Why Are Atheists So Concerned About Religion?
May 30, 2007
“If you are an atheist, why do you care about religion so much?” Sound familiar? I get asked this question more often than I can dare to recall. You know what? I think that it is a fair question; one which I am quite prepared to answer.
First and foremost, let me start by saying that these are MY opinions. In no way do I feel that I speak for all atheists on this or any other question. We all have different views and opinions on the subject. Some, like myself, are simply more vocal about them than others. If you are an atheist and would like to add your own answer to this question, please feel free to in the comments.
There are several reasons that I am concerned about, or have concerned myself with, religion(s). I will try to hit on a few of those points as concisely as I can.
Fear. I have a hard time understanding why anyone would accept or adopt a belief out of fear. Depending on which side of the fence you are sitting on, to what are you pandering to (or giving in to) when asking me (or being asked) to contemplate a contorted Pascal’s Wager? One of the most base, primal emotions: fear. To simply accept anything based on fear is ridiculous. By asking me your version of this wager, you are asking me to accept a certain theology or dogma based on a god you cannot prove, to save a soul you cannot prove exists, that I may go to a place called “heaven” that you have not seen and escape the fiery depths of hell that you have never felt. All of this is shackled to a fear of the unknown. This is something that I cannot accept and am surprised that you could.
Knowledge. Anything that condemns knowledge is going to throw up a red flag in my book. You may feel that religion does not stifle higher learning. We only have to look at history to see what religion has to say with regards to education. From the destruction of the Great Library of Alexandria to the present day stem cell debate, religion has opposed the advancement of knowledge. Keep in mind that Christianity only began to truly flourish in the Dark Ages, when the vast majority of people were illiterate.
Divisiveness. There is nothing on the face of this planet that turns people against one another more than religion. Even our political structure is identified by terminology like the Conservative (Christian) Right and Liberal Left. Christians will wage war with Christians, Muslims with Muslims, Muslims with Christians. All of you say that your religion is the religion of peace, yet not one of you display it. After all:
Matt. 10:34-37 34 Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law 36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household 37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (NIV)
And for those of you that are Muslim:
Quran 5 (The Table Spread):51 O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends. They are friends one to another. He among you who taketh them for friends is (one) of them. Lo! Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk.
This is the primary reason that I have concerned myself with religion. You teach this garbage to children who have not yet even begun to understand logic, let alone such lofty things as philosophy or critical thinking. You teach them hate. You may not realize that you do, but you do. This, my friend, does us as a species more harm than anything that I can think of.
And those are just a few of the reasons that I have concerned myself with religion.
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6 Responses to “Why Are Atheists So Concerned About Religion?”
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Just a couple quick thoughts (I'll expound on this topic in great detail in the future):- I think there needs to be a distinction drawn between some of the uses of "religion" in this article, lest we fall into equivococation. Here's why: Religion in its broadest sense carries with it neither fear, repression of knowledge, nor divisiveness. The religion that you're talking about through most of the article (except in the beginning when you are speaking in the broad sense) is fundamentalism, one of the greatest dangers to our society. These are two different ideas, really. It is easy to argue against fundamentalism for all of the reasons you provided, and many, many more. It is much more difficult to prove that religion, as a whole, is foolish because the same arguments don't, generally, work with religion in its broadest sense. - This might just be me, but I'm uncomfortable using quotes from religious texts; because I don't think they are meant to be taken literally, there is a requisite for careful study of what they actually mean. I am no scholar of any religious text, and am concerned that others who are likewise studied in such texts might take quotes out of context. It could be argued that there is a fundamental problem with any belief based on such ambiguous material - I would probably agree with such an argument. Nonetheless, just as quotations from the Bible regarding homosexuality are often wildly out of context (so I'm told by real biblical scholars ;-D) , so too, is it likely that we make the same mistake in quoting passages. Just a cautionary word of advice to use disgression.
This is highly debateable. The whole purpose for seeking out religion arises from the oldest philosophical question, “Why are we here?” Unfortunately, this question is poorly designed as it immediately intimates that there is a purpose, and where there is purpose there is a designer. But that is yet another post for another day, as it gets off topic for this thread.
