So here's the background, I posted a series of articles related to the topic of 'Is Atheism a religion?" on Free Dominion. One of the responders gave me the following question;
"Also if any atheists could in addition to answering these questions offer their own explanations of why God is not real it would be appreciated."
Now I admit, I struggled a bit here. Afterall, most of my arguments for positive atheism rely on dismantling my opponents conceptual framework - usually along the lines of 'all god-talk is incoherent'. But this poster hadn't done or said anything in particular to warrant my heaviest atheist weapons, and frankly gave me the impression from the rest of her post that such an assault would have merely caused her to tune me out. After thinking about it for a while I came up with the following answer:
"To answer your question with just a word 'dentistry'. When my tooth gets really sore I could decide to go to a faith healer of some sort - someone who will; help me overcome my negative energies, align my chakra's, give me the philosophical ammunition to combat my demons, pray with me for guidance, give me spiritual support, etc.
Or, I could go to my dentist who will take a look into my mouth, see the tooth decay, and if necessary - drill it out and put a filing in. He might even take a look at the other teeth to see if they need help as well, and at the end he'll give me a toothbrush and a lecture on better tooth care and the virtues of flossing.
So for me, science, as painful and imperfect as it is, is infinitely preferrable to the faith based alternatives."
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2 comments:
I've been thinking about this post. It's interesting, and conveniently illustrates your beliefs with a very common-place example.
But, the thing about dentistry is a sore tooth is never likely to be inoperable, or of fatal consequence.
But to extend your analogy further, what about medical situations where surgery may worsen quality of life, or may have little to no impact. Those nasty, dark, ethically difficult areas of medicine, when death is near, where the doctors will tell you that prayer has never been known to harm.
Fortunately we live in a world where we can count on having access to top end care, and every day, thanks to research, those dark areas recess further and further away. But they still exist.
How do you feel about your analogy in that situation?
--Richard
Richard:
"What about medical situations where surgery may worsen quality of life, or may have little to no impact. Those nasty, dark, ethically difficult areas of medicine, when death is near, where the doctors will tell you that prayer has never been known to harm."
AR: If you mean do I advocate prayer for the dying? By all means if it fits with a persons religious beliefs I'd encourage them to. Heck if it makes them feel better they should pray when they aren't dying - I won't object. Do I suggest you can replace surgery with prayer? No. And I certainly wouldn't encourage it for others.
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