Hi Michael,
Steve Peterson wrote:
What do you think? Do you think you can tell a good story of hope for
a
better future that doesn't include lies about virgin births and
resurrections?
Michael:
Just thinking out loud here, perhaps you'd get a better reception in
claiming a
path "for a better future" if you didn't refer to people's theistic
beliefs as "lies" ...
Steve:
Your name is unfamiliar. If you are new here, welcome! What brings you
to MOQ.org? (If you are not new here, well... I've been away for a
while.)
First of all, the blog I am working on is not aimed directly at
convincing theists that they have a bunch of wacky beliefs that we'd
all be better off if they dropped. That is indirectly part of my goal,
but the blog is not to attract theists to the discussion. I want to
converse with other non believers in an ongoing strategy session that
would include the sort of suggestion you made.
But I also want to talk to non believers to find out if what I hear
from theists is right--that atheists are generally materialists and
relativists--and if so (as I suspect), to criticize their SOM
assumptions using the arguments against SOM that Pirsig and pragmatism
in general offer. I also want to discuss the positive alternative that
Pirsig and pragmatism offer since atheism is only a negative.
Secondly, you are right that I shouldn't go around saying that such
things are lies. They are actually myths which equate to either facts
or lies from the SOM perspective. In the MOQ, they of course are
neither. A myth is not "false" because it never happened and it is not
"true" because it actually did happen at some point in history if it in
fact did happen. A myth is something more powerful than a fact. A myth,
if it is a good one, is true because it happens all the time.
Regards,
Steve
atheistichope.blogspot.com
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