atheists and agnostics

[miriam_e]

I'm convinced that if we are to survive the next several decades we must outgrow the stupidity that is religion. It poses the greatest threat to our children's survival. Each religious group hates each other with an unshakeable faith that they are the one true path. All religions justify murder and repression in the name of their illusory beliefs.

We need more non-religious heroes and heroines in books and films. More atheists and agnostics should stand up and make themselves known as honorable people ...before we become the next targets of the religious crazies.

Comments

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

:) How could I be offended? I appreciate the feedback.

Unfortunately though, you have mistaken what I said for the similar, but more scary kinds of things often said by religious fanatics. I want religion to release its grip, but I don't advocate its active eradication. I plead for people to write more atheistic and agnostic heroes and heroines for books and films, but nowhere have I ever suggested that we should fight, kill, or punish religious people. I see religion as a sickness rather than a bunch of evil people. Just as I would not suggest victimising people who have, say, herpes, I don't see religious people as bad. The religion itself is the danger and we must work out ways of countering its pernicious effects just as a virus needs to be prevented from spreading.

The problem with sick memes is that you can't hospitalise people to "fix" them. You can't brainwash them either, because that simply replaces one illness with another. The only cure that I can see is simple knowledge coupled with good sense. The best we can do is to place information at people's disposal and lead by example. "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink." Any attempt at forcing the change undoes the original intent.

I think the reason people mistake what I say for a kind of secular fanaticism is because it is so unusual for voices to be heard speaking out about the danger of religion. Everybody is so scared of religion! (Mind you they have good reason to be.)

I've many people say that science is good for uncovering knowledge about the real world but that spiritualism is good for matters beyond that. But that just doesn't make any kind of sense. Saying that the soul is something beyond science doesn't make it so. Saying that a god is beyond proof or disproof doesn't take it beyond the realm of science.

Hmmm... maybe I should dispense with the word "science" for a while. I don't like science being used as a religion. People who do that make the same mistake that other religious people make. Many people see science as simply what people in white coats do. To my mind science is just knowledge, and is open to anybody with the desire to think.

See my argument that shows the soul to be an absurdity (http://werple.net.au/~miriam/soulless.html). It is not complex or difficult to comprehend (though I really should rewrite it to make it even easier). A five year old can understand it. Though few religious people will. The argument against a god follows on naturally from that. And there are other points that can be made against the concept of a god and worship. See my short play Grace (http://werple.net.au/~miriam/grace2.html). (A triple-threaded version is here (http://werple.net.au/~miriam/grace3.html) too.) These things don't require any great scientific knowledge... just simple good sense and clear thought.

The great problem with religion is that it doesn't come down to good sense or clear thinking. In the end everything hinges on faith. And anything can be done in the name of faith, because it is not open to logic. Gays are bad because the bible or koran says -- not because of anything that is open to the clear light of good sense. Sure, an atheist can dislike gays, but at least he can be shown that his point of view is based upon prejudice and doesn't make sense. You can't do that with a religious person. At some point come up against a brick wall and they can go no further.

Religion is declining, as knowledge and understanding increases. But I'm worried that this is not proceeding fast enough. The spike is estimated to arrive in about another 50 or 60 years. We had better be mature enough to deal properly with it or we will be in a very dangerous situation. Shedding superstition is one of the major steps in humanity growing up and we have a limited time in which to do it.