Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The Stupid! It Burns! (philosophical edition)

the stupid! it burns! Atheism/agnosticism 1: Atheism okay…
I would say then that there are perfectly valid and reasonable grounds for a kind of practical or personal atheism, and I have no wish to knock anyone for taking this position, even if I don’t myself find it ultimately satisfying or convincing.
Damn white of ya, Lib.
I would however contrast reasonable atheism very strongly with dogmatic philosophical Atheism (capital A), which a priori rules the supernatural out of court, which is violently opposed to religious belief and which I think goes way beyond the reasonable grounds for not believing in God. To my mind this kind of Atheism – as practised by Dawkins, Hitchens, Atkins and friends – is strangely akin to religious fundamentalism.
Lib gives us no citations or quotations; he cannot. He is simply making things up, or, in technical terms, lying his ass off. [Update: Lib has since disclaimed the accuracy of these assertions.] You will not find this kind of philosophical capital-A Atheism in Dawkins or Hitchens (and I doubt Atkins, although I haven't read them); you will find it only in the fevered imagination of dishonest liars philosophical incompetents.

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