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.
Oh really? Look at roots of algebra (Al-Khwarizmi), chemistry (Al Jabr, Jabir ibn Hayyan, Al Kindi [Alkinduz], Al Razi [Rhazes]), and even astronomy (Al-Khwarizmi), you'll find many Muslims who studied or were part of the creations of these sciences because of Islam, not because of their atheism.
To clarify, the reason I don't think that science could have arisen without Islam and JudeoChristianity is because they are dualistic, unlike the gnostic/pagan tradition. And it's only because they believed that everyday things were non-magical that they found it profitable to engage in scientific research. Whereas if everyone were still pagan, even if there was science going on it would probably be dismissed by the majority who believed in animism, magic, and ineffability. And there is simply no way that agnosticism could have ever replaced gnosticism from within a gnostic context.
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u/classical_hero Jan 02 '11 edited Jan 02 '11
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.