By Syed Ehtisham
January 14,
2021
Religion is not
rational, yet attempts are made all the time to prove it is.
One example is the Templeton Study.
The
Templeton Foundation arranged for Christians to pray for 1800 heart patients
and tracked the results. It conducted a double-blind study to see if patients
who were prayed for, did better.
In actual
fact, the group, which knew that it was being prayed for, did the worst. (It
was ridiculed, what do you say Lord. You cannot cure me because I am in the
control group). This study spent $ 2.5
million and was published in American Heart Journal in April 2006.
It is
touted as the largest scientific examination of prayer’s effect on hospital
patients.
According
to CNN, “The patients . . . were split into three groups of about 600 each:
those who knew they were being prayed for, those who were prayed for but only
knew it was a possibility, and those who were not prayed for but were told it
was a possibility.” Arrangements were made for three different Christian groups
to pray “Starting the night before surgery and continuing for two weeks”.
But the
study was flawed. CNN reports that, “The volunteers prayed for “A successful
surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications” for specific
patients, for whom they were given the first name and first initial of the last
name.” 1
And that’s
the problem. With only the first letter of the last name, how was God supposed
to know for whom each prayer was intended? 1a
Christians
and Muslims believe that God already knows everything; after all He can see
into the hearts of the people who were praying. But in this case, those people
themselves did not know whom they were praying for. Still, God knows
everything, we are told. Certainly He knows who’s having heart surgery, and at
any rate He could always sneak a peek at the Templeton Heart Study records if
He had any questions.
But God is
omniscient. He already knows who needs His assistance and who does not. And He
already knows whether He intends to give His assistance or not.
Prayer is
predicated on the opposite. By its very existence it assumes that God does not
know. Prayer takes for granted that God can be talked — literally prayed – into
helping when otherwise He wouldn’t have.
Within the
context of Christian beliefs about God — that God is omni-benevolent and
omniscient — prayer is irrational. In fact, prayer is nothing but a magical
attempt to control events through the use of powerful words. I can tell the
powers that rule the world what I want them to do — and they will do it! That’s
the rationale of prayer.
It follows
that the very concept of prayer is inconsistent with the Christian and Muslim
belief that God knows all and God knows the best. Consequently it should have
no place in their worldview.
Prayer is
in fact, nothing but a throwback to the age of magic, an incoherent
superstitious rite that Christians and Muslims themselves ought to reject.
Futility of Prayer
Darwin’s
cousin Francis Galton, “Every Sunday in every church in Britain the entire
congregation prayed for the royal family. Should they not be healthier and
fitter than ordinary people for whom only friends and relatives pray” He found
no statistical difference. 2
Conviction
can be evil. The Oxford theologian, Richard Swinburne justified holocaust in a
TV discussion, that it gave Jews wonderful opportunity to be…noble. 3
The
influence of religion is so pervasive that courts are constituted to uphold law
and dispense justice, bend over backward to accord privileges to religious
institutions. Even in an avowedly secular country like the USA, the Supreme
Court gave an exemption to a church in New Mexico to let its members use
hallucinogenic drugs because the members felt that the drugs improved their
understanding of religion. 4
Ordinary
mortals are, however, sent to jail for long terms for possession of an ounce of
marijuana. The Supreme Court did not pay any heed to the established efficacy
of marijuana in reducing the pain and nausea of patients undergoing
chemotherapy for cancer. 5
In 2006,
Christian groups sued the universities for enforcing anti-discrimination laws
against homosexuals. On April 10, 2006,
LA Times published the news. 6
Officially
secular, religion has become Free Enterprise with fierce competition for
donations.
Religious
fanaticism is rampant in the US. George Bush Sr said, “I don’t know that
atheists should be considered as citizens”. 7 David Mills in Atheist Universe
describes how he was threatened by the police, to whom he had gone for
protection before demonstrating against the faith healer, who advised the
diabetes and cancer patients to throw away Insulin and chemotherapy.
