Episode 55: 55 Street Epistemology: A Secret Strategy for Creating Atheists? (Part 1)

<img src="https://assets.podomatic.net/ts/51/52/8f/jwalker55293/3000x3000_15362271.jpg" alt="itunes pic" /><br /><p><br></p><br><p><strong>[NOTE: This podcast is also available on video here: <a href="https://youtu.be/fMUF_y9q1ew">https://youtu.be/fMUF_y9q1ew</a>]</strong></p><br><p>Chances are, if you are actively sharing your faith on social media to any degree, or if you have children or grandchildren away at college, or if you're out for a stroll in a public park, you may have or will eventually encounter a "street epistemologist." </p><br><p><strong>What is street epistemology? </strong>It is a movement within the atheist and skeptic community which began from a 2013 book <strong><em>A Manual For Creating Atheists </em></strong>written by atheist and philosopher Peter Boghossian. </p><br><p>Though Boghossian himself is no longer actively involved in the movement today, it nevertheless has remained a popular and growing trend among skeptics in engaging Christians and other theists in conversation with the intent to cause doubt and, as the book title says clearly, create atheists. </p><br><p>Street Epistemology or SE for short, is a kind of dialectical method that incorporates carefully crafted Socratic-like questions about a Christian's level of confidence in their belief in God. The SE'er will ask several questions, without ever directly engaging in factual discussions about Christianity, but will instead ask specific philosophical questions about <em>how </em>and <em>why </em>a Christian holds to the confidence of their belief, with the intent of causing doubt. </p><br><p>To this day, it remains a movement within the atheist and skeptic community, though many who practice SE will often converse about other topics such as karma, new age mysticism, other religions, politics, alternative medicines and many others. </p><br><p>But the most popular videos on YouTube of SE practitioners are those where believers are suddenly questioning their beliefs within the span of a very brief conversation. </p><br><