{"id":8910,"date":"2013-03-19T16:47:27","date_gmt":"2013-03-19T16:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2013\/03\/19\/lent-for-atheists\/"},"modified":"2013-03-19T16:47:27","modified_gmt":"2013-03-19T16:47:27","slug":"lent-for-atheists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2013\/03\/19\/lent-for-atheists\/","title":{"rendered":"Lent for Atheists?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apparently<\/a>, there are some atheists who are adopting Lenten-type practices without abandoning their atheist beliefs.  This ought to be cautiously applauded: we all can profit morally from a bit of voluntary abstinence.  One cannot live well without (moderate) asceticism<\/a>.  (See William James on Self-Denial<\/a>.) Better self-controlled atheists than atheists 'gone wild.'<\/span><\/p>\n

But I would urge these atheists to go further and practice doxastic abstinence.  Without rejecting your atheist beliefs, put them within brackets for the Lenten period.  Practice epoch\u00e9 <\/strong>with respect to them, that is, withhold intellectual assent.  That is not to doubt them or disbelieve them, but simply to make no use of them.  Leave them alone for a time.  In the strict sense epoch\u00e9 <\/strong>goes beyond even suspension of judgment.  If I suspend judgment with respect to a propositional content, I neither affirm it, deny it, doubt it, nor even just entertain it.  For if I do any of those things I admit that it has a coherent sense.  In epoch\u00e9, <\/strong>however, I leave it open whether the content has a coherent sense.  Epoch\u00e9 <\/strong>is the ultimate in doxastic disengagement.  Practicing total doxastic abstinence, I totally disengage from those propositions that ignite often acrimonious disagreement.  <\/span><\/p>\n

You can always go back to your atheist beliefs.  Another excellent form of self-denial for atheists and religionists alike is to abstain from all theological controversies and polemics from time to time.   One could call it a 'belief fast.'  I hope we can all agree that being just is better than developing a theory of justice.  And if discussing the Trinity only makes you angry and combative, then it might be best to drop theology and cultivate piety.<\/span><\/p>\n

But while atheists can profit from voluntary self-denial, bringing such practices under the Lent umbrella makes little sense.  Will the period of self-denial go from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday?  Why tie it to these dates freighted as they are with Christian metaphysics?  When a Christian reminds himself on Ash Wednesday that he is dust and shall return to dust, the whole point of that memento mori<\/em> is situated within the context of the hope for and promise of eternal life.  Christian mortalism is toto caelo<\/em> different from atheist mortalism.  And what the Christian celebrates on Easter Sunday is precisely the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ by the power of God  and the hope that death will be conquered eventually for all. No atheist believes that.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the final analysis, Lent secularized is no longer Lent.  Atheists ought to exercise their imaginations and come up with a secular analog free of Chistian trappings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Atheists ought also to worry that if they take up Christian practices, the beliefs may follow . . . .  <\/span><\/p>\n

\nRelated articles<\/legend>\n
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\"\"<\/a>The Atheist<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>The Wit and Mortality of Christopher Hitchens<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Mature Religion is Open-Ended Too: More Quest Than Conclusions<\/a><\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a>Religious Belief and What Inclines Me to It<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/fieldset>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apparently, there are some atheists who are adopting Lenten-type practices without abandoning their atheist beliefs.  This ought to be cautiously applauded: we all can profit morally from a bit of voluntary abstinence.  One cannot live well without (moderate) asceticism.  (See William James on Self-Denial.) Better self-controlled atheists than atheists 'gone wild.' But I would urge these … Continue reading “Lent for Atheists?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[191,372,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atheism-and-theism","category-belief","category-christian-doctrine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8910\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}