Religion
gets away with murder based on interpretation of religious texts or the sayings
of long gone sages. If one objects to the privilege, it is an infringement on
religious liberty or worse blasphemy. Murder of Governor of the Punjab,
Pakistan, Salman Taseer by a gunshot from his own official security guard on
Jan 4, 2011, because he had called for judicial process in the case of a Christian
woman accused of blasphemy, was endorsed not just by the fanatic mullahs but
religious minded lawyers and politicians as well. 8
Theological
opinions cannot be proved or disproved according to any rhyme, reason or logic,
but offering a different opinion especially in Muslim countries is hazardous.
Roman
Catholics list 5120 saints with areas of expertise like abdominal pain, broken
bones, anorexia, and bomb technology. 9
Monotheistic Creeds:
Gore Vidal.
“From a barbaric Bronze Age text known as Old Testament, have evolved Judaism,
Christianity and Islam. They are literally patriarchal…hence the loathing for
females”.
The oldest,
Judaism, is obsessed with sexual restrictions.
In the
first century A.D, Jesus offered an egalitarian version of Judaism. It remained
so and its leaders suffered horrible torture for its principles. But the moment
it was accepted by Emperor Constantine as state religion, its followers
perpetrated the same reign of terror, its pioneers had been subjected to, on
those who did not accept the faith.
In the
seventh century A.D, Mohammed the prophet of Islam preached equality, justice
and peace. Not quite abolishing slavery, he ordained the same treatment of
slaves as for other members of the household. He offered near equal status to women,
bestowed property rights, albeit half of that of men, the right to choose their
spouse, the right to divorce with due process, (not as easy as for men-one two
three and you are free) and the right to work. He restricted the number of
simultaneous wives to four, as long as the husband treated them equally in
every way (Every way only means food, shelter and clothing but does not cover
love, affection and sexual congress). 10
But only
twelve years after he passed on, once Muslims started capturing foreign
territory and brought women back from the campaigns, the dictum of ‘Women under
your right hand’ took hold. Class discrimination was practiced even among the
captive women. A princess was bestowed on one of the grandsons of the prophet
on the grounds that only a prince deserved a princess.11
Thirty
years after him, all notion of an egalitarian and representative state was
given up. The founder of the Umayyad dynasty, breaking his pledged word,
established a hereditary monarchy, though it was still called Caliphate.
That
dynasty lasted one hundred eighteen years.
The progeny
of Abbas, a cousin of the prophet dislodged the Umayyad in the name of the
family of the prophet and went on to hound the family to the extent that the
last male Imam, who was nine at the time, hid in a cave and was never seen
again. He is called the Imam Ghaib (the
hidden Imam) by the Shia sect of the Muslims.12
Abbasids
ruled for over six hundred years, got religious academics to concoct sayings of
the prophet to favor them, and with a few exceptions, the ruling houses
surpassed all the hitherto set records of luxury which included harems,
drinking and dancing extravaganzas and retinue of servants.
Ottoman
Empire was relatively tolerant of dissent and Greek, Armenians, other East Europeans
and Jews found sanctuaries.
The Arab
tribes were not happy with the rule. They found ideological support in a
particularly intolerant version of Islam called Wahhabism. Together they
rebelled against the Ottomans and perpetrated genocide on all who did not
accept their brand of theology especially Shias, whom they killed in tens of
thousands in Karbala in Iraq in the 19th century.
The British
and the French helped them gain ‘independence’, from the Turks and with the
advent of oil wealth, started exporting Wahhabism to India. They were shunned
by mainstream Muslims till Pakistan offered a fertile ground. Their first
success was the anti-Qadiani campaign of 1953-54.13
But their
greatest benefactor was Zia ul Haque, who introduced laws like the Hudood Ordnance,
virtually equating rape with adultery, which were clearly against the tenets of
Islam. As though he was not enough of a menace, the USSR stupidly blundered
into Afghanistan, rejuvenating the fanatics like nothing else could. Zia turned
from a pariah to a savior. The good old U.S.A smarting under the humiliation of
Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia, was always eager to get rid of the Mullah influence,
which was interfering with the style of life of the royal family lavished arms,
money, training and material on him.
The Afghan
jihad gave Pakistan heroine, Kalashnikov and Taliban. 14
Now they
complain that the U.S.A is dictating to them. They of course don’t accept that
if you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind. Russians gloat that Pakistanis got
what they deserved.
After the
relative peace of the Musharraf period, they have erupted all over, so that
sane persons are scared of opening their mouth in the country.
