tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post882818049118735782..comments2023-10-20T02:08:39.524-07:00Comments on Atheism: Proving The Negative: 4 in 10 Americans are still Young Earth Creationists/Evolution Deniers; No Change in Attitude in 30 Years.Matt McCormickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17071078570021986664noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-86246450919932136902010-12-23T09:22:10.975-08:002010-12-23T09:22:10.975-08:00Good articles - thanks!Good articles - thanks!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08325824930308097866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-77805624627312650952010-12-22T13:12:07.455-08:002010-12-22T13:12:07.455-08:00Some of my earlier essays on this topic from 2007:...Some of my earlier essays on this topic from 2007:<br /><br />http://atheismblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/there-is-no-right-to-religious-belief.html<br /><br />http://atheismblog.blogspot.com/2007/01/so-called-right-to-believe-confusing.html<br /><br /><br />Live links over on the left under <br /><br />Religious Tolerance and Atheism<br /><br />MMMatt McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17071078570021986664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-34915747870823097512010-12-22T12:44:41.636-08:002010-12-22T12:44:41.636-08:00Nice article, Matt!
I just read an interesting ch...Nice article, Matt!<br /><br />I just read an interesting chapter in "Crimes Against Logic" by Jamie Whyte on a topic that you touched on here. He argues that there's no meaningful sense in which people have a right to their own opinion - after all, rights of an individual entail duties for everyone else not to violate that right. In short, he says that "if someone is interested in believing the truth, then she will not take the presentation of contrary evidence and argument as some kind of injury. It's just that, on some topics, many people are not interested in believing the truth. ... Once you hear [the words 'I am entitled to my opinion'], you should realize that ... you may be interested in whether or not their opinion is true, but take the hint, they aren't" (p.9-10).<br /><br />To change this shameful status quo, we need to use our tools of social praise for people who change their minds when presented with good evidence and reasoning and for people who share that evidence and reasoning with others. We should also use the tool of social condemnation for those who refuse to change their minds despite the best evidence and reasoning being presented to them, and for those who work to prevent that evidence and reasoning from being presented. <br /><br />Further, as Fyfe noted in "'Thank You' Giving Day" (http://commonsenseatheism.com/?p=12685), we should praise those who praise and condemn the folks they ought to praise and condemn, and we should condemn those who fail to do so.<br /><br />On a related note, culture change is a lot easier than it seems. "I.M. Wright", who writes a blog for the software engineering industry, puts it like this: "Can you change culture? Sure—simply expect, model, and reward different behavior. Really, it’s that easy." (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/eric_brechner/archive/2010/07/01/culture-clash.aspx).<br /><br />Let's do that :).Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08325824930308097866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-66325067652331024062010-12-21T15:59:48.959-08:002010-12-21T15:59:48.959-08:00Can't tell whether you're maybe joking, Bl...Can't tell whether you're maybe joking, Blake. But I take it that the 40% or so who believe that humans evolved with God guiding the process, are some kind of Old Earth Creationists. A lot of people seem to think that God caused the Big Bang, so they'd claim, I guess, that the universe is 13.7 billion years old along with the rest of the people who are sensible about this. <br /><br />The puzzling questions, I would think, for any theist who thinks that God caused the Big Bang and then guided evolution in order to produce humans, and Jesus and what not, are: why would the almighty creator of the universe set about to achieve his goals through such a circuitous, convoluted, and exceedingly inefficient process? And why would he do so in a way that exactly resembles a world that comes about through entirely natural processes with no divine intervention? The easier answer, of course, is that he didn't because no such things happened.Matt McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17071078570021986664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-47783262567463210302010-12-21T12:01:53.878-08:002010-12-21T12:01:53.878-08:00I wonder what percentage of Americans belongs to t...I wonder what percentage of Americans belongs to the Old Earth Creationism camp. That's getting pretty popular.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-60346688218536582992010-12-20T18:33:58.430-08:002010-12-20T18:33:58.430-08:00"As for the divide between atheism and Theism..."As for the divide between atheism and Theism, it is not an issue for me because I believe the Bible teaches that everyone is going to heaven and have written an open letter to Christopher Hitchens saying so: http://bit.ly/fVWa7C"<br /><br />I suppose there's nothing wrong with ignoring the several bible verses that say otherwise. Everyone seems to pick and choose what parts they like. It's like a buffet.