(May 30, 2013 at 3:30 pm)ChadWooters Wrote: Does it make sense to consider cultural factors? Regardless of the issue, if your opinion is at odds with the dominant culture, it seems reasonable to believe you have actual reasons for defying the common consensus. Only the dominant opinion can be taken for granted. Suppose you are the only conservative in a family of liberals. Liberalism is the default position. So if you are going to opine within hat context, prudence suggests you should be prepared to justify your stance.
No, it makes no sense.
This is an appeal to popularity and tradition.
The default position with regards to existential claims does not change because of what the majority believe.
If you moved to an area of Mexico where the majority of the population believe Chupacanbra exists, the default position is still disbelief.
Quote:On a forum devoted to atheism, atheism is the default position. Thus, no justification is needed. However in the larger USA community, where religious belief is the norm, the roles are reversed.
Atheism is the default position because it makes no claims. It is not the default position because this is an atheist forum.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
