Faithist Memes, Religious Privilege, Victimization, and Bad Arguments

[Ian David]

Faithist Memes, Religious Privilege, Victimization, and Bad Arguments

Lately, I have had a couple in-depth conversations with friends of mine who are believers about belief in God. To their credit, the debates were mature, without so much of the self-victimization and underhanded straw men that believers often use. But, some were still evident, so I thought I’d write about some of the faithist memes and myths that have been quite prevalent in society lately and my thoughts on them. These are all “points” that are used to defend and protect religious beliefs. (For the record, YES, these are generalizations, and if you don’t subscribe to the meme, then I’m not talking about you, and if you do, then YES, I am!)

“It’s true because I believe it.” – The “Truth” Meme.

This might sound like a simple everyday understanding, but it’s definitely a faithist meme. It’s a suspension of reality. It’s saying, “It doesn’t matter what else is true, this will always be true because I choose to call it truth.” Yeah, I said choose. Belief is a choice. You choose what you believe, and by the power of this meme, you get to choose your truth. You see it used as a defense over every social issue. Fundamentalists say they know what traditional marriage is (even though marriage has changed many times over its history), they know when life begins (even though there is no actual way of objectively determining such a thing), etc. But they don’t know, there is no truth or fact, they just believe.

More:
http://zackfordblogs.com/2009/05/17/faithist-memes-religious-privilege-victimization-and-bad-arguments/

[msongs]

1. "I believe in hell. therefore, you are going there if you don't believe". hmmm nt

[Occam Bandage]

2. I'm not sure that "meme" is the right word for these. nt

[humblebum]

3. Which makes them very human, just like you.

The idea that truths are absolute is indeed relative to the thinker and believer. That is an absolute truth (unless,of course you have a different opinion).

[Strong Atheist]

4. There are absolute truths. Given that reality is more or less the way we experience it

(as opposed to being a brain in a jar/Matrix/ Cartesian demon tricking us), then there are truths. The Earth is more or less spherical, not flat, and if one "choses" to believe the Earth is flat, one is a ****ing idiot...

2+2 = 4, not 5 or any other number.

The list of such physical time/space relationship /math truths is vast, and not subject to subjective belief...

[Silent3]

5. Good example of the "stalemate meme".

That's what you intended, right? :)

[humblebum]

6. I suppose that's a way of looking at it. I was really being sarcastic about

the idea of relative truths in that determining a relative truth requires referring to an absolute truth as a point of reference.

[Silent3]

7. The concept of (although not the possession of) objective truth...

...is a necessary and inherent component of meaningful communication. If you engage in communication with others and treat that communication as something more than an internal fantasy with figments of your imagination (which, I suppose, is your right to do -- solipsism can't be disproved), and if you treat that communication as having at least some hope of reaching shared consensus, you need the concept of objective truth -- truths and meanings which are not private, not completely subject to personal interpretation, which "out there" in an independent way, equally accessible to you and those with whom you communicate, touchstones of common understanding.

Although the two concepts are pretty much interchangeable, I prefer the terminology "objective truth" to "absolute truth" because the word objective better brings to mind the related concept of subjectivity, and also because the word "absolute" can be misleading in that it often invokes the idea of an inflexible claim of knowledge of an absolute.

[humblebum]

8. What are you doing talking to me? I'm not really here. nt

[Silent3]

10. Of course not. You're THERE.

I'm HERE. Don't be silly. :P

[Silent3]

9. Damn. Now I'm talking to myself.

Or, at least, responding to the wrong message. :)