Not to be
outdone, Shia clerics of Iran supported the overthrow of Mossadegh in 1953. His
only crime was that he wanted Iran to get full benefit of the oil under its
grounds. Shah was reinstated and he, with the help of CIA (reportedly the
agency had more personnel in The Iran than in Langley, V.A.) turned the country
into a vast concentration camp. 15
People
could finally not take it anymore and the commercial bourgeoisie, the
progressive element and the clergy got together under the charismatic Khomeini
and got rid of the Shah.
But
Khomeini lost no time in establishing a theocratic state under the concept of
Vilayat Faqeeh (deputy to the Imam) and suppressed all dissent. 16
Jews were
persecuted for thousands of years by Egyptians, Phoenicians, Romans and
Christians. They persecuted minorities during the brief intervals in which they
acquired power.
Muslims
gave them sanctuary in the Middle Eastern countries, Turkey and Muslim Spain.
After the
conscience ridden Western countries and greedy elite and rulers of Arab
countries helped them found a state, they lost little time in persecuting
Arabs.
Hindus and
Jews do not have provision for conversion in their creed, so their extremists
resort to elimination without compunction.
In a sense,
if followers of religions were simply to state that this is what we believe in,
this is what it is, take it or leave it, it would make for an easier life. But
they insist on spreading the word. Christians attacked neighbors to convert
them to the ‘true’ faith. They went on crusades ostensibly to fend off the
infidel. They colonized the better part of the world and used gunboat diplomacy
for most of it. 17
Conversion
is an article of faith with Muslims 18.
During the time of the second caliph, they sent a delegation to Iran
with an offer to convert or pay a tax or else be prepared for a war. The
Iranians haughtily rejected the challenge. Muslims attacked and managed to
subdue the people of a vast territory in the name of the faith.
But look a
little deeper and you will find that all they were after was the assets of the
land they captured.
If they
simply persuaded conversion by example as Christian saints and Muslims Sufis
did, it would still not be so bad. But they intrude into the intellectual arena
and offer arguments to prove the existence of God.
Proofs
of the Existence of God:
A Priori
The name of
Thomas Aquinas is in the forefront. His arguments involve regress. 19
i-Nothing
moves without a prior mover, nothing is caused by itself. First Cause is God,
the uncaused cause. There must have been a time when there was nothing. So God
must have made things.
This got
them into arguments. Why should God be immune to regress? There is no reason to
endow the terminator with omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence and human
attributes such as listening to prayer and forgiving sin.
ii-There
has to be a maximum of goodness to set standards for perfection- that is God
iii-Teleological-nothing
can look designed unless it is designed… living things look designed, so the
designer is God.
A Posteriori Arguments:
In 1078, St
Anselm initially addressed a prayer to God as though to convince Him. A being
that does not exist in the real world is by the very fact less than perfect. We
have a contradiction, so God exists. 20
For David
Hume (1711-76) and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), existence is more perfect than
nonexistence. 21
Personal
Experience:
Many people
believe because they have seen a vision or that God spoke to them. He told Bush
II to invade Iraq. Sam Harris in The End of Faith, “We have names for people
who have many beliefs for which there is no rational justification. When their
beliefs are extremely common we call them religious, otherwise they’re likely
to be called mad, delusional. Clearly, there is sanity in numbers”. 22
Brain is
capable of constructing visions, visitations and voices. On 9/11, some people
saw the face of Satan in the smoke. 23
In 1917,
70,000 pilgrims to a Spanish shrine of Our Lady of Fatima saw the sun crashing
down on the multitude. In Multan city of Pakistan, there is a shrine to Shams
Tabrez, who is supposed to have asked the sun to come down, as he could not
find fire to fry a fish a river had offered him. 24
Scripture:
In the 19th
century AD, academic theologians started what came to be known as Higher
Criticism of the Bible and have established that gospels were not accurate
historical accounts. They were written long after Christ. Scribes had their own
agenda. 25
At the time
of writing of the gospels, nobody knew where Jesus was born. Old Testament
prophecy led Jews to believe that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. 26
John’s
Gospel followers were surprised that he was not born in Bethlehem. Matthew and
Luke decided that he must have been born in Bethlehem. Luke claimed his parents
had moved from Bethlehem because of the orders of Caesar Augustus to bring
people back to their cities for tax census. The census was actually held in AD
6!. 27
The four
gospels were chosen out of a larger sample, Thomas, Peter, Nicodemus, Philip,
Bartholomew and Mary Magdalene. 28
The extant
version of the Koran dates back to the time of the third caliph, who organized
a collection by people, who had recited the verses and had memorized them. Only
the officially accepted version was saved. Others were destroyed. It was the
consensus version, so it cannot be indisputably asserted that the contents of
the official version were in fact the one supposedly revealed by Gabriel to the
Prophet.
