Ask an atheist

[ciphergoth]

In a discussion about religion in wildeabandon's journal, meihua writes: "this seems to have turned into me interrogating you. [...] Is there anything you'd like to challenge me on, instead?"

I think it's only fair enough to open up my own beliefs to the challenges of others, since I'm always keen to respond when theists invite me to give my perspective on some aspect of their beliefs as wildeabandon has in a series of recent posts. So, is there anything you'd like me to respond to?

Rules:

• You don't have to read this thread. This post is an invitation, not a challenge; if you don't like to read me talking about this then feel free to skip this.
• Be honest. Please don't advance arguments you don't personally buy, unless you're also an atheist and you want to discuss how best to counter it.
• If you come to change your mind about the validity of an argument, think about how you can generalise the lesson learned so as not to misassess similar arguments in future.
• Don't just match the politeness of what you reply to, but try to exceed it - see Postel's Law. Otherwise it is very easy to end up with a thread where each contributor thinks they are merely matching the snark level of the other, and yet the thread starts with the very slightest suggestion of rudeness and finishes with "please choke on a bucket of cocks".

Comments

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

but, you know, smart people, giving the matter serious thought! I have a hard time bending my brain around the idea that what you describe is working on them. I'm not sure you're wrong, I just can't get my head around it.

[palmer1984.livejournal.com]

Religious experience (that which you get from prayer, from ritual, and from belief) is awesome. I haven't been able to experience anything like it since becoming an atheist, though sometimes I think I can get something near it from looking at art/reading poetry. I can absolutely understand why people believe in God, and go to church. It is a combination (I think) of that experience, and the fact that God might exist. They want to have these kind of experiences on a regular basis, and also they tend to have some sort attempt at a logical argument to go with it. In my case it was "well, it might be true - the universe had to have a creator.

[palmer1984.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I meant they need a logical argument of some sort for God because these religious experience require belief in a God (or in something "beyond" the physical world).

Faith and reason is what Catholics call it :)