Actually my long-standing view is that the dynamics of ecclesiastical power held by the Church has a great deal to do with the way this conflict has unfolded in Western culture. This is because of the power wielded by religious orthodoxy and, conversely, the treatment meted out to heretics and schismatics. That played out over centuries in the West, and of course it also became deeply intertwined with politics, in the Wars of Religion and the 30 Years War, not to mention many bloody episodes in the Inquisition, such as the persecution of the Cathars.
I am inclined to think that is the underlying cause of the anti-religious attitudes of the so-called 'secular West'. That, in turn, grew out of the Enlightenment and the belief that science, not religion, ought to be the 'arbiter of truth' - which is, of course, true, in respect of the kinds of matters that can be made subject to scientific measurement. But religions deal with many ideas and values that are quite out of scope for science.
Actually this is a subject which Karen Armstrong's book The Case for God, talks about - that essay is basically an abstract of it. She shows how early modern science, by appealing to 'God's Handiwork', inadvertently brought about its own undoing - 'Fatally, religions tried to defend themselves against science by arguing that they knew the truth better than the geologists, rather than presenting themselves (as one feels Armstrong would have wished) as the guardians of mystery and therapeutic manoeuvres of the mind. 1.'
That impulse is what gave rise to biblical fundamentalism and the 'culture wars'. Most people don't realise that Augustine and Origen were fiercely critical of biblical literalism and fundamentalism, in the early days of the Christian church. — Wayfarer
Shouldn't a thoroughgoing a-theism not simply reject 'belief in God', but the very 'god-problem' to begin with? — StreetlightX
True liberalism accommodates a diversity of beliefs, lifestyles, religions practices/traditions, etc. The "belief" police, on the other hand, say that some beliefs, such as the belief in supernatural beings, have got to go. — WISDOMfromPO-MO
In Only A Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul, Kenneth R. Miller shows that the Intelligent Design movement is not about evolution. The Intelligent Design movement, he shows, uses evolution as a smokescreen to hide their actual agenda: changing the definition of science and in the process subjugating or destroying science. If I recall correctly, it all started with a small meeting in the home of Michael Behe.
Again, it is not about truth, spiritual well-being, improving the human condition, etc. It is various interests struggling to gain and maintain power. — WISDOMfromPO-MO
If the definition of Atheism is merely lack of belief, both of these diagrams make no sense whatsoever. — WiseMoron
I also have a counter-argument against the definition of Atheism being merely lack of belief as well. Given that someone has the opinion that God doesn't exist and yet says s/he is an atheist, in the sense that s/he merely lacks belief, isn't that a contradiction in a way? What I am saying is, "having an opinion requires believing." If you merely lack belief in God, then you ought to be under the title of agnosticism than atheism because logically that makes more sense and is less misleading. I know that atheism isn't a religion, but how can you have an opinion on the same subject that you have no belief nor disbelief in? That makes no sense to me. Also, beliefs aren't only in the systems called religions, anyways. It makes more sense to me that atheism is disbelief and not merely lack of belief. — WiseMoron
alludes to Russel's teapot. Of course every proponent of a specific religion cannot demand a disproof from disbelievers. Rather he/she has to deliver really good reasons for believing. On the other hand an atheist stating that there isn't any form of a divine entity and one should believe in plain naturalism makes a claim, which needs to be vindicated sufficiently either. Maybe the most teapot-like (admittedly there is a problem with definition) extraterrestial object in the solar system has an amazing similarity with something that would be generally accepted as a teapot. In analogy a god-like being might exist, that shows more similarities with Gods of known religions than atheists would suspect.attempts to shift the burden of proof — jorndoe
Does one 'not believe' in square circles? Or is to speak of belief already to concede too much? i.e. that there is anything coherent to 'believe' or 'not believe' in to begin with? Shouldn't a thoroughgoing a-theism not simply reject 'belief in God', but the very 'god-problem' to begin with? Let's not grant God the dignity of even being 'dead' - there's never been anything that was - or could have been, in principle - alive in the first place, and to even speak of 'non-belief' is already to concede far too much to theology - i.e. that the very issue is at all sensical in any way: that 'God' is anything more than a grammatical mistake for which even very idea of belief is already irrelevant. — StreetlightX
The Intelligent Design movement, he shows, uses evolution as a smokescreen to hide their actual agenda: changing the definition of science and in the process subjugating or destroying science. — WISDOMfromPO-MO
Sounds conspiracy-ish, over thought and baseless. The people behind that movement are intelligent enough to neither come up with such an agenda nor to not believe in intelligent design. — BlueBanana
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