[FoRK] A change of heart / mind...

[Jeff Bone]

On Dec 3, 2007, at 7:51 PM, Sat N wrote:

> Or repeatedly holding up Islam as an exemplar of the horror of  
> "religion"

BTW, I'd like to point out that my stance re: religion in general and  
this religion in particular has shifted dramatically from one of  
general tolerance and indeed distaste towards religious intolerance  
to the present stance.  This change of attitude is a function of the  
events of the last several years.

In early 2000 in a message to this list I wrote the following  
regarding the book The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom:

     http://xent.com/FoRK-archive/jan00/0321.html
   Don't read the book btw, it starts out / positions itself as a  
"scientific"
   exploration into (essentially) the old Problem of Evil, but turns  
into a rather
   irritating, bigoted diatribe against Islam about halfway through 
(!) (How he
   managed the transition, and why the editors bought it is beyond me.)

In hindsight Bloom's book seems prophetic, even measured in its  
criticism.

Point being, rational agents can modify their beliefs based on  
evidence.  Not all anti-religious sentiment is inherently some form  
of long-standing prejudicial bias.



$0.02,



jb