> So - my Uncles - Father Bob and Father Ray Roh, have started e-mailing me
> quite a bit. Seems they stumbled onto some of my rather, um, uncomplimentary
> religious writings on the web. They have avoided direct confrontation so far
> though, and I have not let on that I know how they found my web presence. As
> I am always starting philosophical trouble, and these men are pretty
> intelligent, I am drawn to contest their belief systems. Of course I do not
> expect any kind of "pseudo-victory" over my favorite topic of discussion, I
> am hoping to come up with enough questions that cannot be answered by well
> studied Catholic priests. From a memetics standpoint - I'm curious where I
> can sow seeds of "questioning" in their minds. I'm pretty tired of the old
> arguments (correct though they may be) I need something new that they have
> probably not seen before. I do care about these guys, so I dont want to
> cause any family aches.
> If anyone has ny idea, I'm listening.
>
> Bill Roh
> Sodom
For this line of thinking, I highly recommend reading _The Mind of the
Bible Believer_; it points out in fine detail many places where the Bible
has important and, according to the author, purposeful, inconsistencies
that induce a particular kind of mindset in the Christian, including an
unwillingness or even inability to focus on those same inconsistencies.
If you're going to try to point them out, you should know where they are,
how they work, and what you're up against.
I don't know whether I agree with the author's claim that the Bible's
memetic structure was consciously designed that way, and for the purposes
of current theology and philosophy, I don't think it matters (though for
history of course it would). But I cannot find fault with his analysis
of the complex interactions of Christian Gospel memetic structure with
the human mind.
The book's somewhat difficult reading, but I think it's worth the trouble.
--Eva