The Nature of Atheism- guest article for a friend's blog

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dysfunction

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The Nature of Atheism- guest article for a friend's blog
« on: January 03, 2007, 01:45:35 PM »
Here's a guest article I wrote for a friend's blog, on atheism and some of my personal philosophy:

http://www.nathanrice.org/2007/01/03/the-nature-of-atheism/

I hope you enjoy.
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skeptical scientist

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Re: The Nature of Atheism- guest article for a friend's blog
« Reply #1 on: January 03, 2007, 02:08:12 PM »
Definitely an interesting read, and I agree with just about everything you say. I'm just wondering where exactly you fall on the tolerance of religion to intolerance of religion scale. (I'm also not entirely sure where Dawkins falls.) I have no problem with questioning it (in any case, someone who doesn't want their faith questioned can just refuse to engage in the conversation) which you do approve of, and serious problems with banning it (which you and Dawkins don't intend anyways.)

I think I raised a useful hypothetical in the Dogmatic Atheism thread. What should a prison do about a Muslim or Jewish prisoner who refuses to eat certain types of food? Does the prison have (as I believe it does) a duty to feed these people things that they do not consider prohibited, or can the prison simply give them food that they would have no problem eating if they were to give up their "irrational" beliefs? Where, in practice, should society draw the line between religious practices that society should rightfully prohibit and religious practices which society has a moral obligation to allow, or is there no line at all?

Edit: I'm also posting a copy of this as a reply in the blog.
-David
E pur si muove!

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dysfunction

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The Nature of Atheism- guest article for a friend's blog
« Reply #2 on: January 03, 2007, 02:15:39 PM »
Well, first of all, many if not most philosophies consider there to be an important moral distinction between killing someone and allowing them to die when you could have prevented it. I do not hold to that. Therefore, giving a prisoner only food you know they will not eat is murder in my eyes.
I don't believe society should prohibit *any* religious practices unless they are harmful to others. I believe in tolerating religion, where by tolerance I mean not banning it and not allowing governments to discourage (or encourage) it. I do not, however, believe in respecting religious belief.
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skeptical scientist

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The Nature of Atheism- guest article for a friend's blog
« Reply #3 on: January 03, 2007, 02:32:05 PM »
Quote from: "dysfunction"
Well, first of all, many if not most philosophies consider there to be an important moral distinction between killing someone and allowing them to die when you could have prevented it. I do not hold to that. Therefore, giving a prisoner only food you know they will not eat is murder in my eyes.
I don't believe society should prohibit *any* religious practices unless they are harmful to others. I believe in tolerating religion, where by tolerance I mean not banning it and not allowing governments to discourage (or encourage) it. I do not, however, believe in respecting religious belief.

I think you and I agree, but it is important to remember that treatment of prisoners in such a way to allow them to practice their religion doesn't just require that society not prohibit religious practice - society has to actively provide them with the means to continue religious practice. I'm not sure what Dawkins would say in this situation, but I imagine he would be sympathetic to the prisoner and think that government should be required to give him kosher/halal food. However, I'm not sure how this squares with his belief that religious beliefs should not receive special treatment in any way.
-David
E pur si muove!

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dysfunction

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The Nature of Atheism- guest article for a friend's blog
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2007, 02:56:24 PM »
It's an interesting question. I do not believe the government should encourage, discourage, or treat specially any religious belief. However forcing someone to eat food that their beliefs forbid them to eat is effectively discouraging their beliefs, which the government should not do. Individual people should have the right to challenge someone's belief, but the government and public institutions should not. And so long as the prison system also provides alternative menus for vegans and vegetarians, etc., I see no conflict.
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Dioptimus Drime

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The Nature of Atheism- guest article for a friend's blog
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2007, 03:43:31 PM »
Quote from: "dysfunction"
Well, first of all, many if not most philosophies consider there to be an important moral distinction between killing someone and allowing them to die when you could have prevented it. I do not hold to that. Therefore, giving a prisoner only food you know they will not eat is murder in my eyes.
I don't believe society should prohibit *any* religious practices unless they are harmful to others. I believe in tolerating religion, where by tolerance I mean not banning it and not allowing governments to discourage (or encourage) it. I do not, however, believe in respecting religious belief.


I agree wholeheartedly with all of that. There's a point where tolerating religion to a point takes SOME kind of necessity. I mean, things like the Cult of Reason and such is when disrespect of religion turns into murder and though there's not a largely defined line between religious intolerance and moral intolerance, we absolutely need to be on the right side of that line.

By the way, awesome article on the blog. It was great.

~D-DRaw

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The Nature of Atheism- guest article for a friend's blog
« Reply #6 on: January 03, 2007, 09:48:15 PM »
Like I said before, great article George. See my comment for more thoughts.