Hi Daniel, I was never in, but felt the pressure as a child to belong. Perhaps a different perspective film, books and plays helped me. "The Seventh Seal" and Equus had a profound impact on me, never saw religion the same way again. Then Tom Robbins realigned my perspective and sence ot the ridiculous so it made it hard to take it seriously. For what that is worth. Cheers,
“I learnt by experience that it is no cause for surprise when bread which is pleasant to a healthy palate is misery to an unhealthy one; and to sick eyes light which is desirable to the healthy is hateful.
St. Augustine m, Confessions VII, 21.
Listen to the Church Fathers not the rambling of men. .
"Ramblings" my friend, rambling..... Just like you are doing right now. What a waste of time for the both of us. Some prefer to live in a basement versus the top floor with a skylight...
It is certainly true religions have their disagreements and there are churches that are toxic echo chambers. Although I think you can find meeting places of atheists where the same is true. There are different brands and different levels of atheism as well from people that are strict material reductionists to those who accept some version of panpsychism. It can also lead you to some really gross beliefs if you aren't careful. Sam Harris doesn't base his racism on his atheism, but I have no doubt he approaches both subjects the same way (in what he sees) as a rational clear emotionless acceptance of reality as it is stripped of bias and personal feeling. Yet there is no view from nowhere.
thank you for your input. I don’t disagree that the echo chamber has infiltrated many venues, including atheist thinkers, etc. My main point was to highlight the ease with which American society accepts these microcosms as normal, and willingly jumps into them. Given the percentage of Americans that belong to a Christian denomination, the vast majority of Americans already have familiarity with splitting up into separate groups based upon differing opinions—in my example, different interpretations of Biblical ideology and doctrine
I think it is true that America accepts these microcosms as normal and willingly jumps into them (or some of them). Is it your thought though that atheists and/or other minority opinion groups (say Muslims, Mormons, or Scientologists) deserve a certain degree of coddling because they are in the minority?
My argument is simply that modern Christianity has normalized divisions in American society to the detriment of all.
As to your question, I don't see atheists as analogous to minority religious groups--in general, I see them as opposite, at least in terms of how they evaluate evidence and reality and in willingness to update their worldview with new information. Regardless, none of them should be coddled. Bad ideas should be called out for being bad ideas.
Im short there are plenty of past and present christian groups not seen as "normal". Perhaps you meant to say mainstream christianity is seen as normal and goes uncritsized which is true but redundant for that is fairly close to what the word mainstream means.
Well , I guess I would say islam, mormonism, scientology have all been seen as something on the fringes. Catholics too when they first got here. There was the know nothing party, papist conspiracy, and people were still reluctant to vote for John f.Kennedy , because he was catholic or let their children marry catholics. What is considered abnormal goes way beyond atheism , if you want to talk about whats considered "normal" or "abnormal". I guess I think the main problem you have here is that what you mean is wasps but you're using the word religion , which I think causes the confusion. Now I can somewhat sympathize with the idea that maybe atheism is more rational.But then again , I feel like any group or most groups would say that , except for those evangelicals who prioritized faith over reason. I think most people believe their views stem from a rational place like we were talking about with sam harris and his race realism. There is no view from nowhere
Hi Daniel, I was never in, but felt the pressure as a child to belong. Perhaps a different perspective film, books and plays helped me. "The Seventh Seal" and Equus had a profound impact on me, never saw religion the same way again. Then Tom Robbins realigned my perspective and sence ot the ridiculous so it made it hard to take it seriously. For what that is worth. Cheers,
“I learnt by experience that it is no cause for surprise when bread which is pleasant to a healthy palate is misery to an unhealthy one; and to sick eyes light which is desirable to the healthy is hateful.
St. Augustine m, Confessions VII, 21.
Listen to the Church Fathers not the rambling of men. .
so the Church Fathers weren't men? interesting
"Ramblings" my friend, rambling..... Just like you are doing right now. What a waste of time for the both of us. Some prefer to live in a basement versus the top floor with a skylight...
It is certainly true religions have their disagreements and there are churches that are toxic echo chambers. Although I think you can find meeting places of atheists where the same is true. There are different brands and different levels of atheism as well from people that are strict material reductionists to those who accept some version of panpsychism. It can also lead you to some really gross beliefs if you aren't careful. Sam Harris doesn't base his racism on his atheism, but I have no doubt he approaches both subjects the same way (in what he sees) as a rational clear emotionless acceptance of reality as it is stripped of bias and personal feeling. Yet there is no view from nowhere.
thank you for your input. I don’t disagree that the echo chamber has infiltrated many venues, including atheist thinkers, etc. My main point was to highlight the ease with which American society accepts these microcosms as normal, and willingly jumps into them. Given the percentage of Americans that belong to a Christian denomination, the vast majority of Americans already have familiarity with splitting up into separate groups based upon differing opinions—in my example, different interpretations of Biblical ideology and doctrine
I think it is true that America accepts these microcosms as normal and willingly jumps into them (or some of them). Is it your thought though that atheists and/or other minority opinion groups (say Muslims, Mormons, or Scientologists) deserve a certain degree of coddling because they are in the minority?
My argument is simply that modern Christianity has normalized divisions in American society to the detriment of all.
As to your question, I don't see atheists as analogous to minority religious groups--in general, I see them as opposite, at least in terms of how they evaluate evidence and reality and in willingness to update their worldview with new information. Regardless, none of them should be coddled. Bad ideas should be called out for being bad ideas.
Im short there are plenty of past and present christian groups not seen as "normal". Perhaps you meant to say mainstream christianity is seen as normal and goes uncritsized which is true but redundant for that is fairly close to what the word mainstream means.
Well , I guess I would say islam, mormonism, scientology have all been seen as something on the fringes. Catholics too when they first got here. There was the know nothing party, papist conspiracy, and people were still reluctant to vote for John f.Kennedy , because he was catholic or let their children marry catholics. What is considered abnormal goes way beyond atheism , if you want to talk about whats considered "normal" or "abnormal". I guess I think the main problem you have here is that what you mean is wasps but you're using the word religion , which I think causes the confusion. Now I can somewhat sympathize with the idea that maybe atheism is more rational.But then again , I feel like any group or most groups would say that , except for those evangelicals who prioritized faith over reason. I think most people believe their views stem from a rational place like we were talking about with sam harris and his race realism. There is no view from nowhere