Where Religion Went Wrong - Sam Keen

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/03/11/Sam_Keen_In_The_Absence_of_God

Sam Keen, author of In the Absence of God, explores what he believes is the fallacy of organized religion by tracing the five evolutionary stages through which most have progressed. "We have to find the story that is everybody's story," he says."The essence of religion is a series of primal experiences, which belong to us only because...we share the human condition."

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As global residents within a culture of fanaticism, materialism, and greed, is it possible to bridge our differences and dwell in harmony in the twenty-first century? Celebrated author Sam Keen believes that a new understanding of the role of religion in our lives is essential for such a transformation. And that nothing less than our existence hangs in the balance.

In In the Absence of God, Keen offers a provocative critique of the present state of religion and leads the way down a new path -- one of renewal for us and our troubled society. By recovering the experience of the sacred, Keen argues, we may renew our own relationship with God and discover the religious commonality we all share, ending bridging differences that have divided Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others.

What does religion offer us in today's world? How has religion failed us? Must we choose between religious fundamentalism and atheism -- or is there a hopeful alternative? How can religion address the challenges and violence we face every day?

Keen reminds us that the answers to these questions lie at the heart of religion and shows us how to access them. By reviving the sacred in everyday life through an appreciation of such elementary emotions as wonder, gratitude, anxiety, joy, grief, reverence, compassion, outrage, hope, and humility, we may rediscover God for ourselves and find a way to live in peace. - Berkeley Arts and Letters

Sam Keen is a noted author and lecturer, who has written thirteen books on philosophy and religion. He earned graduate degrees from the Harvard Divinity School and Princeton University, and spent twenty years working as an editor of Psychology Today. Keen co-produced the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary "Faces of the Enemy," and was the subject of a PBS special with Bill Moyers titled "Your Mythic Journey."

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[CanadianFate]

"The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard, who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by 'God,' one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity." - Carl Sagan

[abarbar06]

@CanadianFate everytime i read a quote I find that I agree with to the fullest degree, i find out its by carl sagan

[loll0lloll0lloll0l]

"mosslim"

[Gepetto48]

@ChsSami  Is there something wrong with making a profit? Why don't you refuse your paycheck then?

[Gepetto48]

@kristineurie44 Please stop you're idiotic drivel. No one disputes Jesus existed. So did lots of carpenters around that time. And he may have indeed been "enlightened" . So what. Doesn't mean he was the Son of God born of a virgin. Use your head.

[squamish4244]

All the chatter below is obscuiring this guy's main point: that the foundation of all religion is an experience of the luminous in all things, in the ordinary as extraordinary. A first-person experience that is beyond all conceptual frameworks or ideas we may have about existence that renders the intellectual gymnastics of theist vs. atheist arguments, sacred texts, chapters and verses, and so on, meaningless.

[ActiveAnimeEnt]

Btw, Im a Atheist. I like Buddhism though. Buddha's words of wisdom help me in daily life. And if this guys book were to become big. People would see him as a Buddha type figure probably. Because he is only educating the world & giving his words of wisdom. btw, I agree with %100 of what this guy is saying. I think he was missing a little stuff explaining where religion went wrong. But I didn't read his book yet. So I cant say much. :P

[ActiveAnimeEnt]

This guy is contradicting himself. He wants to teach what he learned about the world to the world. That makes him the very 1st thing to start a religion. Regardless whether he doesn't like religion or not, if he were to become big & change the world with his book or beliefs; in time, his story would change. His story would probably involve supernatural things whether he'd like it or not. But who knows? We live in a more advanced world. Its easier to document things. So its like a paradox.

[taiwanoob]

Where did religion go wrong? Let's see, ummmm..... Genesis verse 1.

[khuggf]

This guy is quite clever, I might join him in Silence whilst the whole world rambles on.

[peardan]

I hate how christians try say those who dont believe are arrogant and it says that we are in the bibe. Im not arrogant, I just dont want to mindlessly put my entire faith in something that refuses to give those with sincere questions and doubts, logical answers. All I get is "Because the bible says so". My question is, what proof did you come across that made you put your faith in it.

Its an endless loop of questions been blown off by illogical and unsupported answers.