<br /><br />I am part of the 26% of the population with a post graduate education who believe in the biblical account of creation (assuming that's what is meant by "Young Earth Creationists"). <br /><br />I'm part of the 74% that paid attention in class. Just please stay away from science.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11674765291216235256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-68409473422537620562010-12-20T12:28:58.744-08:002010-12-20T12:28:58.744-08:00"Nor does it absolve you of your social, mora..."Nor does it absolve you of your social, moral, and political responsibilities to the rest of us. Our fates are intertwined. Religious beliefs inform who my neighbor votes for, who she elects to the school board, which bond measures she supports, how she educates her children (and mine), who she wants to go to war with, who she wants to make peace with, who she’s willing to execute, which laws she supports, and what sort of society she contributes to. If a sufficiently large percentage of our population has their good sense eclipsed by Iron Age religious nonsense, we’re all put at risk." <br /><br />This. Oh, so this. You just put all my issues with religion/faith into one paragraph. I always want to scream this at people, to beat it into their heads... Nothing gets me more upset than people not recognizing this basic concept. We live together, therefore we have a RESPONSIBILITY to each other. You might have the right to remain uneducated, but you have a social, cultural and moral responsibility to educate yourselves and at least accept (but perhaps not believe) scientific, rational explanations and critical thinking.<br /><br />Love the post.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11674765291216235256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-85814826339252607662010-12-20T06:13:11.378-08:002010-12-20T06:13:11.378-08:00I am part of the 26% of the population with a post...I am part of the 26% of the population with a post graduate education who believe in the biblical account of creation (assuming that's what is meant by "Young Earth Creationists"). <br /><br />As for the divide between atheism and Theism, it is not an issue for me because I believe the Bible teaches that everyone is going to heaven and have written an open letter to Christopher Hitchens saying so: http://bit.ly/fVWa7CMike Gantthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00053915240281421992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-65572979620493671252010-12-19T23:37:49.697-08:002010-12-19T23:37:49.697-08:00Yup, of course, lots of them are liars.Yup, of course, lots of them are liars.Matt McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17071078570021986664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-33290474385895143852010-12-19T22:23:38.325-08:002010-12-19T22:23:38.325-08:00Ugh. Crushingly discouraging news, Matt.Ugh. Crushingly discouraging news, Matt.exapologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09915579495149582531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-44588318892881944832010-12-19T22:23:00.686-08:002010-12-19T22:23:00.686-08:00Ugh. Crushingly discouraging news, Matt.Ugh. Crushingly discouraging news, Matt.exapologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09915579495149582531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716347331682132223.post-12850160091734597112010-12-19T22:09:24.333-08:002010-12-19T22:09:24.333-08:00"Humans have a powerful and dangerous urge to..."Humans have a powerful and dangerous urge to be religious. Couple that longing with ignorance and scientific illiteracy and their minds can be overtaken by the most farfetched and bizarre religious fantasies."<br /><br />To call the things that religious people believe <i>fantasies</i> misstates the problem. They are in fact <i>lies.</i> Furthermore, these lies are deliberately promulgated by people we can easily identify.<br /><br />It may be true that humans have an "urge" of the kind you describe. There seems to be a weakness in our thinking. And this cognitive deficit is methodically exploited by the real authors of this millennia-long tragedy: the priests. It is they who stand up day after day and lie to their congregations. Astonishingly, this is how they make their living.<br /><br />The vulnerability of our minds to "Trojan Horse" attacks by religious rhetoric is analogous to our weakness for gambling. And if you took a friend, who you knew to be a gambling addict, to a casino, you would be highly culpable in whatever disaster befell him there.<br /><br />Churches, like casinos, are designed to prey on our weaknesses and relieve us of our cash. Arguably, churches do much more harm. But the point is that every congregation is led by a professional liar, and I don't understand why even staunch atheists tiptoe around this fact. I think it's time to start pointing fingers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com