This is a thought exercise I want to attempt in class today. The purpose is not to come to a conclusion about god, but to simply open up our thoughts about the relationship between things that are generally considered to be irreconcilable polar opposites, and to think how they can be more complex than we commonly think: religion/science, belief/doubt, good/evil. I will use the following questions to guide the discussion.
And yes, I’m terrified going into class with this discussion in mind.
1. what is an atheist?
a. can an atheist lead a moral life?
b. can an atheist believe in anything? what is belief?
c. are atheists irrational in the rejection of god?
2. what is a believer?
a. can a believer lead a more moral life than an atheist? what is moral? what is immoral?
b. does a believer’s ability to believe in god make them more capable of belief in general?
c. are believers irrational in their belief in god?
3. what constitutes a religion? In other words, what must exist in order to call something a religion?
a. what isn’t religion?
b. can an atheist be religious?
4. is a believer more “good” than an atheist? or is a believer more capable of being “good”?
a. what is good?
b. is it possible to know good without the presence of its opposite?
c. what is evil?
Innerexposure 