Jordon Peterson speaks of the dangers of the new atheists who dispense too easily with religion without understanding its fundamental value to Western civilization.
The Social Value of Religion According to an Atheist
- Thread starter RDKirk
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- Mar 28, 2005
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A good fictional treatment of this would be the original Startrek episode where they got onto a planet where the Roman Empire had got to the equivalent of the 20th Century before Christianity came on the scene. It was a very good "what if" episode. There was this little protest group called "the sun worshippers" and at the end they realised that the group were "the Son worshippers", and so the Christianizing of the Roman Empire was to be the future of that planet. I thought Gene Roddenberry did a piece of really good writing for that episode.
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I called Peterson an atheist, but his answer to that question is, "I behave as though there is a God."
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stevevw
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I think Peterson is very fair minded and intelligent. Being a psychologists he understands humans and can give some good insights into our thinking processes. He can see where religious belief fits into human cognition and does not have an axe to grind for or against religion. I agree that there is more to religion and belief than what atheists say and it is part of the human fabric. There have been many studies that show how it underpins our values and can be a source of hope and peace which can imporve mental health.
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He raised an interesting point about the failure of ethical systems that try to perfect the condition of man from the top down (by a perfected government improving the individual) rather than from the bottom up (by a perfected individual improving the government).
He notes that the basic concept of Christianity differs from other attempts in that way. At least Christianity as it is conceived and as it started out. Once Christianity became part of government, it fell into the same problem of trying to perfect the condition of man by using government to perfect the individual.
He notes that the basic concept of Christianity differs from other attempts in that way. At least Christianity as it is conceived and as it started out. Once Christianity became part of government, it fell into the same problem of trying to perfect the condition of man by using government to perfect the individual.
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