Re: Music, religion, etc.


Subject: Re: Music, religion, etc.
From: Robbie (shok@netcom.com)
Date: Sat Jan 08 2000 - 18:07:12 EST


AntiUtopia wrote:

<< Robbie -- I could also argue that a large number of people out of a
pool of dictators and tyrants have been atheists as well, but then you
could reply the rest of that pool was made up of theists...and you'd be
right :) Arguing on these grounds is arguing on the wrong grounds. >>

We've struck a misunderstanding. Arguing on the grounds that "these
great people were atheists so Atheism must be good" is the wrong
grounds. That's not what I'm arguing.

There is a very common notion that Atheists MUST be bad, amoral,
unethical folks; that it is impossible to be an Atheist without being
such; that a peaceful, loving society cannot possibly exist without
god(s) and religion.

I am saying that there are fundamentally good, nice folks who are also
Athiest. This irrevocably disproves the misconception that I'm trying
to disprove.

Look:
Let A = Good Person
Let B = Athiest
Let C = Bad Person

There is a pervasive notion that
if person Q = B
then Q = C.

So I point out that,
person M = A
AND person M = B

This proves that B = C is FALSE, so the pervasive notion must be false.
This is because B is a variable totally independant of A and C.

Get it?

(Sidenote: I sometimes (see: often) use scientists in my examples
because I like that fact that among scientific circles, there is a
population of Atheists disproportionate with the rest of society. This
is especially nice when one tells me that Atheists cannot be rational
people either.)

<< Utilitarian arguments for the existence of God seem pointless -- if
there is no God, I prefer to believe there is no God because that is the
truth, not because it's not necessary to believe anymore. >>

I tend to agree. The problem is that it is impossible to prove that the
existence of god(s) is the Truth. By the nature of the problem, it is
impossible to discern. This is reason numero uno why I do not believe
in god(s).

But the utilitarian argument isn't entirely useless. There is a
principle called Ockham's Razor. As anyone who has seen the move
Contact knows, the principle states that the easiest answer tends to be
the correct one. If god(s) is/are unnecessary, it/they are redundant
and serve only to add complexity to the system.

-robbie

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