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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 20, 2023

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There do seem to be a few people in my life that never grew out of their atheism phase, but they seem generally uncurious.

I always thought the opposite. It's very hard for me to understand the mindset of someone studying the history of religions and coming out of it believing a specific one happens to be true. Even more so when the conclusion is that the one religion you happened to be born into is the only one that also happens to be true. Thousands of religions and you are born in the only true one, how lucky!

I can understand people coming to the conclusion that some sort of abstract philosophical god exists, in some sense (think of it as "the priniciple of order in the universe" or something like that). But usually that's not what usually happens, usually it's just part of a motte and bailey strategy:

  1. you can't prove or disprove any metaphisical theory

  2. therefore believing in the logos is just as rational as not believing in it

  3. actually believing in the logos is better than not believing in it (motte)

  4. which is why you should believe the doctrine of the roman catholic church as it existed between the council of trent and the second vatican council (bailey)