similarities between New Age atheists and religious nut jobs (Introduction)

by satyansh , Wednesday, December 08, 2010, 13:27 (5076 days ago) @ George Jelliss

Hey George,-First of all it is indeed a pleasure to meet you. Like I said before this is a joke and obviously not all atheists are like that but yah quite a few I have come across are indeed falling in that category.-"1) arrogance. Is it arrogance to cite the evidence for ones views where based on science, and to give reasoned arguments where of a philosophical nature?"-It isnt arrogance to cite the evidence for ones views when based on science but it is certainly arrogant to dismiss arguments of pedigree and research such as when David promotes Intelligent design because New Atheist Movement followers also suffer from the same problem of faith just like religious people when Darwin is questioned. By the way just want you to know that I am a huge fan of Darwin.-"2) delusion. Much religion IS at the root of conflicts in the world, and is spreading pernicious ideas, like young-earth creationism, repression of women and homosexuality, and submission to religious authorities, etc. This is real."-Now when you say religion I would like you to cite examples with proper evidences and proof of all the eastern religious philosophies which have been involved in all the above mentioned charges on a reasonably decent scale.-While I agree that yes there is a problem in the abrahamic faiths especially islam i certainly dont believe that if they cease to exist the world would suddenly become this beautiful and marvelous place. World war 1 and 2 were not because of religion they were because of the human need for conquest. The problem starts when people take their religion seriously. -I agree with you that there is citing of violence in the OT and the Koran and if you take them seriously you are bound to be aggressive. But what needs to be done is that people need to be taught that religion is just a philosophy and it was written by a man nothing else and you should challenge it and not abolish it. George when we are small and our parents tell us dont drink or dont smoke we tend to do it more because we are told to abolish it. -Its human nature that when you tell the person to leave something completely they tend to cling on to it even more. It triggers of a insecurity which is inherent in all human beings and atheists are no different to that. Why did atheists run away from the concept of god because you're told time and again by ardent believers to not question him which deters you even more from that belief. Science is one of the reasons for atheists to question the concept of god not the only reason.-My dear friend science can only tell you probably not certainly how life is, it cannot teach you how to live life. I dont mean to say religion can teach you how to live life. But science cant either. Science is given way too much importance just like religion is. They have their own places in life. If religious nut jobs take religion too seriously atheists take science and reason too seriously.-"3) intolerance. Opinion needs to be backed up by evidence. No rationalist claims to "know it all", we just think extraordinary claims need proof."-Well i certainly can assure you that a lot of rationalists are completely intolerable to any other forms of scientific explanations when it comes to Darwin's theory. so please dont tell me they are not intolerant and closed minded.-Everybody has the right to his opinions no matter if he or she is backed by evidence or not. But no one is entitled to impose it on people be it on any side. Extremism in thoughts or in acts are certainly not the right way forward and unfortunately quite a few atheists are very similar to religious nut jobs because both have extreme ideas. one person acts on them which is the religious nut job and i certainly feel atheists right now aren't violent because a they are more civilized thanks to reason not science and also because they are not as organised and powerful as religious people. I wun be surprised when the new atheist movement takes political power that you see atheists ran sacking shops on the name of the very science and religion that they love so much. I could actually see them breaking churches or mosques because you are assuming that when people become atheists that all of them would understand science very well. Heck i know people who became atheists just because they think it is something cool of different and those are the ones that worry and they are the ones that are increasing at a faster rate.-I do not intend to insult anyone. These are my opinions which are based on observations of atheists as i have followed all the famous atheists and read around 14 books of these famous people and yes their thoughts are quite extreme atleast in my view. I hope I did not offend you George and if i did i apologise for the same. As a person from India who has a culture which has a agnostic philosophy like Hinduism i really find new age atheists quite amusing.