NOM

I've been bouncing this around in my head for a while now.

I'm very quick to call out pseudo-science for what it is and absolutely hate it and it irks me that people can be so stupid and believe [astrology/homeopathy/other alternative medicines] works.
Then I realized that I was behaving the same way as angry atheists who bash religion. And I feel like those guys are kinda insensitive because religion isn't always bad and I have a decent approach to the whole question. So either I am mistreating people who wear copper bracelets or religion/atheism is fundamentally distinct from pseudo-science/science so I can feel good about myself. That surprised me.

I have decided that there is a difference there, namely the fact that pseudo-science is falsifiable (and regularly debunked) whereas religion has no proof of (non)existence beyond personal experiences. I think I could be less condescending to people who do pseudo-science without harming themselves (eg refusing to ever take antibiotics) and now I understand why some guys are reaaaally mad about religion.

I have struggled with this also. This is how I used to feel.


If someone's belief has no material effect or harms no one else, I have learned to leave people alone. I have some close family members that fervently support someone for president that I am personally opposed to. I have had to let this go. They have some other apocalyptic beliefs which I also quietly don't worry about. I treat their beliefs like they have a time consuming or expensive hobby like golf or owning a sail boat.

Unfalsifiable beliefs deserve little more respect than falsified beliefs. I oppose religion for this reason, and because of the harm it has done and continues to do. Once religions (particularly Abrahamic religions, the kind followed by the overwhelming majority of Earth's population) give up their projects of world domination, I will cease to be an "angry" atheist and just be an atheist.

What about the placebo effects of that copper bracelet, religion?