The Atheist Delusion (ritual, moral, Darwin, Earth, beliefs)

[Escéptico]

The ongoing debate over religion in society deserves a fresh approach, marked by subtlety and insight. But John Gay in the Guardian demonstrates that overheated rhetoric still sells papers! With his opening line, "An atmosphere of moral panic surrounds religion," Gay fires a warning shot across the bow of objectivity.

This jaw-droppingly bigoted screed dusts off every old canard that's ever been used in the debate and gives it another turn in the limelight. Obviously Gay feels that he's the first person ever to accuse atheist authors like Dawkins and Hitchens of being "secular fundamentalists." And his arm must still be sore from patting himself on the back for this original insight: Hitler, Stalin, and Mao were atheists who killed many people. By the time Gay has run through Hitler's debt to Darwin, you'll already realize you're on familiar ground.

Gay's real issues become clear when he asserts, "Nowadays most atheists are avowed liberals." This is Gay's cue to fulminate at great length against Marxist-Leninism, regardless of its relevance to the matter at hand. Even for a right-wing hatchet job, this is desperate.

[3.14]

there are many people on the earth your bound to run into a lot of crap made by man

[Darkness]

The thing he left out is that all Atheists secretly worship the Devil.

[whereismynotecard]

Originally Posted by Darkness

The thing he left out is that all Atheists secretly worship the Devil.

We sure do.

[michel]

Originally Posted by Escéptico

The ongoing debate over religion in society deserves a fresh approach, marked by subtlety and insight. But John Gay in the Guardian demonstrates that overheated rhetoric still sells papers! With his opening line, "An atmosphere of moral panic surrounds religion," Gay fires a warning shot across the bow of objectivity.

This jaw-droppingly bigoted screed dusts off every old canard that's ever been used in the debate and gives it another turn in the limelight. Obviously Gay feels that he's the first person ever to accuse atheist authors like Dawkins and Hitchens of being "secular fundamentalists." And his arm must still be sore from patting himself on the back for this original insight: Hitler, Stalin, and Mao were atheists who killed many people. By the time Gay has run through Hitler's debt to Darwin, you'll already realize you're on familiar ground.

Gay's real issues become clear when he asserts, "Nowadays most atheists are avowed liberals." This is Gay's cue to fulminate at great length against Marxist-Leninism, regardless of its relevance to the matter at hand. Even for a right-wing hatchet job, this is desperate.

........"Viewed not so long ago as a relic of superstition whose role in society was steadily declining, it is now demonised as the cause of many of the world's worst evils....."
That, unfortunately, is a red herring; things that are done in the name of religion are, for the greater part, a useful excuse for some other selfish reasons..........It is useful to use religion as an excuse for bad behaviour - yet, any truly spiritual person (as far as I am aware) would never use religion as an excuse for any bad behaviour.........

[Escéptico]

Originally Posted by michel

any truly spiritual person (as far as I am aware) would never use religion as an excuse for any bad behaviour.........

We're not just talking about whether Al Qaeda members are truly spiritual. Obviously religion exploits bad traits in a lot of people. What better way to appeal to people's loneliness and selfishness than to tell them God loves you? What better way to appeal to their paranoia than to tell them that Religious belief is under siege? What better way to appeal to their ignorance than to assert that The Lord hath made folly of the wisdom of this world?

The Internet scripture-bots are annoying enough, but even lucid believers here fulminate against abortion and nonbelief. Religion reinforces a lot of prejudices that won't stand up to rational analysis, merely by telling the faithful that divine truth doesn't have to answer to any secular ethics.

I'm humanistic enough to give believers the benefit of the doubt when I see good behavior that they claim their faith alone has inspired. But I also don't mind pointing out when it's clear that they're using faith as a cover for their personal biases.

[misanthropic_clown]

Quoting Escéptico: "We're not just talking about whether Al Qaeda members are truly spiritual. Obviously religion exploits bad traits in a lot of people. What better way to appeal to people's loneliness and selfishness than to tell them God loves you? What better way to appeal to their paranoia than to tell them that Religious belief is under siege? What better way to appeal to their ignorance than to assert that The Lord hath made folly of the wisdom of this world?"

How about "your current life is all you need to worry about, your actions are ultimatley non-consequential", "Atheists are scared into the closet by the religious right" and "the people at the forefront of human intellect and thinking are atheist"

Atheism has it's self-serving elements too... the majority of beliefs do, not just those concerning religious faith.

[Melissa G]

Religion and Science do not not go hand in hand. All meaningful progress is the result of Science.

Are we saying that Atheism is fundementally nihilistic ? In effect, a non-belief is a belief.

~ M

[Escéptico]

Originally Posted by misanthropic_clown

Atheism has it's self-serving elements too... the majority of beliefs do, not just those concerning religious faith.

And where did I ever say religion was the ONLY belief system that exploited people's prejudices? Is tu quoque a valid objection to any point brought up in this debate nowadays?

But thanks for showing us once again how defensive religious people can be, and how reluctant to critically assess what religion means to society.