| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Brian Westley" |
| Date: |
02 Jan 2004 03:39:39 PM |
| Object: |
atheist basher Paul Vitz to speak at NYU Jan. 8 |
This is the idiot that takes cherry-picked data about specific
atheists to generalize how atheism is "caused" by bad or
absent fathers; as you might expect Vitz says he was an atheist
until his 30s for shallow reasons.
http://www.iberkshires.com/story.php?story_id=13158
Paul Vitz, Professor of Psychology at New York University, will deliver
a lecture entitled "The Psychology of Atheism: Defective Fatherhood and
the Lives of Prominent Atheists.Ó The lecture is scheduled for Thursday,
Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall.
In his lecture, Vitz will draw upon his latest research which culminated
in the book ÒFaith of the Fatherless.Ó He will investigate the Christian
concept of the fatherhood of God In light of the psychological
significance of such a reality, an examination of the lives of some of
historyÕs prominent atheists will help serve to show the psychological
roots of atheism as an abnormal human phenomenon.
....
---
Merlyn LeRoy
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| User: "MarkA" |
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| Title: Re: atheist basher Paul Vitz to speak at NYU Jan. 8 |
03 Jan 2004 11:08:37 AM |
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Brian Westley wrote:
This is the idiot that takes cherry-picked data about specific
atheists to generalize how atheism is "caused" by bad or
absent fathers; as you might expect Vitz says he was an atheist
until his 30s for shallow reasons.
http://www.iberkshires.com/story.php?story_id=13158
Paul Vitz, Professor of Psychology at New York University, will deliver
a lecture entitled "The Psychology of Atheism: Defective Fatherhood and
the Lives of Prominent Atheists.Ó The lecture is scheduled for Thursday,
Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall.
In his lecture, Vitz will draw upon his latest research which culminated
in the book ÒFaith of the Fatherless.Ó He will investigate the Christian
concept of the fatherhood of God In light of the psychological
significance of such a reality, an examination of the lives of some of
historyÕs prominent atheists will help serve to show the psychological
roots of atheism as an abnormal human phenomenon.
...
---
Merlyn LeRoy
I am not a student of Dr. Vitz, but it sounds as though he is making the
unwarrented assumption that atheism is "bad". My kids are atheists
because they have an atheist father who is *not* absent.
MarkA
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| User: "pan" |
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| Title: Re: atheist basher Paul Vitz to speak at NYU Jan. 8 |
03 Jan 2004 07:55:03 PM |
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On Sat, 03 Jan 2004 17:08:37 GMT, MarkA <nobiz@ofyours.com> wrote:
Brian Westley wrote:
This is the idiot that takes cherry-picked data about specific
atheists to generalize how atheism is "caused" by bad or
absent fathers; as you might expect Vitz says he was an atheist
until his 30s for shallow reasons.
http://www.iberkshires.com/story.php?story_id=13158
Paul Vitz, Professor of Psychology at New York University, will deliver
a lecture entitled "The Psychology of Atheism: Defective Fatherhood and
the Lives of Prominent Atheists.Ó The lecture is scheduled for Thursday,
Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall.
In his lecture, Vitz will draw upon his latest research which culminated
in the book ÒFaith of the Fatherless.Ó He will investigate the Christian
concept of the fatherhood of God In light of the psychological
significance of such a reality, an examination of the lives of some of
historyÕs prominent atheists will help serve to show the psychological
roots of atheism as an abnormal human phenomenon.
...
---
Merlyn LeRoy
I am not a student of Dr. Vitz, but it sounds as though he is making the
unwarrented assumption that atheism is "bad". My kids are atheists
because they have an atheist father who is *not* absent.
MarkA
Oh! But according to Vitz's theory your kids could be atheists
because you're too much or a disciplinarian, or because you *don't*
discipline your kids enough!!
Apparently the level of attention and discipline has to be
*just right* ;-), to prevent your kids from becoming atheists.
(It's a wonder that the whole world isn't filled with atheists).
Vitz has let it be known that he is angry that religion has been
viewed as some sort of psychological quirk, by many in his field.
This father-atheist theory is probably just an attempt at
'tit-for-tat' on his part.
pan
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| User: "Carl" |
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| Title: Re: atheist basher Paul Vitz to speak at NYU Jan. 8 |
04 Jan 2004 05:19:47 AM |
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Brian Westley wrote:
This is the idiot that takes cherry-picked data about specific
atheists to generalize how atheism is "caused" by bad or
absent fathers; as you might expect Vitz says he was an atheist
until his 30s for shallow reasons.
http://www.iberkshires.com/story.php?story_id=13158
Paul Vitz, Professor of Psychology at New York University, will deliver
a lecture entitled "The Psychology of Atheism: Defective Fatherhood and
the Lives of Prominent Atheists.Ó The lecture is scheduled for Thursday,
Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall.
In his lecture, Vitz will draw upon his latest research which culminated
in the book ÒFaith of the Fatherless.Ó He will investigate the Christian
concept of the fatherhood of God In light of the psychological
significance of such a reality, an examination of the lives of some of
historyÕs prominent atheists will help serve to show the psychological
roots of atheism as an abnormal human phenomenon.
...
If we follow this line of thought we come to the conclusion that God or
gods are projections of the desires of the "inner child" for a parent
figure. "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name, etc" The
super-parent punishes and the super-parent rewards. The super-parent
protects and the super-parent provides.
We could test this hypothesis by comparing what a god believer
identifies as the characteristics of the "perfect parent" and their own
view of the nature of the god. This experiment wouldn't disprove the
exist of any gods, only show the basis of the identity attributed to
those gods.
