foomandoonian

Hi, I'm Foomandoonian. You may know me from the internet.

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4 posts tagged atheism

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The atheist’s nightmare snack: May contain banana fallacy and peanut butter argument.

The atheist’s nightmare snack: May contain banana fallacy and peanut butter argument.

“God may be dead, but the bit of us that made God continues to stir.”

Alain de Botton - A Religion for Atheists

It has often occurred to me while reading one of Dawkins’ diatribes, that while he reveres biology and science almost like a religion, for most people who do not share his passion it’s a poor substitute.

It may be nice to have a secular religion that specialises in helping people find the meaning that they need in their life - not just because they are willing to believe, but because they are willing to think.

Britons remain tolerant despite terror outrages

Okay, so I know the Metro isn’t exactly the bastion of great journalism or anything, but they ran a story today based on a Harris Interactive study, that bugged me: METRO: Britons remain tolerant despite terror outrages (the linked story lacks the infographics that accompanied the printed article). Harris Interactive interviewed 1,296 people, who were asked to rank their strength of faith from 0-10, with zero being agnostic. I’m curious why the Metro used this label. Surely atheist is the correct definition for someone with ‘zero faith’? To me, agnosticism implies that some doubt - trace amounts of faith - may remain.

The main issue the data raised for me was completely ignored by the article. Those surveyed were asked which religion was ‘best’ and which was ‘worst’. Sensibly, 65% answered that no one religion was better or worse. Christianity stormed ahead in popular opinion however, with 26% voting it the ‘best’. The ‘worst’, according to 24%, was Islam. That result, in my view, contradicts the Metro’s conclusion that we remain tolerant. Also, there is a very strong implication that it’s the Christians that have the biggest problem with Islam. Sadly, the Harris Interactive data hasn’t been published on their site to elaborate on the Metro’s assertions.

I left a (polite and reasonable) comment on the Metro post, but it wasn’t published.

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Dear God, please confirm what I already believe

“People may use religious agents as a moral compass, forming impressions and making decisions based on what they presume God as the ultimate moral authority would believe or want,” the team write. “The central feature of a compass, however, is that it points north no matter what direction a person is facing. This research suggests that, unlike an actual compass, inferences about God’s beliefs may instead point people further in whatever direction they are already facing.”

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