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Richard Dawkins is responding to what he called the "stirring towards atheism" in some Islamic countries with a programme to make free downloads of his books available in Arabic, Urdu, Farsi and Indonesian.
The scientist and atheist said he was "greatly encouraged" to learn that the unofficial Arabic pdf of the book had been downloaded 13m times. Dawkins writes in The God Delusion about his wish that the "open-minded people" who read it will "break free of the vice of religion altogether". It has sold 3.3m copies worldwide since it was published in 2006 – far fewer than the number of Arabic copies that Dawkins believes to have been downloaded illegally.
Richard Dawkins to give away copies of The God Delusion in Islamic countries
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Richard Dawkins to Give Away Copies of the God Delusion in Islamic Countries
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If bankers can count, how come they have eight windows and only four tellers?
(Score: 4, Informative) by NotSanguine on Sunday March 25 2018, @03:47PM (2 children)
My sister in-law has been a practicing member for more than nearly 40 years.
Nichiren Shoshu, as promoted and practiced in the US (not sure if you're in the US), has been roundly castigated by the mother church in Japan and, in fact, the majority of NSA members (Soka Gakkai [sgi-usa.org]) were excommunicated in 1991.
I mean no offense to your brother, but its liturgy is very similar to the prosperity gospels [wikipedia.org] of the Christians. They differ significantly in that NSA isn't constantly demanding money from its members. However, they are focused on the idea that that devotion to, and performance of Gongyo [sgi-usa.org] will bring earthly happiness and material gain.
What's even worse, is that buddhist principles and practices are given short shrift in the focus on material/earthly "happiness" that performing Gongyo will bring, regardless of one's actual belief.
I'm not saying that's what your brother is all about, but NSA/SGI are insufficiently devout to be buddhists, at least according to other buddhists.
N.B.: I adore my sister in-law. She is a kind, caring and loving person, who strives to do good for those around her. In fact, she's not even my sister in-law any more (she and my brother divorced five or six years ago), but I'm happy that she's still, and always will be, part of my life. That said, she's quite prone to magical thinking, which fits right in with NSA/SGI's version of "buddhism."
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 5, Insightful) by srobert on Sunday March 25 2018, @06:01PM
Most all my family live in the U.S and are of protestant origins. When my brother, who has lived in Japan for decades was trying to introduce our family to his new religion, he initially sited the SGI organization. Later he advised that he had been mistaken and advised that he regarded them as somewhat cultish. When religions divide, it's an interesting story. Shall we follow Ali or Abu Bakr? divides the shia from the Sunni. Shall we follow Joseph Smith, Jr. or Brigham Young? divides the Mormons from other LDS groups before the exodus to Utah. To me all religions seem like cults. Humans have a nebulous idea of god in their minds. I don't know if there is any external thing corresponding to that or not. But they make up stories about that nebulous idea and those stories are the origin of all religions.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Monday March 26 2018, @07:41AM
Everything comes down to money in the good old USA. For example, only Scientology could have come from America. It's perhaps related to the fact that they don't believe in social security or public health care. Worship the accumulation of personal wealth above all else and ensure the wealth keeps flowing up to the top.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].