The Fallacies of Religious Clerics by N. Fakhr - HTML preview
Download the book in PDF, ePub for a complete version.
Contents
The Roots of Religious Clerics’ Fallacies 17
What Leads Someone to Become a Religious Cleric? 17
Why Do Religious Clerics Remain Religious Clerics? 20
Methods Used to Prove That a Religion Is True 24
Choosing the Bad over the Worse 29
Holding On to Belief for Fear of Injustice in the Universe 34
Holding On to Religious Belief to Prevent Immorality 38
How Religious Clerics Respond to Morality as a Standard 49
Examining Some Islamic Rules by the Standard of Morality 56
How Religion Can Lead Some Believers to Set Aside Morality as a Standard 66
Immoral Acts of God or the Gods of Religions 69
Is the Style of the Quran Miraculous? 87
Miracles in the Meaning and Content of the Quran 96
The Absence of Clearly Miraculous Predictions in the Quran 98
Are There No Contradictions in the Quran? 101
Is the Quran Scientifically Miraculous? 114
Miracles Through Answered Prayers 120
Methods for Strengthening People’s Faith in Their Beliefs 145
Praising Those Who Do Not Doubt 145
Treating Converts as Evidence That Their Religion Is True 147
Taking Pride When Scientific Findings Agree with a Religious Rule 149
Methods Religious Clerics Use to Elevate Themselves and Their Religion 152
Presenting Religious Texts and Teachings as the Highest Form of Thought 152
Siding with Social and Political Critics 153
Presenting Themselves as Familiar with Modern Science 154
Misrepresenting Critics as Ignorant 155
Expressing Contempt for Opposing Views 156
Supporting Everything That Is Good 157
Referring to the Hidden Meaning of Religious Rules 161
Taking Satisfaction in the Failures of Empirical Science 163
Discouraging Questions About What We Do Not Understand 167
Showing Scientific and Logical Rigor When Criticizing Other Beliefs 169
Clerics’ Psychological Methods of Responding 172
Using Claims to Explain Why the Promises of Their Religion Have Not Come True 172
Referring the Critic to a Hypothetical Answer 177
Making the Critic’s Questions Seem Sacred and Untouchable 178
Claiming That the Critic Is Merely Being Influenced by Others 179
Diverting the Questioner’s Attention from a Weak Point of the Religion to Its Strong Points 181