[lbo-talk] RE: An Appeal to Ignorance

[Carl Remick]

>From: Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu>
>
> > At 01:59 PM 6/14/2005, Carl Remick wrote:
> > >>From: "Dennis Perrin" <dperrin at comcast.net>
> > >>
> > >>Personally, atheist disdain doesn't really bother me. I view it as a 
>form
> > >>of despair, esp when it's expressed through insults or, if one is 
>feeling
> > >>generous, condescension.
> > >
> > >How interesting.  IMO, it's *religion* that is a form of despair
>
>It's like this. Both Dennis & Carl seem nice fellows, quite intelligent.
>But they have their spells of being sheer jackasse, and they are here
>when they pretend to have the power to read minds at a distance.

I would not claim to have Lamont "The Shadow" Cranston's ability to know 
what evil lurks in the hearts of men, but I know despair when I see it, even 
at a distance.  Religiosity is the quintessence of passivity and despair.  
It is a frank admission that I as an individual have no control over my fate 
-- that I am at the mercy of the marketplace, can expect no meaningful 
support from the state and must look to my imaginary friend God to provide 
for my needs.  To me, that's the definition of despair.

Carl