Hi, my name is Jason and I live in Asheville, NC. My main goal is just getting better at thinking rationally and how to have proper logical arguments with others. I am an atheist and I love discussing religion from my viewpoint of non-belief and why I believe that religion is not only false but also harmful. I am not afraid to admit ignorance and I am always willing to change my viewpoint based on the available evidence. I just love to learn.
Welcome!
I find I have very little energy for debating religion nowadays. It could just
be because I don't know all that much about religion and don't want to bother to
learn. But I think it might just be that the truth of claims of religion aren't
really why people keep going to church, and arguing against those claims wont
really have that much of an effect for people. Some relevant stuff was writ in
Scott's recent article about new atheism
https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/10/30/new-atheism-the-godlessness-that-failed/
[https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/10/30/new-atheism-the-godlessness-that-failed/]
My impression right now, personally, is that the strongest anchors of peoples'
religions are probably
* Grounding of morality. Some people don't see a way to build a shared morality
on a purely secular worldview. It's not obvious that we even can (I believe
we can, with a lot of talking and a bit of evolutionary psych, but have we,
yet? Has that book been written?)
* Community. You can't argue someone out of wanting to be a part of a community
of people who agree about what is good and bad. The best you can do is invite
them to an effective altruist meet and try to make sure they have a good
time, and then if they do, if you can make sure they understand that there
are alternatives, other communities out there ready to embrace them, then
maybe the prospect of leaving their spiritual community can become thinkable
for them.
Hi, my name is Jason and I live in Asheville, NC. My main goal is just getting better at thinking rationally and how to have proper logical arguments with others. I am an atheist and I love discussing religion from my viewpoint of non-belief and why I believe that religion is not only false but also harmful. I am not afraid to admit ignorance and I am always willing to change my viewpoint based on the available evidence. I just love to learn.