Plea for Responsible Atheism

I was recently tooling around the internet and came across an atheist blog sporting the red OUT Campaign "A" of atheist visibility and solidarity, accompanied by a statement of atheist pride that equated all religious belief with "clinging to superstition."

I've also seen atheists compare religious belief with believing in mythological creatures, and I frequently see atheists argue that religious faith is in and of itself dangerous, and that it prohibits rational thought and/or scientific knowledge.

What's up with that?

I am disgusted by the fact that many Americans are so prejudiced against atheism that they would never vote for an atheist for public office. I am fervently opposed to religious justifications—indeed, any justifications other than logic, reason, and sound science—for laws or any other government actions. I also draw a firm line between faith and reason: the products of reason should be taught in schools, for example; the products of faith should not. And as a queer woman, you can bet that I've suffered from faith-based prejudice and irrationality.

I also believe in a unifying spiritual power in the universe. Spirituality is an integral part of my life. It is not the same as mythology, though spirituality is often expressed through mythology. It is certainly not superstition. It also doesn't in any way harm my ability to think rationally or prevent me from seeking provable, scientific knowledge. Spirituality isn't rational, but neither is, say, love. Neither loving nor having spiritual beliefs has yet prevented me from having reason or scientific curiosity.

Religion is often misused in ways that hurt, and even kill, many people. But those misuses all ultimately stem from intolerance, inequality, corruption, and abuse of power. Although many people use religion to justify those things, nothing about religion itself causes or necessarily promotes them. Science can be used to justify crime, too. Religion, from an anthropological point of view, is simply a social institution like economy or family structure. It is just one way that humans make meaning, bring communities together, and express wonder at the universe.

There is no reason to dismiss religion, and every reason not to. We should criticize intolerant religious people—for their intolerance. We should criticize corrupt religious people—for their corruption. We should criticize violent religious people—for their violence. But blaming religion for intolerance, corruption, and violence is no better than using religion to justify those things. Condemning religion as intolerant, corrupt, violent, superstitious, frivolous, or anti-rational is extremely intolerant and hurtful, and there is no justification for it.

I am not a member of an organized religion, so I can't speak from that perspective. However, my partner is Christian. Here's what she has to say:

When I hear an atheist compare religion to superstition, or tell me I'm a fool for believing there's life after death, or that Jesus was conceited for telling everyone he was the Son of God, it breaks my heart. I'm a queer, liberal Presbyterian woman. I've loved God my entire life, and I have never been compelled, by my own brain, or by others of my faith, to impose my beliefs on others or pass judgments on the way other people worship or don't. I realize that the religious people who use religion to justify proselytizing, hatred, or violence are the face of religion to many atheists. However, I'd like to urge those who condemn all of us who practice some form of religion, organized or not, to understand two things: first, that not all who practice religion are proselytizing, spiteful people. Many of us wish for nothing more than to be able to worship in peace. Second, attacking a religious person's beliefs is defaming something sacred. As I believe strongly that I have no right to inflict my ideologies on others, I also believe that it is my right to be able to worship my God without fear of being ridiculed as illogical for doing so. As I keep my beliefs to myself, so should those who worship differently or not at all.

Attacking religion and berating religious belief is, by definition, a deeply personal attack. It's imposing a belief (atheism) just as much as mandatory prayer in public schools would be. No matter how "logical" an argument against religion is, it's still extremely offensive. Arguing that all religion is wrong is no better than arguing that Judaism is wrong, or Islam is wrong; arguing that atheism is better than religion is just as bad as arguing that Christianity is better than any other faith.

Ironic, isn't it? Atheists who bash religion usually pit faith against reason, claiming that religion is illogical, unreasonable, and hurtful. But bashing religion is an illogical, unreasonable, hurtful thing to do.