The Devil’s Delusion
Friggin kids make me crazy. What am I reading? The Devil’s Delusion – Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions by David Berlinski. It’s an amusing read, written by a secular Jew. It throws a number of zingers at the new breed of militant atheists – Dawkins, Stenger, etc.
With apologies to Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, et al, here is my take (after getting half way through the book) on the Christian/atheistic divide. The players fall into one of 5 categories.
- Simpleton Christians. Often smug and annoying. I avoid them.
- Christians who have studied the bible’s storyline, understand the absurdity of its arc, yet stand unwavering in their belief. These are people of great faith.
- Simpleton atheists. Sometimes smug and annoying. I don’t avoid them. If I did, I would have few friends.
- Scientific (studied) atheists. If they’re honest, they too understand the absurdity of their premise, which makes them people of great faith.
- Agnostics. The slacker choice!
As embarrassing as I find Christians and Christianity, I fall into category #2.
December 23rd, 2008 in
Uncategorized | tags: Atheism, Christianity, David Berlinski, The Devil's Delusion
Kids- you had them, you get to deal with them! I have dogs one is making insane!
I used to belong to #5, now I am #2.
Nothing negative to say so your feelings are unbruised for another day!
Merry Christmas to you and your clan!
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Religious and athiest wackos (:-p) love to pick on agnostics for “sitting on the fence”, but agnosticism is the only belief system that is based on indisputable proof–or actually, the lack thereof. Why do most humans feel the need to make a decision about EVERYTHING? Is it so wrong to acknowledge that we simply aren’t know-it-alls? Vonnegut said it best in _Galapagos_ when he spoke of the human brain being too big. And as Socrates (supposedly) said, “wisdom is knowing how little we know.”
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i’ve always admired your philosophy. at one point you had a link on your site that had a well written defense. i went with the slacker comment because i am a slacker, and was tired of writing by the time i got to #5. i was going to say that there are 2 types of ags…the simple who slurp up what their professor has dished out (slackers!), and one such as yourself who has thought through the appalling lack of evidence on either side.
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My wife would be #3, her parents are a definite #2 and I’m a bridge between the two parties, so what does that make me? (besides a moron)
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2 + 3 usually makes a 5…but trying to shove people into one of these catagories gets silly.
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The link’s still there (on my hard-to-find “contact” page) but for the convenience of your readers:
http://www.apatheticagnostic.com/ourchurch/faith.html
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i’m a 5 who loves the holidays.
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So not category 6 for the undecided? I honestly change my views on a day to day basis.
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I like the picture and the kids are adorable. Brevity, also good. One of my favorite observations ever re: religious belief from the Canadian writer Robertson Davies: “Atheists fall down on metaphor.”
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I have studied The Bible’s story line. I have studied the scientific story line. I have also read Berlinski’s book. I don’t find The Bible’s story line absurd at all. And, I’m not angry at you.
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This is just so weird. You should go read my comment on junkdrawer67’s latest post, and then go read my comment on Johnny Truant’s Christmas post. You guys are kind of all tracking.
So, I shared this with Junkdrawer and now, I’ll tell you. My big project for 2009 is soliciting and then editing a collection of essays by Gen X men. Are you interested. I hope you will say yes, and I hope you’ll choose a subject – Gen X and religion. And, I’m a #2, too. You already knew that though.
Any and all proceeds from the book, which I have a publisher in mind for, will be divided equally among essayists and editors (jennifer from wisconsin and me). Essays – 500 to 2,000 words. I have a simple contract that I will post on the Internet for downloading as soon as I figure out where to host the document.
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hey Old Man Neill, this may sound a little out of context, but i had no other idea how to send a message to you other than through a comment in a post, but don’t be alarmed, this isn’t a top secret C.I.A. mission brief or anything.
Let me start with this, I’m a Graphic Designer living up in New York City, and I’m working with a high-end industrial wholesale framing client to help develop their brand. The company will be focusing on large scale operations for clients like the Steelers, Penguins, Hospitals, etc. Now, I found your set through stumbleupon.com, which at some point you were recommended an tagged in the Pittsburgh section, which is how I found your blog, because the main base of operations of this company is going to be located in downtown pittsburgh. So before I begin the initial design concepts, I have to immerse myself within the culture, the people if you will, of Pittsburgh Pa, in order to develop a company that will most apply to them.
So I loaded your main blog page, and took it along with me on a trip without internet, so I was unable to dive into later posts, but I think you have a good sense of things, and apparently you just so happen to live in Pittsburgh.
So my question is, that if you find any free slot of time and you are so inspired to offer me a little insight that I don’t have into the world of the people of pittsburgh, (what is the essence, the feeling of community like, an average day, common passions, etc. of yourself as well as the people around you within the pittsburgh community) that would be great! If not, I really enjoy the blog and keep it up! Have a good one.
oh and below is all my contact information
Ryan Riegner
http://www.ryanriegner.com
ryanriegnerdesigns@gmail.com
814.573.7350
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