The Lucre:
Bertrand
Russell “An immense majority of eminent men disbelieve in Christian religion,
but conceal the fact because they were afraid of losing their income”.30
Apologists
name Galileo and Kepler, and spread demonstrably false rumors of the death bed
conversion of Darwin, as well.
James
Haught in, “2000 Years of Disbelief- People with Courage to Doubt,” asserts
that “Scientists claimed to be religious till the 19th century, when social and
judicial pressure to conform lessened. Becoming a monk for Mendel was akin to a
research grant.” 31
Benjamin
Beit Hallehem, “Among the Nobel laureates there is a … remarkable degree of
irreligiosity. Only 7% of Americans
deemed good enough to be elected to National Academy were religious compared to
90% among the general population”. 32. In Britain, among the Royal Society members…
only 3.3% believed in a personal God. 33
Belief as a Hedge:
Pascal,
“Odds against the existence of God are long, but odds of penalty on not
believing, and if there is God, longer”. 34 If you feign, God better not be
omniscient.
Bertrand
Russell famously said, “If confronted by God after death and asked why he did
not believe in Him… I would say…not
enough evidence God, not enough evidence”. 35
Thomas
Jefferson “Almost certainly no God exists.
The priests of different sects dread the advance of science as witches
do the approach of daylight”. 36
Darwinian
evolution shatters the illusion of design within the domain of Biology and
teaches us to be suspicious of design hypotheses in other fields. The physicist Leonard Susskind… Darwin and
Wallace…provided explanation of our existence that completely rejected
supernatural agents. 37
Intelligent Design:
The
American geneticist Jenny Coyne, “Evolved organs are elegant, effective and
efficient, but reveal flaws, as they would not have if designed by a superhuman.
Back pain, sinus infection, hernia and prolapse of uterus are due to adoption
of upright posture in a body evolved over hundreds of millions of years to walk
on all fours. 38
Roots Of Religion:
The
evolutionary psychiatrist, Michael Kohn “The universal extravagance of
religious rituals with their cost in time, resources, pain and privation should
suggest… that religion may be adoptive. It is often as extravagantly ornate as
the plumage of the bird of paradise”. 39
Benefit To Survival:
Primitive
people of Australia and New Zealand live under the most stringent conditions
and for relief resort to witchcraft. 40
Apologetics Of Religion:
Religion
provides some protection from stress related disease as faith healing does.
George Bernard Shaw, “That a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to
the point than that a drunken man is happier than a sober one”. 41
Steven
Pinker in “How the Mind Works,” “Why would a mind evolve to find comfort in
beliefs it can plainly see are false. A
person face to face with a lion is not put at ease by the conviction that it is
a rabbit”. 42
Michael
Shermer in “How We Believe,” “Proximate
cause of religion might be a hyper activity in a part of the brain. Visionary
religious experience may be temporal lobe epilepsy”. 43
Religion
has always lent itself to use by oppressors, exploiters and colonizers. Black
slaves in the USA were consoled by promises of another life.
Survival of Religion:
The
Cambridge Archaeologist Colin Renfrew “Christianity survived because of the
in-group loyalty. Tribes with martyr complex will fight more bravely and
survive, seize livestock and females of the other tribe” (44).
Muslims
thrive on group solidarity. (The author remembers an incident from my
childhood. A rather frail and old intolerant Sunni physician heard that Hindus
had attacked a Shia Muharram procession. He rushed out with his hunting gun.
When asked why he rushed to help people whom he did not regard as good Muslims
and whose celebration of the tragedy of Karbala he derided, he offered that
right or wrong, they were Muslims).
