Reply #96: Do you know what critical thinking entails?

[uberllama42]

Critical thinking is the process of evaluating the evidence for or against a certain claim. How do I know there are angels, for instance? Have I seen them, or communicated with them? Is there some replicable experiment I can do to detect them? Can I observe some phenomenon that can only be explained by the presence of angels? Do I have it on credible authority that angels exist? What makes that authority credible in this matter?

I don't think that the specific characteristics that any particular believer might attribute to angels have any bearing on the issue. On any account, an angel is a supernatural entity that acts on behalf of God. Even attributing certain events to incorporeal entities does not stand up to critical examination. How can a believer be sure that the a given event was not a coincidence? Is there no possible explanation that relies only on phenomena which can be verified, without appealing to the supernatural?

As other posters have said, angel-believers are a very large majority of the population and decisions these people make affect us on a daily basis. The angel thing is trivial, but if the same people use the same mode of thought in other questions as they do on the question of whether angels exist, there could be very serious ramifications.

I don't know what you mean by "win win win situations." I don't think such a deficit in the rational faculties of the population at large can be described as a win for me or anyone else.