Well, OK, Dawkins doesn’t use the word “idiot.” He says that anyone who believes in God is suffering from “a pernicious delusion” (The God Delusion, Chapter 2). I think most people would say that distinguishing between idiocy and pernicious delusions is splitting a pretty fine hair. But be that as it may, the point is: Dawkins has absolutely no sympathy for religious belief of any kind for any reason. Or at least he didn’t in 2006. Maybe he’s mellowed since then. (But I met him in 2012 in a social setting and he told me, apropos of nothing, “I despise religion.”)
most people would say that distinguishing between idiocy and pernicious delusions is splitting a pretty fine hair
I think there’s a big difference. “Because they are an idiot” is saying something wide-ranging about that person’s nature: they’re just Not Very Bright. If someone is an idiot, we can expect them to be generally intellectually incompetent. “suffering from a pernicious delusion” is saying something much narrower about one area of their life: they are wrong about this one thing. If someone has a pernicious delusion, we can expect them to make serious errors about things closely related to that delusion, but aside from that they might be wise and ingenious and quick-witted and so forth. Pointing out the difference between these is not hair-splitting.
no sympathy for religious belief
That may be true (though so far as I can see the thing you link to doesn’t show that it is). But so what?
You cited Dawkins as an example of someone who believes the proposition you were arguing against: “that the only possible reason anyone could even profess to believe in God is because they are an idiot”. I don’t think he believes this. I know I don’t believe this. I really don’t think there are many rationalists who believe it.
Now, maybe what you’re actually arguing against is something broader—e.g., that we shouldn’t say unpleasant things about religion, or that we shouldn’t hold any negative opinion about religious people that goes beyond “they are probably wrong on such-and-such factual questions”. But so far as I can see the arguments you’ve been making aren’t of the right form to lead to such conclusions, even were they correct in every detail.
Of course it’s possible. That’s not the point. The point is that “pernicious delusion” is pejorative in much the same way that “idiot” is (which is why I extrapolated it that way). Both imply some sort of mental deficiency or disorder. If someone believes in God, on this view, it can only be because their brains are broken.
To be sure, some people do have broken brains, and some people believe in God as a result. The hypothesis that I’m advancing here is that some people may believe in God not because their brains are broken, but because they have had (real) subjective experiences that non-believers generally have not had.
Well, OK, Dawkins doesn’t use the word “idiot.” He says that anyone who believes in God is suffering from “a pernicious delusion” (The God Delusion, Chapter 2). I think most people would say that distinguishing between idiocy and pernicious delusions is splitting a pretty fine hair. But be that as it may, the point is: Dawkins has absolutely no sympathy for religious belief of any kind for any reason. Or at least he didn’t in 2006. Maybe he’s mellowed since then. (But I met him in 2012 in a social setting and he told me, apropos of nothing, “I despise religion.”)
I think there’s a big difference. “Because they are an idiot” is saying something wide-ranging about that person’s nature: they’re just Not Very Bright. If someone is an idiot, we can expect them to be generally intellectually incompetent. “suffering from a pernicious delusion” is saying something much narrower about one area of their life: they are wrong about this one thing. If someone has a pernicious delusion, we can expect them to make serious errors about things closely related to that delusion, but aside from that they might be wise and ingenious and quick-witted and so forth. Pointing out the difference between these is not hair-splitting.
That may be true (though so far as I can see the thing you link to doesn’t show that it is). But so what?
You cited Dawkins as an example of someone who believes the proposition you were arguing against: “that the only possible reason anyone could even profess to believe in God is because they are an idiot”. I don’t think he believes this. I know I don’t believe this. I really don’t think there are many rationalists who believe it.
Now, maybe what you’re actually arguing against is something broader—e.g., that we shouldn’t say unpleasant things about religion, or that we shouldn’t hold any negative opinion about religious people that goes beyond “they are probably wrong on such-and-such factual questions”. But so far as I can see the arguments you’ve been making aren’t of the right form to lead to such conclusions, even were they correct in every detail.
It is possible to be extremely intelligent, and suffer from a delusion.
Of course it’s possible. That’s not the point. The point is that “pernicious delusion” is pejorative in much the same way that “idiot” is (which is why I extrapolated it that way). Both imply some sort of mental deficiency or disorder. If someone believes in God, on this view, it can only be because their brains are broken.
To be sure, some people do have broken brains, and some people believe in God as a result. The hypothesis that I’m advancing here is that some people may believe in God not because their brains are broken, but because they have had (real) subjective experiences that non-believers generally have not had.
I am tapping out of this thread.