This would
not happen now. Fanatics would be the first to kill members of the other sect
in Pakistan, as they are doing now. Groups need ‘enemies’. If you can’t find a
non-believer, a believer will do.
Religious
people are not prepared to accept that science contradicts their many cherished
beliefs.
Human kind
has survived by learning from collective experience of the past. We listen to
our parents when told not to get too near to fire, not to jump in a lake or
beware of snakes and scorpions.
In “Why
Gods Persist”, “Religion Explained”, “In God we Trust”, the authors regard
religion as a byproduct of psychological dispositions. All religious beliefs
seem weird to those not brought up in them. 45
The
psychologist Paul Brown, “Children have a natural dualist theory- fundamental
distinction between matter and mind. They readily accept that mental illness as
possession by the devils, which might be cast out. A tendency to dualism is
built in the brain, so we can enjoy P.G. Wodehouse’s Laughing Gas. Children,
especially assign purpose to everything (teleology).46
Dennett
“Irrationality of religion is a by-product of an inbuilt irrationality in the
brain”. 47 Helen Fisher in ‘Why We Love’’” We see the beloved a hundred times
more lovely quite irrationally than his/her competition. Irrational love could
be a mechanism to ensure loyalty long enough to raise a child together. 48
Religious faith is akin to falling in love. The Neuropsychiatrist, John
Smythies, “One facet of religion is intense love of God and reverence for
icons”. Falling in love with one person and only one is irrational but useful.
49
Martin
Luther was aware of the dangers of reason, “Reason is the greatest enemy faith
has… and should be destroyed in all Christians”. 50.
Roots Of Morality:
Most
religious people find it hard to imagine how one can be good without religion,
and some are driven to paroxysm of rage against those who do not believe in
their faith. Opposition to evolution
finds expression in such inanities as, “If you teach them that they are
descended from monkeys, they will behave like monkeys,”. Robert Buckman in ‘Can
We be Good without God’ “Sense of right and wrong are derived from Darwinian
past. 51
Natural
selection can explain hunger, fear, sex and lust, and contribute to survival.
But compassion to orphans, widows and earthquake and tsunami victims apparently
negates the selfish Gene.
All animals
ensure survival by favouring genetic kin; like being good to own children.
Among bees, wasps, meerkats, monkeys and mole rats, elder siblings take care of
the younger ones.
The other
main factor is symbiosis. Bee needs nectar and flower pollinating. Reciprocal
altruism works because of asymmetry in needs. Kinship and reciprocation are
pillars of altruism in the Darwinian system.
Zahavi-Arabian
babblers- little brown birds live in social groups, breed cooperatively, give
little cries of warning, donate food to each other and compete for the role of
sentinel exposing themselves to the danger of hawks, all to assert
superiority. If a subordinate babbler
offers food, it is violently rebuffed. 52
But in
humans reputation is important. Rival chieftains in Pacific Northwest tribes
competed in ruinously generous feasts till one was bankrupted and others were
not left much better off.
History of Religion
Hinduism is
a polytheistic religion of Indian origin. Nehru had this to say, “Hinduism, as
a faith, is vague, amorphous, many-sided, all things to all men. It is hardly
possible to define it, or indeed to say definitively whether it is a religion
or not, in the usual sense of the word. In its present form, and in the past,
it embraces many beliefs and practices, from the highest to the lowest, often
opposed to or contradicting each other. Its essential spirit seems to be to
live and let live”. 53
An
interesting view is that monotheism must have resulted from the process of
elimination. After a tribal warfare, the defeated tribe would give up its
“false god” and accept the enemy’s God who made them victorious. Other factors
must also have been operative.
Abraham’s
existence is not recorded in history.
The Bible is the only source, and it mentions that he went to Egypt
several times. If he did visit Egypt, it must have been around 1700 BC, when
Hyksos, a people from the north ruled Egypt. Abraham was a tribal chief from
the city of Ur. During his time, each tribe had its own god. So did Abraham.
