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| Standard Atheist/Theist Discussion. |
David Hume was not a fan of
the ol' faithful.
His controversial stance on
religion led him to be very nearly charged with infidelity by the
Church of Scotland, and he was a vocal opponent of anything that he
deemed to be overly 'clerical' in society. He ripped the Argument
from Design into very small chunks with his posthumous Dialogues
Concerning Natural Religion, and
his views led him to be denied a career as an academic, forcing him
to make a living as an essayist.
Yet
Hume was also a very amicable fellow. His friendly nature and
disposition led to him being nicknamed “la bonne David” by his
friends in France, many of whom were in fact priests and other
religious figures. Where he saw views and issues he was willing to
make his argument heard and call out what he disapproved of, but he
could also maintain friendships with those who held differing
opinions from himself despite this.
Now,
Hume was likely not an atheist: philosopher Stewart Sutherland places him on the scale of belief as a sceptic and possible agnostic.
But that doesn't mean that we atheistic types cannot learn a thing or
two from his stance towards theistic friends and acquaintances. The
ability to denounce what we see as wrong or dangerous yet also
maintain our candour is something I do feel is lost sometimes on
modern atheists: there does seem to be a bit too much of “you're
stupid, your opinions are stupid and I don't talk to stupid people”
going around, rather than the more amenable “your stance on that
issue is pretty fucking stupid I've got to say, and here's why I
think so. But hey, how 'bout them Lakers?”
Talking
religion with atheist friends when you yourself are an atheist tends
to just turn into an echo-chamber; of course no-one's going to
disagree or put forth an alternative, you're all on the same
wave-length. Introduce a friend who's of a religious persuasion,
however, and now you've got yourself a discussion on the go. Nobody
learns anything by nodding along and agreeing with each other: we
learn through debate, through rational discourse and discussion.
You're probably not going to sway many hearts and minds, but it will
teach you how to better express your viewpoints, and it could well
teach you a thing or two about what you truly think as well.
Being
able to defend your ideas under fire really focuses your mind on what
those ideas are.
I'm
not saying go out and get chummy with a Pentecostal or a
Young-Earther (not unless you like a challenge, or rigorous debates
with brick walls), but most religious folks aren't of the extremist
persuasion: they're just regular people like the rest of humanity who
hold beliefs contrary to your own. Misguided beliefs in your mind,
sure. Hell, maybe even stupid beliefs. Just remember that you could be wrong, and that they probably think the same of you. Nobody
wants an echo-chamber, at the end of the day. Echo-chambers are dull
as shit, unless you know a really good ventriloquist.
Having
friends you can properly debate against, though? They're worth
having.
