Letters to the Editor
Picko
Published Letters: 265 Editor's Choice: 11
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Dirk Gently's Bullshit-ic Detective Agency
[Read the article: Should I come out as an atheist?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The statement that beliefs are BS is a monumental cop-out. Of course you have beliefs - I think it's probably impossible for a human being to function without beliefs of some sort, however tentative or provisional those beliefs are. You may not want to call your beliefs by that name - but you have them nevertheless. For better or worse, your beliefs guide your conduct, and the fact that they may change tomorrow does not make them any less real.
The church used to call people who lived as if there were no god or supernatural phenomena "practical atheists." I think this nicely captures the fact that you don't have to have an intellectual commitment to atheism to be a de facto atheist.
It may make you feel superior to think that you have transcended beliefs - but obviously you haven't, otherwise why would you bother posting on an on-line discussion board?
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"If you can't disprove it, it must be true" is also a common logical fallacy
[Read the article: Should I come out as an atheist?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]But I think "If I don't see it, it doesn't exist" is a straw-man definition of atheism.
By the way, it's a joke to use the phrase "when Christians again are in the minority" - are you referring to the days of the Roman Empire, perchance?
Oh, I'm sorry - I'm probably being mean or disrespectful. By all means, then, let's abjure all opinions or points of view that might possibly offend the piety of our fellow man - goodbye Voltaire, goodbye Nietzsche, goodbye Mark Twain! (They never contributed anything to Western civilization anyway.) Goodbye, open intellectual debate!
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Anyone who thinks that religion is merely a private matter
[Read the article: Should I come out as an atheist?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]has clearly been in a coma for the past seven years.
Private piety seems to be very out-of-vogue lately. The religious are organized and active - but atheists are just supposed to lie low and keep to ourselves.
As soon as we raise our heads, we are shouted down as being arrogant and presumptious simply because we don't believe all the far-fetched, undisprovable lore in a bunch of ancient books!
Meanwhile, religious people get to proclaim whatever pernicious nonsense they want - no matter how absurd, contrary to observable fact, or morally repugnant - because to oppose their sincerely held religious beliefs would be mean-spirited and intolerant.
Oh well, count me among the meanspirited and intolerant then.
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For all we know, God IS the Hallmark Card.
[Read the article: Should I come out as an atheist?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Oh sure people can have their intellectual discussions in their personal lives if others are like-minded, but why foist this on other people in our daily lives."
I am going to try to say this with the minimum of sarcasm, although it may be difficult. What did you expect to find on a message board, particularly with regard to this subject? Clearly you came to this site for some reason, and I would be interested to know what you were looking for? Why are you here in this public forum if open discussion of such things offends your delicate sensibilities (oh drat - there goes that sarcasm again)?
(I particularly enjoy how you use sarcasm to chastise sarcasm: "Thank Goddess for Salon where we can discuss anything and insult others at will. I cannot imagine what outlet I would possibly have for my sarcasm and aggression if I could not come here.")
Why would you go to an advice page if you weren't interested other people's dirty laundry? I mean, if you want to have your voyeuristic thrill eavesdropping on other people's lives, please don't be a hypocrite about it!
And then to try to wash it all down with a load of kitschy sentimentality, with evocations of "what's really important in life" and sanctimonious appraisals of other people's lives - well, it really is a bit much.
Don't participate in the discussion if you feel yourself so above it.
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Agnostic is generally just a polite word for atheist
[Read the article: Should I come out as an atheist?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Richard Dawkins' chapter about agnosticism was probably one of the best in The God Delusion.
Dawkins' basic point was that, sure, we're all agnostics to some degree inasmuch as no one can definitively prove that there is no God. But that doesn't mean that the chances of there being or not being a God are equal.
I actually think the question of the non-existence of God is meaningless. I can say that the Christian God is highly, highly implausible. Or that the existence of Allah defies credulity. By the process of elimination, I can discern that all the dieties that have been proposed to date are hard to give creedence to. But who's to say that just because all the Gods mankind has hitherto known are obviously manufactured that there isn't some God completely unknown to man? It's narcissistic to think that if God exists, we would necessarily have to know something about him.
But the fact is, if you're an agnostic, you're probably not going to participate in any of the rituals or sacraments of the existing religions, which means for all practical purposes, you're an atheist. God is not going to give you all the goodies he has reserved for the faithful simply because you put an open-minded asterisk next to your unbelief.
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@ AKA Smith
[Read the article: Should I come out as an atheist?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You are certainly giving yourself an enormous pat on the back about the subtlety and humor of YOUR posts, which comports well with the generally self-congratulatory tone of your writing.
And thank you for not responding to my questions, because I am sure that if you did, it would be very tedious indeed.
Personally I think you're just embarrassed that someone called you out on your cliched "profundities."