Pegacorns and Kitten Hugs

"If every trace of any single religion were wiped out and nothing were passed on, it would never be created exactly that way again. There might be some other nonsense in its place, but not that exact nonsense. If all of science were wiped out, it would still be true and someone would find a way to figure it all out again."

Penn Jillette, God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales (via itscandidlycara)

This is interesting because it’s such an Atheist perspective. I know that sounds obvious but bare with me. Granted there are past religions that have been forgotten so it’s not like it’s unsubstantiated. However, this is working under the premise that all religions are pretty much unusually long-lasting cultural fads. From the perspective of someone belonging to an active religion, let’s take Christianity for instance because I obviously relate to that, the past is irrelevant. I believe that my spiritual beliefs are the right ones and my deity won’t allow belief in him/it to be diminished into nothingness like other religions. Also, according to my Bible, some incarnation of my belief system has been around since the inception of the world so odds are for it sticking around.

I guess what I’m getting at is that from my perspective the behaviour of other religions has no traction with the fate of my belief system. So this quote makes sense from a hypothetical point of view but it won’t work on theists.

Also, I just really wish people would stop comparing science to religion because they are not in the same category. They are not comparable. Science is not a system of belief. People compare them because tangible evidence is generally seen as the antithesis of spirituality - which isn’t true and actually exactly what I’m talking about. Because the real difference between spiritual beliefs and science is SPIRITUALITY not evidence. Science does not deal in the intangible spiritual - as evidenced by the fact that so many Atheists take refuge under it’s aerodynamically sound wing design. And as a Christian I can support science and my spiritual beliefs. The two are most certainly not mutually exclusive, contrary to popular opinion. The same can not be said for any two religions that exist so how can we think that science is comparable?

(via haydenrodgers)

I guess that from a theistic standpoint theists believe that there would be a sign from their god if this were the case. And I assure you, were that to happen, would a deity ever to personally contact me in a real and tangible way then I’d change my tune regarding god real fast.

In this particular scenario I think what Penn is trying to accentuate is that religion, faith, and the human perception of god, is a man-made construct- whereas the reality that science studies is not. I will disagree with you on science being a system of belief. I personally can’t believe in something unless there’s evidence of it. (The major reason why I can’t be religious seeing as how it relies so much on faith.) I’m also not the type to know that anything is true.

Scientists are the same in their use of language, what to a layman is fact will be listed as a theory in the scientific community. But for it to be a theory there has to be loads of certifiable runs and proof that comes to a certain conclusion. Scientists believe things to be true. They don’t know, as certifiable truth is impossible. (Something religions constantly preach “God the truth, the light…etc.”)

But to run a similar example: Had no one ever told me that Jesus was the son of god I would have never come to that conclusion on my own. People who don’t believe in Muhammad largely don’t because they were never exposed to his teachings growing up and would never consider him a prophet from god out of their own free will, no belief in them by the mere fact that they weren’t exposed to that system of belief due (largely) to their geographical location on the planet. Someone tells people about these people, with no evidence other than a book that a whole bunch of other people wrote and then told more people about. Whereas had no one ever told me about evaporation- I maybe could have figured it out just by watching an extremely sunny and hot day outside. And science, unlike specific religions, is universal. Everyone on the planet believes in gravity.

The atheistic argument in always comparing science to religion is the comparison of relative fact to what non-theists see as blatant man made fiction. Which is fundamental to the thought process of non-theism.

(via itscandidlycara)

Source: itscandidlycara