MFoD confesses to a dread secret: an addiction to YouTube. This modern-day agora attracts all types of entertaining and informative videos. At one moment, the viewer may be watching a young person deal with a crisis, or give fashion advice; the next might find the viewer laughing at a skit or a pet's antics, or, a serious scientific or philosophical discussion might be found at the click of a button.
Among the more interesting threads of discussion and videos are those posted by Atheists who usually busy themselves with debunking the many religious videos that appear on the site. They seem to take particular joy in savaging the claim of people who interpret the Bible literally.
Another confession: MFoD usually likes the Atheists better than the Religious People. Most of them tend to be a bit on the Left regarding culture and politics, and some are even accepting of the fact that the majority of the human race approaches the unknown with religious belief. Of course, there are those who are as doctrinaire and intellectually inflexible as the worst sorts in the camp of Religion.
One thing that brings many Atheists into a frothy rage is calling their approach to the universe a "Religion." This is understandable if one realizes that Atheism lacks some of the very things that are necessary to religion, among them: myth, symbol and ritual. They certainly often claim ethics, community and even doctrine, but, by missing those three aforementioned characteristics, they cannot be said to be followers of a Religion.
However, the statement, "I do not believe in God," is a religious statement. Even though the statement is reactionary to the Theistic claims that have dominated human thought for millennia, it really must come under the rubric of "religious discussion," at the very least.
Unfortunately, the Atheist/Theist discussion (or "conflict," if you will) does not take into account the fact that Atheists, just as Theists, are dealing with mystery. The difference is that Atheists deal with it in a matter-of-fact way. Many claim a materialist viewpoint, saying that there is no "soul" that exists separate from the body. Once the body dies, the person is extinguished; there is no afterlife. But, of course, their claims would not be necessary if not for religions, many of which do posit a body/soul dichotomy and many of which have vivid positions on the afterlife.
So, Theists among us, engage Atheists in discussions (note, "discussions," not "arguments") concerning the unknown. Listen to them and hope that they will listen back. Declare a "Take an Atheist to Lunch Day."
Life is short; order the mixed grill.
Among the more interesting threads of discussion and videos are those posted by Atheists who usually busy themselves with debunking the many religious videos that appear on the site. They seem to take particular joy in savaging the claim of people who interpret the Bible literally.
Another confession: MFoD usually likes the Atheists better than the Religious People. Most of them tend to be a bit on the Left regarding culture and politics, and some are even accepting of the fact that the majority of the human race approaches the unknown with religious belief. Of course, there are those who are as doctrinaire and intellectually inflexible as the worst sorts in the camp of Religion.
One thing that brings many Atheists into a frothy rage is calling their approach to the universe a "Religion." This is understandable if one realizes that Atheism lacks some of the very things that are necessary to religion, among them: myth, symbol and ritual. They certainly often claim ethics, community and even doctrine, but, by missing those three aforementioned characteristics, they cannot be said to be followers of a Religion.
However, the statement, "I do not believe in God," is a religious statement. Even though the statement is reactionary to the Theistic claims that have dominated human thought for millennia, it really must come under the rubric of "religious discussion," at the very least.
Unfortunately, the Atheist/Theist discussion (or "conflict," if you will) does not take into account the fact that Atheists, just as Theists, are dealing with mystery. The difference is that Atheists deal with it in a matter-of-fact way. Many claim a materialist viewpoint, saying that there is no "soul" that exists separate from the body. Once the body dies, the person is extinguished; there is no afterlife. But, of course, their claims would not be necessary if not for religions, many of which do posit a body/soul dichotomy and many of which have vivid positions on the afterlife.
So, Theists among us, engage Atheists in discussions (note, "discussions," not "arguments") concerning the unknown. Listen to them and hope that they will listen back. Declare a "Take an Atheist to Lunch Day."
Life is short; order the mixed grill.
Image credit: atheists.org
4 comments:
Another capital post, MFoD. I rise early to read this blog (among many others, esp. cheese-devoted ones) before tending my flock (not parishioners, woolies rather). Never have I understood the atheist position. Despite the misfortunes of human life, I see great order and harmony in the natural world. Some simple-minded folk mistake the inequities of the wild for darkness. I just think you need to see it, through a glass darkly or otherwise. Pancras
Thanks for your comment (and for sharing that you hail from Yorkshire and raise sheep). Being in the business, Atheism is not so hard for me to "get," and it joins the queue as another reminder of humanity's diversity.
How does being in the business have anything to do with it? Atheism ackowledges the Being it refutes. It is the rebellious stance of a person who's either hypersensitive or who needs to be accepted by peers at peril of his own integrity. My brother went through this at University many years ago. Religious belief wasn't modish then. I daresay that fundamentalism in all its stripes is a direct consequence of intellectuals from other cultures coming to Ox-Cam and finding theism run off without even a discussion. So if that's what being in the business is about, be you cleric or otherwise, then business is bollocks!
Using an American idiom, the "business" is theology; systematics are as second nature to me, so I find myself comfortable studying even those systems that deny transcendence, such as Marxism and modern Existentialism. This has nothing to do with belief or acceptance. Having studied for four summers back in the 90's in the Bodleian at Oxford, and having just returned from a conference there, I can say that religion seems to be doing all right (although I would not presume to speak for Cambridge).
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