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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Russell Wallace wrote:</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=russell.wallace@gmail.com
href="mailto:russell.wallace@gmail.com">Russell Wallace</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org
href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">ExI chat list</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, January 27, 2006 2:34
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [extropy-chat] Intelligent
Design: I'm not dead yet</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT
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size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><BR></DIV>On 1/27/06, <B
class=gmail_sendername>Samantha Atkins</B> <<A
href="mailto:sjatkins@mac.com">sjatkins@mac.com</A>> wrote:
<DIV><SPAN class=gmail_quote></SPAN>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(204,204,204) 1px solid">How
come? The Crusades and various Israel-Arab conflicts were
paltry<BR>little affairs compared to the major wars of the last
century. The<BR>historical record doesn't make your
case. Now, if we decide to<BR>declare an all out conflict
targeted at one or more major religions, <BR>that would be a dangerous and
foolish thing to do. Let's not go there.</BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
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size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT><BR>I agree. Most followers of the world's major religions are
not enemies of progress. Yes, a minority of fanatics are; the same is true
among atheists; to indiscriminately tag all "faith-based thinkers" as the
enemy is both untrue and unproductive.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Perhaps you are right that "faith-based thinkers"
should not be regarded as the enemy. Perhaps it is
'faith-based thought', not the 'thinker' that is the root danger</FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2>. But the thinker or non-thinker is the agent or vector.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The only atheists that have done significant harm
that I am aware of have only been able to do so because large numbers of people
put faith in them. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>To me "faith-based thinking" rings like a
contradiction in terms. To me faith-based thinking looks the same in its
consequences as non-thought but perhaps</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>you have a different </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>understanding of the word faith. </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Can you offer any examples where faith-based
thinking is progressive, humanistic, extropic, or in any way a net benefit
to people in its consequences?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Brett Paatsch</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>