The effectiveness of such an argument assumes that people's primary reason for believing in God is that they think it's the Truth, which as I've pointed out many times is not the case, just a shallow misunderstanding of religion by atheists.
Richard Brodie richard@brodietech.com
Author, "Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme"
Free newsletter! http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-virus@lucifer.com [mailto:owner-virus@lucifer.com]On Behalf
Of Dan Plante
Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 5:08 AM
To: virus@lucifer.com
Subject: Re: virus: FAQ: question (c) - Believing
At 02:23 PM 16/06/99 -0700 Tim Rhodes wrote:
<<
The Hermit wrote:
(c) What's wrong with believing in God?
-snip-
It's interesting, your answer is very close to Richard's:
-snip-
Maybe this is the basis for a common ground on which to base our collective
answer.
>>
I'm rather partial to the quote that was posted a while back (I don't remember who posted it); it went something like "....so when you understand why you don't believe in all those other gods, you'll understand why I don't believe in yours.", or words to that effect. The central argument in this quote is so loud and clear, and of such an insidious nature (it subverts and co-opts the reader's own understanding and feelings about their beliefs about other religions, and uses it as a mental mirror), that one simply _could not_ miss the point, and it does it with few words, and without explaining the point explicitly. This is a good "stealthy infiltration" meme because it's vector of infection is through the back door of the emotions rather through the front door of intellect (to a close approximation).
Dan