On Medium: The Best Religious Response to Atheism is Two Words Long
Read on about why we must reckon with the existential basis of all cultures, and realize that neither religious nor secular worldviews are fully justified by reason.
For me the difference between theist and atheist irrationality is the fact that most theist religions make claims that are empirically falsifiable while liberal atheists generally do not. It is one thing to hold 'fraternity, equality, and liberty' as an article of pure faith, but is quite another thing to obstinately insist that the world is only 6000 years old. To say that every human being possesses intrinsic value and an inherent right to live life on their own terms isn't an assertion about how the world is, but about how the liberal thinks the world should be. Let theists restrict their religion to myths and morals and I'll gladly concede to their glib talking point that atheists are just as irrationally religious as Christians.
I think fundamentalist religions that are literalistic about their creeds may make falsifiable claims, but religions can also be quite abstract and evasive about their core beliefs. "God exists" isn't a falsifiable claim because "God" isn't so well-defined, and theology is more evasive than clarifying.
For me the difference between theist and atheist irrationality is the fact that most theist religions make claims that are empirically falsifiable while liberal atheists generally do not. It is one thing to hold 'fraternity, equality, and liberty' as an article of pure faith, but is quite another thing to obstinately insist that the world is only 6000 years old. To say that every human being possesses intrinsic value and an inherent right to live life on their own terms isn't an assertion about how the world is, but about how the liberal thinks the world should be. Let theists restrict their religion to myths and morals and I'll gladly concede to their glib talking point that atheists are just as irrationally religious as Christians.
ReplyDeleteI think fundamentalist religions that are literalistic about their creeds may make falsifiable claims, but religions can also be quite abstract and evasive about their core beliefs. "God exists" isn't a falsifiable claim because "God" isn't so well-defined, and theology is more evasive than clarifying.
DeleteWhat are the "Two words"?
ReplyDelete"So what?" As in, so what, religious cultures are fundamentally irrational since all cultures are so, including secular ones.
Delete