In all my experience with Atheist antagonists on the internet-they always assume some basic things that they shouldn't.
#1. They think they are smarter than you. Atheists always assume that they are more able to understand scientific principles than any religious person. The reality is that Wiccans and Pagans don't disagree with modern science. They don't believe in things without reason or out of fear. Some atheists are so skeptic, they go out of their way to think of so-called "rational" or scientific explanations even when the odds of something happening in accordance with that are slim to none. As a result, Wiccans should be prepared to back up their anecdotal evidence with witnesses, journal entries and if possible-photographic evidence.
Also, don't be afraid to show the evidence for what we have discovered like Auras, natural earth rhythms and psychic activity. After all, even the government has used psychics.
#2. They think they are more sane than you. Atheists dismiss any hint of theism as pure delusion. Ironically they are willing to go to great lengths of evidence spinning to prove any possibility of scientific theory behind phenomena.
#3. They equate every religion with Christianity. Many Atheists will hurl accusations about how many wars and people have died in the name of religion. And expect you to drop to your knees in despair and admit that you are somehow responsible for the actions of other misguided believers. They will scoff at any attempt to then link them to Communist massacres perpetrated in the name of no religion-as if this is not the same thing. First off, don't let them get away with this argument. Wicca has started no wars. Second, you can successfully link the movement of Atheism to all sorts of heinous moments in history of which you can say-believe and non belief do not equate to a person's actions.
#4. They think you have no real evidence. Atheists frequently play this game. They come into your territory, ask you why you believe what you believe and then when you give them evidence-the say "That's not proof." Or, "You expect me to believe that? You're probably lying." At which point you say, "If you don't think I'm credible, why did you bother to ask?" Followed by, " It doesn't have to prove anything to anyone but me."
#5. They don't take into consideration that you scrutize and philosophize those things you believe. Atheists believe that all religions are based on the fear of death. I personally don't know exactly what happens after I die, but then it doesn't really matter. What matters to me is the nature of the universe. My religion is my best guess based on what I've witnessed.
I realize that not all Atheists act this way, but the number is growing. They are bullies, no better than the conservative Christian.
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6 comments:
Hi Anastasia! I really like this post! I think I know the video's comment spat that inspired it, I just got finished reading a LONG discussion between NoahRobertMiller, Dionysusheathen and yourself. I feel a lot of his issues deal with his inability to realize faith and belief are well BELIEF... It's not an *exact* science. Also I don't see what the problem was since no one was saying "MY BELIEFS ARE RIGHT AND NO ONE ELSE'S ARE!!!" Paganism to myself and to most other pagans is personal and only we have to have our *evidence*...
Are you going to make a video on this topic?
Hope you are well and
Blessed Be!
)O(- Dalton aka Piper42
well done! i would like to know more about what atheists movements have caused harm. i've never heard of that but of course they wouldn't mention that, would they.
Woo good points all around
I could have written this myself. Good job.
Very good, BFW. You make very good points. Before I read this, I had no idea how much firepower we have against atheists.
I think you'd like Imre Lakatos and Paul Feyerabend.
Lakatos was a philosopher of science who had a theory that science consisted of competing research programs. Each program has a "hard core" of hypotheses that it never questions, and a protective belt that it modifies to accommodate conflicting data. What each program is trying to do is to make accurate predictions. But you can't write a program off completely, because it always might come back with a vengeance.
Feyerabend's Against Method is essential reading for anyone outside of the scientific norm. He shows that the "standard" methodologies of logical postivism and falsficationism would have killed science before it got started. Any theory can potentially come back with a vengeance: heliocentrism and atomic theory of matter were formulated and refuted about two millenia before changes in how the data was interpreted made them the better fits.
I see magic(k) as a kind of research program potentially waiting to get off the ground (again). As long as it's your own hobby and you're not trying to push it down people's throats like creationists, someone'd be downright scientifically irresponsible to try to get you to give it up because it doesn't fit their metaphysical views.
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