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eligion causes endless unnecessary suffering in the world. Just turn on the news to learn about another violent terrorist attack by fundamentalist Muslims. Maybe religion also provides (false) comfort. But, can this be balanced with the evil caused by it? If the police catch you while robbing a bank, can you justify your deed by saying: but I have been helping the poor all my life? It seems an evil (in the sense of unnecessarily harming others) cannot be compensated with (supposedly) doing good.
The Case for Missionary Atheism
There is no god. Let’s get over it. Grow up. And yes, it is impossible to proof that there is not ‘something somewhere’. However, the burden of proof is on the believers in supernatural fairy tales. And they have failed to provide even a shred of evidence that has stood the test of rational scrutiny for the existence of their imaginary friend/foe. But what is religion? Here are some reflections. Religion is the belief in the palpably untrue. Religion is believing despite the fact that there are no facts supporting that belief. Religion is institutionalized superstition. Religion is the manifestation of collective epistemological failure. Religion is a millstone to individual freedom. Religion is a lie that hampers individuals to develop their capabilities. Religion is existential illiteracy. If the core of philosophy is critical thinking, then philosophy leads to atheism. How is it possible that in the Age of Science, some three hundred years since the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment the majority of humans still live their lives based on a lie, even in modern secular technological societies?
It is time for missionary and militant atheism. Militant, not military, atheism should spread through peaceful dissemination of critical reasoning. Atheists should start to preach to the deluded and try to lead them to the light of reason. Not by force, not by indoctrination, but through education and debate. We must stop adhering to the idea that religion is in any way respectable. It is not. Religion should not be respected; it should be tolerated as long as no one is harmed by it. Religious believers should be helped to get over their mental handicap. It seems a moral obligation for those who can help, to help. Atheism should not only be a personal life stance, but more like Jehovah-witnesses: it needs to be spread for the benefit of the believers. Maybe not from door to door, but from Facebook page to Facebook page; from debate to debate; from book to book, from blog to blog. Ideas should always be critically contested and none of the religious truth claims can stand rational scrutiny. (If I am wrong, let me know and I will convert. Please check if the argument has not already been refuted.). Another point: If you make the definition of religion vague enough, like ‘religion is about love’, then even the most militant atheists will turn out to be believers. So: first ask believers what exactly they believe. engagée | 91
