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My conversation starter for Atheists
It goes like this.
1) Consider a hypothetical world in which there is a study that conclusively proves that certain aspects of religious practice, or the practice of particular religion, has an immediate benefit to your health. (I'm aware that such studies exist in the real world, but they're flawed. I'm asking you to consider one that, to your eyes, is conclusive.)
a) Okay -> Go to 2.
b) I would never find such studies conclusive, regardless of the methodology or repeated results -> Go to END.
c) I cannot imagine such a world -> Go to END.
2) Now you've imagined this world. Would you take up that religious practice?
a) No, it's a bunch of superstition -> Go to END.
b) No, I barely even eat right anyway -> Go to 3.
c) Yes, of course -> Go to 3.
3) Consider yourself/someone else who purported to be an atheist, but took up this practice. Are they still an atheist?
a) No, duh -> Go to 4
b) Yes, duh -> Go to 4
c) Maybe, it's complicated -> Go to 4
4) Do you consider them more or less rational?
a) Yes, they're helping their health -> Go to End
b) No, they're practicing a superstition -> Go to End
c) Huh. -> Go to End
End) Huh. Isn't that ... interesting?
1) Consider a hypothetical world in which there is a study that conclusively proves that certain aspects of religious practice, or the practice of particular religion, has an immediate benefit to your health. (I'm aware that such studies exist in the real world, but they're flawed. I'm asking you to consider one that, to your eyes, is conclusive.)
a) Okay -> Go to 2.
b) I would never find such studies conclusive, regardless of the methodology or repeated results -> Go to END.
c) I cannot imagine such a world -> Go to END.
2) Now you've imagined this world. Would you take up that religious practice?
a) No, it's a bunch of superstition -> Go to END.
b) No, I barely even eat right anyway -> Go to 3.
c) Yes, of course -> Go to 3.
3) Consider yourself/someone else who purported to be an atheist, but took up this practice. Are they still an atheist?
a) No, duh -> Go to 4
b) Yes, duh -> Go to 4
c) Maybe, it's complicated -> Go to 4
4) Do you consider them more or less rational?
a) Yes, they're helping their health -> Go to End
b) No, they're practicing a superstition -> Go to End
c) Huh. -> Go to End
End) Huh. Isn't that ... interesting?
no subject
yrs--
--Ben
no subject
ABBA, basically. As all the above comments seem to suggest, the crux of the issue is really in the first question. If it convinces me, and I'm an atheist, then all the rest kind of follows, doesn't it? Presumably the study is convincing on grounds I already accept, and therefore it has just become another piece of information about how the universe works. Nothing has been challenged because (it seems to me that) the whole scenario begs the question of my atheism.
More interesting to me was that the first time through I only read the 'religious practice' rather than the 'practice of a particular religion.' The former scenario doesn't even suggest a different world to me; meditation seems healthy, for example, and I would be entirely un-startled if someone proposed that a particular religious diet or ascetic practice was healthier for people. The second scenario (particularly if you go with the 'all praise Ra' vs. 'all praise Odin' example given above) is far more challenging, and seems qualitatively different, but of course I can imagine it so A is still the answer.