INTELLIGENT DESIGN

Intelligent design refers to a scientific research program as well as a

community of scientists, philosophers and other scholars who seek evidence
of design in nature. The theory of intelligent design holds that certain features
of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause,
not an undirected process such as natural selection. Through the study and
analysis of a system's components, a design theorist is able to determine
whether various natural structures are the product of chance, natural law,
intelligent design, or some combination thereof. Such research is conducted
by observing the types of information produced when intelligent agents act.
Scientists then seek to find objects which have those same types of
informational properties which we commonly know come from intelligence.
Intelligent design has applied these scientific methods to detect design in
irreducibly complex biological structures, the complex and specified
information content in DNA, the life-sustaining physical architecture of the
universe, and the geologically rapid origin of biological diversity in the fossil
record during the Cambrian explosion approximately 530 million years ago.



SCIENCE Vs. RELIGION
Science vs. Religion believes that faith is determined by accidental causes; it
has no necessary relation to truth, a strong persuasion, but no objective
certitude. It embraces error as well as truth, and embraces it with equal
affection. But reason, in its proper nature, is identical with the actual truth of
things, that is, their relation in the mind of God; and human reason, on any
intelligible theory of God's government, must be a continual approximation to
absolute truth....

Reason requires the nutriment and impulse furnished by faith. Faith Requires
the discreet elaboration of reason. The one has substance; the other, the
form. Reason alone would give us a world without God, bodies without spirits,
earth without heaven, a day without a morrow, a way without a goal. Faith
alone would give us a pantheon of questionable divinities, a pandemonium of
unquestionable fiends, an overshadowing theocracy for civil rule, a
dispensation of dark ages without end.

Scientists say: "Extraordinary claims require extraodinary proof."
Theologians say: That is a double standard since Scientists often do not apply
it to their discoveries. General relativity for instance was proven on the basis
of subtle effects involving the orbit of the planet Mercury, etc., and slight
displacement of starlight when viewed near the sun, evidence hardly qualifying
as extraordinary.

Science versus Religion

Gather Empirical Facts <-???-> Study an Ancient and Revered Book
(the "evidence") (believed to be God's word)
| |
\/ \/
Use Critical Reasoning <-???-> Accept it by Faith
(based on the evidence) (based on instinct, a feeling, intuition?)
| |
\/ \/
Form A Tentative Theory <-???-> Revealed Truth
(Either the reasoning or (must not be doubted?)
the facts may be wrong, so
best if submitted to a jury of
one's peers for their agreement.)



MORMONISM
This is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious
tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded
by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism.

Mormonism is a form of Christian primitivism that shares a common set of
beliefs with the rest of the Latter Day Saint movement, including use of, and
belief in, the Bible, as well as other religious texts including the Book of
Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants.

Smith told his followers that he had seen a vision of God the Father and Jesus
Christ in spring 1820 in answer to his question of which sect he should join.
Smith's vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ as two separate beings was
reportedly the basis for the difference in doctrine between Mormonism's view
of the nature of God and that of orthodox Christianity. Smith's 1838 written
account of this vision is considered by some Mormon denominations to be
scripture and is contained in a book called "The Pearl of Great Price." Smith
further claimed that in answer to his prayer: "I was answered [by Jesus] that I
must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who
addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that
those professors were all corrupt; that: "they draw near to me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments
of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof."
[4]
By
1830, Smith reported that he had been instructed that God would use him to
re-establish the true Christian church and that the Book of Mormon would be
the means of establishing correct doctrine for the restored church.
SPIRITUAL ABUSE
Is a serious form of abuse which occurs when a person in a cult-religious
authority or a person with a unique spiritual practice misleads and maltreats
another person in the name of a deity (god) or church or in the mystery of any
spiritual concept. Spiritual abuse often refers to an abuser using spiritual or
cult-religious rank in taking advantage of the victim's spirituality (mentality and
passion on spiritual matters) by putting the victim in a state of unquestioning
obedience to an abusive authority. Spiritual abuse refers to the use of spiritual
knowledge to deprive, torture, degrade, isolate, control, or even kill others. It
is used by evil minded spiritualists, sometimes, including cult-religious leaders
to gain advantage or exercise control over others. Being an 'action of man', in
worst case scenarios, spiritual abuse can otherwise be called 'spiritual
terrorism'.
It includes any of the following:
Psychological and emotional abuse
Physical abuse that includes physical injury, deprivation of sustenance
Sexual abuse
Any act by deeds or words that demean, humiliate or shame the natural
worth and dignity of a person as a human being
Submission to spiritual authority without any right to disagree; intimidation
Unreasonable control of a person's basic right to make a choice on spiritual
matters
False accusation and repeated criticism by negatively labeling a person as
disobedient, rebellious, lacking faith, demonized, apostate, enemy of the
church or a deity (a god)
Prevention from practicing faith or Spiritualism
Isolation or separation from family and friends due to cult-religious or
Spiritual affiliation
Exclusivity; dismissal of an outsider's criticism and labeling an outsider as an
imaginary demon or devil
Withholding information and giving of information only to a selected few
Conformity to a dangerous or unnatural cult-religious view and practice
Hostility that includes shunning, (relational aggression, parental alienation)
and persecution