Most every religion, even in their most primitive forms, has built within them a system of reward and punishment. Some are for this life (such as karmic fate) and some are for the “life yet to come.” It is the fear of the unknown that truly sways a person into a system that is founded on faith rather than reason. Without the reward of heaven or the punishment of hell, what need have you of Jesus?
As far as arguing against fundementalism, agreed. However, the problem lies in the fact that few people practise gnosticism while the majority take their respective “Holy” books as the gospel truth (please pardon the pun). Why is this? As I have said before, there are more sheep than shepherds. It is easier to follow a pragmatic voice than to do your own studies. As long as there are lazy people that are content to just simply believe what they thay have been fed all their lives without question, there will always be a problem with religion.
The other side of the coin is that we are all individuals with our own agendas. Let us say, for arguments’ sake, that the Bible is the true word of god. How many denominations are there in just the Christian faith? If they all have the same book, why the division? Interprutation. And, if interprutation is given by the Holy Spirit, there should be no variance. Due to the changing of the times, human agendas, loss in membership, declination of attendance…the interprutation is changed to suit the common goals.
This is one of the reasons that religion (as it is practised today) is and will continue to be divisive.
Good points. Only one thing I want to clarify: (##)"Most every religion, even in their most primitive forms, has built within them a system of reward and punishment… It is the fear of the unknown that truly sways a person into a system
that is founded on faith rather than reason. Without the reward of
heaven or the punishment of hell, what need have you of Jesus?" (##)Even without the last line, I think that this holds up very well against Christianity, but not so well against eastern religions like Buddhism or Taoism (although it should be noted that there are fundamentalist sects of all three religions [which boggles the mind, really] that would certainly adhere to this mode of "reward and punishment" and "fear of the unknown"). (##)A good Buddhist; that is, one who has advanced very far in her studies and practices the religion steadily, consistently, honestly, and earnestly, will not say her goal is enlightenment or nirvana; at a certain point, the Buddhist trains herself to overcome desires (either existential like this, or smaller like itching their nose while in meditation) and simply act as "naturally" as possible. Likewise with the Taoist (there is even an excellent saying by Lao Tzu to the affect that those who try to be good vomit up their intentions and choke on them without ever acting upon them). (##)Though these religions (and perhaps all religions for that matter) came about from a desire to explain the unexplainable, that fear is no longer the primary motivator for their practice. Instead, Buddhists and Taoists have similar goals to the agnostic/atheist humanist - lead a good life, understand your place in the world (which is not a terribly impressive or important position), and be kind. For the Buddhist and Taoist, acting in this way is the right thing to do because it is the best way to act in our world; it is only incidental that these actions bring with them rewards.
Arete: Agreed. I'd also add deism to your list, as it focuses on reason and rationality, instead of ritual and ceremony.
But, these religions are the exceptions that prove the rule.
Speaking from experience, Christianity and Islam attempt to enforce their rules on everyone, not just their adherents. Unfortunately, they are largely successful. It is that activity that concerns me, not their pursuit of superstition.
Good post.
I did a podcast recently (http://gdayworld.thepodcastnetwork.com/2007/06/05/gday-world-244-eliezer-yudkowsky-rational-thinking-part-1/) where we talked about this.
The answer my guest gave me was, I think, one of the best responses I have heard.
He explained that if people accept a denial of evidence in one area of their thinking (eg religion) they are more ready to deny or ignore the evidence in other areas of their thinking, eg about Iraq having WMD or about climate change.
And as a rational thinker and humanist, I am concerned that 90% of the human race is walking around in a self-delusion over religion. I find that not only appalling, but actually dangerous to the future of the species.
Keep up the great work on the blog!
regards,
Cameron Reilly
CEO, The Podcast Network (www.thepodcastnetwork.com) &
Host of Australia’s #1 podcast G’Day World (www.gdayworld.com)
0400455334
cameron@thepodcastnetwork.com
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Proud to be named one of the ECONTENT 100 (2006) - EContent Magazine’s list of the most influential digital content companies in the world (http://www.econtentmag.com/EContent100/) and B&T Magazine’s Biggest Players of Australia’s Digital Age.
Thanks for the comment, Cameron! Checking out your site and podcast now.