What is the opposite of a free thinker?
2007-06-19 06:48:33 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
"Anyone who doesn't think like I do is not a freethinker. I'm sorry, they're just blind followers if they didn't examine all sides and come to the same exact conclusion that I did.. I mean, if they don't share my obviously correct opinions on things that arguably matter most in this world they certainly couldn't have opened their mind to the level I have.. right? Right?"
As someone who went from a sort of evolutionist to full blown creationist based on skepticism, I'll happily argue that evoltionary followers aren't immune to group-think any more than religious folks.
2007-06-19 06:56:28 · answer #1 · answered by uncannydanny 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
We often use "freethinking" as a term for bashing those who have chosen to believe in something, and people who can't make up their mind what to believe love to brand themselves with the title.
That being said, atheists are every bit as dogmatic and close minded as any follower of any god. If you believe that something *doesn't* exist, it is as closeminded as believing that it does.
On the other hand you have the fence sitters. The ones who are so afraid of being wrong that they won't commit to anything. They cling to their indecisiveness as if it were an insurance policy against Being On The Wrong Side.
They're on the losing end of a zero sum game, though. Think about it. There are a whole lot of religions, and a whole lot of opinions about how we can find heaven, eternal life, ascention, perfection, etc. They can't all be right. It is even possible that they might all be wrong, and there is nothing after death.
There is no way to know the truth. All you can do is give it your best guess.
Look at it like a horse race. Each religion is a horse. The odds for each horse can be set by how large a following the religion has. Tiny, obscure religions have huge odds. The payoff can be figured by how much you want the prize. For example, I'd personally give the Christian heaven a bigger payoff value than, say, being reincarnated as various animals. That's just me, though...reincarnation may appeal more to someone else.
No matter which religion you "bet" on, you have a chance of winning. Unless you don't bet at all. And since your life is the coin you are using to bet, it goes away when you die.
Atheists don't bet. Agnostics want tiny percentages of all the bets. How much do you win if you get 1% of heaven? My guess is nothing, but it's not a question that I'll ever know the answer to until it's too late to do anything about. Nor will anyone else.
Even if the atheists are right and believers are wrong, we will all get exactly the same reward in the end. Nothing. No matter the outcome of the race, I'd rather have lived my life in the belief that there was something wonderful waiting for me at the finish line.
2007-06-25 04:49:02 · answer #2 · answered by Daytrader Anne 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In my proud opinion we are all free thinkers. BUT we have a choice in life to make about what we choose to think. The opposite of a free thinker could be a chained thinker or a non-thinker. I've known both as I'm sure you have. The one thing you have that is your own is your ability to think. This is why mind altering drugs are so dangerous. They take away your ability to think which prevents you from talking and behaving in a rational manner.
2007-06-24 15:58:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
everybody is a free thinker. but i guess in this tense it means they really don't have any rules to follow. like, i'm a christian and we live by the bible and the 10 commandments. atheists don't have a book of atheistsm...saying what to do, etc. they just don't believe in anything. but there's no limit on how much you think or what you think and how you think it. and to answer question
#2 i'd say anybody with a religious background would be the opposite of an abtheists...but of a free thinker...anybody with a brain! :0)
2007-06-27 10:25:26 · answer #4 · answered by Miss Random 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the Constitution gives us all the freedom of thought, the freedom of press, and the freedom of religion, I believe this came from free thinkers, and I can share this with you, no where in the consiution does it say any one not believing in a christian god, shall be first called a atheist, and then HUNG. Remember the one who is willing to open their hearts to new ideas, have open minds, those that can only see their way and believe all must also believe this way have closed their minds.
2007-06-26 23:48:18 · answer #5 · answered by cd.rozetta 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Atheist are tied to (brainwashed) with the concept of knowledge and logic thus freethinking is foreign to an Atheist.
Christians make a choice to blend Knowledge, Logic,Proof and Faith thus they are free to think. .
communism (corporate thought) would be the opposite of free thinking.
2007-06-19 14:11:12 · answer #6 · answered by j.wisdom 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
This is bcause they don't exactly all believe in the same thing. The second part of the question: The opposite of a freethinker is someone who has a closed mind to anyone eles' ideas.
2007-06-27 09:17:23 · answer #7 · answered by Argent 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
What is the opposite of a free thinker? - unfree thinker- not free to think.
2007-06-26 23:40:08 · answer #8 · answered by dofsarah 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Freethinkers can take information from anywhere and are open to change their ideas based on new information
the opposite would be someone who believes only one source and never changes that bel;ief no matter what new info comes by
2007-06-19 13:52:26 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
atheists are free thinkers because Atheists can be free to beleive Any other way the world is created while Creationsist can only believe A god created it.
2007-06-27 12:03:24 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