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On Spiritual Atheism : Comments
By Ben-Peter Terpstra, published 17/5/2011To whom or what was Julia Gillard praying, since she tells us she has no god.
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But if you’re trying to go down the “Hitler was an atheist” path, then don’t bother. We’ll never really know for sure and most of the evidence says he was a Christian. It’s convenient that the Catholic Church is quite happy to consider atheists who, out of habit, check “Catholic” on their census forms when boasting of their numbers, yet they disown Hitler even though he never renounced his faith.
<<But, I have to counter: What proof Do You offer that society WOULD NOT be worse off without religion, any religion - not just Christianity, but Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Voodoo, The Dreamtime, etc.?>>
You’re kidding, right?
I’ve already given evidence that suggests that would be the case (http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/user.asp?id=49348) despite the fact that it is you who bears the burden of proof since you are the one making the positive claim. Providing no evidence as to why the world would be worse off without religion and then turning it around on me and saying, “Well you can’t prove it wouldn’t be”, is fallacious.
<<You have a disposition to pose questions in the form of "could/ could not, possibly....?>>
You’ll find most of my questions containing those words are rhetorical questions posed to make people think.
Anyway, thanks for that last conciliatory post. I remember saying much of it myself but they’re just words, I’m afraid.
I was a devout Christian for over half my life. I read and studied the Bible religiously and even had my own pocket Bible I carried around with me. I came from a very middle-of-the-road church and knew/know a lot of Christians and your claims about their progressiveness run completely contrary to most of my experience. My description of the resurrection may have been crude but it was still accurate. You also need to take into account that “evidence” was the topic at the time.
The difference now is not that I’m smarter necessarily; it’s that I’ve gained more information and I now care about whether or not my beliefs are true. I am no longer willing to believe something simply because it feels good.