Outstanding post, Gargantuan (and clever title).
You just described my process and current stance to a 't'. I like you already.
Too true... and I think most of us are guilty of it.
I can't say I have any first hand experience of the good that religion can do, but I am well aware of the charitable acts and organizations that can be credited to 'Churches' and certain of their members.
All in all, I think that religion can inspire charity and kindness in an individual and/or small group of people, but that the 'Churches' themselves (not the individual buildings, but the governing bodies... micro vs. macro) are guilty of enough to throw it out of balance. That's what causes the apparent dichotomy.
(September 18, 2010 at 12:19 pm)gargantuan Wrote: I'm now 31, and in all that time I've progressed through several different types of atheism. The live and let live kind. The militant "ban religion, burn down the churches" kind and eventually my current brand of atheism, which is the "education is the answer" kind. In short, my view is that religion is a negative force in the world, we would be better off without it, but it's a realisation that people must reach on their own if it's to stick. All I can do is supply the facts.
You just described my process and current stance to a 't'. I like you already.
(September 18, 2010 at 12:19 pm)gargantuan Wrote: Although if I'm brutally honest with myself, and all good, right thinking people should be, I haven't really done the research. I suffer from what is called confirmation bias. I believe that religion is the cause of bad things, and I have armed myself with stats, facts and anecdotes which support that hypothesis and I haven't looked for, or have discounted any evidence which would disprove my theory. That's bad science.
Too true... and I think most of us are guilty of it.
(September 18, 2010 at 12:19 pm)gargantuan Wrote: SO! The point of this really long post: I'm hoping some of the atheists on here would be willing to share with me any thoughts or experiences they may have about the "good" religion can do, and how (if at all) this has affected their views. Perhaps this will be a good place or me to start.
I can't say I have any first hand experience of the good that religion can do, but I am well aware of the charitable acts and organizations that can be credited to 'Churches' and certain of their members.
All in all, I think that religion can inspire charity and kindness in an individual and/or small group of people, but that the 'Churches' themselves (not the individual buildings, but the governing bodies... micro vs. macro) are guilty of enough to throw it out of balance. That's what causes the apparent dichotomy.
