"Mormon Student, Justice, ACLU Join Up"

[David E. Guinn]

I believe this distinction to be incorrect.  Both atheists and evangelicals adhere to particular ideological perspectives.  The atheist, as you posit him or her, does not believe in god because god cannot be proven by empirical means (i.e. "sufficient evidence.")  True.  But that assumes that science can either prove or disprove god.  That is like saying science (in the hard, empirical, lab-experimental sense) can prove or disprove love or morality or some other complex social phenomena.  It is not enough to say that the default in the absence of proof must be disbelief.  At best it should be agnosticism at something that is posited to exist outside of the materialist paradigm.  That is not the position atheists like Dawkins take.
 
I should add, my posts are not directed at an abstract, theoretical atheist, but rather at the public discourse surounding the neo-atheists (Harris, Dawkins, etc.)
 
David


From: RJLipkin at aol.comDate: Fri, 7 Sep 2007 07:57:10 -0400Subject: Re: "Mormon Student, Justice, ACLU Join Up"To: religionlaw at lists.ucla.edu

David E. Guinn wrote:
 
Third, to say atheists are not evangelical ignores the passion and furor around Harris, Dawkins, Hutchens et. al. and the best selling books they have written.
 
 
        The distinction between evangelism and atheism should not be collapsed because both exhibit "passion" or that there is "furor" surrounding the work of some atheists.  The distinction is that the former eschews the kind of evidence that everyone, including evangelicals, rely upon in everyday dealings, personal and professional relationships, business, politics, and of course science. A principled, thoughtful atheist will renounce his or her position when confronted with sufficient evidence.  Evangelicals relying upon faith will not, or at least they claim that they will not because nothing for them can constitute sufficient evidence.
 
Bobby      Robert Justin LipkinProfessor of LawWidener University School of LawDelawareRatio Juris, Contributor:  http://ratiojuris.blogspot.com/Essentially Contested America, Editor-In-Chief http://www.essentiallycontestedamerica.org/


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