Faithless

     David has done it again. He has written a wonderful blog post full of thought and intellect. And again, in my "wisdom", I'm going to disagree with him. As before, you should read his post first.

http://muirnin.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/armo/

     My first point of disagreement is that atheism is a religious belief at all. This is a common assertion and one that never ceases to bother me. The common response that rings through my head is simple. Atheism is a religion in the same way that "off" is a channel. To me, the very act, if you can call it that, of non-belief is something passive. It is not a choice, as any of the faithful will admit you must make to believe. Atheism is not the belief in the non-existence of god, it is the result of a lack of evidence to convince one to choose to believe.

     As an atheist, I am willing to admit that I might be wrong if presented with enough evidence. A believer, of any stripe, will not admit that they may be wrong despite any level of evidence. That is a fundamental difference and the main reason I am opposed to religion in general.

     Like David, I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian household. I was a missionary. I believed the planet to be 6000 years old. How that all changed is currently irrelivant. What matters is that it changed. Through sometimes painful methods, it changed.

     Faith is the roadblock on the way to change. It is the lock on the door, behind which lies real knowledge. Faith is the blanket we wrap ourselves in to shield us from the bitter chill that is the admission that we are ignorant. Those of us who embrace that first fearful moment break through to the other side where we can truly begin learning.

     I am willing to ignore almost all the evils of religion. The child rape, the murder, the ethnic cleansing, the genital mutilation, the abuse, the humiliation, the extortion, the gleeful anticipation of the end of all life.... However, the commandment to remain ignorant is the one I will not overlook because all the others eventually flow from it. The celebration of non-thinking stunts our progress as a species and allows for all manner of excuses for the wrongs we choose to do to one another. Why mourn the dead who are in a better place? Why end suffering when those who suffer will be rewarded in Heaven for their faith? Mother Theresa spewed forth this vile example.

     So why oppose those who believe and yet seem to keep their faith benign and private? What objection could I possible have? So-called moderate belief gives cover and acceptance to the extremists while still requiring the same practice of well-manicured stupidity. More to the point, what exactly is moderate belief when it requires the suspension of reason and honestly?

     We should all strive to better ourselves, even if that means facing hard truths about reality.