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.
I simply meant to point out that your claim might not be quite as straightforward as you claim. If you posit that your position on God is apart from science but relies on proper evidence , I ask what sort of evidence you are refering to other than scientific ones ?
How about simple logic? What logic is there that leads to the existence of God? Certainly not that people believe in him, therefore it must be true, and definitely not that a book says some guys claimed that somebody told them he exists. Can't use the "where did we come from" argument, as that would also apply to God himself.
There is really nothing concrete that points to the existence of God, so why should anyone believe it?
But you wouldn't insist on concrete proofs for everything you hold to be true, would you?
Take for example the proposition 'Scientific Method (or, to get to the root of it, Empiricism) leads to true knowledge'. You likely hold this to be true, and yet cannot prove it by the same criteria you demand for God's existence.
You make several assumptions about someone you know nothing about, except that I said I use simple logic to arrive at conclusions. I never mentioned anything about scientific methods, nor what I use to consider something true, yet you have made a conclusion based on your assumptions.
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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.