It always make me wonder when i hear an atheist call for total removal of religion in America as if there are no good side effects. Its not that i disagree with the former statement, i agree religion has lost its practical purpose in society (if it ever had one), irrational religious beliefs have formed intellectual barriers for thousands of years and all of science and humanity has to deal with it. Ultimately i feel that religion is not intellectually necessary any more, the mechanics of the world can be explained, morality can be defined without scripture.
So it is not that rally cry of fellow atheist that bothers me, it is simply the lack of a plan for phasing out religion. When i ask and atheist "well how do you propose we do that?" I usually get a reply that shows not much thought has been put into it.
The truth is atheist must organize and provide a substitute for religion on several different levels that aren't intellectual. Its not enough to just say "see i told you religious belief was irrational, here is the proof, now quit going to church".
It will not work that way. What we need to do is organize and help people to find a way to satisfy those human needs without religion. Let me offer an example and i bit of personal insight.
I was raised with a loose Christian background. I grew up, read a little bit and became Agnostic, read a bit more and.....drum roll please....now I'm an atheist. Despite the different opinions about religion that I've embraced in my life, one thing has remained the same: My respect for the overwhelming amount of public service that Christian charities and organizations do. Lets face it, Christians donate billions of dollars to charity each year, that money does a lot of good.
So in order to contribute to society i want to start an atheist charitable organization. The idea is new to me and to be honest I've still got a lot of research to do. The main reason for starting an atheist charity (other than obvious reasons) is to help combat the public view about atheists and to offer an alternative to religion for some of that human desire to contribute to society. If atheist are serious about helping the world ween itself off religion, we need to convince society that the world can continue in every aspect through non-religious avenues. Proving religious beliefs to be false and irrational isn't enough. Atheist must show the religious that they don't need to go to church to contribute to mankind or to feel good about themselves. With enough positive organizations and positive media attention, the general public could embrace atheism with i bit more confidence. I hope you see what I'm getting at here:
I imagine a world where people can boast about being part of an atheist organization with the same pride that church goers flaunt as a badge of morality.
I realize that every charity that is non-religious affiliated is essentially an "atheist" organization. That in itself is not good enough for the atheist movement. I really feel we (atheist) need to build organizations with the word atheist right in the title. Like i said, besides obvious reasons to start a charity, building atheist charities and public service organizations will have a strong psychological benefits toward athiests public image and public acceptance, while providing religious alternatives to feel good about oneself.
My initial thoughts, are to have the organization set up for the purpose of charity, helping underprivileged kids perhaps. Unlike the christian organizations, (here's your bible and here's your donated food) i don't wish to distribute atheist literature. (proofs of gods non-existence, etc..) I would strongly caution anyone who wishes to to start an atheist public service organization to use the same approach. I feel that would only cause objections and public opposition that would distract from the cause. Besides there are a ton of atheist websites, books, and just plain 'Ole science for that purpose. I just want to provide a feel-good public service, under the atheist banner.
I realize that every charity that is non-religious affiliated is essentially an "atheist" organization. That in itself is not good enough for the atheist movement. I really feel we (atheist) need to build organizations with the word atheist right in the title. Like i said, besides obvious reasons to start a charity, building atheist charities and public service organizations will have a strong psychological benefits toward athiests public image and public acceptance, while providing religious alternatives to feel good about oneself.
My initial thoughts, are to have the organization set up for the purpose of charity, helping underprivileged kids perhaps. Unlike the christian organizations, (here's your bible and here's your donated food) i don't wish to distribute atheist literature. (proofs of gods non-existence, etc..) I would strongly caution anyone who wishes to to start an atheist public service organization to use the same approach. I feel that would only cause objections and public opposition that would distract from the cause. Besides there are a ton of atheist websites, books, and just plain 'Ole science for that purpose. I just want to provide a feel-good public service, under the atheist banner.
If you have any suggestion for a specific cause, or name, please comment :)
