Atheism Exposed: Pragmatism

“Godlessness it seems, is not without a sense of purpose.”

– Xenocrates

Apatheism (or Pragmatic Atheism) is perhaps the most popular agnostic concept. It is less concerned with arguments for or against the existence of any god and is more concerned with living life as though there wasn’t one. This indifference to the existence of or need for god is often bound in the concept that morality and theism are mutually exclusive. While that may be inherently true, pragmatic atheists often use this as justification for their  liberal lifestyles. Then some go as far as to attempt to redefine the status quo in the pursuit of ridding the world of its mythological entrapment. Either way, whether it is taking god out of schools or reducing the value of marriage, godlessness it seems, is not without a sense of purpose.

The Anatomy of Belief

“Conflict over belief is as worthwhile as conflict over a favourite colour.”

– Xenocrates

There are many systems of belief in the world. Most beliefs are propagated by the innate compulsion of their subscribers to derive purpose from the world around them. As such, religion is effectively a moderate transmutation of mythology, philosophy and science. It attempts to be the silver bullet that is the catch-all solution for all of life’s problems. That’s why religion is the most conspicuous of all systems of belief. It attempts to explicitly fill the gaps science and philosophy do not. However, there are some dark, disturbing characteristics about religious belief that a lot of religious people are either unaware of or seem to ignore altogether. Growing up in an environment that catered to the far Christian right taught me a lot of highly valuable lessons about these characteristics. This post details the top ten most valuable lessons I’ve learned about religious cognition. Most of these I learned after intense debate and oftentimes, vicious confrontation: