Why Atheists Need a Voice
Sam Harris is right. There is a moral and intellectual emergency in this country. Because of our population's delusions, we are losing ground in education and science. Instead of learning, our children are being indoctrinated. Instead of being pioneers in medical research, we are losing our greatest scientists to the European Union, which backs funding for stem-cell research.
Alarmingly, our domestic and foreign policy decisions are being based not on logical reasoning, but on faith. George W. Bush has called the War on Terror a "Crusade," which has incited even more Muslims to become radical fundamentalists. And is it any surprise? After all, we elected a man who claims to speak to God himself to our nation's highest office. Twice.
Meanwhile, atheists and freethinkers are being discriminated against. We are the ones being called "un-American" when our country was founded strictly as a Secular nation. The Christian Right continues to call for Amendments to our Constitution to rid our country of whatever they consider threats to their so-called faith.
But most of all, we should fear the fact that nearly half of our nation is convinced that Jesus will return sometime in the next fifty years, after an Armageddon here on earth. And we should fear that they see this as a good thing. As Sam Harris writes, "It is, therefore, not an exaggeration to say that if the city of New York were suddenly replaced by a ball of fire, some significant percentage of the American population would see a silver lining in the subsequent mushroom cloud."
Civilization itself is in jeopardy thanks to ignorance and religion. And the threat does not necessarily stem from the religion the Bush Administration has effectively declared war on. Our greatest threat is an internal one. It stems from America's religion. From Christian fundamentalism.
Atheists need a voice - voices! - like no time ever before. We need to come out of our closets. We need to lose our "live and let live" attitudes, and promote freethinking, especially to our youth. We need to strive toward a completely Secular society. Toward a moral and intellectual nation. And we need to do so before it's too late.
Published by Jack Oceano
Jack Oceano is an attorney whose articles cover a broad range of topics, including politics, legal issues, travel and tourism, dining and nightlife, sports, books, movies, music, and writing. View profile
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84 Comments
Post a CommentJack, the whole Americans believing in Creationism just throws me for a loop. It's no wonder so much of Europe thinks the US is bass-akward when it comes to religion. Europe is becoming less religious as time goes on, while the US is becoming more so. Weird.
Why don't you give us some examples, Brett, of the absolutely absurd arguments you make. Show us which countries have descended into anarchy. Show us which atheistic nations have had crime rates rise dramatically. Do you really think that little of humanity? That human beings need to fear a supernatural being in order to act morally? Chimps, our ancestors, act morally without batshit beliefs.
Yeah, Brett? Norway, Finland, Australia are all countries that are fast doing away with religion. And they are some of the best places in the world to live. And we're all "grown up" now. It's time to do away with silly and preposterous superstitions. It's time people tossed out their ridiculous beliefs in the supernatural and embraced science and reason.
Yeah, Brett? Norway, Finland, Australia are all countries that are fast doing away with religion. And they are some of the best places in the world to live. And we're all "grown up" now. It's time to do away with silly and preposterous superstitions. It's time people tossed out their ridiculous beliefs in the supernatural and embraced science and religion.
Jeff, history has proven that nations that embrace atheism descend either into totalitarianism or anarchy(while no country has entered total anarchy crime has risen with atheism). The plain and simple truth is that when a generation grows up without any kind of belief in an absolute, moral authority (God), that generation cannot maintain a general belief in right and wrong.
I'll come out of the closet as long as there's someone to watch my back. Great article.
Jack-
I put this article as number one on my top ten ac articles of 2007. Check out the article at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/494391/best_of_2007_top_ten_ac_articles.html .
You know, I read this again, and now I am even more convinced at how incredible the article is. It mimics some of my deepest feelings on the nation and the world today. Thank you so much for writing it! Check out my atheism article at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/197958/an_atheist_in_the_closet.html .
I hope someday the atheists can bond together and help this belief system become more accepted in the general public. Why? Because you're right, we'll learn more about the truth of the world.
Once again, Jack, thank you for your awesome article!
Jack- Great work, great article! I love these ones that inspire such awesome debate.
Show me a world filled with Atheists and liberals and I'll wager it's a world with far less war, poverty, crime, etc...that world wouldn't need a Mother Teresa..