Today I propose a question to my fellow atheists out there..... HOW MUCH THEISM IS A BAD THING?
This question is one that has been incessantly playing on my mind the last couple of weeks and it may be something that you may have asked yourself before, or that someone else has asked you in the past? Either way it is surely something that as rational minds we need to consider when fighting for our cause.
Controversial and provocative, no?
Now, I know, most of you who read this first time will instantly from your subconscious generate the response of 'any theism is a bad thing', however by doing so you have led yourself in to the trap of many of our theist adversaries by allowing a cognitive bias, a confirmation bias to be exact. Haven't heard of this, well wiki can help to some extent.
This is because we are predisposed from the fundamental attitudes about the concept of an atheist to automatically tailor our response to any from of opposing view in turn coinciding with our core views.
However, arguably, for the most rationalised people that we are supposed to be, this mental failure is polar opposite and is by far an irrationalised choice. This is because we haven't considered the many layers of theism and the influence it has in different social and organisational levels or contexts.
Therefore our generalised response must need further thought.
We need to consider these levels in terms of
Individual vs social theism
personal vs organisational theism
secular vs political theism
Each of these levels of theism will challenge our tolerance and our own form of self-indoctrination to dismiss it on all levels. If we assess them individually we can become more comprehensive as a community and overall give depth of rationalism that is fundamental to atheism and so what we strive for.
Each has positives and negatives to weigh up and so tolerance of theism must be just as complex meaning a single answer is not always the most rational choice.
So think about it, come to your conclusion and post your thoughts on:
HOW MUCH THEISM IS A BAD THING?
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