Skip Navigation

The Daily Dish - 2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan

Tragic Atheism, Ctd

By The Daily Dish
May 12 2010, 4:05 AM ET

Drum responds to Linker:

[T]he prospect of a Godless world is more salient for some than for others. Nietzsche wrote about this in the broader cultural sense...and Linker talks about it later in the personal sense: "There are no disappointments recorded in the pages of [New Atheist] books, no struggles or sense of loss. Are they absent because the authors inhabit an altogether different spiritual world than the catastrophic atheists?" Speaking for myself: yes. I have never in my life felt the need to believe in God, and that lack simply doesn't inspire any emotional resonance in me. I don't know why this is, but I do know that I don't feel empty inside, I'm perfectly capable of feeling wonder and awe, and there's no sense of loss or anything else involved in any of this. Linker might regard that as unfathomable, finding the tortured brooding of the catastrophic atheist more to his liking, but it's so. And I have no idea how you discuss this. Linker feels the pull of the supernatural and I don't, and all the conversation in the world won't change that or make it any more explicable.

I totally respect Kevin's position, even though I could not share it if I tried. If I may intrude, and ask a questoin I do not mean to be loaded, just curious: I wonder what Kevin thinks happens to him when he dies? And how does he feel about that - not just emotionally but existentially? These questions can be addressed without talking of God. And yet they reveal something about what it is to be human.



Presented by

More at The Atlantic

Will the Grammys Remain as Bizarre as Always This Year? Our Predictions for 'Music's Biggest Night'
Why Israel Might Believe Attacking Iran Is Worthwhile Why Israeli Leaders Might Believe Attacking Iran Is Worth the Effort
A Western Diet High in Sugars and Fat Could Contribute to ADHD A Sugary, Fatty Western Diet Could Be Contributing to ADHD
Using the Internet as Matchmaker: The Drawbacks to Online Dating Internet as Matchmaker: The Drawbacks to Online Dating
The Implications of the Military Opening More Positions to Women The Implications of Adding More Women to Our Armed Forces
Special Report
Election 2012 Reuters Election 2012
The destination for full politics coverage, from the primaries to the White House. Read more ›
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

The Civil War, Part 3: The Stereographs

Feb 10, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)