Dealing with Death as an Atheist

[Cephus]

But the initial belief in a flat world is irrational, thus anything based upon that belief is also irrational.  There is absolutely no reason in the modern world for anyone to believe that the world is flat but that doesn't stop some people from belonging to the Flat Earth Society (although I suspect it's largely a joke these days).  At the core of rationality is the ability to reason and these people are not reasoning their way into their beliefs, they are using pure and unrestrained emotion.  That makes their beliefs irrational by definition.  Their beliefs are not reasonable nor rational nor logical.

You can only spin this so many ways.  The religious are as ridiculous as people who believe in unicorns or leprechauns.

Do you really think it was irrational for the people 1000's of years ago to believe the world was flat?  

A modern example is Free will.  Most people believe in free will.  It looks like it's probably not real.  I don't think people living their lives like free will is real are irrational.  They are just mistaken about a premise on which they are basing their conclusions.

Do you understand the distinction I'm trying to make between faulty premises and being irrational? 

No, but 1000 years ago they had no information that demonstrated it was unreasonable.  Today, that is not the case.  A person 1000 years ago might have gotten away with all manner of irrational positions.  They cannot get away with it today.  There is a difference.