Sunday, October 25, 2009



Delusion, or Catch-22? (A review of Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion)

D.M. currently resides in Berkeley, CA. He states that in order to list his full name, "it a) will have to get cleared for publishing by my employer(s), who will b) deny the request, leading to c) me saying do it anyways, which will d) get me in trouble if discovered."
...
if an adult is convinced to lose their faith, they perhaps may lose an important aspect of their life from which they or their ego may never recover. If not convinced, the adult may react violently against the atheist movement, perhaps setting it back by making sure their children are not affected by such ‘blasphemy.' They may institute a religious vendetta. It seems more a Catch-22 than a Delusion.

Might it not be best to promote or mandate in schools that children be educated about all religions (including atheism and agnosticism) so as to let them make up their own minds as to what religion, if any, is best for them? Wouldn’t this breed greater tolerance of religious diversity in society, through knowledge of what everyone's religion believes, as opposed to the present 'knowing' that Muslims are terrorists, that the Jews killed the Savior, and that Christians ought to run the United States government?

The largest problem Dawkins (and other authors, like Daniel Dennett, author of Breaking the Spell) face is apathy. Discounting fencesitters who already somewhat question their faith, there are 3 types of faithful: fanatics, waywards, and indifferents. Religious fanatics aren't interested in being right, they are only interested in knowing they are already right. The wayward, haphazardly faithful are religious because they are too lazy to look for answers, and questioning faith and finding the 'right' answers requires work, an anathema. It is easier to believe (or 'know') you are right than to actually know (i.e., prove) it.

... the world of victims ...
... of the religious holy vendetta ...


# posted by intcoex : 6:42 PM




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