(April 13, 2009 at 4:54 am)padraic Wrote: "Back to the original question, I think this is an issue on which atheists hold a poor position."
With respect,it is not. There is an "atheist position" on one and only issue.Viz a shared disbelief in god(s), period.
I have never argued that believers rare deluded or that there is in fact anything wrong with people of faith in principle.
My own formal studies of a range of belief systems from major religions to some tribal systems led me to conclude that religious/ spiritual beliefs tend to have their own internal logic and are completely rational within context. This is pretty much the consensus in anthropology as discipline. Of course that doesn't mean it's right necessarily,only that I accept the proposition..
Fair enough. However, clearly this issue comes up in atheist/theist discussion, and is used as a corroboration of theist beliefs. Many, admittedly not all, atheists take the position of dismissing religious experience as delusion, and this is the position I am stating is weak.