tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post8244980320322167000..comments2024-03-27T02:55:10.109-07:00Comments on Irish Papist: The Atheist PerilMaolsheachlannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09406722311993627528noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post-27226572651357215662013-04-25T05:57:04.677-07:002013-04-25T05:57:04.677-07:00Thanks for that, Jacksoned!
Peter, I have to say,...Thanks for that, Jacksoned!<br /><br />Peter, I have to say, I haven't at all come to see the actual arguments for atheism as insignificant. I see them as very formidable, though ultimately (of course, given my beliefs) mistaken. I am of a very sceptical and even rationalistic frame of mind myself, in many ways, so I have a lot of sympathy for (intellectual) atheism. I actually believe I could make a "brief" for atheism that was pretty powerful myself-- at least, I don't think I've ever heard an argument against religious belief that had not occured to me independently.<br /><br />But I think, for this very reason, I get the strong impression that many of the people who either discard religion, or never seriously entertain it, just haven't thought it through in any depth. And surely it deserves depth-- no question can be more important.<br /><br />The lack of charity in the New Atheists is what strikes me as their worst failing. I mean the principle of charity in the rhetorical sense-- that you have to take your opponent seriously, and take the opposing arguments at their strongest, in order to really address them. Dawkins and co. can barely see anything to be said in favour of religion, which seems ludicrous to me. The arguments they make against the truth of religion seem reasonable enough to me (most of the time, and apart from their ill-judged forays into metaphysics) but the arguments they make regarding the evil of religion just seem cartoonish and unhinged.Maolsheachlannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09406722311993627528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post-83283900963363308042013-04-25T04:32:44.262-07:002013-04-25T04:32:44.262-07:00Have you also come to view these arguments as insi...Have you also come to view these arguments as insignificant on a personal basis (as opposed to how convincing they are to society)?<br />I am always surprised to see how exceptionally little the New Atheists seem to know about religion. In one interview, Dawkins admitted to knowing nothing about Islam, slightly less than he knows about Christianity, but nevertheless recommended that it should be abolished. I also recommend that it should be abolished but I have at least read the Koran. <br />The wide variety of religious books and deepness of religious thought, along with the very idea of reading scripture with attention, seems almost beyond the scope of their comprehension. <br /> I think I agree with you about the threat to Christianity from liberalism. But I have also been trying to make sense of just what this liberalism is since you mentioned it. <br />Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04283548873781117550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7091756463128804432.post-48129950860066031492013-04-22T14:53:17.382-07:002013-04-22T14:53:17.382-07:00I have to say I loved this post. And I believe it ...I have to say I loved this post. And I believe it rings true.jacksonedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04494843413576101224noreply@blogger.com