| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Dr. GroundAxe" |
| Date: |
26 Dec 2006 11:32:01 PM |
| Object: |
Anodyne faith |
There is something that I think most atheists fail to understand about
religionists. Their fear of reality is so great that they will sell
themselves into any nonsense belief system that masks that fear.
Consider for a moment the heart stopping thought that we all dwell upon
from time to time. Why does anything exist? This planet, the countless
others, the atoms from which they are composed, the energy that formed
them, and the very space in which they exist. At some point in time (or
rather at some point outside of it)the primordial building blocks of the
entirety of existence simply 'happened'*. The whole shebang could
conceivably pop out of existence in the blink of an eye. Most people
just aren't psychologically able to cope without the security blanket of
some sort of Godhead. It's perfectly clear that religion is having a
very hard time of late. The Internet has exposed many religionists to
more robust critiques of their respective faiths than they would ever
normally be exposed to by a television media to quick to pander to
religious sensibilities. A lot of this revivalist nonsense is a backlash
against a tide of seeming militant atheism. It's as if the religiously
devout are saying 'to demonstrate our utter contempt for the truths you
have exposed us to we intend to further immerse ourselves in abject
ignorance'. I certainly think the new and energetic atheist movement is
going to have the religionists on the defensive to a far greater extent
than they ever have been before. Interesting times ahead I feel
*Multiverse theories still don't move us away from accepting that at
some point something just happened without cause. Thought experiments
with non linear causality predicated upon the absence of 'time' are all
good and well, but they still don't address the issue. As Lear said to
Cordelia 'nothing will come of nothing', and yet in the case of our
origins clearly it did.
.
|
|
| User: "Scott Richter" |
|
| Title: Re: Anodyne faith |
27 Dec 2006 09:43:10 AM |
|
|
Dr. GroundAxe <groundaxe@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
There is something that I think most atheists fail to understand about
religionists. Their fear of reality is so great that they will sell
themselves into any nonsense belief system that masks that fear.
Consider for a moment the heart stopping thought that we all dwell upon
from time to time. Why does anything exist? This planet, the countless
others, the atoms from which they are composed, the energy that formed
them, and the very space in which they exist. At some point in time (or
rather at some point outside of it)the primordial building blocks of the
entirety of existence simply 'happened'*. The whole shebang could
conceivably pop out of existence in the blink of an eye. Most people
just aren't psychologically able to cope without the security blanket of
some sort of Godhead.
Certainly true. I also believe there may be a genetic component to
religious belief, and think this will be an interesting research area in
the future.
It's perfectly clear that religion is having a very hard time of late.
And, unfortunately, it has returned the favor... :-)
The Internet has exposed many religionists to more robust critiques of
their respective faiths than they would ever normally be exposed to by a
television media to quick to pander to religious sensibilities.
This is a very significant factor; the Internet exposes people to an
overwhelming number of opinions and ideas that they normally would never
experience. I agree that this is changing the conversation about
religion in fundamental ways. Just how this will change societies is
still not clear; the law of unexpected consequences still applies.
A lot of this revivalist nonsense is a backlash against a tide of seeming
militant atheism.
The events of 9/11 and beyond also contributed to a rise in Christian
fundamentalism; fundamentalism begets fundamentalism. I fear this effect
may overwhelm all others.
It does, however, open the door to the topic of how dangerous
fundamentalism is today, and may help turn societies away from endorsing
and supporting radical fundamentalism.
It's as if the religiously devout are saying 'to demonstrate our utter
contempt for the truths you have exposed us to we intend to further
immerse ourselves in abject ignorance'.
It certainly appears that some individuals on this newsgroup fall into
that category. It's hard to gauge how widespread it actually is,
although the evangelical movement in America is committed to the goal of
injecting religious ignorance into politics and education.
I certainly think the new and energetic atheist movement is going to have
the religionists on the defensive to a far greater extent than they ever
have been before.
Yes, but it has a long way to go, in America anyways. At least the
conversation is beginning to change, and the taboos against criticizing
religion are crumbling. It has been encouraging to see the response to
the recent books by Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and others.
Interesting times ahead I feel
Indeed...
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Michael Gray" |
|
| Title: Re: Anodyne faith |
27 Dec 2006 02:41:18 AM |
|
|
On Wed, 27 Dec 2006 05:32:01 GMT, "Dr. GroundAxe"
<groundaxe@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
- Refer: <lznkh.21760$k74.10047@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk>
There is something that I think most atheists fail to understand about
religionists. Their fear of reality is so great that they will sell
themselves into any nonsense belief system that masks that fear.
Consider for a moment the heart stopping thought that we all dwell upon
from time to time. Why does anything exist? This planet, the countless
others, the atoms from which they are composed, the energy that formed
them, and the very space in which they exist. At some point in time (or
rather at some point outside of it)the primordial building blocks of the
entirety of existence simply 'happened'*. The whole shebang could
conceivably pop out of existence in the blink of an eye. Most people
just aren't psychologically able to cope without the security blanket of
some sort of Godhead. It's perfectly clear that religion is having a
very hard time of late. The Internet has exposed many religionists to
more robust critiques of their respective faiths than they would ever
normally be exposed to by a television media to quick to pander to
religious sensibilities. A lot of this revivalist nonsense is a backlash
against a tide of seeming militant atheism. It's as if the religiously
devout are saying 'to demonstrate our utter contempt for the truths you
have exposed us to we intend to further immerse ourselves in abject
ignorance'. I certainly think the new and energetic atheist movement is
going to have the religionists on the defensive to a far greater extent
than they ever have been before. Interesting times ahead I feel
*Multiverse theories still don't move us away from accepting that at
some point something just happened without cause. Thought experiments
with non linear causality predicated upon the absence of 'time' are all
good and well, but they still don't address the issue. As Lear said to
Cordelia 'nothing will come of nothing', and yet in the case of our
origins clearly it did.
Smallpox mutated too, before sane people finally eliminated the
scourge.
I bet if it could have talked, it would have sounded exctly like the
fundies who are carriers of a toxic theist meme.
Doctors do not give up when an infection returns.
They hit even harder, with multiple weapons.
Sane people need to persist in the same manner, until the more
destructive religious memes are exterminated.
Just as there are benign bacteria that should be left alone, there are
a few benign religions, such as Jainism.
The innoculations, and antitheistics need to be targetted to the more
widespread malignant memes, such as Islam and Christianity.
I wait for the day when there are only two copies of the bible or
quran left in a level 4 isolation facility, for possible future
research!
--
.
|
|
|
|
| User: "Al Klein" |
|
| Title: Re: Anodyne faith |
27 Dec 2006 02:43:31 PM |
|
|
On Wed, 27 Dec 2006 05:32:01 GMT, "Dr. GroundAxe"
<groundaxe@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
Why does anything exist?
Why do we have to know right now? No one knew what caused the sun to
cross the sky for millions of years, but they woke up every morning of
their lives anyway.
The whole shebang could conceivably pop out of existence in the blink of an eye.
If it did we would too, so we'd never know.
Maturity is realizing that the only thing that's real is reality.
.
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
