I was reading another examiner's column today when I saw this comment from someone calling him (or her) self "me":
From what I have seen, atheists spend half their lives arguing about a God they say does'nt exist, and the other half trying to convince others they are right.
There is something wrong with this picture.
There is something wrong with this picture.
Here's my reply:
Oh me, oh my! Yeah, there are a few things wrong with this picture. I can only speak for myself but, as an atheism Examiner, I suppose I have some expertise on the subject. To me, atheism is a conclusion rather than a belief and what concerns me most isn't convincing people to reach the same conclusion but to value factual accuracy over personal bias. For that, what I promote isn't atheism, but critical thinking. You'd be surprised at how hard it is to convince people that bias colors their judgement too... or that they need to do anything about it if they want to consider themselves as thinking persons and better citizens of the world community. Everyone has biases, even atheists. Recognition of that fact though, isn't enough. Learning how to minimize it's effects is more important and that's why promoting logic and evidence-based thinking is the critical thing to me.
Oh yeah, and convincing others that I'm right, heh heh!
There's a battle going on inside of each of us over how we perceive the world. If you want to know more about the roles of bias and critical thinking in this battle, you might want to check out this essay: A War to Remember.
Photo Credit:
1) Critical thinking
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Comments
Awesome article! Bookmarked for future 'battles' with theists.
Atheists are right about the most important thing.. there is no god, there never was a god and there never will be a god... we are all going to die and cease to be.. it is that simple..
Critical thinking and acknowledging one's biases are the entry tickets to any meaningful discussion on any topic. One is entitled to one's opinion but not to one's own subjective facts.
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