Theology Is Now Little More Than A

God Is Great"). Conversations About The Practical Impossibility Of God's Existence And The Science-based Irrationality Of An Afterlife Slid Seamlessly Into Xenophobia Over Muslim Immigration Or The Practice Of Veiling. The New Atheists Became The New Islamophobes, Their Invectives Against Muslims Resembling The Rowdy, Uneducated Ramblings Of Backwoods Racists Rather Than Appraisals Based On Intellect, Rationality And Reason. "islam, More Than Any Other Religion Human Beings Have Devised, Has All The Makings Of A Thoroughgoing Cult Of Death.

The Problem I Want To Talk To You About Tonight Is The Problem Of Belief. What Does It Mean To Believe? We Use This Word All The Time, And I Think Behind It Lurk Some Really Extraordinary Taboos And Confusions. What I Want To Argue Tonight Is That How We Talk About Belief- How We Fail To Criticize Or Criticize The Beliefs Of Others, Has More Importance To Us Personally, More Consequence To Us Personally And To Civilization Than Perhaps Anything Else That Is In Our Power To Influence.

If You Are Perpetually Angry, Depressed, Confused, And Unloving, Or Your Attention Is Elsewhere, It Won't Matter How Successful You Become Or Who Is In Your Life - You Won't Enjoy Any Of It.

An Argument Can Be Logically Valid, But Unsound In That It Contains A False Premise And, Therefore, Leads To A False Conclusion (e.g., Scientists Are Smart; Smart People Do Not Make Mistakes; Therefore, Scientists Do Not Make Mistakes).

We Do Not Know What Awaits Each Of Us After Death, But We Know That We Will Die. Clearly, It Must Be Possible To Live Ethically-with A Genuine Concern For The Happiness Of Other Sentient Beings-without Presuming To Know Things About Which We Are Patently Ignorant. Consider It: Every Person You Have Ever Met, Every Person You Will Pass In The Street Today, Is Going To Die. Living Long Enough, Each Will Suffer The Loss Of His Friends And Family. All Are Going To Lose Everything They Love In This World. Why Would One Want To Be Anything But Kind To Them In The Meantime?