What is at stake in the Theist vs. Atheist debate?

A2A. I’ll take a crack at the current question, which is “What is at stake in the Theist vs. Atheist debate?” Here is what I think is at stake:



If proponents of various ideologies focused more on the most effective ways to accomplish healing, thriving and happiness together, and less on the preferred framing of their particular beliefs that push them apart, our species might actually have a chance of succeeding over the long run. The in-group/out-group tug-of-war that such debates represent does absolutely nothing to better the human condition. It seems an excessive amount of time and energy are devoted to “proving” abstract positions, when tremendous good could be accomplished if the focus for these energies shifted to practical solutions benefitting everyone; for example, improving access to quality healthcare, or developing sustainable food production, or ending reckless exploitation of the environment, or creating more egalitarian political economies, or ending all forms of oppression and exploitation. These are objectives that Christians, Jews, Secular Humanists, Pagans, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and many other belief systems around the globe could agree upon without battling over the abstract rationale behind joint action. Pick any common objective, relax the tribalistic rhetoric, and work towards that goal together….and the potential for achieving miraculous results is, I think, truly astounding. Each group of believers might well come away from such an effort convinced that the results affirm their own beliefs (and not any other group’s)…but so what? At least the power of cooperation will have won out over pointless squabbling.

My 2 cents.

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