[extropy-chat] Atheists launch inquisition...

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Hal Finney <hal at finney.org> wrote:

> In the interests of fairness, it is important to understand what Mike
> is saying and not saying.  He is not saying God exists, and he is not
> defending those who believe in God.  In fact, nothing he has said is
> inconsistent with him being a militant atheist!
> 
> All Mike has claimed is that atheism is a matter of faith.
> 
> Now, there are arguments for and against this, but to a large extent
> they seem to come down to semantics.  There are undoubtedly atheists
> who
> do hold onto their beliefs as a matter of faith, rather than through
> rational thought. 

Thanks Hal,

It is clear that those going on, poking at me about "believing in the
tooth fairy" are irrational atheists, who may know some philosophical
jive to rationalize their faith, but are ultimately believers in
atheism purely for emotional reasons. Their snide 'tooth fairy' attacks
are clear evidence of this.

If such people are so intent on holding onto their atheism, then they
are going to need to rationally and logically answer the Simulation
Argument, demolishing its premise that we are likely in a simulation,
and otherwise prove conclusively that a posthuman society would never
run ancestor simulations, or that intelligent technological societies
always destroy themselves short of reaching post-humanity. This is the
challenge. In the years since Bostrom, Hanson, and others have
developed the concept, I have not seen any significant attempt by the
atheist community to try to disprove the simulation fork of the
argument.

My main assertion is that they must answer this challenge to remain
relevant, or else cede their position or admit to being a religious
faith outright. Why are they so afraid of the challenge?


=====
Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Sadomikeyism


		
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