion, both philosophy and religion will not contradict each other. Thus i feel that no one is right no one is wrong but human is wrong as they might change this thinking or misinterpret wrongly from the source of philosophy and religion.
The object behind the original quotation is not to reconcile philosophy and religion but to contrast them. It seems that your object is the opposite of this.
through time most likely*
oh ok :D
CAN YOU PLZ GO FUTHER N TELL ME MORE ABOUT THERE BEING NO HELL WHERE CAN I FIND GOOD INFORMATION ABOUT THERE ACTUALLY BEING NO HELL NO MATTER WHAT DANIEL EKECHUKWHU SAYS…..
SHOW ME MORE YOU TUBE VIDEOS ABOUT PEOPLE COMING BACK FROM THE DEAD CLAIMING THERES NO HELL….
Tell me more about there being no hell for those who can’t forgive in sadness but can forgive in anger over what sexual abusers do 2 them I wanna hear about people who didn’t experience any hell in the after life that say hell doesn’t exist people like
Mellen Thomas Benedict or Nancy Rynes or Robin Landsong…
I need all the support I can get that there is no hell because of Daniel Ekechukwhu whose testimony has frightened the life out of me i don’t know how 2 stop feeling scared of going 2 hell because of him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzx4nyZKc2U
http://deceptioninthechurch.com/bonnke2.html
Did Daniel Ekechukwu lie about there being a Hell & him going there for unforgiveness in his heart….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK7d1U-SALY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrBzPGDdS_U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3sB9F_k6GM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GzXNqcIvQ0
are we all friends with everyone in Heaven
cause I wonder if I am gonna see Nick Lewis the policeman i met on the 13th of May 2019,
Laura Anderson, Karen Mehrmann, Vaitiare Hirshon,
Raudha Athif, Sian Kingi, Uncle Tom Weeks & Frank Churches My Father ever again
because christians say only christians go 2 heaven everyone else goes 2 hell
& my father Frank Churches, Raudha Athif & Sian Kingi weren’t christians
Raudha & Sian were Murdered when they were young
my daddy had a brain tumour & died 9 months after i was born
did they go 2 Hell DID RAUDHA ATHIF, FRANK CHURCHES & SIAN KINGI GO 2 HEAVEN
if Atheists go 2 Heaven like My Father Frank Churches, Muslim Raudha Athif , Moari Girl Sian Kingi
what happens 2 the women who were sexually abused and can’t forgive their rapists……
pastors & atheists turned christians use near death experiences in hell 2 confirm their claims like Daniel Ekechukwu & Ian McCormack did they said they died & saw hell yet there are some atheists that say they died n went 2 heaven like Mellen Thomas Benedict & Nancy Rynes say they experienced no hell at all they went 2 heaven
I want 2 choose 2 believe there’s no hell but people like daniel ekechukwu fill you with fear n doubt that there is no hell
because they say there is a hell
i want 2 believe thats theres no hell but christian teachings frighten me
that they say there is a real literal place called hell where you burn in hell in darkness by yourself for eternity Daniel Ekechukwhu has frightened me so much
I don’t know if I am going 2 go 2 heaven
that My Nice New Zealand hells gate reality of volcanic hot misty waterfall kerosene creek island reality of hell doesn’t exist
only Daniel Ekechukwu’s dark version of hell exists
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzx4nyZKc2U
& I don’t know why Mellen Thomas Benedict & Nancy Rynes said there is no hell when clearly many atheists / pastor say they went 2 hell then became christians…
Some atheists say they didn’t see any hell so whose right if there is no hell why do so many christians lie and say there is a hell n frighten people 2 death
