Atheism, Theism, Science & Philosophy

[Love]

I just want to clarify a few points regarding my view of rationalism. I do not have a problem with this mode of thinking; it is obviously very useful in many areas of life and I need this mode of thinking for my professional work and, indeed, many other areas of my life. The problem I have is with what I like to call "dogmatic rationalists". An example: if a fundamentalist Christian comes along and starts to quote scripture to you, stating that you need to confess your sins in order to be saved; this would obviously irritate many people, including myself. If somebody comes along and states "rationalism is the only way to see things", I find this to be just as dogmatic as the fundamentalist Christian, although rationalism certainly is more helpful to humanity than fundamentalist dogma. However, rationalism has a tendency to grossly overstate. A good example: shamans in South America consume ayahuasca (DMT + an MAOI inhibitor) as a religious sacrement in order to communicate with "the spirits". These people firmly believe that plants, trees et cetera have a spirit. A rationalist would instantly dismiss it, ridicule it and say: "they are hallucinating and delusional", and the case is closed. It is this kind of arrogance that I find extremely unfair.

In Western culture, we have been very heavily indoctrinated into the rationalist framework of thinking, which has its roots from the secular enlightenment in the 17th century. Rationalism is great, I am all for it, but it really does limit the richness of the human subjective experience.

I will endeavour to reply to all the points and/or questions shortly.