I suggest it would be healthy for the site to call for a moratorium on the current atheism vs. theism piefight. The piefight is damaging to the community in at least three ways:
- It doesn't change any minds, so it is a waste of time.
- It is supremely annoying to many users, and may even be harmful to some of them.
- Most importantly, it detracts from the central goal of electing Democrats.
The last 36 hours have seen umpteen diaries debating atheism vs. theism. I haven't counted, and I haven't been blogging very actively over this period, but I'll bet there were at least 30 diaries during this period, maybe many more. Several dueling diaries made the wreck list. Almost all the ones I saw had more comments than usual. That's thousands of comments.
But I'll wager that not a single mind was swayed in either direction. And the debate was generally so abrasive and/or simplistic that I also seriously doubt that anybody learned anything. Thus, I think it's all a waste of time. This is absolutely not the right forum for this debate, in my opinion.
The membership here is generally well educated and well above average in intelligence. Those who are believers are not blindly following something [forced on them in childhood]. [Edited to remove language accidentally similar to a particular offensive sigline.] Instead, as Dostoevsky said, their faith is forged in a crucible of doubt; it is a fruit of struggle and suffering and spiritual pursuit. But I don't think there is much point trying to explain this to people who simplistically think that faith and reason is a clear dichotomy.
When I was young, I read about all kinds of experiences that others had had: religious experiences, psychedelic experiences, romantic experiences, and on and on. My attitude always was: let me get some of that!
But many people in this current piefight take the position: I have not experienced it, therefore it does not exist, and moreover I'm absolutely certain about that and you're a fool for saying otherwise. And this attitude is presented as the epitome of tolerance and rationality!
That's nuts, I say. There is just no point for people of faith to try to argue with people who think like that. Love them; respect them; pray for them: but no point to argue with them.
As to my second point, a piefight like this further splinters whatever unity there has been in this community. Moreover, I suspect it is actually emotionally and spiritually damaging to some people. It can't be healthy to read so many angry and bitter rants. (Yes, I realize that some of the discussion was comparatively civil, and that some comments that I perceive as angry, bitter rants are perceived otherwise by some.)
Finally, and most importantly, I think this kind of piefight genuinely detracts from the site's core goal of electing Democrats. The reasons for that should be obvious and I'm not going to belabor them here.
So here's a poll. I'm curious for the results.