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I'm a bit sad that none of these quotes include, "Because there's no evidence." I wonder if this is because none of the people interviewed said it, or because i
by thorum 14y ago
I'm a bit sad that none of these quotes include, "Because there's no evidence." I wonder if this is because none of the people interviewed said it, or because it didn't make a good quote.
- fusiongyro 14y agoI suppose it's only natural. Us religious folk have had thousands of years of practice with people being religious for the wrong reasons. Now you atheists finally get a chance to experience people being atheists for the wrong reasons.
- theevocater 14y agoWhat? Everyone starts out an atheist. There can't be a wrong reason to be an atheist because its the default setting on the human.
- fusiongyro 14y agoInteresting. Did you know that's precisely the same reasoning Islam has for calling everyone else an infidel?
- thorum 14y agoWhy does atheism being the default setting on a human mean there can't be a wrong reason to be an atheist? That doesn't follow at all.
- fusiongyro 14y agoI also doubt it's true. Most kids seem perfectly willing animists to me. Not ascribing supernatural causes to things is learned, not built in.
- danilocampos 14y agoThat's just the thing, though. Atheism isn't a religion. There is no "wrong reason" to be an atheist. If a guy on the street concludes there is no god, whether he got there by reading a textbook or personal whimsy has no bearing on my own absence of belief. It doesn't matter.
- fusiongyro 14y agoSo cute. It's like you guys have no idea when you're repeating the same arguments your arch enemies used to use, and for the same reasons to boot!
- danilocampos 14y agoI'm a free agent, homie. There's no "you guys." There's no atheist sewing circle.
- danilocampos 14y agoI'm a free agent, homie. There's no "you guys." There's no atheist sewing circle. Whether or not other people believe is irrelevant to me, so long as they don't try to foist their beliefs on me or make children stupid.
- afandian 14y agoAs a student you don't get to see much evidence of the validity of what you're being taught. Sure you can do some experiments, but you have to trust most of what you learn from the high-priests of education. I'd say that for a good chunk of education the material has to be taken on trust of authority. It's not really functional to prove everything from first principles, especially before you know the subject! Of course, once you get to a certain level you can prove all the bits of science you want to prove and you can challenge a religious person to prove the validity their teaching (and see how far you get) but by then I'd imagine the individual has made up their mind one way or the other on religion. I'd put more credence in the "the penalties for speaking out are much lower" suggestion.
- thorum 14y agoI don't think one needs an advanced knowledge of theology (or science) to reject religion: most of it just isn't relevant to the fundamental question "what makes us think God even exists, anyway?" And more to the point, while I only have a general knowledge of physics, I can Google "how do we know atoms exist" and get a pretty convincing answer, and I can search for good arguments saying atoms don't exist and come up empty. None of this is first-hand proof, of course - but it would be pretty compelling evidence. Can the same be said for theism?
- afandian 14y agoCan the same be said of your fellow-humans' inquisitiveness at a young, formative age?