Why would any educated person study anyting they thought was complete nonsense?

Question

I'm quoting here what some atheist said about religion.

"Of _course_ atheists read religious books. How else do you think we know so much about their nonsense? "
MC HUmmer

Why would anyone with common sense or a good education waiste their time reading something that was nonsense or something they didn't want to believe, (unless they were required by an instructor or teacher). The only people who would do that would be people with the intention of using it to decieve people. I have never waisted my time reading or learning about something that I thought was stupid or false doctrine. I don't want to be decieved and it serves no purpose to read something written by someone who was stupid or misinformed.

Answer 1

I agree with you. That's why I do not study anything about the theory of evolution. I was forced to read about in schooI and I found it to be nonsense.

Answer 2

I was raised Southern Baptist, and I continued to be one up into adulthood. Then in college, I took a course on the Holy Bible. During that time, not only did I read the Bible all the way through, twice, but I also learned SO much about its history and the history of Christianity in general. I was so shocked by what I found out that I went through years of disillusionment and eventually became Atheist. I know of many Atheists who became so knowledgeable about the Bible, because they were actually raised Christian and had a very strong interest in spirituality. So the answer is that the Atheists you come across who are Bible scholars are usually the ones who were raised Christian and through intense study of their religion, they then became disillusioned. So, Bible scholarly is not really a symptom of being Atheist but more of the CAUSE of many people becoming Atheist.

By the way, I eventually got over my disillusionment and sought to find a spiritual belief system that felt right to me. I am now Pagan. I hope the explanation helps you perhaps understand a little better.

Peace

Answer 3

I think atheism is nonsense. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. That's mine. The universe obeys certain rules-----laws to which all things must adhere. These laws are precise and many of them are mathematical in nature. Natural laws are hierarchical in nature; secondary laws of nature are based upon primary laws of nature, which have to be just exactly right in order for our universe to be possible. There are constants(gravitational and cosmological and others) in our universe which must be exact within infinitesmal parameters in order for life to exist(that’s called the anthropic principle). But, where did these laws and constants come from and why do they exist? If the universe were merely the accidental by-product of a big bang, then why should it obey orderly principles----or any principles at all for that matter? Since when does order come out of an explosion? Chaos comes out of an explosion. By the way, what, exactly, did explode? There was no matter there to explode before the big bang since the big bang is the start of all matter and energy as well as the 4 dimensions(3 dimensions of space and one dimention of time). The atheist cannot account for these laws of nature(even though he agrees that they must exist), for such laws are inconsistent with naturalism. Yet, they are perfectly consistent with the bible. We expect the universe to be organized in a logical, orderly fashion and to obey uniform laws because the universe has a creator God who is logical and has imposed order on His universe(Genesis 1:1).
Paly's argument of the 1700's still holds today. He said that if you are walking through a forest and you find a watch sitting upon a rock, you have 2 possible explanations: 1)It was designed and built by a watchmaker 2) It came about the same way the rock that it is sitting upon came about.....by random chance. Which explantion makes more sense? If you are an atheist, explantion #2 makes the most sense to you.

Answer 4

So they can try to understand where other people are coming from. So they know what to expect when they talk to religious people. Because education is about experiencing new ideas, some of which may not appeal to everyone.
If you never even look at something, how do you know whether or not it is worth knowing? Just because someone else told you? That seems like a poor basis for living your life.

Answer 5

As I have said elsewhere, one can't argue against something that one is ignorant of, a concept lost on many of the religious. Atheists read other views so we understand their views and have valid points of argument when discussing it with them.

If we want to poke holes in religion, we don't make vacuous, false and insulting claims (eg. "Why do all catholics molest kids?" which is a false question). We ask questions that fit _within_ their beliefs. For example, when speaking to a christian who accepts evolution, this question is valid: "Did neanderthals have half-souls, or did one generation of cro-magnons or homosapiens suddenly gain one while their parents didn't have one?"

Atheists study religion so we know the other side's arguments. Conversely, the religious often (though not always) ignorantly make claims that "atheists are communists", "atheists are satanists", "atheists are immoral", among other ignorant and arrogant stupidity. Those who make such pronouncements invariably have never met and listened to what an atheist thinks, or if they have, refused to listen and continue to make their false claims, eg. the errors in Duane Gish pseudo-"science" books are constantly pointed out, and he says he will fix them, but has NOT fixed them in 20 years, despite new editions being published.

Some even display their ignorance in their interpretation of the word "atheism". They wrongly "think" it means "to be against god"; rather, "atheism" means "without belief in a god or gods". A person who is against religion is an "antitheist": Kim Jong Il is an antitheist, but so are Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Bob Jones III, and Osama bin Laden who all want to ban any religions but their own. I and nearly all atheists are perfectly willing to respect yours or anyone else's religion as long as you DON'T attempt to introduce it into government or schools.

One statement I find very annoying is,
"If you think life has no meaning, why don't you kill yourself?"

My reply to that is,
"There is no afterlife, so I value my life greatly. If you christians believe in an afterlife and a 'god', why don't YOU kill yourselves so you meet him sooner and leave the world for the rest of us?"

For some reason, they don't like that.



Ahem. And excuse the length.


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Answer 6

Eldad beat me to the Sun Tzu quote, darn it!

I read and study things from other religions because in the past some of them have proven very dangerous for people of my faith. It's unfortunate that in this day and age, we still have that as a worry, but there it is, alive and kicking. I need to be able to recognize and then protect myself, my kin and my clan. I do this with knowledge. Believe it or not, 'nonsense' can kill! Simple enough, no?

Answer 7

There are at least 3 reasons.
1. If most or many people believe something I do not, it is worth my time to investigate to see if they are right. I do not assume people who disagree with me are stupid nor do I worry I will be deceived..
2. One needs to understand the society , and religion is part of that society.
3. It is not possible to understand history with understanding the religions that motivated peoples actions.

Answer 8

They read the book because they want to learn about why religious people do things. Reading a religious person's text helps to figure out in their mind what the hell that person is thinking. Sort of like studying your enemy before combat. They figure that if they know what the other person is saying they could have another asshole retort to return to the other person and so on.

Answer 9

There's a big difference between nonsense and disagreement. People who disagree study the alternatives to be better informed.

Answer 10

Maybe they think it's interesting. I've watched television shows that are "complete nonsense" yet I still enjoy them. Or maybe they didn't consider it to be nonsense until after they studied it. There are other valid answers to your question, I'll let you figure them out on your own.

Answer 11

A person in this world who does not educate themselves on religion would be ill-equipped to protect themselves from it's dangerous effects. Religion mixes with politics and so effects me. How can I protect myself from an enemy I know nothing about?