religion and charity

[miriam_e]

Why is it that even religious moderates are so often convinced that you need religion or faith to be a good person or to find purpose in life? It is incredibly arrogant. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It is really no more arrogant than believing that out of thousands of irrational beliefs, theirs is the only one that is right.

I listened to The Spirit of Things tonight. Big mistake. The guy being interviewed was amazing, but tripped and fell headfirst into the metaphoric mud when he said that faith is necessary for purpose. And Rachael Kohn clearly showed her limitations when she implied that religion gives us charity. Of course she ignored all the charitable atheists and agnostics (oh, but they don't count -- how could atheists possibly be charitable?). Ignore the fact that the least religious countries regularly live up to their international aid promises, whereas the most religious countries have never done so. The least religious countries have the most peaceful and healthy populations, whereas the most religious countries are split by fear and hatred and obscene wealth contrasted with appalling poverty.

Are people so willingly blind?

Sure, some religious people can be good and charitable, but on balance religion's harm far, far outweighs any good it has ever done. While atheists and agnostics quietly get on with the job of doing good without constantly trumpeting how great they are.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I didn't reply to the Soviet point because I conceded it. I merely pointed out the fallacy that Nazis were atheists.

However, I will respond, since you seem to want it. Atheists aren't required to do good works and therefore it isn't ironic that those who trumpet their good works do some of the most evil in the name of their god. The burden of proof does not fall on atheists. In fact, since atheists are only required by the law of natural selection to survive, the greater wonder should be why there are so many examples of people killing in the name of god and so few examples of atheists killing since there is no deity saying "thou shalt not kill"

[idealistagain.livejournal.com]

I merely pointed out the fallacy that Nazis were atheists.

Its also a fallacy to think of Nazis as religious. If anything, Nazis believed in an ideal of the "noble savage" and considered most of the tenets taught by virtually every major world religion to be contradictory to the kind of society they wanted. For Naziism, there was nothing above blind obedience to the state and its leader. Whatever references Nazis made to Nordic or Catholic or any other deities was only done in the context of political ploys in pursuit of their true aims, which was a society based solely on the state and where everything else--family, friendship, love, religion, whatever--was irrelevant and/or entirely subservient to the will of the state and its leader who considered himself (in a corruption of many of Nietzsche's teachings) to be a superman.

and so few examples of atheists killing

You're joking right?

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

The nazis regularly worked with the catholic church and the catholic church had a snug relationship with the nazis. The two were hand in glove. The Pope of the time implored catholics to follow Hitler. Even after the war the catholic church helped spirit the top nazis away to neutral countries.

If you think superchikka's point of so few atheists killing is a joke then perhaps you could help us out with a few examples of atheists using atheism as a motivation for killing. :) I think you'll be hard pressed.