🚀 go-pugleaf

On Jul 10, 5:20�am, The Natural Philosopher <a...@b.c> wrote:
> Alex W. wrote:
> > "rbwinn" <rbwi...@juno.com> wrote in message
> >news:08134c4b-46c5-454f-9a5f-47756eddfd59@s50g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Without religion to oppose, atheists would do nothing at all.
>
> Thats not true. They just would walk away from any discussion on the
> subject thankfully, and get on with living, and in some case, trying to
> understand the extraordinary universe we seem to find ourselves in.
>
> Really the transition fom a Gaia type animism picture of the universe,
> to a personalised supernatural creator and law giver, to an impersonal
> set of amoral laws..is not as abrupt as the fanboys would like to think.
>
> What is unusual, historically, is the fanatical faith needed to maintain
> the concept of a personal and moral God, in the face of Reason.
>
> Mediaevally speaking, no one questioned that the world and events moved
> according to some vast and ineffable and mysterious pattern, and the
> concept of a supernatural intelligence and a plan, was pretty
> reasonable..until science started uncovering the rules, which turned out
> to be mindlessly simple, totally impersonal and implacable, and
> impervious to personal appeal. And no evidence of intelligence at all.
>
> Note that none of this necessarily negates the proposition that faith,
> belief, prayer, and a live lived AS IF there were an afterlife,is not a
> Good Thing for people and civilisations.
>
> But none of these even indicate that what is believed in must of
> necessity be true.
>
> Archers were able to hit targets long before Newton identified the Force
> of Gravity.
>
> Understanding of the presumed science behind phenonmena is no
> pre-requisite for learning to deal with them. Any ad-hoc theory that has
> pragmatic use will do.
>
> If you look at religion in that light, it makes a lot of sense.
>
> Mired in dogma however, the fanatical Theist simply persists in the
> useless, long past its sell-by date.
>
>
>
>
>
> > ==========
>
> > ..... other than get on with our lives ....- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

If atheists want to believe that they are not intelligent, I see no
problem with that.
Robert B. Winn