Typical theists versus typical atheists

[bennyboy]

In other words, does, in general, an atheist (or a theist, actually) believe a new idea (discovery) if not approved worldwide first by certain scientists (other than the discoverers) who are privileged by the high class?

Science is classless. Those who are most respected, or called great and therefore more easily believed, are so exactly because their ideas up to that point have stood up against all the best efforts of others. Einstein was openly mocked. He openly mocked others, and ended up being proven wrong. It was not his name, or any authority he claimed, that mattered. It was his ideas that mattered, and their ability to predict.

Yes, a lot of people DO believe blindly in science. That's a problem, because when some rogue scientist says stupid shit, like vaccines lead to autism, a percentage of the population is almost guaranteed to believe them only because they are called scientists-- and kids end up dead.

But you have to understand-- people believing blindly in science are NOT scientists. They are not members of the scientific community if they believe on faith alone.
Religion is the exact opposite. Those who question their imams, rabbis or priests will be treated either condescendingly or with outright hostility.

Don't believe me? Look how your ideas are turned over and over here. They are sometimes mocked, sometimes considered, but they are heard and responded to. Now, let one of us go to a religious site, and see how long our questions or arguments are tolerated. I'll bet I can't go to Christian sites in particular, and type the word "evidence" more than 5 times before I'm banned.

To the credit of Islam, I'd say that Islamists DO take the philosophy of their religion seriously-- I suspect I might actually last a fair while at an Islamic site, even as a declared atheist. But even then, I don't think anyone there will be able to give me a clear-cut process for the betterment of my knowledge of reality.