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Originally Posted by filtherton
I can't help but think that atheists are merely people who didn't realize that they were nihilists until after they found a reason to live.
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I'm not sure if you realize this but your sentence here, literally, implies that atheists have a reason to live. I suspect that's not what you wanted to say...
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I think that dawkins misses the point. His whole point seems to be that religious folk are irrational. I'm a bit nonplussed. So what? I don't see the problem with abandoning the concrete standards of science on things for which science has nothing useful to say. Dawkins worships at the church of rationality, which is fine. It's just that i imagine that dawkins idealizes vulcans, and I think that it's a tad myopic.
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I doubt that Dawkins idealizes Vulcans. As a side point, Vulcans aren't particularly logical, mostly because their actions are written by writers who are not, themselves, very logical or are forced into literary corners by modern plot standards.
I don't think Dawkins' point is simply that religion is irrational. That view is rather myopic of you! For instance, Halloween isn't very rational yet he doesn't speak out against that! There are many things in life that we do that aren't particularly "rational" and I'm certain he doesn't condemn them. Therefore, this can't be his point.
I think Dawkins' point is that religion is irrational and so we shouldn't use it to prescribe a way of life...
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As far as i'm concerned, there is nothing wrong with a particular ideology provided it doesn't persist in the face of contradictory information. Now, i'm not a particularly religious person, and i find that there are many religious folk whose activities in the context of their religious beliefs are disgusting. That said, i do know that there are religious folk who have no problem integrating the discoveries of science into their world views.
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I used to think of religion as a "harmless white lie." I understand that life is hard so if some fairy tale makes you feel better about it then more power to you! However, when you take that fairy tale and use it to enact policy to dictate how I may live then, suddenly and reasonably, I'm going to object to your policies and the fairy tales from which they were born! That's the part that angers me and I suspect that's what angers Dawkins. That's what makes your "harmless white lie" into a detrimental delusion.
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I could never be an atheist though, at least not because of a commitment to logic and reason. I get too much benefit from being irrational. There are too many instances in my life of me benefiting from purposefully doing things that have no basis in rational thought.
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You are not alone in this regard. If I had to guess from casual observation, I'd say that most people need religion. Personally, I think it's a sad statement on life if a fairy tale is the only thing that can make you happy or give you "meaning."