The only impossibility is certainty. And what do you mean by "real?" Do Truth, Beauty and Divinity not exist because they cannot be measured or universally agreed upon? If you subtract them from the world you change entire civilizations, which is reasonable evidence of their existence. I was once an advocate of the "new atheism" because …
The only impossibility is certainty. And what do you mean by "real?" Do Truth, Beauty and Divinity not exist because they cannot be measured or universally agreed upon? If you subtract them from the world you change entire civilizations, which is reasonable evidence of their existence. I was once an advocate of the "new atheism" because of its moral certainty, but then I found that moral certainty is proportional to absolute evil. Such certainty leads transexual advocates to butcher children, social justice warriors to burn cities, legislators to destroy meritocracy and turn millions of their citizens into homeless drug addicts. I think many atheists have found the wisdom to be humble about their certainty, and to acknowledge that they have unleashed the darkest forces of human nature on our world. It is time for decent people to work together repair a world damaged by that hubris.
Sorry you take it personally, but that is another symptom of moral absolutism. So is your statement "god cannot possibly be real." I agree that fundamentalist religion can also be absolutist and wrong, but you mistakenly equate the existence of God or the Divine for absolutism. Absolutism is harmful, whether practiced by an atheist or a religious fundamentalist. Holy books may serve as a justification for absolutism but that is true of any ethical framework (including secular humanism and atheism). A sense of humility about the limits of one's knowledge or the truth of one's opinions is a prerequisite to morality, whether religious or secular. Divinity might not yet be erased from the world but atheist absolutists have made valiant efforts to do so, and our civilization is far more ugly and depraved because of it. The experiment has been run, the data is in, and atheist absolutism has been a disaster. You may want to re-read Silverman's article confirming that they "metaphorically killed God and ushered in the religion of wokeism" (which is a great example of an absolutist religion). And if you reply, please stick to reasoned arguments instead of ad hominem attacks. You are a smart guy and I am glad to discuss ideas with you, but you tend to make things personal when they are not.
The only impossibility is certainty. And what do you mean by "real?" Do Truth, Beauty and Divinity not exist because they cannot be measured or universally agreed upon? If you subtract them from the world you change entire civilizations, which is reasonable evidence of their existence. I was once an advocate of the "new atheism" because of its moral certainty, but then I found that moral certainty is proportional to absolute evil. Such certainty leads transexual advocates to butcher children, social justice warriors to burn cities, legislators to destroy meritocracy and turn millions of their citizens into homeless drug addicts. I think many atheists have found the wisdom to be humble about their certainty, and to acknowledge that they have unleashed the darkest forces of human nature on our world. It is time for decent people to work together repair a world damaged by that hubris.
Sorry you take it personally, but that is another symptom of moral absolutism. So is your statement "god cannot possibly be real." I agree that fundamentalist religion can also be absolutist and wrong, but you mistakenly equate the existence of God or the Divine for absolutism. Absolutism is harmful, whether practiced by an atheist or a religious fundamentalist. Holy books may serve as a justification for absolutism but that is true of any ethical framework (including secular humanism and atheism). A sense of humility about the limits of one's knowledge or the truth of one's opinions is a prerequisite to morality, whether religious or secular. Divinity might not yet be erased from the world but atheist absolutists have made valiant efforts to do so, and our civilization is far more ugly and depraved because of it. The experiment has been run, the data is in, and atheist absolutism has been a disaster. You may want to re-read Silverman's article confirming that they "metaphorically killed God and ushered in the religion of wokeism" (which is a great example of an absolutist religion). And if you reply, please stick to reasoned arguments instead of ad hominem attacks. You are a smart guy and I am glad to discuss ideas with you, but you tend to make things personal when they are not.