Well, there's been a series of rather high-temperature discussions in my Facebook wall-post due to some quotations and thoughts from atheist, secular and pantheists authors with whom I naturally agree at least in the sense of those quotations (otherwise I wouldn't quote them of course). Anyway, the same kind of weak visceral rages keep coming my way and I would like to talk about them a little bit here, not to ridiculeanyone in particular but rather to make a point on how important it is to think before you speak.
So first of all, I have neversaid that I think people who believe are stupid, that would be actually stupid itself, believeing in things, real orunreal has (or had) a purpose since the beginnings of evolution, is wired deep in the inner and most primitive part of our brains as a mechanism that served a survival purpose at the beginning of human history. If you study the meaning and origins of consciousness a little bit you will find thisexplanations much better developed than what I can do (I suggest reading Dennett, Baruch Spinoza, Harris, Zizek or even Freudfor example). So my objection has never been against people believing in a superior being, force, energy or whatever they want to call it, though I still
argue they are not necessary anymore, but that's just my way of seeing it which is as valid as yours.What I don't agree
with is that religion has been used (and is still used) throughout history to commit the worst attrocities that one could imagine. Religions are full of rage, murder, ambitions, racism, intolerance, misogynism, solipcism, etc. With the threat of finding hell at the
end of our days, crimes are allowed against followers
of other religious views, things such as the crusades, the burning of "witches" in the middle ages, the conflicts in the Balcans, the Irsrael-Palestinia war, the Northern Ireland conflict, the Holocaust, 9-11, the London and Madrid terrorist attacks....would have never happened on the first place.
One of the arguments of religious people against atheists is that even though religion has created suffering through our history, it has brought more happiness, consolation, charity, etc. I argue against this point. Good people are good by nature, if they have done good
to others and have claimed
to do so because of their religion, this might be true, but it doesn't mean they wouldn't have done it otherwise, exactly because they were good people they would have found equally or even better reasons.
On the other hand, people who have gone to extremes
of even killing people in the name of a creator, have not necessarily been bad people!! Think about it, probably the suicide highjackers of the 9-11 aircrafts had been children taught to give up their own lives in the name of Ala, even
if they were to kill people (who are of course sinners and enemies of their God) because this is the only way they could go to heaven. I have no doubt the highjackers were absolutely convinced they were going straight to heaven after the attacks (see Dawkins for more on this particular topic). Does that make them bad
people? I think is much more complicated than that. But my point is, if they were not brain-washed since childhood the would never have even thought of it. They were the consequence of a long chain of bull shit and lies, not the source of the problem.
And what about the irrational
hate against homosexuals, the baseless and ignorance-founded arguments against abortion, euthanasia, contraception etc!!?? I could go on and on but I think you got my point and I have mentioned some good sources that are more knowledgeable on the topic than me. Nevertheless, I feel people who share my views, which are only a continuous chain of others' views who vet on reason rather than absurd out-of-date beliefs, should speak out, because only then will we be able to give that reason the place it should have claimed long ago!!
