The argument from morality is scary.

[Captain Scarlet]

Captain Scarlet I appreciated the unbiased way you made your excellent point in the first paragraph but the second paragraph mmmh. " demagogue" is this a tittle you would give to just Theists. Theistic morality "subject to their own mania," leaving the word mania aside, do not most people who consider themselves Theists not tend to associate with a particular religion and as such have less independence to pursue there own mania. flat out absurdities followed by a list of words that would suggest that any Theist view on these matters has to be absurd. Theism and its track record of getting things wrong ; of course science does not; and atheist do not. Of course it would be interesting to have the debate as to when science and religion in civilisations history parted company. By the last sentence any pretence about attempting to make an unbiased comment has gone completely.

Thank you for your response. I don't claim to be unbiased; I clearly am, becuase I have strong views and I am human. It was also no attack on yourself as a theist, as I stated it was a purely a practical point. When theism is practised, it frequently leads to absurd and abhorrent moral perspectives, that a naturalist cannot commit themselves to on any rational basis. It is absurd to treat other homo sapiens differently based on colour of skin or sex or sexual orientation. It is abhorrent to vilify or murder women and/or doctors for supporting abortion. These perspectives are pushed by religious demagogues who wind up the theists that follow them. I accuse them of immorality, maybe you would too I do not know, but you cannot deny this happens and if you agree with me that it is immoral, then
you will also find it irrational and just a little scary.

I made no comment on whether atheism nor science is prone to error. Atheism per se is not prone to error as I see it. It is a singluar claim that gods do not exist (or the agnostic atheist version that there are no reasons to believe etc). As such as an atheist, it would be self refuting for me to claim that atheism is wrong. The statement 'gods do not exist' is a statement I agree with, and that conforms to reality. The point you are making about science is a strawman argument which you have built and knocked down yourself. Science is a means of building working models of reality, which can then be applied and repeatabley confirmed. It is premised on only ever being tentative and thus is never right nor wrong just the best current explanation. Theism claims that absolute knowledge is available through a morally perfect and omniscient interlocutor, and that it is possible to hold a relationship with it and some claim to even have a mental conversation with said entity. As such Theism should have a massive advantage over all other moral positions and should be capable of being infallible in moral matters. Instead we see when practiced a sad parade of people justifying their own prejudice based on bronze and iron age mysticism and tribal outlook. Not deeply impressive to the observer.