No, I don't think that's exactly right. I am strongly in agreement with you that culture is evolved (see Dawkins' idea of memetics), but that doesn't strip us of responsibility to look at the world rationally and make judgements. I also strongly agree that we need to be careful to look at what we're throwing out and to try to understand …
No, I don't think that's exactly right. I am strongly in agreement with you that culture is evolved (see Dawkins' idea of memetics), but that doesn't strip us of responsibility to look at the world rationally and make judgements. I also strongly agree that we need to be careful to look at what we're throwing out and to try to understand why certain cultural practices evolved so that we can maintain what is important in them, and we won't always do so perfectly—there will be trial and error like you say—but if we didn't try to progress by working to understand and iterate, we would still be living with many of the barbaric traditions we had thousands of years ago. And we would have no model to challenge the barbaric traditions that many cultures still practice today, such as FGM.
For a good attempt by an atheist to understand and integrate the value of religious traditions, I would look at the book "Religion for Atheists" by Alain Badiou. I'm sure it's not exactly right about everything, but I think he approaches the topic in the right way by looking at religion with generosity and care.
I think your prayer comparison is apt. I was raised in Orthodox Judaism and one is expected to go to synagogue and pray three-times a today. It's not just "boring," but a major impediment to life. Even if there will be a time someday where prayer might help me, I can say with 100% confidence that it's not worth the regular practice to get there.
In my view, Orthodox Judaism holds on because of many memes within it that promote its self-replication by preventing assimilation. Prohibition of intermarriage, physical separation through circumcision, indoctrination of children, and holidays like Chanukah. It's a "parasitic" meme in that it self-replicates at a cost to hosts, rather than in symbiosis with them. And this separation has brought harm to Jews repeatedly throughout history. I could list many good things in Judaism that I would keep—and Christianity for example has already kept many of those—but on the whole I do not think the evidence shows that it's a good tradition for today's world.
No, I don't think that's exactly right. I am strongly in agreement with you that culture is evolved (see Dawkins' idea of memetics), but that doesn't strip us of responsibility to look at the world rationally and make judgements. I also strongly agree that we need to be careful to look at what we're throwing out and to try to understand why certain cultural practices evolved so that we can maintain what is important in them, and we won't always do so perfectly—there will be trial and error like you say—but if we didn't try to progress by working to understand and iterate, we would still be living with many of the barbaric traditions we had thousands of years ago. And we would have no model to challenge the barbaric traditions that many cultures still practice today, such as FGM.
For a good attempt by an atheist to understand and integrate the value of religious traditions, I would look at the book "Religion for Atheists" by Alain Badiou. I'm sure it's not exactly right about everything, but I think he approaches the topic in the right way by looking at religion with generosity and care.
I think your prayer comparison is apt. I was raised in Orthodox Judaism and one is expected to go to synagogue and pray three-times a today. It's not just "boring," but a major impediment to life. Even if there will be a time someday where prayer might help me, I can say with 100% confidence that it's not worth the regular practice to get there.
In my view, Orthodox Judaism holds on because of many memes within it that promote its self-replication by preventing assimilation. Prohibition of intermarriage, physical separation through circumcision, indoctrination of children, and holidays like Chanukah. It's a "parasitic" meme in that it self-replicates at a cost to hosts, rather than in symbiosis with them. And this separation has brought harm to Jews repeatedly throughout history. I could list many good things in Judaism that I would keep—and Christianity for example has already kept many of those—but on the whole I do not think the evidence shows that it's a good tradition for today's world.
Fair enough. I respectfully dissent.