As yet untitled atheists have no meaning video
Added 2023-01-30 22:24:45 +0000 UTCIt's the only meaningful way to approach life, because he said so.
Comments
Its the idea of: "If this doesn't make sense, what else doesn't make sense." For a lot of people, myself included, we didn't even know that it was 'the problem of evil' that we'd stumbled across, it wasn't recognizable as anything so formal or whatever. It was just an idea or observation that didn't make sense in a worldview where all was supposed to make sense. Speaking from personal experience, when I brought it up to family as part of my crisis of faith, it still wasn't treated as 'the problem of evil', this thing that's been discussed and debated forever. I'm reasonably confidant that my family was likewise unaware of the philosophical history of TPoE. I just explained what seemed, to me, to be a concerning observation about this thing we all believed and got variations on 'mysterious ways' and 'god's plan' which, looking back, were likely just repetitions of what had been told to them in similar circumstances. I liken it to missing the trees for the forest - the forest is really convincing as a forest, just so long as you don't look too closely at the trees. But all it takes is noticing one tree that doesn't quite look right to then start seeing flaws in a bunch of other trees, collapsing the forest-whole illusion entirely.
Fletcher Etheridge
2023-02-09 21:27:35 +0000 UTCI don't think it's that the problem of evil generally causes someone to become an atheist. I think it's that the problem of evil is often the first crack in a soon to be atheists brainwashing. I remember when I was a theist most logical and physical evidence arguments sounded like white noise to me because I was so programmed to not be able to even grasp the concept of there being no god. But the problem of evil is a problem if you believe in god, you can think about it while believing in god unlike most other arguments. And once you get hit with that cognitive dissonance in one part of your belief, it can cause you to realize that you're capable of questioning things you've been fed your whole life.
daniel schmitt
2023-02-03 03:52:50 +0000 UTC2:20 well, no. I don't believe that the problem of evil on it's own makes you an atheist, either, but I believe it's the most glaring problem that even a lay person can reach on their own and once one problem with their religion is obvious, they notice more, eventually looking deeper into other religions until they reach a point where theism isn't feasible anymore. So not so much the only reason, as the initial reason why they became an atheist. And since most questionnaires ask for "the reason" (as in singular) they answer with the starting point since that's probably the first thing that comes to mind.
Carsten Koch
2023-01-31 10:38:24 +0000 UTCRegarding the problem of evil leading to loss of faith, I can only imagine that it's referenced as just a chink in the armor. Whether the first chink that begins the process of reflection that leads to deconversion, or the final blow in that same process. Either one would make sense for someone to claim as "the reason," depending on their point of view. I can only guess, as my own process pretty much began and ended at a very young age when I realized the entire thing hinged on "because the bible tells me so." I haven't seen non-xtian theistic religions to have any more justification or evidence, so....
OneEyed Jack
2023-01-31 00:58:12 +0000 UTC
