Epicurus believed that if there were gods they took no interest in human beings, but caused only aggravation to one another up there on Mount Olympus. People had been killed for not being superstitious, so it was wise to allude to the gods existing, even if you knew it was a charade.
Personally, I think we should be tolerant and applaud those whose acceptance of organised religion gives them peace of mind, and teaches good moral behaviour. To each according to his need. It is when the preachers talk party politics, promise financial success on earth, advocate violence or assaults on human rights in the name of god, or who prey upon the insecurities of their flocks to profit financially, these people should be encouraged to get proper day jobs.
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First of all, freedom of religion is fundamental to any civilised society, I think we’re all agreed there.
But when some antitheists like myself argue against the alleged virtues of religion, we’re told we are intolerant. Nothing could be further from the truth. I respect your right to your religion, but you must also respect my right to critique it.
Having said that, I don’t believe all religions are equally harmful. Buddhism is a religion I would regard as one of the least harmful, apart from the use of it to wage war in Burma. It’s superstitious for sure, but most Buddhists (at least in the UK) seem to be very liberal people. They don’t try to convert others to their religion, nor exert an explicitly religious influence on politics. They also have the lowest birth rate of any major international religious group, which I regard as responsible.
Mainstream Anglicanism in the UK isn’t quite as good, because Anglicans try to maintain legal privileges in the House of Lords and Monarchy. There are also too many faith schools, which prioritise children of that religion (or middle class parents pushy enough to be religious just to get their child into a good school.) But overall, most British Anglicans are fairly liberal in their views, and they can play an important part in bringing the community together in some villages.
It’s the fundamentalist monotheisms that I’m most opposed to. The Russian Orthodox Church was used as an instrument of the Tsarist state to run an incredibly authoritarian society in which persecuted Jews and try to impose ‘Russification’ on other minorities. Today, it is still used by the Russian state as an instrument of control; priests would bless planes before they conducted bombing raids in Syria.
In the USA, Evangelical Christianity has been a malign influence on politics; from opposition to gay marriage, to support for near total abortion bans, to the belief that America is a Christian and not a secular nation. But despite their often ‘holier than thou’ attitude, they look set to vote for the least holy man ever to run for President: Donald Trump, a man who are filed for bankruptcy multiple times, marries his wives largely on the basis of looks, makes money from casinos and strip clubs, treats his enemies with total contempt, and to the best of my knowledge, has never actually forgiven anyone.
I haven’t mentioned the national security threat posed by Islamism (though even just apolitical Islam is highly unsavoury), nor the unsustainably large families and exclusion of women from the workforce of the Haredi Jews. I think I’ve made a good case as to why I regard fundamentalist religion with total disdain.
Excellent post! Right on, Owen.