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Originally Posted by Textcritic
So, I am curious to see or know if there is such a thing as a non-Westernised form of atheism in the first place, and in the second to know how it counters religion from within its own religiously cultivated perspective. I might at the outset think that perhaps some forms of Buddhism (mindfulness?) or Chinese philosophies founded on Confuciun thinking might qualify, which is interesting, because I also suspect that these would be universally rejected by modernised Western (Judeo-Christianised?) atheists also as "religion."
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Sam Harris is a big fan of meditation and the idea that spirituality is a state of mind that does not require a supernatural belief. It helps he's so well spoken and a neuroscientist.
I think the answer is that we fight the battles that need to be fought and its all about location, the Abrahamic religions dominate our political and social discussions, legislation's, etc.. So ultimately the noise is all from this, but I do know of plenty of groups in Asia, humanists, skeptics, atheist groups which are doing what you see happening here in the western world, we just do not hear from them back here unless you are like me who is very actively involved in the humanist movement.
More to the point, its the actions that we are most often at odds with of the religious that fuels the non believers to fight back, and of course we are not exactly flooded with Buddhists causing problems out here.
Ultimately though, my cursory understanding of eastern religions give me no more pause as to them having any more validity than the Abrahamic, in some sense they are seemingly less harmful but that might be more to do with not being from those countries more than anything.
At the root of it like in India example religious belief there lends itself to its populace being very gullible and gives rise to all kinds of ridiculous people that have big following claiming nonsense like they don't eat, one guy claiming he never ejaculates and that he cannot, these people are a plague because I think that once you believe in magical thinking it opens up people to much more nonsense which can often be harmful, ie the witch hunters in Africa.
Which is probably why I'm so drawn to the Humanist and skeptic movements more so than I am with atheist movements. David Silverman asked if we wanted to have him come speak on his last trip to London but our board said no since Iceland really doesn't need an atheist movement, our goals are very different from the US and firebrand atheism is just something that would not attract a lot of interest here.