(July 27, 2015 at 5:14 am)robvalue Wrote: Certainly it seems most atheists on this board strongly support critical thought. I'm sure there are plenty of atheists who don't. My wife, for example, is not big on it.
(July 27, 2015 at 6:51 am)ignoramus Wrote: yeah, my wife's the same...
That's an interesting point.
I think religion is a special case. It is so absurd to swallow in the cold light of day, that without indoctrination, it just can't work.
So really, as long as you're not subjected to indoctrination, you don't need any reason to NOT believe, as we have said, it is the default stance.
It makes sense to NOT believe, it is common sense. Even my silly wife knows that! Who needs critical thinking?
Maybe there is something non-utilitarian about forming chains of syllogisms to justify or rule out choices which just escapes some people. My wife is a no non-sense atheist. She doesn't over think it. It is just silly. Not worth dwelling on. She laughs plenty loud when Bill Maher goes on a tirade against religion. But, unlike me, she has never brought it up out of the blue. On a long car ride or on a walk she never comes out with "you know what is absurd about religion?" Maybe those of us who do dwell on it are the deficient ones, carrying around unfinished conversations like I do with my deceased father and his clone, my not deceased brother.
