Life Changing Mindset

Why do you think theists have selective skepticism mindset?

Most educated theists I talk with agree that skepticism is virtue. Most also agree that science is essentially an organized form of skepticism. But when scientific findings do not match religions' stories, they deem science to be the wrong one. It seems that they accept skepticism except for religious skepticism.

Why do you think they have this selective skepticism mindset?
Is it fear of punishment?
Is it deep love towards what they believe?
What are your thoughts?

Public Comments

1. It is about faith and nothing else.

2. It is fear of change. To become skeptical about the "truths" they have believed all their lives shakes the very foundations of their sanity and so they prefer denial to the potential of this fundamental shift in their perceptions, which in all likely hood would bring on clinical depression and self doubt!

3. Because they love to use their thesaurus, just like you.

4. a combination of genetics and upbrining, as in all human characteristics

5. Ah but you paint extremes. Scientists are often theists and vice vs. It was religious monks who gave western science many of it's advances. Philosophers, astronomers and a whole host of sciences from the days before any of the modern religions to this day have deep belief systems but still contribute heavily to science.

We all have selective skepticism. Yours is demonstrated in being skeptical that anybody can have a scientific mind and still be religious. It is not as seeming a contradiction as you would believe. On the flip side I've heard a Doctor try to tell me the Bible is word for word divinely inspired.

Our view of the world is built upon primarily experience, both first hand and what we glean from the writings of others. This perception can be very badly skewed purely by where you are and who you hang out with. If you live in a community that almost universally shares a set of beliefs by default you will be inclined to adopt a large number of those beliefs. An inquisitive person will challenge as many as they can actually discover. Still even the most inquisitive won't discover all the building blocks pieced together in their world. Aside from the lack of time to actually put in that much introspection we are shaped deeply by things we take for granted. Language for example. Our very thoughts are funneled to fit into our language, yet our language is shaped by our culture's philosophers. If you think in a Germanic based language like English and German or a Romantic language like French, Italian and Spanish then your thoughts are touched by Plato every second of every day.

Our very def of what is scientific inquiry comes from the philosophy of early Greeks who won the battle on fundementals such as whether we are a part or separate from nature. So our technology and scientific reasoning are positive byproducts of that philosophy, so too is our tendency to pollute and destroy our environment. if we saw ourselves as a part of nature then we'd take a whole better care of it wouldn't we? Yet our language itself separates us. Conceptually it's built for "reason" to aspire to greater than nature. A heritage passed down from the Greeks and spread by the Romans.

As such the skeptical mindset is itself a byproduct of a culture that disapeared thousands of years ago. How is that any different than religious mindsets which also follow philosophies and ideals of cultures that also have long since faded from the earth?

In the end, if you follow the herd you step in much dung. Doesn't matter which herd your following. The only way to dung free shoes is to blaze your own paths.


6. I've noticed this phenomenon in believers. Mostly in regards to religion, but also in believers in pseudosciences like Bigfoot, homeopathy, alien abduction, conspiracy theories, etc. When a belief becomes deeply held and strongly embraced, it gets walled off in the believer's mind away from other more casual beliefs. When a belief gets walled off, it becomes almost immune to logic, contradicting evidence, objectivity, or serious self-analysis. Believers literally become unable to seriously consider anything which may reveal a flaw which would cast doubt on their belief. Not logical fallacies, or plain evidence to the contrary.

I also think this is a good part of the reason why religious believers hate atheists so much, even more than they may hate gays, racial minorities, or people of other religions.

Good skeptics, scientists and atheists have training in thinking rationally and examining all the evidence, including evidence that may contradict what they're trying to prove. They're aware that you need to follow the evidence to a conclusion, not form a conclusion beforehand and then look for evidence that supports it. They also tend to be a little more trained in avoiding logical fallacies and to be more skeptical of arguments from authority. Of course this is not to imply that they are completely immune from biases or strange beliefs, but they are much less susceptible to them.


7. because science cannot prove christianity wrong i don't think science is based necessarily on skepticism i think theories change but fact don't so is it scientifically fact or theory skepticism sometime is the catalyst that propels the mind to ponder and come up with theory but again theory is not fact

8. Not so. Science and religion can work together..Basic scientific research, as well as applied research, is a significant expression of man's dominion over creation. Science and technology are precious resources when placed at the service of man and promote his integral development for the benefit of all. By themselves however they cannot disclose the meaning of existence and of human progress. Science and technology are ordered to man, from whom they take their origin and development; hence they find in the person and in his moral values both evidence of their purpose and awareness of their limits.

It is an illusion to claim moral neutrality in scientific research and its applications. On the one hand, guiding principles cannot be inferred from simple technical efficiency, or from the usefulness accruing to some at the expense of others, or, even worse, from prevailing ideologies. Science and technology by their very nature require unconditional respect for fundamental moral criteria. They must be at the service of the human person, of his inalienable rights, of his true and integral good, in conformity with the plan and the will of God.

EDIT..Not all religious believers hate Atheists, Gays, Racial minorities, and people of other religions. I certainly do not.Unconditional love for everybody is what my religious faith (Christian) is based upon. Sadly, this is missing in many non- religious people.