Atheist parents!

I'll teach my children the truth. I'll simply tell them that religion has always been to the peasants true; to the philosophers false; and to the kings as useful. I'll explain how religion belongs to our prehistory and is our first and worst attempt at understanding the origins of the universe and our species. I'll tell them how religion came from a period when natural events would have appeared wholly mysterious and terrifying. Religion is from a time when we didn't know-we had no way to know-that the Earth was a sphere, or that micro-organisms existed and had dominion over us. I'll reinforce that we now have a much better explanation and understanding about our situation in this rather odd solar system.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Casual_Otaku

that's funny, this little book i've got next to me called the Quran says otherwise.

the earth is not a sphere, it is actually geo-spherical in shape. the Quran mentions the actual shape of the earth in the following verse:

“And we have made the earth egg shaped”. [79:30]

the arabic word dahaha means egg shaped. dahaha is derived from Duhiya which specifically refers to the egg of an ostrich which is geo-spherical in shape, exactly like the shape of the earth.

i'll let that whet your appetite... there's also plenty in the Quran with regards to our solar system such as the big bang, rotation of the planets and other stuff.

i have a question for you JackyBoy - since you yourself say that man at that time had no way to know this, please explain where all this scientific knowledge that resides in the Quran come from?

Amazon.com: The Meaning Of The Holy Quran (Meaning of the Holy Quran): Books: Abdullah Yusuf Ali

I would actually attribute this discovery to the early Greeks but like most scientific discoveries of the day it wasn't to be circulated until much later. I think I say something uncontroversial when I say religion did not begin with monotheism and certainly not the plagirism of Islam. Try to imagine the first few tens of thousands of years of life humans lived on the planet: starving to death, dying in terrifying natural events, dying of diseases which would have been entirely inexplicable, fighting over food and land with other tribes. You can fill in the rest of what life must have been like with your imagination. And certainly having Gods all the way. Worshipping other animals at a very early stage. Which incidentally persists today. I really should not have to provide examples of knowledge humans have managed to win for themselves. To credit religion for these advances seems at best absurd. Religious persecution, in the year 2007, is still trying its best to limit medical therapies and scientific understanding.

Santa Claus: An all loving, all knowing, fatherly figure who knows exactly when you are behaving good or bad and can reward you with gifts for behaving well or punish you if you have not. This is sounding familiar. And much like God, both are non-existent. But think of the implication of this nonsense. It is as far as I'm concerned the sinister attempt to make religious belief palatable for children. Of course children don't understand religion, so why not create a Sesame Street character, keep the authoritative principles but toss out ressurections and immaculate conceptions and the theological baggage and call the whole thing Christmas. And this has a further implication. How many children live (in North America) in low income families who's parents simply cannot afford the expense of this ridiculous celebration. What are these chidlren to think when their pine tree doesn't have so much as a piece of tinsle dangling off it? So my question is this. Is it ethical to lie to children and train them to believe things which are not true? I would submit, no, it's not.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by LordsSword

Sometimes fear is a grim necessity because people naturally challenge authority.

I want to see someone qualify this need to teach children they must never question authority and must simultaneously love and fear persons of authority such as parents or non-existent divine father figures. I shudder to think where society would be if it wasn't for the dissenters and contrarians, who we all owe much thanks, who managed to win great social changes through their opposition. If it wasn't for the courage of people like Rosa Parks (a simple and obvious example) we'd all be living in the stone age.

Telling me that challenge to authority is a wrong act is both highly unintelligible and morally contemptible. Maybe some of you should emmigrate to North Korea since you fancy this authoritative and totalitarian principle so much.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.