Religion
Distorts Thinking
At
the root of knowledge, you must accept certain beliefs. Within empiricism, in
the use of our senses, within mathematics, logic, etcetera.
The
difference being that scientific hypotheses are falsifiable and testable. A
well-tested scientific theory is as close to truth as we can come. There is at
least some form of evidence. Hopefully better than the possible
alternatives. 1
Not
everything is currently explained by science, and some things may not be
provable at all. However, science has disproven concepts that were
explained by God, and if the future is anything like the past, science will
disprove more concepts explained by God. God as a placeholder for things
unexplained by science creates a barrier to future truths revealing themselves.
As science explains more those with religious thinking will resist ideas for which
there is greater evidence than God.
Is there a God?
If
there is a way to prove this, I am open to the idea. All of the
“evidence” of God can be explained otherwise. Show me the proof of this could only
be evidence of God, and I will change my mind. Underline only. I have
not seen this evidence, and I have done some looking. 2 3 I
categorize myself as agnostic rather than atheistic because I always leave the
door open to possible evidence. 4 5 Though, the atheistic point of
intellectuals such as Sam Harris is worthy of serious consideration as well. 6
What does it mean to be
religious?
There
are different degrees of religiousness and different religions. Every religious
person at least believes there is a Higher Power. 7 There is a
supernatural element involved. Why is this belief in God more credible than the
belief in the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus or the belief in Magic? There is
exactly as much proof (zero) in each of these concepts.
Many (but not all)
religious people believe in the following:
There
are a list of moral rights and wrong, and these are beyond question because
they are the Word of God. God created all things. This conflicts with the
thoroughly scrutinized and verifiably predictive Theory of Evolution. 8 9
There is an afterlife. Religious texts are the Word of God, and by extension
perfect.
Can a person be
essentially religious without the supernatural?
Yes.
Social Justice ideology is a form of this. As John McWhorter elaborates on in Woke
Racism, ideology can become religious. When I say religious in this
context, I mean dogmatic. Beyond question. 10 “Believe women” is
another form of this where people are supposed to take women at face value with
allegations of sex assault. 11 Innocent until proven guilty is the
more intellectually rigorous standard (proof being the term of
importance vs hearsay). There are many other forms of non-religious
intellectual dogmatism, these are just a few examples. If you feel the urge to use
the Karl Marx quote “religion is the opiate of the masses” cut that shit out,
you cliché motherfucker! Get a more obscure and interesting reference!
We
should allow religion as part of a free society. However, we should note that religious
belief is a mark against someone's intellectual credibility It is possible
someone might be intellectually rigorous, they must be in spite of
their belief, rather than because of it.
Works
Cited:
1.
https://www.livescience.com/21491-what-is-a-scientific-theory-definition-of-theory.html
2.
http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/GodProof.htm
3.
http://www.godlessgeeks.com/WhyAtheism.htm
4.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/agnostic
5.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheist
6.
https://www.samharris.org/blog/there-is-no-god-and-you-know-it
7.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/different-religions-world-overview-facts.html
9.
https://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html
10.
McWhorter, J. (2021). Woke racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America.
Penguin.
11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Believe_women
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