My English teacher is one of those people that falsely subscribe to the view that the increasing suffering of the world is because humanity is steering away from religion, or at the very least, faith in god. Now I get that some of the stories and poems we are covering do mention irrationalities along these lines, but one cannot help but notice she takes a very biased view, agreeing wholeheartedly with this fallacy.
Granted, this teacher is not the only one that’s theist, but she is the most vocal one – continuously proclaiming that godlessness and chaos go hand in hand, and filling ignorant minds with these infectious ideas that they will most definitely impart onto the next generation. Such people feel like they are one of the select few wise enough to recognize a pattern of atheism in correspondence to prevailing corruption in society, and seek to educate the masses on “what’s right,” without so much as having contemplated on atheist reasonings such as the Epicurean “Problem of Evil”.
Though I briefly identified as a Christian, I have retained my theism up until recently. You could say that I more or less currently identify as an agnostic, but I am definitely atheist with regard to the typical understanding of god. I not cower in fear of a malevolent old man in the sky in the guise of faith, all the while ignoring the innumerable atrocious acts that “god” committed in the Bible and the Qur’an, and delude myself into believing that this fear is actually love.
If people such as my English teacher would actually take time out of their day to read the Bible and the Qur’an, (every little bit, mind you, not just the rosy parts) they might see that there is absolutely no justification for the concept of an eternal Hell, the divine orders of rape and pillaging, the bashing of babies on rocks, the genocide of entire civilizations and so on. Oh, and I’m sure as a Hindu, she would not appreciate the Abrahamic god condemning her because she does not believe what he tells her, exactly as he tells her. In these texts, there are countless wars and murders with divine retribution as a feeble excuse. As such, we can safely dismiss the ignorant claims that religious people tend to be the most benevolent. In fact, reality holds the inverse to be true.
As long as there has been religion, there have been wars. If we were to take religious texts seriously, our 21st century actually pales in comparison to the shit that people have gone through. A global flood would almost certainly affect humanity more than a war in the Middle East for example.
I think humanity is waking up from the dream that is religion and is on a threshold where it either gives up outdated ideas or dies with them. There is an intellectual revolution more dire and pressing as a result. That is not to say all religion is bad, as I can sympathize with believers, but not everything that religion teaches is good. The time has come to substitute superstition with reason, fiction with fact, fear with hope. The sad fact of the reality however, is that there is no easy way to do this.
Granted, this teacher is not the only one that’s theist, but she is the most vocal one – continuously proclaiming that godlessness and chaos go hand in hand, and filling ignorant minds with these infectious ideas that they will most definitely impart onto the next generation. Such people feel like they are one of the select few wise enough to recognize a pattern of atheism in correspondence to prevailing corruption in society, and seek to educate the masses on “what’s right,” without so much as having contemplated on atheist reasonings such as the Epicurean “Problem of Evil”.
If people such as my English teacher would actually take time out of their day to read the Bible and the Qur’an, (every little bit, mind you, not just the rosy parts) they might see that there is absolutely no justification for the concept of an eternal Hell, the divine orders of rape and pillaging, the bashing of babies on rocks, the genocide of entire civilizations and so on. Oh, and I’m sure as a Hindu, she would not appreciate the Abrahamic god condemning her because she does not believe what he tells her, exactly as he tells her. In these texts, there are countless wars and murders with divine retribution as a feeble excuse. As such, we can safely dismiss the ignorant claims that religious people tend to be the most benevolent. In fact, reality holds the inverse to be true.
As long as there has been religion, there have been wars. If we were to take religious texts seriously, our 21st century actually pales in comparison to the shit that people have gone through. A global flood would almost certainly affect humanity more than a war in the Middle East for example.
I think humanity is waking up from the dream that is religion and is on a threshold where it either gives up outdated ideas or dies with them. There is an intellectual revolution more dire and pressing as a result. That is not to say all religion is bad, as I can sympathize with believers, but not everything that religion teaches is good. The time has come to substitute superstition with reason, fiction with fact, fear with hope. The sad fact of the reality however, is that there is no easy way to do this.
