Originally Posted By: SlickerThanSnotthat dang pascal is causing rift among the ranks.
i vote he be deported.
Yes, but he sure has answered a lot of questions too.
He was responsible for my access to a blog entry that was very revealing and enlightening.
It was titled "The Arrogance Of An Atheist".
Now I have always thought that atheists were just normal people who believed the way they do because they have no evidence of proof of a deity, especially one who talks to us and takes an active part in controlling our lives. I really didn't see where even a tiny bit of arrogance was required for that.
So then I read this in the blog entry:
"Men have worshiped the sun and the stars and the earth. Men have worshiped rulers and governments. You name it, someone has likely built a shrine to it. Most will insist only their object of worship is true. I know I do. I also know we cannot all be right. Thus, I, like any other serious practitioner of my faith can fall into the trap of smug certainty. After all, I would not be a Christian if I weren't convinced I was on the correct path. I am quite sure a Buddhist, a Hindu or a Muslim would feel the same. Thus the we are sure to feel to some extent that all others are just plain wrong."
So it appears that an individual who is an atheist toward all but one of the estimated 4200 religions in the world can claim "smug certainty" as a reasonable justification, but when somebody else decides to add that one chosen religion to make the total an even 4200, they are called a "arrogant atheist".
If I was smart enough to do one of those blog things, I would like to make an entry titled "Making a Case For Smug Certainty in Religion, and How It Differs From Arrogant Atheism".
But I'm just not that smart.
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