NEW AGE MOVEMENT
The New Age (NAM) movement has many sub-divisions, but it is generally a
collection of Eastern-influenced metaphysical thought systems, a
conglomeration of theologies, hopes, and expectations held together with an
eclectic teaching of salvation, of "correct thinking," and "correct knowledge." It
is a theology of "feel-goodism," "universal tolerance," and "moral relativism."
A. In the NAM Man is central. He is viewed as divine, as co-creator, as the hope
for future peace and harmony. A representative quote might be: "I am
affected only by my thoughts. It needs but this to let salvation come to the
entire world. For in this single thought is everyone released at last from
fear."
B. Unfortunately for the NAM, the fear from which they want to be released
might very well be the fear of damnation, of conviction of sin, and it is even,
sometimes, fear of Christianity and Christians. Though the NAM is tolerant
of almost any theological position, it is opposed to the "narrow-
mindedness" of Christianity that teaches Jesus is the only way and that
there are moral absolutes.
C. The NAM is difficult to define because "there is no hierarchy, dogma,
doctrine, collection plate, or membership." It is a collection, an assortment
of different theologies with the common threads of toleration and
divergence weaving through its tapestry of "universal truth."
D. The term "New Age" refers to the "Aquarian Age" which, according to New
Age followers, is dawning. It is supposed to bring in peace and
enlightenment and reunite man with God. Man is presently considered
separated from God not because of sin (Isaiah 59:2), but because of lack of
understanding and knowledge concerning the true nature of God and
reality.
HOMOSEXUALITY
Is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the
same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an
enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affection, or romantic
attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same sex; "it also refers to
an individual's sense of personal and social identity based on those attractions,
behaviours expressing them, and membership in a community of others who
share them."
Homosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation, along
with bisexuality and heterosexuality, within the heterosexual-homosexual
continuum (with asexuality sometimes considered the fourth). Scientific and
medical understanding is that sexual orientation is not a choice, but rather a
complex interplay of biological and environmental factors. While some
religious organizations hold the view that homosexual activity is unnatural or
dysfunctional, research shows that homosexuality is an example of normal
variation in human sexuality and not a source of negative psychological
effects. Prejudice and discrimination against homosexual and bisexual people,
however, have been shown to cause psychological harm.
The most common terms for homosexual people are lesbian for women
and gay for men, though gay is also used to refer generally to homosexual men
and women. The number of people who identify as gay or lesbianand the
proportion of people who have same-sex sexual experiencesare difficult for
researchers to estimate reliably for a variety of reasons.


SCIENTOLOGY

Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by L. Ron
Hubbard (19111986), starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-
helpsystem, Dianetics. Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion, and in
1953 incorporated the Church of Scientology in Camden, New Jersey.
Scientology teaches that people are immortal beings who have forgotten their
true nature. Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counselling
known as auditing, in which practitioners aim to consciously re-experience
painful or traumatic events in their past in order to free themselves of their
limiting effects. Study materials and auditing courses are made available to
members in return for specified donations. Scientology is legally recognized as
a tax-exempt religion in the United States and some other countries, and the
Church of Scientology emphasizes this as proof that it is a bona fide religion. In
other countries, notably France, Germany, and the United Kingdom,
Scientology does not have comparable religious status.
The Church of Scientology is one of the most controversial new religious
movements to have arisen in the 20th century. It has often been described as
a cult that financially defrauds and abuses its members, charging exorbitant
fees for its spiritual services. The Church of Scientology has consistently
used litigation against such critics, and its aggressiveness in pursuing its foes
has been condemned as harassment. Further controversy has focused on
Scientology's belief that souls ("thetans") reincarnate and have lived on other
planets before living on Earth, and that some of the related teachings are not
revealed to practitioners until they have paid thousands of dollars to the
Church of Scientology. Another controversial belief held by Scientologists is
that the practice of psychiatry is destructive and abusive and must be
abolished.
The Scientology symbol is composed of the letter S, which stands
for Scientology, and the ARC and KRC triangles, two important concepts in
Scientology.

RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

Religious pluralism is an expression concerning acceptance of various religions,
and is used in a number of related ways:
As the name of the worldview according to which one's religion is not the
sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus that at least some truths and
true values exist in other religions.
As acceptance of the concept that two or more religions with mutually
exclusive truth claims are equally valid. This posture often emphasizes
religion's common aspects.
Sometimes as a synonym for ecumenism, i.e., the promotion of some level
of unity, co-operation, and improved understanding between different
religions or different denominations within a single religion.
As term for the condition of harmonious co-existence between adherents
of different religions or religious denominations.
As a social norm and not merely a synonym for religious diversity.

Interfaith dialogue
Religious pluralism is sometimes used as a synonym for interfaith dialogue.
Interfaith dialogue refers to dialogue between members of different religions
for the goal of reducing conflicts between their religions and to achieve agreed
upon mutually desirable goals. Inter-religious dialogue is difficult if the
partners adopt a position of particularism, i.e. if they only care about the
concerns of their own group, but is favoured by the opposite attitude
of universalism, where care is taken for the concerns of others.
RADICAL FEMINISM

Radical feminism is a current theoretical perspective within feminism that
focuses on the theory of patriarchy as a system of power that organizes society
into a complex of relationships based on an assumption that male
supremacy oppresses women. Radical feminism aims to challenge and
overthrow patriarchy by opposing standard gender roles and oppression of
women and calls for a radical reordering of society. Early radical feminism,
arising within second-wave feminism in the 1960s, typically viewed patriarchy
as a "transhistorical phenomenon" prior to or deeper than other sources
of oppression, "not only the oldest and most universal form of domination but
the primary form" and the model for all others. Later politics derived from
radical feminism ranged from cultural feminism to more syncretic politics that
placed issues of class, economics, etc. on a par with patriarchy as sources of
oppression.

Radical feminists locate the root cause of women's oppression in patriarchal
gender relations, as opposed to legal systems (as in liberal feminism) or class
conflict (as in socialist feminism and Marxist feminism.)
Radical feminists in Western society assert that their society is a patriarchy in
which men are the primary oppressors of women. Radical feminists seek to
abolish patriarchy. Radical feminism posits the theory that, due to patriarchy,
women have come to be viewed as the "other" to the male norm and as such
have been systematically oppressed and marginalized. They also believe that
the way to deal with patriarchy and oppression of all kinds is to address the
underlying causes of these problems through revolution.
POSTMODERNISM
Postmodernism can be described as a set of critical, strategic and rhetorical
practices employing concepts such as difference, repetition, the trace, the
simulacrum, and hyper-reality to destabilize other concepts such as presence,
identity, historical progress, epistemic certainty, and the univocity of meaning.
The later nineteenth century is the age of modernity as an achieved reality,
where science and technology, including networks of mass communication and
transportation, reshape human perceptions. There is no clear distinction, then,
between the natural and the artificial in experience. Indeed, many proponents
of postmodernism challenge the viability of such a distinction tout court,
seeing in achieved modernism the emergence of a problem the philosophical
tradition has repressed. A consequence of achieved modernism is what
postmodernists might refer to as de-realization. De-realization affects both the
subject and the objects of experience, such that their sense of identity,
constancy, and substance is upset or dissolved. Important precursors to this
notion are found in Kierkegaard, Marx and Nietzsche.

SHAMANISM
Shamanism is an anthropological term for a range of beliefs and practices
relating to communication with the spirit world. A shaman is a person
regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of good and evil
spirits, who typically enters a trance state during a ritual, and
practices divination and healing.
Mircea Eliade writes, "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and
perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = "technique of religious
ecstasy". Shamanism encompasses the belief that shamans are intermediaries
or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are
said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting
the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and
wholeness.
The shaman also enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions
to problems afflicting the community. Shamans may visit other
worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate
illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates
primarily within the spiritual world, which in turn affects the human world. The
restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment.


EVANGELICALISM
Transformations in American economics, politics and intellectual culture found
their parallel in a transformation of American religion in the decades following
independence, as the United States underwent a widespread flowering of
religious sentiment and unprecedented expansion of church membership
known as the Second Great Awakening. Methodist and Baptist denominations
experienced a surge of membership, often at the expense of other
denominations, prompting a move toward liberalization and competitiveness
on the part of the Anglican, Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches. The
numerical success of the Methodists and Baptists lay primarily in their reliance
on itinerant preachers who actively brought the message of the church to the
people, converting great numbers through emotionally charged revivals. These
revivals occurred on a scale and with a frequency previously unseen in the
United States, and usually struck more conservative clergymen as excessive
emotionalism masquerading as religion. With the maturation of revivalism and
the evolution of a distinct revivalist methodology aimed at converting people
en masse, the age of evangelicalism had arrived, with the Protestants leading
the charge.

