There is harm, because people who don’t mean something vacuous by ‘God’ like to give the impression that they do to shield themselves against criticism. And thanks to ‘pragmatism’, it usually works.
If theists need to pretend to be atheists to be taken seriously, then we’ve already won.
I didn’t think that by a vacuous God you meant a non-existent God.
Obviously, theists don’t need to pretend to be atheists: Theism is respected by everyone except a small minority of neo-militant ultra-materialist fundamentalist atheists. To be taken seriously, theists merely need to be (or pretend to be, in the presence of critics) moderates, i.e. believers in a God that acts in a very subtle way and conforms to modern secular morality.
So no, “we” haven’t won. The limited form of insanity we call faith is still the norm and is still respected.
If theists need to pretend to be atheists to be taken seriously, then we’ve already won.
I didn’t think that by a vacuous God you meant a non-existent God.
Obviously, theists don’t need to pretend to be atheists: Theism is respected by everyone except a small minority of neo-militant ultra-materialist fundamentalist atheists. To be taken seriously, theists merely need to be (or pretend to be, in the presence of critics) moderates, i.e. believers in a God that acts in a very subtle way and conforms to modern secular morality.
So no, “we” haven’t won. The limited form of insanity we call faith is still the norm and is still respected.