I am not angry I am just very sad I was sexually abused everyday it hurts n I feel resentful of what happened 2 me I don’t hate my abuser but I feel very hurt that this happened 2 me that he raped me then denied it then I heard the crowds chant I am a whore n a slut
I would like 2 believe there’s no hell
but Daniel Ekechukwu said he went 2 hell
when he died because he was unforgiving of his wife his wife slapped him he was thinking of what 2 do 2 her so god was judging his heart n he was not forgiving he was told if his life were 2 end that day his portion would be in hell for eternity he was dead in the morgue for three days he would be brain dead but he wasn’t brain dead when he came back 2 life after three days of his heart not beating he was dead for three days could he be lying about death his wife prayed for him 2 come back 2 life n he did n he’s telling the world if you don’t forgive you go 2 hell for that if you don’t forgive others god won’t forgive you
so I am scared of going 2 hell because I am sad all the time and constantly thinking how I was sexually abused n constantly talking about it the rape made my life hell because the voices followed I heard crowds of people screaming you re a whore you’re a slut over and over again when I got home in bed I could still hear them chanting all night long in bed the next day I told mum she had me put on medication for schizophrenia called Zyprexia so my mind creates hell on earth for me
I’d like 2 believe there’s no daniel ekechukwu hell
plz tell me more about peoples near death experiences about there being no hell i wanna have their experience of no daniel ekechukwu hell in the after life
I wanna believe there is no daniel ekechukwu hell for everybody but are there any near death experiences where there is no hell
HONESTLY I WISH THERE WAS A CHURCH THAT PREACHES THERE IS NO HELL ONLY MY VERSION OF HELL LIKE HELLS GATE IN NEW ZEALAND WITH THE SQUEEZE HOT WATERFALL N MUD BATHS N THERMAL POOLS OF HOT WATER…..THAT ALL LAVA LAKES IS LIKE AS HOT AS KEROSCENE CREEK IN NEW ZEALAND….OR HOT TROPICAL MIST IN INDIA OR TAHITI’S RAIN FOREST AREA…..
I WISH THERE WERE BETTER TEACHINGS ABOUT LOVE RATHER THEN FEAR IN THE BIBLE ABOUT PEOPLE GOING 2 HELL…
THE BIBLE HAS PRETTY MUCH SCREWED UP MY MIND I DON’T KNOW WHAT 2 BELIEVE ANYMORE I WANNA BELIEVE THERES NO HELL THAT WE ALL GO 2 HEAVEN BUT SHE SAID HE SAID HAPPENS WHEN THEY DIE AND SEE HELL
& IT LEAVES ME WONDERING IF I AM GOING 2 HELL
BECAUSE I CAN’T FORGIVE MY ABUSER FOR RAPING ME
I FEEL PAIN ALL THE TIME THAT HE RAPED ME I AM NOT ANGRY WITH HIM ANY MORE I AM FULL OF SADNESS OVER BEING RAPED BY MY ABUSER WHAT AM I SUPPOSED 2 DO LEAP FOR JOY HE RAPED ME & MARRY HIM & MAKE LOVE 2 HIM WHEN HE RAPED ME WHILE I WAS SLEEPING I THOUGHT IT WAS A NIGHTMARE UNTIL HE STARTED KISSING ME & TALKING 2 ME I WISH I SCREAMED BUT I THOUGHT THE RAPE WAS ONLY NIGHTMARES I DIDN’T BELIEVE IT WAS REAL I THOUGHT I WAS HALLUCINATING AT THE TIME I WOKE UP 3 OR 4 TIMES SEEING THE HALLUCINATIONS OR BAD DREAM OF BEING RAPED I WOKE UP I WOKE UP THREE OR FOUR TIMES WHICH SHOWS IT WAS A REAL EVENT NOT A HALLUCINATION OR A NIGHT MARE THEN WHEN I WOKE UP GOT A COUGH LOLLY OFF HIM HE CAME INTO THE ROOM N STARTED TALKING 2 ME THEN KISSED ME I ASKED HIM WHAT ARE YOU DOING HE DIDN’T ANSWER HE JUST KEPT ON KISSING ME IT WAS THEN I REMEMBERED THE NIGHTMARISH HALLUCINATIONS & I REALIZED THEY WEREN’T NIGHTMARES THEY WERE REAL EVENTS……
& NOW THE TRUTH IS NOT KNOWN ABOUT ME NOW PEOPLE KNEW THE TRUTH ABOUT ME WHEN I WAS 14
BUT WHEN MATTHEW RAPED ME MY TRUE SELF DISAPPEARED I MYSELF HAVE FORGOTTEN WHO I WAS BEFORE HE RAPED ME WHEN I WAS 14 I WANTED 2 STAY 14 FOREVER NEVER BECOME THE RAPED FAKE WHORE MONGER I AM NOW…..
