Agnostic Atheist has some questions for other atheists about their views on “fundamentalist” atheism. Go tell him what you think. You know you want to. Here are my responses to the questions (response #4).
1. Do you consider yourself an “atheist fundamentalist?”
Definitely not. The fact that I’m an atheist is probably the least interesting thing about me, it’s the ideas and the freedom that flow from that fact that make a difference in my life.
2. What is your view of religion?
I think religion is just an organized way of preserving beliefs and practices. There is nothing inherently wrong or dangerous about that, it depends on what kinds of beliefs and practices are being preserved. Many religions promote false or harmful beliefs, and useless or dangerous practices, and that’s what I’m against. I’m against those things whether they are enshrined in religion or not, and I have no problem with religions that teach positive values, and inspire people to do good things.
3. Do you believe that atheism and religion can co-exist or do you support the eradication of religious beliefs?
One of the first rules of being happy is getting comfortable with the fact that you cannot control what other people think. There will always be people believing in silly things, whether it be angels or aliens. I think the important thing is to fight against fear, intolerance, and hatred. Someone harboring those feelings can be dangerous no matter what they believe. To answer the question, religion might go away, but silly beliefs will always be with us, so we have to learn to coexist with them.
4. Atheists are a minority* and we would like our views to be respected. However, do you believe that we should reciprocate that respect to those who do not believe as we do?
I don’t think it would be fair to ask for respect without reciprocating. That said, I do think we need to speak out against beliefs that we feel are false, and/or harmful, whether it be hatred of gays, denigration of women, or anti-intellectualism. For me, generic God belief isn’t really an issue. If people want to believe in a benevolent creator, or 20 of them, that doesn’t affect me. It’s the ancient religious texts that justify corrosive attitudes, beliefs, and practices that are harmful to individuals and society. I think the biggest problem religion poses today is the idea that God wrote one of our books a long time ago, and we cannot question what it says.
Posted in atheism, naturalism