Even today the Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims refer to God, “God of
Abraham”. The Bible portrays God of Abraham as a friendly God who visited him
with his angels in human form and even dined with him. Abraham is stated to
believe in one God and is therefore, originator of monotheism. 54
Origin of Judaism
It is not
certain if the monotheistic concept of Abraham survived in Egypt and later
influenced Pharaoh Akhenaten (1380-1360 BC) or he independently came to believe
in it. But he was the first monotheist in authentic history. He broke the norm
of the pharaohs in more than one way. He declared himself human (unlike the
past pharaohs), got rid of the powerful priests, moved his capital from Karnak
(a stronghold of believers in the old religion) to Amarna, made his wife
Nefretiti a co-ruler (breaking tradition), and established a religion of one
God. 55
After his
death, the priests regained power. The weak boy Pharaoh, Tutankhaten was
renamed Tutenkhamun, and the old polytheistic religion was restored. Monotheism
dwindled but didn’t absolutely disappear.
Ramses came
to power around 1300 BC. He fought several battles with the people up north.The
low wage settlers from north fell into disfavor. These people were distinct
from the Egyptians. They were bearded, wore long dresses, and lived in tents.
Egyptians called them Habi Ru (meaning, “tent people”). Ramses threw them out
of Egypt.
The entire
multi-tribal group became known as Hebrew, derived from Habi Ru. There may have
been a leader by the name of Moses, although the name appears incomplete. Moses
means “of the”. For example, Ramses is actually Ra Moses – of the sun, Tuthmosis
is Tut Moses, etc.
It is quite
likely that Moses was aware of Akhenaten’s monotheism and tried to unify the
evicted group under one God. Thus, monotheism was born again as a result of
Exodus. But this time, the same Bible (our only source) portrays God as rather
furious and unfriendly. He talks to Moses in a scary voice from behind the
burning bush, asking Moses to take off his shoes, and Moses would not dare look
at Him. 56
Christianity:
Christianity
is not even a truly monotheistic religion. It is a combination of Roman
paganism and Judaism, ordered by Constantine and formulated by the Council of
Nicea. 57 The Council incorporated some of Roman mythology into Paul’s version
of what Christ supposedly preached, and finalized a religion from fragmentary
evidence. This time, God of Abraham is the Father as well as a helpless child
from Virgin Mary. Later, he wanders around as a preacher and then challenges
the powerful, only to be tortured and crucified so he can take upon himself all
human sins.
It is so
incredible, yet, apparently reasonable people believe it as a historical fact.
Jesus is mentioned nowhere in Roman history of that region. Also, Jesus was not
unique. Based on the documents of Qumran, several people before him claimed to
be Messiah (the deliverer). 58
Islam:
Islam is a
rehashed version of Judaism combined with improved tribal laws of the seventh
century Arabs. Here God chooses not to speak to Mohammad directly but to send
his message through Gabriel. However, He does like to micromanage and tells us
what to eat, how to dress women, and pray five times a day. He even decides,
whom Mohammad should marry, how many wives he could have and if unsatisfied,
could cohabit with any number of girls captured from the enemies on the
battlefield. 59
Obviously,
the Monotheistic God changed from Abraham to Mohammad. And yet, Judaism,
Christianity and Islam are supposedly the same creed, the religion of Abraham.
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23.”Urban Legends Running Rampant” San
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http://www.sofc.org/
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25.Boyce, William., “The Higher
Criticism and the Bible: A Manual for Students,” (White Fish, Montana: Kissinger Publishing LLC, 2007). .
Micah5-2;
27. Mathew Chapter 4 verses 14-22.
28. Ehrman, B.D., “Lost Scriptures:
Books that Did Not Make It,” (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003); Ehrman,
B.D, “Whose Word Is It,” (London: Conitnuum, 2006).
Warraq, Ibne, “Virgins: What Virgins?”
Free Inquiry21:1, 2005, 456.
30. Russell, Bertrand, “Religion and
Science,” (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997); Russel, Bertrand, “The
Quotable Bertrand Russel,” (Amherst, New York: Promeththeus, 1993);
Haught, James, “200 Years of
Disbelief-People with Courage to Doubt,” (Buffalo, New York: Prometheus, 1996).
32. http://leaderu.
comftissues/ft9610/reeves.html.
33. ibid 2, p 102.
34. Adams, D., “The Salmon of Doubt,”
(London: Pan, 2003).
35.
ibid 30
36. Vichio, Stephen J., ‘Jefferson’s
Religion,” (Eugene, Or: Wips and Stock Publishing, 2007).
