tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post1732070991787132443..comments2024-03-01T07:35:49.740-08:00Comments on Come Reason's Apologetics Notes: Atheists Admit Their Disbelief Linked to Emotional DiscomfortLenny Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04064209669748618955noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-4725460591998489432017-10-30T15:43:09.411-07:002017-10-30T15:43:09.411-07:00good job good job Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15608432469180402864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-84547809157426343842016-06-08T04:30:04.294-07:002016-06-08T04:30:04.294-07:00niceniceAnnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05734220215058808818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-49350297126908418462016-06-03T01:33:52.886-07:002016-06-03T01:33:52.886-07:00niceniceAnnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05734220215058808818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-20925529572827068512016-03-24T15:19:12.741-07:002016-03-24T15:19:12.741-07:00As a quick side note, though I appreciate the teno...As a quick side note, though I appreciate the tenor of the article, the notion that the source of the discomfort lies in absent parents or attachment issues is disconcerting. From my own experience, many feel discomfort at the thought of the majority of the world going to hell for eternity (as it must include either Gandhi or MLK), discomfort at a jealous, angry god. Although I respect that many groups do not focus on these elements in monotheistic religion, the issues do tend to reside in them. Just a possible alternative source for the discomfort.Kate Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04606580364209630810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-33378860286497711052016-03-24T14:00:42.861-07:002016-03-24T14:00:42.861-07:00As I tried to explain in the beginning of the arti...As I tried to explain in the beginning of the article, I primarily hear the claim that atheists are somehow different in their basis for their (non) belief in theism coming from atheists themselves. The terms "freethinker" and brights" come to mind immediately. My title is meant to catch the eye, certainly. But it is calling out those who wish to claim that non-belief in God is somehow rationally motivated while belief in God is based in fear, or tradition, or ignorance, or whatever else. That's why these studies are so interesting. They are evidence against that narrative.<br />Lenny Espositohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04064209669748618955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-40341466454798778972016-03-24T13:54:51.295-07:002016-03-24T13:54:51.295-07:00I appreciate you clarifying that, Lenny; unfortuna...I appreciate you clarifying that, Lenny; unfortunately, the piece didn't really come across that way. Think about it this way - if you saw a piece entitled 'Christians admit their belief is linked to emotional discomfort', would your first reaction be that this must be a piece about how Christians are making decisions in a pretty similar way to everyone else, or would it be that the author was singling out Christians as somehow different from everyone else in this regard?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-43319579639134054492016-03-24T07:36:03.460-07:002016-03-24T07:36:03.460-07:00Lenny, I read over the article again and I think i...Lenny, I read over the article again and I think it's an important topic that really needs to pondered and discussed in more in our day. It does seem that our minds are getting tricked into thinking that humans base most of their decisions on “reason” (or logos) alone when we know at a core level in our being this is not so. <br /><br /> John Dickson brings up Aristotle’s didactic writing in On Rhetoric. He relates it to persuasion but some of his points fit in well with your article. He says,<br /><br />“Pathos, the emotional or psychological dimension, also plays a role. Beliefs are formed not only by rationalisation but also by "attraction". Arguments we "like", whether because they are presented beautifully or because they resonate with our hopes, will usually be more persuasive than ones we find unpleasant. I think this partly explains why, despite having some great minds in the cause, atheism continues to be an important minority viewpoint. Whatever its intellectual credentials, taken seriously it offers a very bleak outlook.<br />However, logos and pathos do not fully account for why we believe what we believe. Aristotle reserved a special place in his theory for what he called ethos, the social or ethical dimension. Not only do we tend to believe ideas we like, we also tend to accept the ideas of people we like.<br />We now call this the ''sociology of knowledge'' but Aristotle put his finger on it centuries ago: "We believe good-hearted people to a greater extent and more quickly than we do others on all subjects in general and completely so in cases where there is not exact knowledge."<br />A half-plausible argument will sound implausible from someone we dislike, and yet the same argument will seem fully plausible from someone we trust. How this works in practice is that our social context - where we grew up, the education we have received, the friends we hang out with and the community we choose to be part of - influence the beliefs we will adopt. Ethos is at the core of how beliefs work.”<br /><br />http://www.smh.com.au/.../art-of-persuasion-not-so-simple...clayhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02129511543948272087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-56731742164293107932016-03-22T08:54:28.941-07:002016-03-22T08:54:28.941-07:00It's a good question, Sarah. I don't know....It's a good question, Sarah. I don't know. Plantinga would call belief in a Creator as properly basic--in other words, its something most people start with, not reason towards. That would explain why all people groups across history were religious in some way.<br /><br />However, the idea that emotion plays a part in decision making is not a knock. It's part of the way human beings filter data. My main point was simply to draw attention to the fact that atheists are not really all that different from everyone else in this regard.Lenny Espositohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04064209669748618955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-11920122603696537922016-03-22T04:45:35.603-07:002016-03-22T04:45:35.603-07:00Hi, Lenny! I'm curious - how did these figures...Hi, Lenny! I'm curious - how did these figures compare to the proportion of Christians (or people in other religions) who indicated some emotional reasons for their belief?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com