tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post4695348394982562395..comments2023-11-05T04:09:26.194-05:00Comments on e g r e g o r e s: Martin Gardner 1914-2010Apuleius Platonicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-40135001654029413462010-06-19T01:28:30.490-04:002010-06-19T01:28:30.490-04:00In a famous interview Gardner
specifically stated ...In a famous interview Gardner<br />specifically stated his belief in God (or god, whatever that might have meant to him.) Gould's atheist credential have also been questioned. In fact all the "atheists" you name were primarily capital "S" Skeptics and though nonbelievers not atheist "activists" at all.fyreflyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03567375730311004673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-82411057720089344672010-06-04T09:02:49.312-04:002010-06-04T09:02:49.312-04:00Thutm0sys: To some extent it is true that you are ...Thutm0sys: To some extent it is true that you are not talking about the same things (with atheists). But don't underestimate your ability to plant the seed of doubt in their minds. They will probably never admit to your face, but you can have a real impact by engaging with them, at least some of them.Apuleius Platonicushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-68708983603751086222010-06-03T21:53:05.311-04:002010-06-03T21:53:05.311-04:00Aaaaah. For me, what happened was trying magic out...Aaaaah. For me, what happened was trying magic out of desperation, and having it work (which smashed my materialistic worldview into tiny pieces)<br /> ...and then, a very insistent Egyptian love goddess who refused to take "no" for an answer. I'm curious as to how you would articulate your response to atheist challenges...It's hard for me to wrap my mind around. Sometimes I feel like they aren't talking about the same things I'm talking about.Thutm0syshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07243309231395638353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-31320285580771266152010-06-03T15:34:49.677-04:002010-06-03T15:34:49.677-04:00My atheism was equal parts Nietzsche, Marx and Her...My atheism was equal parts Nietzsche, Marx and Herman Hesse's Siddhartha. Even when I was a committed leftist I would tell my comrades I was a Buddhist, and then proceed to explain to them that Buddhists don't believe in God.<br /><br />The thing that helped me most to make the transition was studying and practicing Zen, which I started in earnest while in graduate school studying physical chemistry.<br /><br />Buddhism can make an excellent "gateway drug". This is one of the reasons why I so despise Sam Harris and Stephen Batchelor, because they are intent on closing that gateway. Buddhism does not require you to believe in, well, anything. But it also does not forbid genuine religious belief and devotion, which is what Harris and Batchelor are trying to convince people of.Apuleius Platonicushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11761230673724504084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817911217098974229.post-3977468055531141542010-06-03T14:46:47.378-04:002010-06-03T14:46:47.378-04:00You had been an atheist too? How did you make the ...You had been an atheist too? How did you make the transition(s?)<br /><br />I went from nominal Catholic -> militant atheist -> mellowed-out atheist ->eclectic pagan -> Kemetic.Thutm0syshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07243309231395638353noreply@blogger.com