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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   34236 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 15, 2025

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Isn't that literally what secular humanism was trying to sell as an alternative to religion?

I do not think "you can't explain what is literally beyond known existence" is a criticism that destroys secular humanism.

I'm saying that "existence is amazingly extraordinary" (backed by hours of hypnotic monologues by Sagan, Dawkins, or Tyson) has been literally what secular humanists were saying in order to generate a sense of awe similar to that of religious epiphanies.

Your particular argument destroys any such attempt. Even if secular humanism remains ubdeboonked, it's left barren of any higher goal.

I don't know about lectures, but I've heard the vastness of the universe as a kind of awe. I don't think most secularism is sold on miracles anyway and when most people say miracles they are more talking about supernatural feats of wonder.

Regardless multiple faith traditions are filled with people having religious epiphanies indeed many religions have been started based on religious epiphanies so those don't seem very useful in discerning Truth.

I see. Personally, it's plenty good enough for me. I notice a pattern where I get into an argument with someone who is against secularism/materialism, and every time it's some variant of "those guys back then made all those promises about it". I never needed to hear those promises or believe in them to prefer secularism to religion.

Conversely, if the promises of religion about eternal life in heaven are not true, then is the preaching and the faith not completely in vain?

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