Religion

longship

(40,416 posts)

24. I would agree with that.

Thu May 8, 2014, 05:04 PM

May 2014

"Religion is Bad", like Hitchens' God is not Great. Still, even a polemic can be a great read, and it is. Hitchens was a great writer. However, it was in that vein.

But Hitchens somehow never portrayed it any other way than, if people think religion is good, they also have to accept the hind side as well. He had explicitly said so on multiple occasions. Dawkins has also done a bit of that, but he couldn't hold a candle for Hitchens.

It's interesting and somewhat puzzling to me that the author of the article chose to set Hitchens apart from the other three horsemen. Not sure what that's about.

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Why I am Not an Atheist: Better Apathetic Godlessness than Illiberal Scientism [View all] rug May 2014 OP

The mid-naughties? Do you think that's a typo or he meant that, lol? cbayer May 2014 #1

Author claims he doesn't care enough about atheism Shivering Jemmy May 2014 #2

He's not rejecting atheism. He's rejecting this: rug May 2014 #4

That was not my takeaway from what I did read. cbayer May 2014 #5

Lol, looks like some kind of change. rug May 2014 #3

Straw men, red herrings, R US! immoderate May 2014 #6

Thank you for your thoughtful critique. rug May 2014 #7

Yeah. You beat me to it. immoderate May 2014 #10

I was listening to Laura Ingraham on the way back from jail. rug May 2014 #11

Laura Ingraham was in jail? immoderate May 2014 #13

No, rug was in jail. cbayer May 2014 #14

Well, she said she's subbing for O'Reilly tonight so that might be an improvement. rug May 2014 #15

He lost me at "scientism". longship May 2014 #8

I don't like cartoon rendering either. rug May 2014 #9

Why do you object to the term scientism? cbayer May 2014 #12

"Scientism" is always pejorative. longship May 2014 #18

I agree that it is pejorative and should be used only to describe those who cbayer May 2014 #21

I would agree with that. longship May 2014 #24

I found Hitchens fascinating to watch when he was doing the interview circuits. cbayer May 2014 #25

An interesting thing about Hitchens... longship May 2014 #28

He reminded me of Dorothy Parker in some ways - cbayer May 2014 #30

My favorite Hitchens quip: longship May 2014 #31

I also saw Hitchens say some things that I believe the network wished they had caught... cbayer May 2014 #32

"scientistic?" mike_c May 2014 #16

It's a word with a recognized definition. cbayer May 2014 #17

it's a word for a nonsensical understanding of science and how it works.... mike_c May 2014 #20

I agree with that definition. cbayer May 2014 #23

Science and the scientific method are about facts and reality, not about how we wish things were. Manifestor_of_Light May 2014 #19

Yep. Being told "I am right and you are wrong" on issues like religion really is annoying. cbayer May 2014 #26

You mean like this? cleanhippie May 2014 #33

So the author is apathetic therefore he writes about his apathy intaglio May 2014 #22

Some people cannot think in terms outside of religion. phil89 May 2014 #29

Poorly researched. AtheistCrusader May 2014 #27

The beginning of the article wasn't very interesting to me. ZombieHorde May 2014 #34

It's hard work. rug May 2014 #35

What's hard work? lol nt ZombieHorde May 2014 #36

I was sympathizing. rug May 2014 #37

Ha! I'm not feeling very patient today. nt ZombieHorde May 2014 #38

In britain, religion has no political standing? AtheistCrusader May 2014 #40

When I lived in the UK Dorian Gray May 2014 #41

No, it's quite correct. It has no political standing here. mr blur May 2014 #42

Insofar as Mr Wells shares some of my views, I consider him a wise man, struggle4progress May 2014 #39

His descriptions of New Atheism TM99 May 2014 #43