Deepak Chopra v. Michael Shermer

[saden1]

Originally Posted by Lotus

Given that I personally know several people who have Ph.D.'s in religion and they are very intelligent, creative, and educated people, your "laugh" is your loss.

Now I know that you would not ignorantly dismiss Ph.D.'s in religion out-of-hand. So please tell me, what is it that people study to get a Ph.D. in religion?

And of course it may be argued that your anti-intellectual bias goes hand-in-hand with kids who can't read, write, or think, therefore ushering in the "decline of the modern world" which you claim to decry.

I just want to add that having a Ph. D. in theology is a great accomplishment. At the end of the day though we arrive at what Thomas Paine said:

The study of theology, as it stands in Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authorities; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion. Not anything can be studied as a science, without our being in possession of the principles upon which it is founded; and as this is the case with Christian theology, it is therefore the study of nothing.

-The Age of Reason, Thomas Paine

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by saden1

I just want to add that having a Ph. D. in theology is a great accomplishment. At the end of the day though we arrive at what Thomas Paine said:

Well done.

Some people think that theologians are all religious people. But you don't have to be a religious person to study religion, just as you don't have to be a rock to study geology.

I know some very un-religious people with Ph.D.'s in religion. They study religion so that they can understand reality in a deep, educated way with perspectives not unlike those of Thomas Paine.

Given the violence that sometimes stems from religion, we need people who understand religion in advanced ways, although some people fail to recognize this need.