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The cherry picking strategy

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
A lot of people who do that, but don't wish to know the teachings, are atheist arguers that are kind of being a bad caricature of their whole side, and of people within their group. So while I might be sitting there drinking tea and eating crumpets with the other people who are atheists, and agreeing to disagree, one or two particular atheists just have to remind you with shouts and yells of their disbelief and cognitive dissonance of religion.

I find that most people who cherry pick tend to be christians who also shout and yell and stomp their foot.

Im guessing in probably the same proportion as your atheist nemesis. Only problem is there are far more of the Christian foot stompers than atheist foot stompers.
 

Terrywoodenpic

Oldest Heretic
Every one Chery picks.
We do it every time we have a discussion about anything.
There is an almost infinite amount of stuff to chose from when discussing anything. So we always select those things that conform closest to our point of view.
Cherry picking is part and parcel of every form of communication...
It is neither good nor bad, but it make discussion possible.
However it can be Prejudiced or neutral. Biased or even handed. The rules are learnt at a social level, and depend on the situation and context.
In most discussions any refutation falls to the other party to deal with, we are unlikely to do their job for them.

The intelligent mind is a questioning mind. it enjoys exercise.
 

firedragon

Veteran Member
I find that most people who cherry pick tend to be christians who also shout and yell and stomp their foot.

Im guessing in probably the same proportion as your atheist nemesis. Only problem is there are far more of the Christian foot stompers than atheist foot stompers.

So Christians do it, so please dont blame my tribe for doing it too?
 

MikeF

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
why would an atheist engage in such activity? whats the vested interest?

Because. first and foremost, they are human beings. Every human being, theist or non-theist, is susceptible to confirmation bias, and in an individual, that bias can vary in strength from subject to subject.

You have focused on Atheists, presumably since they are presenting humanities collective scientific understanding as justification for their position. But that does not mean that every Atheist is a highly trained professional in one of the sciences. Nor are they necessarily a highly trained and skilled communicator. But beyond that, even the highly trained scientist and the highly trained communicator are human beings susceptible to bias.

In every case, be it theist or non-theist, you are dealing with human beings of varying background and experience, with varying emotional states and concerns. It often seems that it is the rare individual who can be completely self-aware and fully appreciate the role of bias in their own behavior.
 
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SigurdReginson

Grēne Mann
Premium Member
Anytime anyone intertwines their ego with their beliefs, you're going to see this. It's not limited to god beliefs or non-beliefs, it's also seen in sports and politics among other things. People are more concerned about being right than being fair or unassuming, and oftentimes they've already dismissed the opinions they don't like before they've ever even replied.

At the same time, though, religious texts are quite a bit larger than a nursery rhyme. The only people who are going to go through the whole body of work are going to be folks with a vested interest in the subject matter. What's the option if one doesn't cherry pick? Pasting huge swaths of text to go through? Who's gonna have the time or interest to go through all of that? When I see that here, I immediately ignore the post because I just don't have that kind of time.

I don't think I'd go to an online forum on religion if I actually wanted to study and give a fair shake to a religion to a serious extent. I'd just go and do the research on my own if I cared enough to dig deep. I think most folks here are just here to pop off their opinions more than anything else. At best they can point you in a direction where actual research can be undertaken, or give you new things to think about, but that's about it.
 

Wildswanderer

Veteran Member
Not by the definition of religion its not.

But hey, you feel free to believe whater makes you feel good and forgot the accepted definition.
Look at how much time they spend defending thier religion. It's amusing, really. "We believe in nothing and we want you to believe in nothing too!"
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
Look at how much time they spend defending thier religion. It's amusing, really. "We believe in nothing and we want you to believe in nothing too!"

:facepalm:

Defending against the ignorant who cannot be bothers to look up a definition.

Where do you get the ..

"We believe in nothing and we want you to believe in nothing too!"

I am assuming you made it up to massage your confirmation bias.

No atheist ever has ever claimed to believe in nothing. What atheism does not believe in is one thing and one thing only, a god... Anything else added to that is nothing more than than deliberate ignorance and bigotry

Again, look up the definition of atheiem before slagging off what you don't understand
 

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
haha. I understand that. See, the problem I have is this. A YEC has to save his theology from the darwinian bomb (as an example). Thus, they have a vested interest in being dishonest (I am not saying they all are, and neither am I justifying it) in order to save their religion and faith. But Atheists are not supposed to have any of those problems. They claim they have no religion, no faith, zilch. So why would an atheist be cherry picking? What is he gonna gain?

Because there are no humans, that are just atheists. That is not possible. So it has nothing to do with atheism per se. It is ideology, politics, morality, philosophy, power and all the usual human stuff.
 

firedragon

Veteran Member
:facepalm:

Defending against the ignorant who cannot be bothers to look up a definition.

Where do you get the ..



I am assuming you made it up to massage your confirmation bias.

No atheist ever has ever claimed to believe in nothing. What atheism does not believe in is one thing and one thing only, a god... Anything else added to that is nothing more than than deliberate ignorance and bigotry

Again, look up the definition of atheiem before slagging off what you don't understand

Wow. A lot of respect shown right at the outset. Highly exemplary of yours.
 

firedragon

Veteran Member
Because there are no humans, that are just atheists. That is not possible. So it has nothing to do with atheism per se. It is ideology, politics, morality, philosophy, power and all the usual human stuff.

None of this has anything to do with atheism. Unlike many of the atheists here, I dont blame the hypocrisy of some of the atheists on atheism.

You mentioned ideology. What ideology?

Also. What "power" does one get in an Internet forum lets say?
 

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
Whats to gain in your opinion?

Well, not as an atheist. As an atheist I don't believe in gods. But that is functionally empty in everyday life, because I am a lot more.

Now I am honest. Most humans want to be in effect objectively right and that includes some atheists. So most of us fight with whatever version of "Truth" we believe in and some fight "dirty".
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
This isn't limited to single examples, but goes to the subconscious.
Because of confirmation bias, our subconscious minds get programmed by what enters it in way we eventually become unaware of. Even if we feel we're speaking without quoting stuff, the residual effects of a lifetime of cherry picking, or having our parents cherry pick for us are there. It's a natural phenomena. An atheist or a theist has that POV because they've selected, or had someone else select for them cherries that aligned with that world view.
 

mikkel_the_dane

My own religion
None of this has anything to do with atheism. Unlike many of the atheists here, I dont blame the hypocrisy of some of the atheists on atheism.

You mentioned ideology. What ideology?

Also. What "power" does one get in an Internet forum lets say?

The only thing that makes an atheist is the lack of beliefs in gods.

Any human cognitively capable of it will as a result of nature and nurture have a worldview. Atheism is not a world view. It is a part of it, but not all of it.

As for power, that was me being to short. All humans capable try with variation to have power, influence and access to resources. Evolution and the 4 biological Fs also happen here to some degree.
 
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