SECULARISM
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and
the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and
religious dignitaries. In one sense, secularism may assert the right to be free
from religious rule and teachings, and the right to freedom from governmental
imposition of religion upon the people within a state that is neutral on matters
of belief. The purposes and arguments in support of secularism vary widely. In
European laicism, it has been argued that secularism is a movement
toward modernization, and away from traditional religious values (also known
as "secularisation"). This type of secularism, on a social or philosophical level,
has often occurred while maintaining an official state church or other state
support of religion. In the United States, some argue that state secularism has
served to a greater extent to protect religion from governmental interference,
while secularism on a social level is less prevalent. Within countries as well,
differing political movements support secularism for varying reasons.

INTERFAITH DIALOG
The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive
interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e., "faiths")
and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional
levels. It is distinct from syncretism or alternative religion, in that dialogue
often involves promoting understanding between different religions to
increase acceptance of others, rather than to synthesize new beliefs.
Throughout the world there are local, regional, national and international
interfaith initiatives; many are formally or informally linked and constitute
larger networks or federations.
The term interreligious dialogue has the same meaning as interfaith dialogue.

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian, restorationist, Christian denomination
with non-Trinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion
reports worldwide membership of over 7.65 million adherents involved
in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual
Memorial attendance of over 19.3 million. They are directed by the Governing
Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, a group of elders in Brooklyn, New York, that
establishes and controls all doctrines. Jehovah's Witnesses' beliefs are based
on their interpretations of the Bible, with a preference for their own
translation, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. They believe that
the destruction of the present world system at Armageddon is imminent, and
that the establishment of God's kingdom on earth is the only solution for all
problems faced by humankind.
The group emerged from the Bible Student movementfounded in the late
1870s by Charles Taze Russell with the formation of Zion's Watch Tower Tract
Societywith significant organizational and doctrinal changes under the
leadership of Joseph Franklin Rutherford. The name Jehovah's witnesses, based
on Isaiah 43:1012, was adopted in 1931 to clearly distinguish themselves from
other Bible Student groups.
Jehovah's Witnesses are best known for their door-to-door preaching,
distributing literature such as The Watchtower and Awake!, and refusing
military service and blood transfusions. They consider use of the
name Jehovah vital for proper worship. They reject Trinitarianism, inherent
immortality of the soul, and hellfire, which they consider to be unscriptural
doctrines. They do not observe Christmas, Easter, birthdays, or other holidays
and customs they consider to have pagan origins incompatible with
Christianity. Adherents commonly refer to their body of beliefs as "the truth"
and consider themselves to be "in the truth". Jehovah's Witnesses consider
secular society to be morally corrupt and under the influence of Satan, and
limit their social interaction with non-Witnesses.
Congregational disciplinary actions include disfellowshipping, their term for
formal expulsion and shunning. Members who formally leave are considered
disassociated and are also shunned. Dis-fellowshipped and disassociated
members may eventually be reinstated if they request it.
The religion's position regarding conscientious objection to military service and
refusal to salute national flags has brought it into conflict with some
governments. Consequently, Jehovah's Witnesses have been persecuted and
their activities are banned or restricted in some countries. Persistent legal
challenges by Jehovah's Witnesses have influenced legislation related to civil
rights in various countries.


BUDDHISM
(Based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama)
Buddhism currently has about 376 million followers and is generally listed as
the world's fourth largest religion after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. It was
founded in Northern India by Siddhartha Gautama (circa 563 to 460 BCE) and
has spread into much of the Far East. It is making major inroads into North
America
Core beliefs of Buddhism
Buddhism, like most of the great religions of the world, is divided into a
number of different traditions. However, most traditions share a common set
of fundamental beliefs.
One fundamental belief of Buddhism is often referred to as reincarnation -- the
concept that people are reborn after dying. In fact, most individuals go through
many cycles of birth, living, death and rebirth. A practicing Buddhist
differentiates between the concepts of rebirth and reincarnation. In
reincarnation, the individual may recur repeatedly. In rebirth, a person does
not necessarily return to Earth as the same entity ever again. He compares it to
a leaf growing on a tree. When the withering leaf falls off, a new leaf will
eventually replace it. It is similar to the old leaf, but it is not identical to the
original leaf.
After many such cycles, if a person releases their attachment to desire and the
self, they can attain Nirvana. This is a state of liberation and freedom from
suffering.
WICCA
A Neo-pagan, Earth-centred religion
Wicca is the largest of the Neopagan religions. Wiccans have great reverence
for the Earth and for their Goddess and her consort, the horned God. Their
main rule of behaviour is the Wiccan Rede which forbids them from harming
people, including themselves, except in some cases of self-defence.
Many, perhaps most, are solitary practitioners. Others form small groups of
believers, called covens, groves, etc. Because of centuries of religious
propaganda and misinformation, many conservative Christians, and others,
associate Wiccans with Satanists even though the two belief systems are as
different as Christianity and Atheism.