Thread: Atheists

Originally Posted by yrogerg123

As far as I know, there isn't. And if there is, it's of little consequence because there is no moral imperitive to listen to what they're saying and to act on it. They are speaking from their own sense of what is logical, and free will and an open mind allows a person to ignore what they say or to take on it as they please. In the case of a priest, or in a more real sense the pope, they are speaking for God and their word carries significantly more weight. If Dawkins says that I should follow the scientific method in all things I do, what reason do I have to care? What pressure is there to follow through?

Empiricism, mon ami. The nature of science is to come to a hard-line, fundamental answer to every minute phenomenon. If Dawkins tells you to follow the scientific method because it is the optimal way to live, studied and extensively tested (presumably in a double-blind), the italics are your reason to care. You follow the empirical system because it is empirically proven to work. The pressure to follow through is all internal, as is the case in every religion.

edit: The Pope and every priest do not speak with the voice of God (speaking for God). Their opinions on their religion are more important because they were taught and trained to interpret our writings of what God had said. Their words carry the weight of the expert opinion, same as Dawkins, because they are studied in their subject, not because they speak for God.