"Are saying that to doubt doubting forces one to absolute belief? Ridiculous"
Hi cos
No I don't think I'm saying that, although I'm not exactly sure what your point is. Let me try to be clearer. I was responding to Steve's what if , notion that struck him.
Message 14662720
Clearly he implied that anyone who claimed their belief to be true, eg Christians, were thereby constrained by that belief to be fanatics. I don't know if he had Lennon's Imagine, playing in the background or what, but it struck me as odd that in denouncing Christians and others as fanatics, and then defining the same as "irrational zealots" who's "single defining characteristic" is "absolute, unquestioning belief.", he was in fact guilty of the very thing. I realize that there are different degrees of agnosticism but it seemed to me that Steve was espousing the absolute or total variety when he said;
"Now suppose we had a belief system in which the central tenet was insistence that everything be questioned? Fanaticism would thus be impossible, since the moment a person accepted any belief without question they would violate the central doctrine of their faith."
Now if everything must be questioned then surely the proposition that "everything must be questioned" must itself be scrutinized by the same standard. I didn't see any evidence of that, it seemed he just pulled it out of his hat. He also clearly must believe it to be true or he wouldn't be espousing it. Now if the mere fact that one believes something constrains that person to be a fanatic. And no reason is given for the assertion that "everything be questioned" and yet it is believed anyway then by his own logic this irrational, unquestioning belief would make him a fanatic, and we all know what fanatics do don't we. Oh yes they are the kind of people who go around imposing their particular view of reality on others and if they can't do it physically then they are likely to resort to character assassination and name calling, labeling their opponents as "Excessive" and "dangerous" So to answer your question (as I understand it), directly, I am not saying that agnosticism forces one to become fanatical, only that it does not exclude it as Steve claimed it would.
I must say as an aside that you have not been guilty of this sort of thing and even though I realize that you probably think I'm an idiot, you have never treated me like one. I have more respect for you as a result of it.
Have a good day
Greg |
