What this author calls atheism, and what most atheists call gnostic atheism, is not a justifiable position.
Actually, most atheists DON’T call it that, because most atheists uphold atheism as a justifiable position.
Yes, most atheists acknowledge that agnostic atheism is a justifiable position - the only justifiable position for the rational skeptic - but that asserting that one knows that no gods can or do exist, gnostic atheism, is not justifiable. It’s a claim that can’t be supported by any test, measurement, observation, argument, or algorithm. There simply is no way to rule out the possibility of the deist god, for example.
But I would add that that is not a problem as there is also no need to do so, nor any benefit for the atheist if one could rule out gods. Nothing at all would change if we went from our present unknowing about gods to certain knowledge that none exist.
the overwhelming majority of human beings experience their own existence via these kinds of ideals: love, beauty, honor, god, and so on. So I think it's you who has been short-changed, either by your own insistence, or by some short-circuit in the cognitive wiring, perhaps. Or by whatever. And for that, you have my sympathy.
In my opinion, God doesn’t belong on that list. Love, beauty, and honor can add value to any life capable of experiencing them, but god only adds value if one has a need satisfied by such a belief. Isn’t that what you mean that the justification for theism isn’t evidence, but value added?
And as I’ve noted earlier, many lives are complete without religion or a god belief. I consider that preferable to having a need that a god belief satisfies.
You’ve chosen twice not to address my answer to you on this matter of a god belief adding value to some lives, presumably by comforting fears or insecurities, and whether that is actually a good thing compared to feeling comfortable without a religious worldview. Here’s the second answer again
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“Why would an atheist want to be a person who needed comforting from religion? Growing up without religion forces one to grapple with issues that are eventually resolved with acceptance - acceptance that consciousness may end at death, acceptance that we are not watched over or protected from on high, the ability to grieve without false beliefs about seeing loved ones again some day, the acceptance that man is the measure of what is moral, etc..
“But if you never get the opportunity to develop those skills because of religious beliefs, then you will need that religion to comfort your fears. As I posted here recently, religion offers no positive purpose or value to the person whose emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and moral needs can be met without it. The fact that a god belief makes a person feel more complete is not necessarily a good thing. Benefiting from a prosthetic leg is great if you have lost a leg, but isn't it better not to need one?”
I presume that you don’t agree with that, although you might. If you disagree, maybe you can offer a reason why it is better to have a need satisfied by a god belief than to not have such a need.
The new study also attempts to find out why atheists are so reviled by what its authors call “dominant group members” — aka religious Americans. The findings pinpoint three things: Religious Americans associate atheists with “criminality,” materialism and “a lack of accountability.”
I think it’s very clear where atheophobia comes from. In the West, it’s the Christian church. Consider these excerpts from the Christian Bible:
[1] "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good" - Psalm 14:1
[2] "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, and all and the enemy of a good god." - Revelation 21:8
[3]"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?"- 2 *Corinthians 6:14
[4] "Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ." - 1 John 2:22
[5] "Whoever is not with me is against me" - Luke 11:23
[6] "They are puzzled that you do not continue running with them in the same decadent course of debauchery, so they speak abusively of you" – 1 Peter 4:4
Altogether, those scriptures depict unbelievers as lying, corrupt, vile, decadent, debauched, abominable, wicked, godless vessels in the service of darkness and evil, not one of which does any good, and fit to be burned alive forever as the moral equivalent of murderers and whoremongers, and the declared enemy of a good god.
And what are the consequences of that teaching? At one time, unbelievers could be legally tortured or killed. Until recently, they were defined as too immoral to be allowed to adopt, teach, coach, or serve on juries. Even now, it is very difficult for an atheist to be elected to a public office.
Here's a bit more of that atheophobic message
[6] Wartime poster: "Godless atheists threaten Christian America"
http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/7/U/2/3/The-Atheist-e.jpg
[7] Billboard: "Attention lunatic atheists and their lawyers. Anti-God is anti-American. Anti-American is treason. Traitors lead to civil war"
https://blueollie.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/christian-billboard-one.jpg
[8] "No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God."- American President George H. W. Bush
[9] "Settle it therefore in your minds, as a maxim never to be effaced or forgotten, that atheism is an inhuman, bloody, ferocious system, equally hostile to every useful restraint and to every virtuous affection; that, leaving nothing above us to excite awe, nor round us to awaken tenderness, it wages war with heaven and with earth: its first object is to dethrone God, its next to destroy man." - Rev. Robert Hall
[10] Message board poster: "[Atheists] constantly think of death and killing, the death and killing of Christians and Christianity, the death and killing of innocent babies who never harmed them or anyone else, the death and killing of any taboos that interfere with morality thriving. In their world it is "anything goes" if you feel like it do it. In fact, their creed is almost exactly that of the Church of Satan's. Gee, how coincidental is THAT?"
And the cumulative consequence of all of this bigotry and hate speech?
:
NEW REPORT CASTS ATHEISTS AS "OTHERS" BEYOND MORALITY AND COMMUNITY IN AMERICA
freethoughtassociation.org - This website is for sale! - center for inquiry michigan freethought atheists atheism freethinkers humanism humanists agnosticism Resources and Information.
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Atheists have become the ultimate scapegoats in our culture... but the news isn't all bad! A new study by the University of Minnesota Department of Sociology has found that Americans perceive Atheists as the group least likely to embrace common values and a shared vision of society. Worse yet, Atheists are identified as the cohort other Americans do not want to see their offspring marrying!
[snip]
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Researchers concluded: "Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in 'sharing their vision of American society.' Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry." Disturbingly, Atheists are "seen as a threat to the American way of life by a large portion of the American public," despite being only 3% of the U.S. population according to Dr. Edgell, associate sociology professor and the lead researcher in the project."
Religious scripture must be understood and interpreted in the light of the evolving knowledge of science.
Isn’t that a tacit admission that it is science, not scripture, that is authoritative in the areas where they differ? Every time a believer tells us that his Bible got it right about the universe having a beginning, he’s telling us that he knows that the Bible is correct about that matter because science said it was.
All that the Bible failed to mention, such as the splitting of a superforce into four forces, cosmic inflation, and the creation of the cosmic microwave background, are not mentioned. Because one cannot do it the other way around. Nobody says that science only got one thing right, and then names the aspects of the Genesis creation stories that science didn’t get right.
