We often forget about the issues of homeless people of all types such as women, men, teenage girls & boys and others living out in the cold or extreme heat. And yet our community and churches are overwhelmed. I could assist these people to get the right resources with volunteering my RN and Paralegal services to organize building new shelters to get these homeless people the resources to find shelter for themselves and their families. Also, with my psychology, student, nursing, and military background, I could help the homeless veterans to students who have no place to live as well as directing them to get the proper counseling (regardless if it is faith-based or not to help these homeless people to get emergency housing they need).

Science is a method, not a body of facts. Devotion to it is not blindness - it's the most clear-headed way of living we have ever come up with. We look at events and try to explain them. If the explanation doesn't fit, we reject it.

I think some people have blind devotion to science regardless of whether they are atheist or not .
[sciencebasedmedicine.org]

1. If you accept it without questioning it, it's not science. Period. Doesn't matter what it is. Anyone who doesn't get that doesn't know science.

2. Western medicine has problems--like everything else that people create. One of the problems is over-prescribing of medications (a la opioid crisis). It's a thing. Doesn't mean you should never take drugs, or should necessarily be prohibitively skeptical of all possible Rxs. But be skeptical. Ask questions, do research. Get a second opinion, maybe. Approaches and attitudes can vary widely. Sometimes not. Sometimes the biochemistry is very clearcut. It depends.

I'm with you: my feeling is that drugs should be an intervention of last resort--after you've worked on your diet and exercise and sleep and psycho-social-emotional well being. Im not saying have a crack at curing your diabetes with kale smoothies. I'm saying maybe give the Big Macs a rest and switch to decaf if you have high blood pressure BEFORE you start taking pills...not instead of.

Relying on exercise and nutrition for health isn't anti-science. Take a look at the Microbiological and Biological effects of what's consumed and how the body is challenged - that is not denying modern medicine, that's the molecular basis of "natural" health care.

How does that mean this person was not skeptical about drugs too? I also prefer natural methods first, but there are times during which the dangers of side effects are the best alternative to death. Whenever I need chemical help, I look at all the alternatives, including life style changes and meditation - as most atheists that I know of.

actually, if diet and nature work, it seems that is preferable to putting various chemicals into your body. Science isn't confined to artificial substances as best I know.

First of all, I don't think atheists have blind devotion to religion. Second, I'm not entirely sure atheists know much more about science as their religious counterparts. Even on this site you see people who call themselves atheist who espouse the ideals of Depak Chopra, Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer...

A lot of people I run across can easily answer most of the simple questions about things like holistic medicine, vaccinations, flat earth... but there's still a large gap in what they actually do understand scientifically. In fairness, it's true of us all, but it's those who consider that they know far more than they do.

As Socratic paradox goes: "The only thing I know, is that I know nothing." That realization is the beginning of wisdom, and that's the real reason science exists... because of our deep and yearning desire to "know."

Of course not! Science is built around skepticism - scientists continually (and continously) challenge their belief system - which is about as far away as you can ever get from religion ...

Understanding the reality of things is my biggest goal and am afraid that my brain cannot understand all things. It sounds like you’re making a rational decision; at least to my understanding.

I am somewhat of a skeptic. I have some doubts about some things that most of the scientific community has accepted as gospel. Scientist are people too, subject to prejudice and bias like anyone else. It tends to be the young scientist that change things. They are not yet so ridged in their thinking and can entertain new ideas more easily.

"whenever possible" It makes it your choice. Generally it's your body, you take care of it. You've done a good job.

People are people.

conforming your beleifs to evidence presented to you by reality is the opposite of a religious beleif. As someone with no medical degree, and very limited knowledge on the medical industry, I am more than happy to put the decision making of any drugs that I am taking in the hands of people who are far better educated than myself on this subject. I suffer with Colitis and need to take immune suppressant drugs so that I don't have any of the symptoms that comes with colitis. Being skeptical is fundamental to the process of science. Medications go through rigorous tests again and again before they are approved and people are working all the time to immprove medical care. Without the process that we call science, we would not be able to differentiate between drugs that work and drugs that don't work

@witchymom, i feel frustrated by this attitude/pov as well. Thanks for pointing to it, i'm still struggling with how to express it.

