RE: Atheism is a religion.
July 18, 2014 at 5:32 am
(This post was last modified: July 18, 2014 at 6:18 am by ManMachine.)
(July 17, 2014 at 6:30 pm)Jenny A Wrote:(July 17, 2014 at 5:14 pm)ManMachine Wrote: I often wonder how much of a coincidence it is that the three modern prophets of atheism get spoken and written about together so much, why three? A trinity - perhaps. I find it fascinating. Try countering their ideologies in the forum and see how many will step forward with proverbial stones in hand...
MM
Perhaps because there are three of them?
Dawkins doesn't offer much philosophy, he's a scientist. Harris is more thoughtful about morality and advocates meditation or mindfulness. The man boarders on mystic. Hitchens is political and his views have changed over time. Can't imagine how anyone could follow this "trinity" anywhere coherent beyond lack of belief.
I think you are missing my point.
Firstly, there are more than three agnostic/atheist commentators in the world. I was raising a point I find interesting in that these three are often presented together in media like a 'trinity'. It's a comment on the media, not them.
Everybody has a system of belief, there is no such concept as lack of belief. The idea that religion is the only social construct that supports the human need for a system of belief is nonsense. I've not yet met a scientist who doesn't believe that scientific endeavour will lead to human progress. But the very idea of human progress is not a scientific one, there is no universal standard by which humans can be empirically measured, this irrational faith, that technology and knowledge will deliver human progress, is part of the system of belief that props up science.
What I am saying is that these systems of belief meet our human needs, whether they are religious or not. We can replace our prophets of god with prophets of science but that will not change a thing. Each generation will continue to irrationally believe they are more enlightened than the previous generation, we will continue to believe we have made progress as a species, we will continue to believe we are masters of our own destiny. All of these are not scientific facts, they are articles of faith born of our hubris, and the only reason we elevate these prophets is they support the delusions we have about ourselves.
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
