In order to download Charlie Rose podcasts to iTunes for transfer to an iPod, you must have iTunes installed. If you do, please click the following link to download the podcast for this interview:
itpc://www.charlierose.com/view/itunes/10564
Otherwise, close this window to continue viewing.
Close
Page 1 of 1
Page 1 of 1
rodralph 10/21/2009 12:38 PM Report
I thought that this was one of the best guests that Charlie has had on in a while. He is a very clear thinker and tackles some important ideas.
doodahdaze 08/23/2009 08:35 PM Report
stryder100 -
You sound like you got a hair up your took-us membrane. I didn't hear Mr. Wright describe himself as an 'atheist'. He sounded more like an agnostic to me (even though he didn't call himself that either). So I ask you, is 'not being an atheist' a license for rudeness? Just as much as 'being an atheist' is?. And just b/c you don't buy the soap opera commercials doesn't mean you can't sing with God. As long as you have good manners, and save the rage for major injustices. You can embark the freedom of Heaven even if it is just good sound sleep. .. Amen
stryder100 08/23/2009 04:27 PM Report
The atheist Mr. Wright mentioned who claims that "religion is the root of all evil" is a straw man. I've been talking about this subject for a long time with many intelligent people and I've never heard anyone make that statement or anything like it. It's the kind of example that would be held up by someone with an anti-atheist agenda. I haven't read Christopher Hitchens - maybe he is the one person who would make such a preposterous statement. Anyone with the ability to think clearly can see that religion is an extremely complex subject.
Mr. Wright's mindset regarding this seems to stem from a prior observation of his that religion has a tendency to bring societies together. Well, it is also used as a tool to push them apart. One would only have to look at Palestine, Kosovo, Ireland, the Inquisition and the Nazi holocaust, to name must a few examples, to see this is true. And while I know religion wasn't the sole cause of these horrors, it was used to justify them.
I suspect the book "The Evolution of God" is a good one, and Mr. Wright raised some good and thought provoking points in his discussion about it on the show. The two above described points caused me to be suspicious of his objectivity though.
ShalomFreedman 08/23/2009 05:53 AM Report
One point which will be minor for most people, but which
Mr. Wright should take note of.
He does not seem to understand that there is a difference from Biblical religion and normative Judaism. The latter is based on not simply the Written but also the Oral law. And in this there is a commandment to believe in a World- to- Come. So the claim that Judaism does not have a concept of the immortality of the individual, is mistaken.
robdverity 08/20/2009 06:04 PM Report
Wasn't aware Paul fell off a horse. That and daze's weather might explain a lot. Doubtless founded in fear, capitalized on by clergy by throwing in the concept of hell - populated by popes? Now that would be scary.
people 08/20/2009 05:02 PM Report
Education itself devoid of morality is not going to solve anything...remember Adolf Hitler and his inner circle.
rtb 08/20/2009 04:02 PM Report
Not a word about Buddhism?
doodahdaze 08/20/2009 02:30 PM Report
Very interesting conversation about religion. It's not hard to imagine how it all came about. Imagine being a hunter-gather and walking across the plains as a storm comes in and then in a split second your buddy in front of you gets ZAPPED by a bolt of lightning. Not to mention weather's influence on growing food. Weather, was the first or primary influence on the early thinking human animal in setting the direction of religion.
And I like how this guy describes how it evolved into a moral compass for social order and inclusion. Ignoranusis can complain about the wars and hypocrisys that religion brings, but if you're here now today, religion has made it possible by taking more steps forward than it takes backwards.
I don't understand the conflict between evolution and God. I believe in both. The extremist on both sides have their heads so far up their asses, they probably are living in the dark ages. Actually they're just control freaks that can't admit that they, don't know something, or even worse, they were WRONG.
REMant 08/20/2009 02:17 PM Report
I can't agree with the idea that religious ideas are separable from "facts on the gound." There are different conceptions of religion and of God or gods and there never seems to have been a time when there weren't. Characteristic of one idea is the coincidence of patriarchy with God and it is difficult on that view to divorce the social or political from the religious. An example is the divine right of kings or of priests and bishops. Another clearly identifies God with maternal love or attachment, and there is an obsessive and perverse concern with atonement. A third, which is clearly more philosophical, establishes the idea of natural justice or what Paul in Corinthians 1 chap 13 called caritas or the love of God. Western literature is chock-a-block with the working out of these ideas. Places to begin might be issues of the Council of Nicea, the writings of Ockham, Locke's Two Treatises of Government, and Montesquieu's Spirit of the Laws. Mr Wright's seems to be the very old-fashioned Whig view somewhat confusing the the last two of these three ideas and clothing it in the language of progress like Smith's or Marx's stages.
Paulp_Nonfiction 08/20/2009 12:30 PM Report
Dear Mr. Rose:
I really enjoyed your show last night. Mind you, I also enjoyed your interviews with the Chinese Ambassador and Dr. Varmus, among others.
In reference to your guest, Mr. Wright, usually, I try not to talk about religion or God because those "topics" are mostly personal. I am the type of person who tries to be sleeveless, if you catch my drift...
Your guest made some biblical and coranic references that were very interesting.In one instance, he alluded/referred to(Saint)Paul. Most equine lovers will agree with me that it was a horse that made him fall on the ground and spurred a deep transformation. Concurrently, brainsurgery specialists will also agree with me that it was his fall (on his head) that changed his whole outlook on life. And finally, geographers will also be eager to point out that Paul was heading for Damascus when that incident occurred...
The essence of Paul's writings is that man must strive for/towards perfection in order to see the light. As human beings, we quickly realize that that is a difficult task because we have so many shortcomings.
That is why religious people believe they need to take some time to pray. Those who don't believe don't pray, instead, they meditate.
If everyone took time or made sure to respect the GOLDEN RULE and on top of that made sure to be simple, humble and forgiving then, the world would then be more peaceful and a better place to live in.
Great show, Sir!
Kudos to you and your team
Sincerely,
Paulp Nonfiction