After having endured mistakes made by physicians ranging from GPs, a pediatrician and more than one highly regarded veterinarian I've been left no choice but to question everything & verify what I can.
There are dangerous prescription drugs out there. E.g. Avelox. I was once prescribed this years ago & just happened to do a search on it before taking it. Well that shit scared the living crud out of me that I wouldn't take it. On follow up the GP chastised me "you can't trust the internet!".
FF years look at the delayed side effects of that Rx, some people have had crippling injuries as a result of tendon damage from this medication.
I'm so glad I looked it up.
And I've countless stories like this. One of my dogs was given a hardcore antibiotic. In my desperation and mind fatigue battling this situation I unfortunately did not verify like I normally would. Well FF months later & liver values are off. The only thing different given was this Rx which can cause delayed effects. I was never advised to provide liver support while giving that med.....

Further, I've witnessed vaccination reactions in both my kid & one dog. One dog suffered the effects of having been given a bunch of shots all at once for years. It took forever for her system to "calm down".
I now titer all my animals. It's much easier & more cost effective in the long run despite the initial expense than dealing with the effects of an immune system gone haywire, new allergies, prescription diet, etc etc.

While I'm not an anti-vaxxer. I'm a "slow vaxxer", and very cautious, but damn some people are so assimilated because "science".
Uhm, do more research people. Just like dangerous medications, not everyone and everything can tolerate a barrage on the immune system.

There is nothing wrong with a reasonable skepticism. However, I have to say that were it not for a certain antibiotic 25 years ago, I would have died.

I'm going to go down the conspiracy route here and introduce you to John Potash and his work uncovering why The CIA killed Tupac.
Now I forgot the other guy who exposed the CIA selling crack to fund proxy wars in Latin America, but if you tie both of these investigation with the opioid epidemic you start to see a connection.
I'm more worried about Veterans today because they prescribed opiods to my mother and her husband. And good thing they refuse to take that prescription because they didn't wanted to be addicted. My mother suffered from addiction and she stays clear away from that stuff.
Another thing is that science seems to avoid is the plecebo effect yet the reason why they can't test drugs in the USA is because the plecebo effect is greater here than overseas.

I know a couple of scientists that almost worship their classical education. They refer to any kind of new knowledge or approach as quackery. They're really stuck in the mud, and yes - they sound just like the religious fundamentalists they mock.

People are emotional creatures. That is as true of atheists as it is of Druids. Having embraced a community of thought we all tend to "gather the wagons" in its defense. Having said that, "blind devotion" is profoundly unscientific. We are quick to note the unchristian beliefs of main-stream Christians. I agree that we should be just as critical of our fellows.

Being a skeptic is part of being a scientist. People can make all kinds of claims, but you have to look at the evidence that either support or rejects the claim. There are people who are just as authoritarian when it comes to science as there are when it comes to religion. "Well, all scientists say",,,blah, blah, blah, but never take the time to read papers of the studies or read arguments against the conclusions of the researchers.

Bingo... How often we hear about this wonderful drug that cures something and 20 years later it happened that causes damage to another organ or worse. I do try to stay away as much I can from any medication including aspirin and acetaminophen included. I am a Veteran and VA is always offering medication of every shape and form. Even my depression I avoided the make me feel happy pills. The Danger of Over Medication is Around Us. Science do not only cures it also kills. So We Can't Be Blind.

Devotion to science and faith in religion aren't comparable in my book. I don't know anyone that has faith in science.

True science is evidence based and open to being proven wrong and challenged. There is a lot of dogmatic pseudoscience these days and it's another form of rigid fundamentalism masquerading as science. Follow the money. There is huge profit to be made by fear mongering and brain washing folk with pseudoscience.

Skepticism is integral to science. Science begs that we question it, and scientists should as well. While I think it's natural for lay people to question science, some of it is so specialized, especially when it comes to medicine, that even grasping the basics can be difficult, and therefore hard to question. Still, we can't blindly trust those areas of science that appear largely driven by profits.