I think that “atheist” is a term that we do not need, in the same way that we don’t need a word for someone who rejects astrology. We simply do not call people “non-astrologers.” All we need are words like “reason” and “evidence” and “common sense” and “bullshit” to put astrologers in their place, and so it could be with religion.
I’d like to bring up a comparison with a similar term that isn’t used much any more: “abolitionist”. It’s very rare to find anyone these days who wouldn’t agree with those in the pre-Civil War United States who called themselves abolitionists. We don’t need the term today, but we did need it back then...
I think Sam Harris gets it mostly right.
I’d like to bring up a comparison with a similar term that isn’t used much any more: “abolitionist”. It’s very rare to find anyone these days who wouldn’t agree with those in the pre-Civil War United States who called themselves abolitionists. We don’t need the term today, but we did need it back then...
“Reason” and “evidence based” are both quite nice words to convey the idea.
Thanks for this. That talk was an informative read.