So I been reading Sam Harris' Letters to a Christian Nation. Here is his definition of an atheist, and I think its amazing.
"The entirety of atheism is contained in this response. Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply an admission of the obvious. In fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist. No one ever needs to identify himself as a "non-astrologer" or a "non-alchemist." We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle.
Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs. An atheist is simply a person who believes that the 260 million Americans (87 percent of the population) claiming to "never doubt the existence of God" should be obliged to present evidence for his existence—and, indeed, for his benevolence, given the relentless destruction of innocent human beings we witness in the world each day. An atheist is a person who believes that the murder of a single little girl— even once in a million years—casts doubt upon the idea of a benevolent God."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Exactly! That's what I've been thinking all along. I long for the day where to be an "atheist" is as silly sounding as a non-Zeus-Worshipper. That'd be awesome.
But it seems like the like minded have banded together under the name Atheism. It's a nifty identity, but one that has unfortunately become tainted by the common people. As much as we wish to appeal to the sensible, the moderate and the rational- the majority of the religious believers (who aren't willing to fly planes into buildings), the term "atheist" has an immediate affliction of negativity, anti-moralist, and overall bad kind of person. Why is that? Stereotypes, of course.
So, do atheists push their label, their name or identity, and demand equal rights? Or do we appeal to their common grounds?
Did the black civil rights only propose that they want "black rights!" Or, did they appeal to a more universal philosophy? One of "human rights," equality, common sense and compassion. It seems they had the best of both attitudes.
So, I think as much as the label "atheism" is able to let us band together, so too should the concept of common sense, rationality, and civil liberties apply to us. We'd gain more ground if the term "atheist" wasn't our central problem and central defense. We all are, after all, only human.
Post a Comment