I WANNA BE THE CARE FREE IMAGINATIVE HIGHSCHOOL STUDENT WHO KNEW HOW 2 SPEAK WITH OUT TALKING ABOUT SEX
WHO LOVED TALKING ABOUT CRUSHES & COMPUTER GAMES, PRINCESSES OR SOURCERESSES ME & DENAI USED 2 TALK ABOUT LIVING IN A CASTLE ON A HILL WE ALWAYS SAID WE WOULD BUILD ONE LIKE KRYAL CASTLE NEAR DUNOLLY I WOULD BE A PRINCESS SHE WOULD BE A SOURCERESS
I WOULD TALK ABOUT MY CRUSH WHO KEPT LOOKING AT ME EVEN THOUGH HE SAID HE DIDN’T FEEL ANY FEELINGS FOR ME THAT FRIENDSHIP WAS MORE IMPORTANT THEN SEX & HE WOULD GO ON 2 ABUSE ME WHEN I TURNED 15 INSTEAD OF COURTING ME, MARRYING ME HE SNEAKED INTO MY BED WHILE I WAS SLEEPING
& I USED 2 LOVE CHRISTMAS WITH THE MCPHEE FAMILY & MY FAMILY WHEN I WAS A KID IN DONCASTER & PORT FAIRY BUT NOW THERES NO MORE FRIENDS LEFT IN MY LIFE EXCEPT RACHEL MARTIN & DARSHINI JACOB I WISH I COULD BE FRIENDS WITH VAITIARE HIRSHON & KAREN MEHRMANN & MY SUPPORT WORKERS BUT IT’S ILLEGAL FOR THEM 2 TAKE ME INTO THEIR HOME AS THEIR OWN FLAT MATE I WANTED LAURA ANDERSON A MENTIS ASSIST SUPPORT WORKER 2 BE MY MOTHER IN THIS LIFE AS A WOMAN & BE MY WIFE IN THE NEXT LIFE AS A MAN
& WHEN I WAS LIVING IN AVOCA I USED 2 LOOK AFTER THE KIDS AT CHILDCARE I USED 2 LOVE LOOKING AFTER THEM AFTER SCHOOL I USED 2 PLAY WITH THEM N BE GOOD WITH THEM I USED 2 TAKE TOYS HIDE THEM THEN THE KIDS WOULD HAVE A TREASURE HUNT & TAKE HOME TOYS FOR THEMSELVES I EVEN COLOURED IN A BARBIE PONY FOR ONE OF THE GIRLS N GAVE HER THE PICTURE ACTUALLY I DID TWO DIFFERENT COLOURED PONIES FOR HER SHE LOVED THEM I WAS FINE UNTIL MY ABUSER RUINED ME I WASN’T SEXUAL AT ALL I WAS CHASTE & INNOCENT N PURE BUT SWEET BUT NOW I AM A MESS SEXUALLY THE VOICES THAT CHANTED AT ME GAVE ME A WHORE MONGER IDENTITY I LOST MY SOUL WHEN DEMONS OR NASTY VOICES IN MY HEAD CALLED ME A WHORE BECAUSE THEY DON’T BELIEVE THAT MY ABUSER RAPED ME
YOU CAN HELP ME BY FINDING EVIDENCE THAT THERE IS NO HELL FROM ATHEISTS WHO HAVE BEEN 2 HEAVEN AND BACK
IF POSSIBLE CAN YOU FIND SOMEONE LIKE ME WHO HASN’T FORGIVEN PEOPLE STILL GOING 2 HEAVEN EVEN IF THEY ALREADY BELIEVE IN GOD…..THAT THEY MADE IT 2 HEAVEN INSPITE OF UNFORGIVENESS N FEELING SAD ALL THE TIME ABOUT THEIR SCHIZOPHRENIA & THEIR SEXUAL ASSAULT…….
I WOULD RATHER KNOW IF THERE IS ANY HOPE FOR ME 2 GO 2 HEAVEN STILL THAT I’M NOT DOOMED FOR MY SADNESS OVER BEING RAPED I HAVEN’T GOT ANY THING 2 BE HAPPY ABOUT MY MUM IS OLD & ISN’T GONNA BE AROUND FOREVER VAITIARE HIRSHON & KAREN MEHRMANN DON’T TALK 2 ME ANYMORE AT ALL….