37. Susskind, L., “The Cosmic Landscape:
String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design,” (New York, Little,
Brown, 2006).
Coyne, Jerry, “Why Evolution is True:
Creationists Don’t Deserve Credence,” (2.12.09), Forbes Magazine, 6.20.09.;The
History of Science,’ Coyne and Dawkins, “God in Details: The Biological
Challenge to Evolution, Nature 383, 1996, 227-8.
39. scientificamerican.
com/article.cfm?=isreligion- adoptive.
40.3101.1 Australian Demographic
Statistics, June 2001.
41. Shaw, George Bernard,” An Unsocial
Socialist,” (New York: Wm H. Wise & Co, 1930).
42. Pinker, S., “How the Mind
Works,”(London: Allen Lane, 1997).
43. Shermer, M., “How We Believe: The
Search for God in an Age of Science,” (New York, W.H. Freeman, 1999).
Renfrew, Colin,”(ed).’ The Archeology of
Cult: The Sanctuary of Phylakopi,” (London: British School at Athens &
Thomas and Hudson, 1985). Renfrew, Colin., “Before Civilization: The
RadioCarbon Revolution and Prehistoric Europe,” (London: Pimlico, 1973).
45. Hinde, Robert, “Why Gods Persist: A
Scientific Approach to Religion,”(London: Routledge, 1999); Boyer, Oscar,
“Religion Explained,”(London: Heinemann, 2001); Atran, Scott, “In Gods We
Trust,”(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).
46. Badruddin, D.H….. Brown, Paul, L.K.,
“Social and Behavioral Problem of Children with Agnesis of Corpus Callosum,””
Child Psychiatry and Human Development 38(4): 287-302.
47. Dennett, D.C., “Breaking the Spell:
Religion as a Natural Phenomenon,” (London: Viking, 2006).
48. Fisher, Helen, “Why We Love: The
Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love,” (New York: Henry Holt, 2004).
49. Smythies, L., “Bitter Fruit,”
(Charleston, SC: Booksurge, 2006).
50.” Letters of Martin Luther,” trans A
Curry, (London: Macmillan, 1908).
51. Buckman, R., “Can We Be Good without
God?” (Toronto: Viking, 2000).
52. Zahavi, A,”Arabian Babblers: The
Quest for Social Status in a Cooperative Breed,” in “Cooperative Breeding in
Birds,” (eds)., P.B. Stacey and W.D. Koenig, (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1974), pp 105-30
53. Nehru, Jawahar Lal, “Discovery of
India,” (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1959).
54. Commentary on Genesis 12 and 20,
“Halley’s Bible Handbook,” (Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan Publishing House,
1968).; Genesis- 20: 1-18.
55. James, T.G.H., “An Introduction to
Ancient Egypt,” (New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1979).
56. Exodus 3: i-22.; Humphreys, Colin,
“Miracles of Exodus,” (London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006).
57. MacMullen, Ramsey, “Voting About God
in Early Church Councils,” (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006).
58. Vanderkam, James C.,”The Dead Sea
Scrolls Today,” (Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 1994).
Ibid 47
------
I was born
in Dewa Sharif, UP, India in 1939.
I went to
school from the fourth to eighth class in Gonda, UP and the 9th grade in
Jhansi, UP, India.
We moved to
Quetta, Pakistan and went to school for the 10th grade and intermediate college
in the same town.
I was in
Karachi University 1954-57, then Dow Medical College 1957-62. I Was in the
National Students Federation from 1954 to 1962, trained in surgery in the Civil
Hospital Karachi 1962-65, proceeded to England 1965 and trained in General
surgery and orthopaedic surgery till 73, when I left for Canada 1973-74, USA
1974-83, back to Karachi 1983 and built a hospital and went back to the USA in
1991, been in the USA since.
I retired
from surgery in 2005.
I have
worked in various HR and Socialist groups in the USA.
I have
Published two books ,:”A Medical Doctor Examines Life on Three Continents,” and
,”God, Government and Globalization”, and am working on the third one, “An
Analysis of the Sources and Derivation of Religions”.
Original Headline: Religion is not Rational
Source: The Counter Currents
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/most-religious-people-find-hard/d/124083
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Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism