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Atheism vs theism


Is it now intellectually dishonest not to be atheist?

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Religion largely falls in the domain of rational ignorance. From the perspective of narrow self-interest, it's relatively unimportant, which is ironic because one of the few things militants on both sides agree upon is that it's supremely important. A person believes in comforting myths -- so what? No harm is going to befall her (unless she's a Christian Scientist, or holds extremist views).

In some respects, the problem is even more insidious: while we might collectively be better off by not taking religion seriously as a society, individuals might be happier as believers. As a result, we can get public policies informed by ancient goat-herder fiction.

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