“The dissemination of pseudoscience, including such things as the fascination with near-death experiences and the growing belief by Americans -- 34 percent of them -- in reincarnation are dangerous. They help to break down the standards of reason.” ReasonHelpingBeliefBreakGrowingDangerousStandardsPercentIncludingReincarnationBreaking DownFascinationPseudoscienceNear DeathNear Death ExperienceDissemination Author:Wendy Kaminer
“One of the reasons I'm drawn to civil libertarianism as opposed to communitarianism is that I don't worry so much about the rights of the majority; a majority is quite capable of enforcing and protecting its own rights.” ReasonWorryCapableLibertarianism Author:Wendy Kaminer
“The scarcest resource these days is reason. What's certainly striking about American culture today is the great hostility toward science and the decline of respect for rational scientific thinking. People seem to think that we are ruled by the scientific method and that we overvalue reason. If there was ever a period when we overvalued reason, I think that it was probably extremely brief. What I see now is a great deal of superstition, as much superstition as there has ever been. There are probably more people who believe in guardian angels than who understand the law of gravity.” PeopleThinkingBelieveReasonTodayCultureAngelRationalGuardianHostilityAmerican CultureGuardian Angel Author:Wendy Kaminer
“Religions, of course, have their own demanding intellectual traditions, as Jesuits and Talmudic scholars might attest.... But, in its less rigorous, popular forms, religion is about as intellectually challenging as the average self-help book. (Like personal development literature, mass market books about spirituality and religion celebrate emotionalism and denigrate reason. They elevate the "truths" of myths and parables over empiricism.) In its more authoritarian forms, religion punishes questioning and rewards gullibility. Faith is not a function of stupidity but a frequent cause of it.” BookSelfReasonHelpingMightFormSpiritualityCoursesLiteratureCausesChallengesSelf HelpDevelopmentMassIntellectualTraditionFunctionRewardsAveragePositive AtheismStupidityMythPersonal DevelopmentPunishmentCelebrateScholarQuestioningParablesEmpiricismGullibilityJesuitSelf Help BooksHelp Book Author:Wendy Kaminer
