Hello, i am new both to Atheism ( coming from a catholic background) and to these forums.
Also, i am french, hence my English is far from perfect, please do not flame me for grammatical mistakes.
I often read about non-believers (as in, no religion) arguing that they believe in some sort of plan, some sort of spiritual universe, that we cannot quite comprehend and that has no real intention or purpose.
I can understand that feeling, first because i feel it too sometimes (weird coincidences for example), and because believing in nothing at all, and only seeing our mortality and purposelessness is a terrifying thought.
However, my point is that believing in something outside of what we can observe and prove is, in short, a slippery slope.
Imagine there is a line, one end of the line is religious fundamentalism, believing in God no matter what, and the other is being almost, but not entirely, sure that there is nothing outside the physical plane. If you are anywhere on that line, there is a chance that you can move on it, either way. My problem is that when believing that there is something outside our world, you can start believing in all kinds of irrational ideas that can be even more dangerous than religion because they go unregulated. It can range from Astrology, to voodoo, to ghosts, to luminescent healing crystals, all the way to sects of all kinds.
Of course, i am sure 99% of non-believers who think/hope that something else exist will NEVER go down that path...however to me this 1% is already too much of a price to pay for the relative safety of placing hopes in irrationality.
This is why i now personally believe in absolutely nothing irrational, to be sure not to be tempted. I consider myself as not on the line at all: that way i am sure never to fall prey to all the bad things irrationality brings.
I hope this does not look too much like someone boasting about how much his view is better than anyone else's, i still have trouble expressing emotions in English...
Any thoughts ?
Also, i am french, hence my English is far from perfect, please do not flame me for grammatical mistakes.
I often read about non-believers (as in, no religion) arguing that they believe in some sort of plan, some sort of spiritual universe, that we cannot quite comprehend and that has no real intention or purpose.
I can understand that feeling, first because i feel it too sometimes (weird coincidences for example), and because believing in nothing at all, and only seeing our mortality and purposelessness is a terrifying thought.
However, my point is that believing in something outside of what we can observe and prove is, in short, a slippery slope.
Imagine there is a line, one end of the line is religious fundamentalism, believing in God no matter what, and the other is being almost, but not entirely, sure that there is nothing outside the physical plane. If you are anywhere on that line, there is a chance that you can move on it, either way. My problem is that when believing that there is something outside our world, you can start believing in all kinds of irrational ideas that can be even more dangerous than religion because they go unregulated. It can range from Astrology, to voodoo, to ghosts, to luminescent healing crystals, all the way to sects of all kinds.
Of course, i am sure 99% of non-believers who think/hope that something else exist will NEVER go down that path...however to me this 1% is already too much of a price to pay for the relative safety of placing hopes in irrationality.
This is why i now personally believe in absolutely nothing irrational, to be sure not to be tempted. I consider myself as not on the line at all: that way i am sure never to fall prey to all the bad things irrationality brings.
I hope this does not look too much like someone boasting about how much his view is better than anyone else's, i still have trouble expressing emotions in English...
Any thoughts ?