Anecdotally, we can see this amongst descriptions of gods provided by
god worshippers within this very forum. One person describes a
particular god as having strict rules and strict punishment. Another
individual will describe the exact same god as being at a distance,
relaxed, and encouraging of actions.
The parent/child bond is one of the first things the brain experiences.
This important experience would have a significant impact on the wiring
of an individual. Where does that parent/child wiring go when we grow up?
The question then becomes, does the super-parent really exist?
--
Creation Science: the ***** child of Scientism and Fundamentalism.
Scientism: science will provide the answer to everything
Fundamentalism: we already know the answer
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| User: "Divin Marquis" |
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| Title: Re: atheist basher Paul Vitz to speak at NYU Jan. 8 |
04 Jan 2004 02:48:48 AM |
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Le Fri, 02 Jan 2004 21:39:39 +0000, Brian Westley a écrit :
This is the idiot that takes cherry-picked data about specific atheists to
generalize how atheism is "caused" by bad or absent fathers; as you might
expect Vitz says he was an atheist until his 30s for shallow reasons.
That BS about parents being this or that causing this or that
psychological disorder is freudian ***** and has long since been
debunked.
As for me, I had perfectly normal parents, not divorced, mother at home,
father working regular shifts, and I've always been an atheist, and so is
my second brother.
Same holds true for most atheists I know.
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| User: "pan" |
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| Title: Re: atheist basher Paul Vitz to speak at NYU Jan. 8 |
03 Jan 2004 07:17:27 AM |
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On 02 Jan 2004 21:39:39 GMT, Brian Westley <westley@visi.com> wrote:
This is the idiot that takes cherry-picked data about specific
atheists to generalize how atheism is "caused" by bad or
absent fathers; as you might expect Vitz says he was an atheist
until his 30s for shallow reasons.
http://www.iberkshires.com/story.php?story_id=13158
Paul Vitz, Professor of Psychology at New York University, will deliver
a lecture entitled "The Psychology of Atheism: Defective Fatherhood and
the Lives of Prominent Atheists.Ó The lecture is scheduled for Thursday,
Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall.
In his lecture, Vitz will draw upon his latest research which culminated
in the book ÒFaith of the Fatherless.Ó He will investigate the Christian
concept of the fatherhood of God In light of the psychological
significance of such a reality, an examination of the lives of some of
historyÕs prominent atheists will help serve to show the psychological
roots of atheism as an abnormal human phenomenon.
I doubt that any major psychological organization has taken Vitz's
theory seriously.
From what I've read of this 'theory':
Just about any father could be made to fit into one of Vitz's
'atheist causing' categories.
e.g. A father who isn't around enough.
or, A father who is a disciplinarian.
or, Who is just a nice guy who maybe doesn't discipline his kids
quite enough (That father could be viewed as "ineffectual").,
etc.
pan
...
---
Merlyn LeRoy
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| User: "Divin Marquis" |
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| Title: Re: atheist basher Paul Vitz to speak at NYU Jan. 8 |
04 Jan 2004 02:50:14 AM |
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Le Sat, 03 Jan 2004 05:17:27 -0800, pan a écrit :
From what I've read of this 'theory':
Just about any father could be made to fit into one of Vitz's
'atheist causing' categories.
e.g. A father who isn't around enough.
or, A father who is a disciplinarian. or, Who is just a nice guy who
maybe doesn't discipline his kids quite enough (That father could be
viewed as "ineffectual").,
etc.
Well according to other freudian cultists, this is the cause of
homosexuality. It's quite odd that none of the atheists I know seem to be
gay, but hey ...
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| User: "Earl Camembert" |
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| Title: Re: atheist basher Paul Vitz to speak at NYU Jan. 8 |
02 Jan 2004 10:11:30 PM |
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On 02 Jan 2004 21:39:39 GMT, Brian Westley <westley@visi.com> wrote:
This is the idiot that takes cherry-picked data about specific
atheists to generalize how atheism is "caused" by bad or
absent fathers; as you might expect Vitz says he was an atheist
until his 30s for shallow reasons.
(SNIP)
How many atheists are going to show up to protest? You all should do
like the queers and dance around blowing whistles.
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| User: "George Dance" |
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| Title: Re: atheist basher Paul Vitz to speak at NYU Jan. 8 |
03 Jan 2004 05:05:07 PM |
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Earl Camembert <nospam@forme.org> wrote in message news:<d3gcvv4ot32vaf84ff227mqppis6g039gd@4ax.com>...
On 02 Jan 2004 21:39:39 GMT, Brian Westley <westley@visi.com> wrote:
This is the idiot that takes cherry-picked data about specific
atheists to generalize how atheism is "caused" by bad or
absent fathers; as you might expect Vitz says he was an atheist
until his 30s for shallow reasons.
(SNIP)
How many atheists are going to show up to protest? You all should do
like the queers and dance around blowing whistles.
I don't like that; that bit about God being the Father Figure, and
atheists all being in some kind of adolescent rebellion against it,
sound like propaganda that that that kind of protest would only
reinforce.
My suggestion would be: prepare a short 4-panel pamphlet containing
an easy-to-read, but thorough, debunking of Vitz's opinions; and hand
it out on the street outside to all attendees. One could even print
the most damaging questions for Vitz on the back, and plant some
atheists in the audience to ask them if there's a question period.
It would also be a good idea to have some atheists with professional
psychological qualifications on hand, to tell Vitz (during QP) just
how inane his pop psychologizing really is.
My advice, FWIW.
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