Jack Cummins

I don't know where this stands in relation to deism, but my concept of whatever reality or metaphorical reality of 'God' is that it is imminent in rea...

Yes, I did wonder if Dawkins was reading correctly in his understanding because I have not read that much on pantheism. I do wish to because all these...

I wonder to what extent those who believe in Spinoza' s God may be considered to be theists or atheists? That is one of the areas where the strict div...

Part of the problem is whether the idea of God is meant to imply an actual entity or a symbolic picture of whatever exists metaphysically. The one asp...

I am not sure whether God would have to be a person as such, because that is more the anthropological picture of what the concept means. In this sense...

I am not saying that alcohol is not bad but I think death through nuclear war may be a bit worse. But I have not met anyone dying with cirrhosis of th...

The thought of what may happen if there was a nuclear attack is hard to imagine. When I have spoken with friends about it, one question is whether it ...

I have just one thing to add. Even though alcohol is sinister, even deaths by cirrhosis of the liver may be far less painful. Of course, this is debat...

I have read your posts and thanks for your replies. Historically, protest has been important in the fight for women to vote, racism, gay issues and ma...

Yes, while we have been interacting you didn't know that I have been a CND supporter. I belonged to Youth CND and went on marches. My dad was not enti...

Thanks for your summary of Stenger's writings and the reference to Barrow's book because both seem worth exploring.

That's interesting as I hadn't thought of the connection between the new atheism and 9/11. Of course, religion, politics and philosophy have a complex...

I guess that it may be that there is some difference between the subject, or genre, of popular non fiction writing, from philosophy writing or academi...

It does seem that the new atheists do attack institutional religion. I did read the book with the book, 'The Four Horsemen' , with the dialogue betwee...

Thanks for the link to an interesting article. It does seem as @"Tom Storm" argues that the 'new atheists' are like evangelists of atheism..

The only thing about saying that Darwins ideas of evolution as being significant is that it is possible to accept Darwin's theory and believe in God. ...

I will look out for the writing of Dr Stenger because it is worth looking at the idea of the new atheism from a wider angle. I read Dawkins a long tim...

There is still some new cyberpunk being written buy it has become wider. However, this has been going more in the direction of post apocalyptic and st...

With regard to the lack of logicians who are female that maybe due to issues of exclusion rather than their specific mind or mental abilities. I had a...

I already suggested that the word limit should be increased to 500 as it merely in writing the thread on Flash Fiction that it should be increased. Wh...

It sounds worth reading and I may try and get hold of it. I am simply trying to read some of the ones queuing up in piles in my room. If I get too man...

The idea of all the characters in the Bible being satirical is interesting. That is because so many of the themes such as the Virgin birth and resurre...

It is an interesting question whether the mind has a sex and it is a variation on the mind and body problem. That is because it depends to some extent...

I think that the idea of Satan as being the accuser or punisher makes a lot of sense, and this is a way of seeing the symbolic significance of the God...

In a way, your description of the female partner of God corresponds with the muses as a source of inspiration in the arts. There is s strong connectio...

I do agree that art can be used as a 'threat', even to evoke fear, especially in imagery such as imagery of hell. I am not saying that representations...

You say that art and science may be Divine Simplicity. This may be true sometimes, but it can be more complex because it may be that there are contrad...

Art is based on the exchange of images or the imagination through the various arts and forms. To some extent, it can be possible to have private art w...

I do take your point. It would be interesting if Barbie Dolls were taken as objects of worship. I came close to being misunderstood at work over my li...

Art is definitely communication and always has been. However, the nature of art has changed at different periods of history and even aesthetics has an...

I don't see why you think figurines are not related to religious worship. I can't see why else they would have been created. The earliest human beings...

I am not sure if I said art is not simply about beauty accidentally or intentionally but I would say that this is how I see it. So, it probably is mor...

I came across the idea of the goddess preceding the Gods in anthropology and mythology, with reference to early art depicting goddesses. It may be tha...

Art is not simply about beauty but about the symbolic dimensions, including the imagery of angels and archangels in the scheme of the divine hierarchy...

It is interesting that some people who have been brought up with religious ideas and fear of hell become fascinated by religion rather than rejecting ...

I am definitely interested because I wish to read as widely as possible. Apart from discussion with forum members, one aspect which I do find helpful ...

It is interesting how some people alter their childhood concepts of God and religion in general. Having come from a Catholic background, I saw all kin...

You speak of art's lack of ability to explore beyond beauty but there is not simply visual art but literature and music in particular. There is the wh...

I will look into the books which you mentioned, although I have a number of them queuing up in piles, waiting to be read. I have one with some writing...

The book , 'Genesis: The Story is How Everything Began, by Guido Tonelli( 2022) looks at the the beginning of life and the universe..The author is a p...

Thanks for the link and it was useful. However, yesterday I was so busy reading that I felt on another planet, which also happens often. Also, I tripp...

I am sorry if I did not address the points in your post. I will look at it again. I am struggling with thinking about the question which I raised. I a...

In past eras the edges between art and science as played out in religious perspectives may have been blurry indeed. For example, there was the Christi...

I am certainly not of the opinion that one necessarily needs to believe in God. The way of seeing symbolic or numinous aspects through the arts is imp...

I am in a similar situation of not being that concerned about God's existence but not an atheist. It often seems like the existence of God is approach...

Plato's ideas on God are interesting and so different from the way people often argue for or against God scientifically. Also, some other ideas like P...

The thing is that people may think of God extremely differently. This depends on background and the difference between the image of God as Jahweh in t...

It doesn't surprise me that you have read Huston Smith as I know that you have read so much on comparative religion. I have read it twice and will pro...

You say that I don't have any experience of theism but I was raised as a Catholic, so I was initially coming from a theistic perspective. However, pro...

I had a brief look and I can see that he separated the religious from the scientific. However, it does seem that he was coming more from a scientific ...