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

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Wednesday, December 15, 2010, 00:48 (5070 days ago) @ satyansh

I intend to add onto this list because i find both the new atheist movement followers and religious fanatics to be quite similar. I dont mean to say all of them are but quite a few that I see are actually having these similarities. Correct me if you think I am wrong or add more cause I know one thing they get pissed of easily.(LOL)
> 
> 1) arrogance
> 2) delusion: most of the new atheist movement followers i have met are convinced that religion is the root of all evil and religion should be completly done with just like religious nut jobs believe their religion is the only way to go ahead. there isnt any mid way its my way or the high way.
> 3) they both claim tolerance while in reality they arent tolerable to any other opinion because both are convinced that they actually know it all.
> 4) both use the slippery slope, straw man and ad hoimenum attacks to justify themselves.(Yah I have met religious people who use them hard to believe but the extreme ones use the same fallacies)
> 5) denial: they live in denial when they actually think they are listening to the other person when they are actually totally convinced and cannot even see that.
> 6) Both are more concerned with convincing others that they are more moral and wise than in actually seeking the truth.
> Again this is just a opinion-Alot of these are valid points, but I think they're superficial and attacking the wrong thing. Dogmatic thought patterns are what you should be attacking, not Atheists per se. -Many atheists in the world come from cultures where if not merely considered subversive (such as in America) they are considered enemies (mid east). -Generally speaking, I think a good portion of so-called "new atheists" have a tendency to blindly believe (as I did from ages 14-18), but if pressed, generally speaking you'd discover that some of their views are just as convoluted as anyone else's. -So in general, I refrain from making opinions similar to yours, as most of the time they are just in a different phase of development as a person. -If you're referring to Dawkins and the like, they build a solidly convincing case. Several points of theirs are very difficult to dismiss:-1. Nearly every supernatural claim about the natural world has been displaced by a materialistic explanation. -This is a fancy way of saying that we know that Zeus isn't the cause of lightning. But, in the same light, those who claim that their religions still accurately describe the natural world face an incredibly uphill battle. Note why our boards only theist has a God that is verified only through negative evidence and makes no claim at all on how this being interfaces with the world.-2. At least in the west, religion in the form of the Roman Catholic Church absolutely stifled and crushed any and all explanations that could not or would not place God and/or Christ at the center of their explanation. If you add to this the fact that generally, Atheism is looked down upon, this creates a volatile brew.-3. There are thousands of religions and only one science. Hardcore Atheists share one thing in common with their ultra-religious counterparts; they both want the world to make sense, and they don't feel well if the world cannot be put in order. If you're going to compare explanatory frameworks, you cannot defeat science. -4. The irrationality of faith. I--being an agnostic--hold this nearly as a sacred belief. It is why I became unable to call myself an atheist. (Saying "There is no God" to me, requires evidence, of which--there is none.) The most powerful point New Atheists make, is that faith is not a great method for solving problems. You can compare faith to random chance, which as everyone on this board recognizes--does not solve complex problems. -I understand that faith is often equated with hope, but I do not do this. -I also realize that you might consider this view dogmatic; in my own case I recognize that some basic amount of faith is required, especially when you meet new people--and I highly respect those that have faith in some deity--but that said, you can have respect for someone and think that they are incorrect. The most powerful point New Atheists make, is that the same tools we use to say, criticize a political view is commonly not used against one's own religious belief; hence the claim that "religious people are deluded." I don't agree with the latter, but I do with the former.-In the end, it is the point in #4 that earns them the most ire and hatred from religious people; because even when I was a believer in a God, I always found the notion irrational, though I was honest enough to admit that it was irrational. It was logical consistency combined with rebellion that declared me an Atheist, and age + wisdom that moderated me to an agnostic. -I hope you have a little more respect for where this thought comes from...

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\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"