600 Light years from us

Ursa Major

NGC 3310

NGC 331026,000 light years in diameter

46 million light years away from usSpeed of light: 300,000 kms/second

When I heard the learn’d astronomer;

When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;

When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them;

When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,

How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;

Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself,

In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,

Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

Walt Whitman

Religion

Without making a big deal out of it, Dogs often

question the existence of an Almighty

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How many people have a religious belief? Between 70% - 90% of the worlds population.

(depending on source)

World Religions by percentage

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Top 11 Most Religious Countries

Is religion an important part of your daily life?

Country % Yes

Egypt 100

Bangladesh 99

Sri Lanka 99

Indonesia 98

Congo 98

Sierra Leone 98

Malawi 98

Senegal 98

Djibouti 98

Morocco 98

United Arab Emirates 98

2007 – 2008 Gallup Poll

Top 11 Least Religious Countries

Is religion an important part of your daily life?

Country % Yes

Estonia 14

Sweden 17

Denmark 18

Norway 20

Czech Republic 21

Azerbaijan 21

Hong Kong 22

Japan 25

France 25

Mongolia 27

Belarus 27

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Country

USA

Philippines

Norway

Russia

God

62.8

86.2

20.1

12.4

Afterlife

55

35.2

31.6

16.8

Bible

33.5

53.7

11.2

9.9

Devil

45.4

28.3

13.1

12.5

Hell

49.6

29.6

11.4

13

Heaven

63.1

41.9

23

14.7

Miracles

45.6

27.7

17.8

18.7

God: ”I know God exists and I have no doubts about it”

Afterlife: ”I definitely believe in life after death”

Bible: ”The Bible is the actual word of God and it is to be taken literally, word for word.” 

Devil: ”I definitely believe in the Devil”

Hell: ”I definitely believe in Hell”

Heaven: ”I definitely believe in Heaven”

Miracles: ”I definitely believe in religious miracles”

International Social Survey Program (ISSP) 1991http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_comp.htm

http://www.gallup.com/poll/27682/onethird-americans-believe-bible-literally-true.aspx

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Which best describes the Bible?

35%

48%

17%

Actual word of God, to be taken literally

Inspired by theword of God

Ancient fables,history, legends

recorded by man

Averages of May 2005, May 2006, May 2007 Gallup Poll

It is hard to be indifferent to claims which offer explanations about the

nature of right and wrong; the purpose of life;

and what happens to us after death.

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• Why are there religion(s)?

• How do we assess the claims of religion?

• Should we assess the claims of religion?

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Some questions to start …

All cultures in all times have organized their societies around their religious beliefs.

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so where does it all begin?....

Religion: a definition

A Religion is a set of doctrines and practices, often centered upon specific supernatural and moral

claims about reality, the cosmos, and human nature and often arranged

as prayer, ritual or religious law.

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Key terms:• Faith• Doubt• Belief• Truth• Certainty• Reason

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Early religion was the science and technology of its time – inasmuch as its stories sought to

explain and predict; and its practices were designed to influence

natural forces

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The Evolution of Mythology and Religion

“A myth is a religion in which no one any

longer believes.”James Feibleman

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The Evolution of Mythology and Religion

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Who believes what?

Some religions place an emphasis on belief, while others emphasize practice.

Some religions focus on the subjective experience of the religious individual, while others consider the activities of the religious community to be most important.

Some religions claim to be universal, believing their laws and cosmology to be binding for everyone, while others are intended to be practiced only by a closely defined or localized group.

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• Atheism (there is no God)

• Theism (there is one God)

• Polytheism (there are several gods)

• Pantheism (the Universe is God)

The options …

…are there others?

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The varieties of Religion:

• One religion is true and all the rest are false

• All religions are false

• All religions point towards the same underlying truth

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• I think that God exists• I believe that God exists• I know that God exists

What’s the difference?

Religious beliefs can give certainty, meaning and purpose to our lives.

(Atheism is also a belief system which can give certainty, meaning and purpose to our lives.)

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“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary

evidence”Carl Sagan

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… or do they?

Faith: a definition

“Faith is the confident belief or trust inthe truth or trustworthiness of

a person, idea, or thing.”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith

Faith, by definition, demands belief without a need for supporting evidence.

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Allegory of FaithL.S. Carmona (18th Century)

The veil symbolizes a

willingness to believe without seeing evidence

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Snakehandlers in a Church in the

southern United States

George Went Hensleyand the

Dolley Pond Church of God

….and the things religious faith

enable you to do

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Is faith irrational?There is no way we can prove any of the following beliefs, and yet we remain committed to their truth:

• Life is not a dream• Other people have minds• The laws of physics will not break down

tomorrow• The past really happened• I can pass the IB!

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“I respect faith, but doubt is what gives you an education.”

Wilson Mizner (1876 – 1933)

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But remember…

Just because a lot of peoplebelieve something to be true,it doesn’t make it true

Can we use the Truth testswhen thinking about religion…

• Correspondence?• Coherence?• Pragmatism?• Consensus?

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“Acceptance without proof is the fundamental characteristic

of Western religion; Rejection without proof is the

fundamental characteristicof Western science.”

Gary Zukav

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“If we can learn to hold even our deepest beliefs with a

degree of humility, we will be less likely to kill one another

in the name of things we do not fully understand”

Richard van de Lagemaat(ToK for the IB Diploma p.428)

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Discussion questions…

• How do we assess the claims of religion?

• Should religious belief be exposed to rational criticism?

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• Do you know why you believe what you do?

• Is it a set of beliefs you have come to yourself?

• To what extent do you think your religious beliefs have been affected by the society you grew up in?

• Do you think that reason should play a part in determining religious beliefs?

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Suggest ways in which a person’s religious beliefs may affect their understanding of:

• Science• History• Art• Ethics

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Key points:• Religions are concerned with questions of meaning and

purpose which trouble all human beings

• Faith plays an important role in religion, but people have different views about what faith is and whether or not it is rational

• The fact that there are many different religions in the world raises the question of whether they all contradict one another or whether they all point towards the same underlying truth

• All religions are founded on a bedrock of personal experiences, but opinions differ about how such experiences should be interpreted

• Since we will never have the answers to the deepest mysteries, it may be wise to hold our religious beliefs with a degree of humility

Religion

PerceptionHow should

religious experiences be

interpreted?

ReasonWhat arguments are there for the

existence of God?

EthicsAre values based

on religion?

ArtsHow similar is

human creativity to divine

creativity?

HistoryDoes history

reveal some kind of plan or purpose?

Human Sciences

What can psychology tell us

about religious belief?

EmotionWhat role does emotion play in religious belief?

Natural Sciences

Do science and religion contradict

one another?

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The basic command of religion is not,“Do this!” or “Don’t do that!”

It is, simply, “Look!”

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Is there value in mythology?TaK - Religion

If ‘Yes’ – what?

Karl Marx Charles Darwin Sigmund Freud

Three men whose work had a profound impact on religion

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“Question with boldness even the existence of God; because if there be one, He must more

approve of the homage of reason than that of

blindfolded fear”Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)