Max, I don't think you can argue someone out of a personal experience. It's sort of an argument stopper, because we can't tell theists what they feel or should feel. My response to the "personal experience" theistic argument is to end the conversation, because there's nowhere to go from there.
Of course, when one is attempting to legislate or repress based on a personal experience with god, it's time to say that this is not a good reason to force your ideas on others. But as a matter of conversation about theism and personal feelings, I think it's insulting to tell others that their experiences are invalid.
And for that matter, one thing I agree on with Sam Harris is that profoundly spiritual experiences are real neurological events. You can experience them on certain drugs, or by tweaking brain chemistry in other ways. They feel real, and they ARE real. Are they real because god was in your mind, or because you have been engaged in self-hypnotic meditation? The theist and the atheist will disagree, but the personal experience itself is probably a real thing.
Of course, when one is attempting to legislate or repress based on a personal experience with god, it's time to say that this is not a good reason to force your ideas on others. But as a matter of conversation about theism and personal feelings, I think it's insulting to tell others that their experiences are invalid.
And for that matter, one thing I agree on with Sam Harris is that profoundly spiritual experiences are real neurological events. You can experience them on certain drugs, or by tweaking brain chemistry in other ways. They feel real, and they ARE real. Are they real because god was in your mind, or because you have been engaged in self-hypnotic meditation? The theist and the atheist will disagree, but the personal experience itself is probably a real thing.
