[H/T MOHIB EBRAHIM] -- FS.BLOG -- When I was young, I thought other people could give me wisdom. Now that I'm older, I know this isn't true. Wisdom is earned, not given. When other people give us the answer, it belongs to them and not us. While we might achieve the outcome we desire, it comes from dependence, not insight. Instead of thinking for ourselves, we're dependent on the insight of others. The abundant directives, rules, and simplicities offered by others may make us feel like we're getting smarter, but it's nothing more than the illusion of knowledge. Others help you but they can't do the work for you. Thinking is something you have to do by yourself. Owning wisdom for oneself requires ...

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THEGUARDIAN.COM -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: We post this scathing criticism of the New Atheists to showcase their utter ignorance (or wilful misrepresentations) about Islam. It reflects their similar utter ignorance (or wilful misrepresentations) over arguments against God, per the scathing criticisms against them on that topic in our other posts today.] ARTICLE: Consider this ignorant remark by New Atheist Richard Dawkins: "Islam [is the] greatest force for evil today." Or this ignorant one by New Atheist Sam Harris that "we" -- the civilized peoples of the west -- are at war with "millions" of Muslims. Indeed, Harris repeatedly separates "civilized" people from Muslims: "All civilized nations must unite in condemnation of a theology that now threatens to destabilize much of the earth." Consider, too, another ignorant remark by Harris: "The outrage that Muslims feel over US and British foreign policy is primarily the product of theological concerns.... Because of what they believe about God and the afterlife, devout Muslims tend to reflexively side with other Muslims, no matter how sociopathic their behaviour." Can you believe those primitive, irrational Muslims get angry when ...

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EVOLUTIONNEWS.ORG -- New Atheism is dead. It was conceptually dead from birth, but now it's stopped twitching. New Atheism never had a chance. It was intellectual vapor, and its practitioners were repellent fools. They were defeated by atheism's perennial Achilles' heal: they were forced to explain themselves. Atheism never reigns openly and explicitly for long; it cannot withstand even cursory scrutiny. In "New Atheism: An Autopsy," Ben Sixsmith wrote "To be sure, New Atheists could be very, very bad at arguing that God does not exist. There was, for example, Lawrence Krauss writing a book about how something can come from nothing while attributing material qualities to the latter. There was Richard Dawkins trying to refute the famous 'Five Ways' of Aquinas without even attempting to ...

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DISCOVERY.ORG -- On this episode of ID the Future, Jerusalem-based guest host Ira Berkowitz talks with Rabbi Moshe Averick about his book "Nonsense of a High Order: The Confused World of Modern Atheism," a critique of the the new atheists' views on nature. Rabbi Averick shares his spirited takedown of the multiverse theory for the origin of life, dismantles the "God of the Gaps" objection to intelligent design, and wonders why people who criticize books like his think they can do so intelligently without taking the time to read them. ...

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