Comments | tacit: Some thoughts about atheists

tacit

Some thoughts about atheists

Mar 08, 2011 15:45

I've been seeing an uptick lately in popular media about atheism. A lot of these things I've been seeing start with "Atheists are..." and then lay out the premise that folks who don't believe in some kind of supernatural god have all sorts of negative characteristics, whether they be fat or immoral or selfish or whatever ( Read more... )

philosophy, atheism, religion, credulity

Comments 42

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tacit March 9 2011, 02:08:41 UTC

That's an excellent point, actually. I've reworded that part. Thanks! :)

catwoman980 March 9 2011, 03:07:26 UTC

Religious folks (christians in specific) who want the church to get credit for good works seem to be missing the point, to me.

You're supposed to be kind for the sake of kindness, and if glory is supposed to go anywhere shouldn't it be going towards whatever deity or deities are being worshiped/honored?

If you're feeding the homeless, and someone asks you why, the gracious answer is not "let me talk to you for three hours about my personal worldview and try to get you to subscribe to it before walking away and forgetting about you completely." The gracious answer is "because you're valuable, and deserve it."

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tacit March 9 2011, 02:09:12 UTC

Link isn't resolving for me at the moment.

datan0de March 9 2011, 05:04:19 UTC

Try reloading it. It's worth it!

Great link, M!

zaiah March 9 2011, 02:36:42 UTC

Much of this post seems to be saying to me that 'Atheists are rationalists.' While it does seem that many rationalists ARE atheist the reverse does not hold. Many individuals who self-describe as atheist are just as swayed by magical thinking and Type I errors in decision making. They may reject the previous claims of god and religion but have not wholly rejected the mysticism or magical thinking. I saw this frequently at the University and have actually had to pull the 'you are treating your (or what you are calling) science as a belief system and a moral clause.' This point might not fit in your current essay, but bears mentioning. Just because an individual has rejected the idea of a god does not mean they have embraced rationalism. The human brain is still a tool of rationalizing not necessarily reasoning.

catwoman980 March 9 2011, 03:09:50 UTC

I don't really think the post is saying Atheists are anything. It's merely pointing out some of the things they're not.

Another false claim to add to the list may be "Atheists are a monolith, and can be represented by a singular source or worldview."

zaiah March 9 2011, 03:11:27 UTC

Oh! I missed an important point!

I really liked this. :) I think the completed essay, when you are don tinkering with it, will make a great addition to your website and I enjoyed the thought candy to mull over my own preconceptions and hangups. *fierce hugs!*

petite_lambda March 9 2011, 11:26:17 UTC

You're absolutely right! I was like that myself. I'm from the ex-SU, originally, so I never believed in gods and always identified as atheist; but only in the last years I actually learned about rationalism, scepticism, the scientific method etc. and realized just how much bullshit I did believe in...

aztecknight March 9 2011, 02:49:43 UTC

I am curious if you have a fit for one of my key beliefs about God:

God is a multi dimensional being that pass through our dimension at various points. As a multi dimensional being, it appears different each time it passes through, just a a complex three dimensional object appears different ever time it passes through a two dimensional plain. It can not be explained in a three dimensional way.

Another key belief is that someday we will be able to understand this based on the advances in science we create. But that is a long time from now.

I also understand that there could be no God, god like being, or anything else beyond what we see. But since I see that there could be, I choose to believe in it.

Now if we are talking about what organized religion has done over the centuries, I can understand how that can make people into atheists.

the_xtina March 9 2011, 05:46:27 UTC

I also understand that there could be no God, god like being, or anything else beyond what we see. But since I see that there could be, I choose to believe in it.

Why?

aztecknight March 9 2011, 06:37:09 UTC

I am complete optimist. The option that there is more to this life than what we can see with our three dimensional senses is one i choose to accept. I will also acknowledge that I could be 100% wrong about this.

The key to me, is not using your god as a crutch. You are making choices. You are following a moral code setup by humans. I think everyone of us is as close to the divine as any other and following the words of someone else on what is right and wrong is not following the goodness of God.

the_xtina March 9 2011, 08:23:29 UTC

I... honestly can't think of what to say here.

catwoman980 March 9 2011, 02:59:59 UTC

I wrote a bit about the third claim, recently. It's not really written from an atheist perspective, mind you, so much as from the perspective that religious people should find those sorts of claims about morality abhorrent as well. Honestly, any decent person should reject the notion that they would rape/murder/do horrible things if only they could just get away with it.