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Favorite prominent atheist?
- Thread starter wabisabi
- Start date
Is it somehow more respectful to refrain from calling God-belief a delusion while still believing it so than to be honest about it?
I guess many people think so. I happen to disagree.
At the very least, I think that if others have the right to tell me that I must believe in God than that necessarily entitles me to disagree with then, therefore at least implicitly calling them delluded in this matter.
I guess many people think so. I happen to disagree.
At the very least, I think that if others have the right to tell me that I must believe in God than that necessarily entitles me to disagree with then, therefore at least implicitly calling them delluded in this matter.
But still. So many religions explicitly think of each other as deluded about the nature and existence of God.
Why is it so much different and worse for an Atheist to call belief in God a delusion than it is, say, for Protestants, Muslims and Catholics to effectively believe each other group to be deluded about who exactly can speak in God's name?
Why is it so much different and worse for an Atheist to call belief in God a delusion than it is, say, for Protestants, Muslims and Catholics to effectively believe each other group to be deluded about who exactly can speak in God's name?
Storm
ThrUU the Looking Glass
They say no such thing. They say the others are wrong. Wrong =/= deluded. I don't take offense when an atheist says I'm wrong. I take offense when anyone maligns my sanity. Why is that so hard to understand?
linwood
Well-Known Member
Why is it so hard to understand that a single incidence of delusion does not make one "insane"?
We`ve been over this before Storm, delusion "can be" a part of a mental disorder diagnosis BUT it doesn`t have to.
Perfectly sane people have delusions about different things.
I`ve been deluded myself, hell I very well may be deluded about something right now.
Doesn`t mean I`m insane.
Does it?
I think you`re deluded about the meaning of delusion.
Edit:
We are now really off topic.
gnomon
Well-Known Member
Michael Shermer.
The problem with the question is that many known for their atheism are known in a negative light by too many and the media. Dawkins, Hitchens, etc. Shermer is known, by those who actually knows who he is, for his work with Skeptic magazine and that field primarily tackling pseudoscience and the paranormal along with such individuals as Joe Nickell and James Randi. I think even fewer no him for his debates on religion which are very good.
I don't know about his book but the documentary "Root of All Evil" was definitely a work in which the title was put forth by Channel 4 and not by Dawkins. I believe the title of the book came from the first part of that documentary as it examines that part in greater detail.
gnomon
Well-Known Member
Storm
ThrUU the Looking Glass
I've heard the name, but can't place it. Why don't you tell me about her?
gnomon
Well-Known Member
She was notorious to many Christians in this country for fighting to have prayer and bible readings removed from public schools. She was a rather outspoken atheist and some would say not the most kindly. She was also the founder of American Atheists.
I misspelled her name, too.
http://www.religiousforums.com/forum/Her and her adult sons disappearedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madalyn_Murray_O'Hair
Smoke
Done here.
Madalyn Murray O'Hair -- now she was abrasive.
Still, I give her credit for some of her accomplishments.
Still, I give her credit for some of her accomplishments.
I usually do, too. I always think O'Hare, like the airport.
Storm
ThrUU the Looking Glass
Well, while I laud her activism and accopmlishments, after reading the article, particularly the comments of her son, I can't say as I admire her personally.
linwood
Well-Known Member
Hope you don`t live every aspect of your life according to that rule.
Smoke
Done here.
Her son is a piece of work himself.
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
Atheism seems a pretty silly thing to primarily be known for. Then again, I've never been overly impressed with pundits, talking heads, or philosophers in general.
ellenjanuary
Well-Known Member
God.
JeLy
Member
(All obvious choices of Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, etc. aside)
Carl Sagan - Astronomer/Educator (creator of The Cosmos tv program)
James Randi - Skeptic/Conjuror whom I met at the first Carl Sagan Day last month.
Jerry Coyne - Evolutionary Biologist
Lawrence Krauss - Cosmologist
The "cast" of The Atheist Experience - Austin, TX tv show/podcast
PZ Myers - Biologist and blogger
Carl Sagan - Astronomer/Educator (creator of The Cosmos tv program)
James Randi - Skeptic/Conjuror whom I met at the first Carl Sagan Day last month.
Jerry Coyne - Evolutionary Biologist
Lawrence Krauss - Cosmologist
The "cast" of The Atheist Experience - Austin, TX tv show/podcast
PZ Myers - Biologist and blogger