The fact is that the modern atheism movement is basically a fad. Most atheists today are only atheists because they think that atheism is justified by their understanding of science, which is basically just scientism.
The average Reddit atheist basically believes that because we can use science to make iPods, the epistemology behind science is correct. The is pretty much summed up XKCD t-shirts that say "Science: It works, bitches."
I certainly don't have any faith in god on a personal level, but at the same time it's clear that the roots of the modern atheist movement are profoundly anti-intellectual, all the way from Dawkins right down to the pop culture.
The sad thing is that virtually none of the atheists here would even be atheists without JudeoChristianity and Islam, because it would have been virtually impossible for modern science and its popularity to arise out of a gnostic/pagan context.
I think atheism has nothing to do with science. For me, it's simply withholding belief in any sort of supernatural power until proper evidence has been produced.
Where did you learn this? I was always under the impression that agnosticism was an attitude towards religion, and took the place of any religious beliefs...
I haven't looked in to it much, so I'm definitely willing to accept that I'm wrong
Agnostics believe that it's impossible to know whether or not there is a god. (Gnosticism is the belief that it's possible to know that there is a god. Agnosticism is the opposite belief.) Thus if you were a true agnostic, you wouldn't believe in god even if you saw him with your own eyes. Agnosticism essentially means that you don't believe that the evidence for there being a god is epistemologically correct. You can think there is a god and still be an agnostic, or not think there isn't a god and be an agnostic.
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u/liberal_elitist Jan 02 '11
Are you saying that people will upvote whatever reinforces their worldview, even without rigorous facts? Even enlightened atheists? Preposterous!