Why is it that atheists rely so heavily on cultural subjectivism as a last resort?

Question

Belief in God is fine with me. I ask an atheist to believe and they reject the idea. Now what? Now you leave them alone because God never asked us to shove religion down someones throat.

But their argument is that we should go away because everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. This is true, but the believer and non-believer take it to the next level.

They both believe that what they believe is true fact.
But what if instead the believer replaced God with the world being round. An atheist believes it is flat. Now who is right?

An atheist and a believer both have their arguments, even if the atheist will not accept them, and the believer will not accept the atheists arguments.

So why is cultural subjectivism a withheld view by so many when there is definitely a right and wrong side.

I AM NOT ASKING WHO IS RIGHT AND WHO IS WRONG SO STUFF IT!

Answer 1

Religion is an aspect of culture.

Many atheists tend to also be anti-religious.

Using cultural relativism to reject parts of human culture which they don't like therefore is a sensible strategy for them.

Answer 2

"They both believe that what they believe is true fact.
But what if instead the believer replaced God with the world being round. An atheist believes it is flat. Now who is right?"

but then you are talking about something else entirely. We _know_ people who think the earth is flat belong in the loony bin. Yet somehow, people who believe in invisible magic creators are exempt from this rule.

I am not sure why you are harping so on this 'cultural subjectivism' nor what it actually means (or if we are both working with the same definition). How about this for cultural subjectivism: if you are born in the US, there is a high probability you will grow up a chistian. In Iraq, muslim. In the Netherlands or Norway, atheist. Now why would the absolute truth of God be so geographically bound (and indeed, bound in time as well)

Answer 3

The problem is not that the atheist believe the world is flat, but that many religious people not only have similarly disproved ideas,but want to force them into schools and regular life as well.

Evolution and Intelligent Design is a perfect example.

No atheist is going to believe that the world is flat. If they have no other evidence they might not hold an opinion. As soon as you have evidence that the world is round then they will accept this as a fact.

Most atheist do not believe that they hold the truth. They are waiting for some actual evidence. If they have an opinion on something then the easiest way to change that opinion is to show them actual evidence.

Cultural values are subjective. For example, is it O.K. to own a slave? Today this is unacceptable. 150 years ago it was questionable. 2000 years ago it was totally normal.

What is the church's position on slavery? My guess is that now they are against it. But read your O.T. much is in there that indicates God had no problem at all with slavery.

So is the morality of slavery absolute or subjective?

Answer 4

I think the problem you run into is that Atheist is not a belief but simply a lack therof. Thus, non-scientific atheists often follow whatever world view they lean towards naturally. Scientific atheists on the other hand require evidence in their debate. We do not attempt to fiat the existence of a deity and of course one cannot prove the converse because of the nature of negatives. We instead start with a non-belief in God and then seek evidence that says otherwise. When Occam's Razor is applied, that being the simplest answer is usually the correct one, one realizes that fiating God is intellectually dishonest. To prove your theory with God you must show his existence which is far more complex that finding a natural origin. Cultural subjectivism is the weapon of the Atheist unarmed with science.

Answer 5

Atheists don't rely on cultural subjectivism as a last resort in my experience.

Most Atheists don't start out as Atheists, they go from an illogical religion to enlightenment, and it has nothing to do with culture.

It has much more to do with logic and a willingness to accept responsibility for your own actions.

I can't prove that there's no God, and I wouldn't want to if I could. Religion has it's place and I'm glad there's somewhere people can go that comforts them and guides them.

The fact that all religion is fake is the only thing that matters in my being an atheist.

Answer 6

I am confused. In your 3rd paragraph in the last sentence you ask "Now who is right?". Yet You end in saying "I AM NOT ASKING WHO IS RIGHT AND WHO IS WRONG SO STUFF IT!"
In the end it boils down to belief. There is no right or wrong to the debate. That is because at this point there is no proof to the other side of the argument. As an atheist I can say there is plenty of proof there is no god. A religious person all ways says they have proof. In the end whatever it really matters what kind of person you are. Live right and do right by others and it's all good.

Answer 7

No, the thing you're missing is the atheist points to measurements, observations, existence of other flat worlds and other forms of proof to show that indeed the world is flat (at least in your example). They will most likely go ahead and take the round world writings and compare it to known history and point out where they are contradictory and without any historical basis. This is not cultural subjectivity, it is science and objective evaluation of the evidence.

Answer 8

no offense, but what exactly are you asking? ok, so let's say the atheist believes the world is flat and the believer that it is round. what's the point of that argument. the atheist would say show me your proof that the world is round. given pictures from outer space it's nearly impossible to deny that the world is round. this is a verifiable fact. however, stating that there is a god is much harder to prove with tangible evidence. however, here's where most atheists differ from most believers. most atheists will concede the possibility that ok, there is the smallest of chances that god exists, but there is no evidence to really support that claim. whereas most believers are very reluctant to accept that god does not exist.

Answer 9

Believers believe things that we KNOW are not true.

Science disproved the popular gods of today a couple hundred years ago, if not before.

If there was some sort of "grey area" where the believers could rationally hide, we would cut them some slack.

But ignorance of the facts doesn't give a person the right to claim he is correct. If believers want to be taken seriously, they need to educate themselves, and then try to defend their beliefs. (They will fail, but in the process, they will cease to be believers, anyway)

Oh, and to Danny D - Not only am I an atheist that spent two years in foxholes, but there's plenty more where we came from. How many foxholes have you been in?

http://www.atheistfoxholes.com

Answer 10

There is definite a right and wrong side.

You're defending the wrong side, kid. The world isn't flat, and there isn't any god. Face the facts.

Oh, and are you pretending that Christians aren't relativists? Have you failed to notice how many Christians pull out the "this is my belief, and I've got the right to it" line as soon as they're backed into a corner?

Pot, meet kettle.

Answer 11

I won't lie there are some "atheists" that are morons. However your definition of an atheists isn't true.

A true atheists isn't dead set against any idea. He/she looks at all the facts, thinks, and chooses what they believe is the most likely theory. Her/his thoughts may change as new information is presented.

Please don't judge atheist by the people you meet of yahoo answers, because by and large they aren't real atheist. Just like most Christans on yahoo answers aren't real Christans.