I think this is very interesting reading, but all it points out is that religion misunderstands God - we cannot begin to fathom God's Plan. All religion has it's roots in Babylon - it is appeasement in hopes of favor. Prayer should not be about trying to control or influence or manipulate the forces in the world (growing back amputee limbs, etc), but rather to align one's self with the Powers That Be. Evangelical Christianity teaches that this world is all there is - once this life ends one is judged and eternity is spent in bliss or torture. This is essentially the Ancient Egyptian view of things. No one has ever returned to tell us, so we cannot know.
This argument still does not explain the mysteries of existence. I am not arguing that all phenomena does not have laws that can or will be understood in scientific terms at some point in the future. This does not negate the existence of God - only our perception of what God is or is not. At the very least God is simply the Powers That Be - the collection of all the physical laws we currently understand and those we will and the ones we may never know.

But how interesting is it that the current popular physics theory is string theory, which holds that there are anywhere from 11 to 27 dimensions of existence, most of which are unaware of the other existences? If you take the emotionalism of religion out of this, it sounds a lot like a scientific explanation of the spiritual world.

The comment by Robin is me - I still have not gotten the hang of how this board works - I always forget to log in. Apologies for the confusion.

I don't believe that belief in God is a rational decision; in other words, the decision does not come first, all the rationalization comes after. It's more of a mystical experience. People make a decision to participate in a religion, not to believe in God.

Sorry, my comment was cut off in the display: Disclaimer: I am a Christian, but no fan of organized religion. I thought the best line came after an unpleasant confrontation by a Baptist minister and the little girl said to one of her mothers, Nicky "That man was scary" Nicky replied: "All Baptists are scary"

I did not take that to be an insult toward Baptists, but a clever comment on their black and white view of the sinful world and the urgency of salvation, and so they tend to come off as very "fire and brimstone."

Disclaimer: I am a Christian, but no fan of organized religion. I thought the best line came after an unpleasant confrontation by a Baptist minister and the little girl said to one of her mothers, Nicky "That man was scary" Nicky replied: "All Baptists are scary"

I paid extra attention to the song when I watched it last night (on demand - I'm a little behind). It really is great in every way - good job!

Thanks for this review - I love looking at honest portrayals of other lives. Especially when they are shown with compassion and sweetness.

I really love the show Big Love! I agree with how well written it is and I don't think it is critical of Morminism. It is made very clear they are not LDS. My sister and I watched from the beginning, making comments like "NEVAH!" and lots of "Oh, my god" and "can you even imagine?" Although Bill is a likable character, sometimes you wonder why they don't choke him in his sleep because sometimes he comes off like such an ass! I think it is like watching a train wreck - you just can't look away.

Science should certainly not be unchecked - does Maher think that we should conduct any kind of scientific experiment with no regard to respect for human life or ethics?

Yeah, and then label Andrew's comment as "anti-intellectual"