i’d like 2 believe hell is a beautiful island like Tahiti or Congo with a massive volcano of gods love n hugs, kisses filling it on it
I’d like 2 imagine hell is a place of peace, love and adventure not destruction fire and brimstone even the volcanoes are like luke warm hot springs like swimming thru misty clouds that are cool or warm n refreshing like your local hot springs that lava isn’t burning rather it is like swimming thru cool or warm mist or like swimming in clouds rather in the after life hell is not a place of pain rather it is a place of beauty peace n warmth & heaven is a place of snow, ice & everything that is nice radiating love in everything where you know only joy, peace n love in heaven the way Christians describe waves of love that fill them continually I would like 2 believe hell is an Oasis of Ahm Shere or Magnificent Home Forest Land a place of beauty like a tropical island but peaceful like heaven…. Hell is a tropical island oasis like Congo, Tahiti & Iceland mixed together & Heaven is Tahiti, Germany, Iceland & Frozen Scenery Mixed together in a winter wonderland of snow in the winter & like a Singaporean butterfly house in the summer
but Christians have turned hell into an ugly place of pain, burning & loneliness n darkness
I wanna turn hell into beauty, peace & love like heaven is a place you know only joy that hell is only as hot as a hot spring even the lava is like a warm bath that is comfortable
I wish heaven n hell where both like heaven & that the only hell is not what Christians say it is
that it is warm but doesn’t scorch you the lava is hot but doesn’t burn you
rather it feels like warm hot mist that looks like a cloud & feels like a hot waterfall in New Zealand at Hells Gate Hot Springs The Squeeze secret hot waterfall in New Zealand
I want my hell 2 be like hells gate in New Zealand a place of Mud Baths, Hot Springs & Hot Water Falls & the Lava 2 be as Hot as a Warm Bath of Hot Mist…
I want a Nice Volcano Reality of Hell that is like a Tropical Cool n Warm Island like New Zealand but the Lava is Mild Warm you can have sex in it & it won’t burn you it will just be like the warm or hot waterfalls at a local hot spring on earth the lava may burn you but in hell the lava doesn’t burn you rather it is like the hot waterfalls in New Zealand
I want my reality of Hell 2 be peaceful, joyful, adventurous & filled with love the lava 2 be like one big pool of gods warm affectionate love & feel like your swimming in gods hugs n kisses & loving heart the lava 2 be like Christ’s blood but taste sweet like Black Berry / Blue Berry / Strawberry Dark Chocolate or Coconut / Banana / Mango White Chocolate
if Lava is in heaven then it must be a part of hell
so there fore hell must be a beautiful place 2 like the Goddess Pele swims in lava & she doesn’t get burned
rather 2 her it is like a warm bath of water of hot waterfalls the hot waterfalls are cooler waterfalls 2 her the ice waterfalls are cool 2 her but she doesn’t freeze because she is a goddess some people do iceberging in icey water in finland n the water doesn’t freeze them at all it becomes luke warm 2 them after they go swimming in it….
poli ahu is her sister of snow so she copes with ice n snow very well
Poli ahu is my goddess of heaven & is snow & ice and all things nice
Pele is my goddess of hell that is Nice like heaven or nice like Magnificent in Angelina Jolie’s view of Magnificent
but is firey hot waterfalls & tropical islands of leopards n cougar cubs & all the animals off bambi bunnies, ducklings, peacocks, puppies, deer, kittens n birds even little fishes n frogs in ponds full of rain forest creatures no spiders or poisonous snakes the dust is the snakes food made of dark chocolate powdered brownies….
The Beds, Chairs & Tables are soft like my mum carol Gregson smith bed or like a water filled bed in kate serruriers old home in ballarat but feel solid like an icecream cake or an toadstool for a butterfly but ediable like you can eat the furniture n it grows back & tastes like eating unicorn fancies cupcakes or like mrs. fields cookies freshly baked out of the oven all the furniture tastes like food savoury like tomato & meatball stir fry or mushroom n chicken rissoto or sweet like mudcake or pavlova or christmas pudding so you don’t have 2 cook you can eat the furniture and it grows back…hot water looks like ice pink lava lakes but feel like New Zealands Hot Waterfalls 2 swim in so they are swimmable when the mist comes out of the waterfall it looks like ice pink mist but the water is Hot Pink like lava & looks like lava but feels like Hot or Ice waterfalls in New Zealand or Croatia….
https://www.hellsgate.co.nz/book#the-soothe-experience
I want Hell 2 be like Hells Gate in New Zealand