Review the article “How to be an Agnostic” 1. Find specific contrasts that show the difference between an agnostic and an atheist. 2. The author makes the claim that an atheist is more like a fundamentalist believer than an agnostic. Evaluate this claim.

Atheists or agnostics?

Warm-Up 1. In the 2010 Pew Research Poll on United States Religious Survey, self-identified atheists/agnostics had the highest average score, answering an average of 20.9/32 questions correct, narrowly outscoring Jewish and Mormon respondents. Are you surprised by these results? Why or why not? 2. A 2006 University of Minnesota Study polled 2,000 households. In the survey, atheists were identified as the lowest rated minority group in America, specifically below “Muslims, recent immigrants, and gays and lesbians” for “sharing their vision of American society” and being the group that respondents were least willing to have their children marry. What character qualities do you believe are ascribed to atheists to make them hold such a lowly position?

The Philosophical Case for Agnosticism Atheism (a belief in nothing) requires as much faith as belief. Atheists can be just as dogmatic and fundamentalist in their beliefs as theists. In recognition of our ignorance, agnosticism is the only philosophically tenable position

Atheism Nature of God Nature of Religion

Einstein’s claim that we must rid ourselves of Nature of God Arguments Einstein’s claim that we must rid ourselves of anthropomorphic conceptions Omniscience Omnibenevolence Omnipotence The Presence of Evil “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Nature of Religion Arguments Feuerbach’s Dialectical Irony - The Separation of Original Sin The Biblical Story of Job

Religion as a symptom, not a disease Marx’s Critique Religion as a symptom, not a disease “Religion is...the opium of the masses.”

Freud and the Psychoanalytic Theory Origins of Psychoanalytical Theory The Omnipotent Infant... except when its not.

to die (early?). Considering this, should people become 1. In 2008, a study published in Psychology and Health stated that older women who attended religious services of any kind were 20% less likely to die (early?). Considering this, should people become religious for the health benefits?

Pragmatic Belief a consequential evaluation of belief and truth a return to and a refutation of our epistemological debates. Does the statement “God exists” have practical meaning? Pascal’s Wager and the nature of true belief? Is there belief without action?

William James and Volitional Faith Religious Faith is defined by the outcomes, not the empirical truth. The Choice of Religious Belief is … Living, not dead Forced, not avoidable Monstrous, not trivial Faith in a fact can help to create a fact. “…The queerest idol of the philosophical cave…”