Well it all started at a dinner I went to a few days ago...... “You're Hindu aren't you?” she says, “Well, tho I was raised a Hindu, I'm pretty much an atheist now.” went my reply, “Oh..... I see.” she says in a rather disappointed tone, slowly looking away towards the more interesting conversations going on at the table.
This isn't all that uncommon a reaction, I've found that regardless of how religious people are, a lot of them seem to equate being an atheist to being without morals or just plain lazy. People talk about taking a 'leap of faith', accepting that there isn't any evidence of a higher power but people will still take that 'leap of faith' and choose to believe. To they are being courageous, taking a risk as they are consciously choosing to believe and live their lives according to that choice.
I don't think it works that way, the vast majority of people I know were raised with religion in their daily lives, where the existence of God was never in question, religion (and the acts of religion, like praying) were never questioned, the only thing that was debated was how much they choose to follow it. At this point is it really a leap of faith they're taking? Does it take courage to do the same thing they've always done without question? Is it really a choice?
If you're one of the people raised that way then surely it would take a leap of faith to choose not to believe, to choose to go against the grain as it were. It's not out of shear laziness and it's not the 'easy way out'. It takes as much courage and effort to not believe as it would to believe.
It doesn't get any easier after that point either, I've often thought, it would be great to have the comfort of Heaven or the threat of Hell to give reason for the choices I make. To play devil's advocate, a deeply religious person chooses to be good so they can get into Heaven, not go to Hell or avoid the wrath of God. I, on the other hand, have no reason to choose to be good, surly I'm living a life without consequences and therefore I must be evil.
It surprises me that people I've known for years still equate no religion with no morals or ethics. To me that's as crazy as saying anyone that is religious is also ethical, which is just not true. I only have to point to any number of religious fundamentalists that are more then happy to kill or torture in the name of God.
In essence, I'm not a bad person, some people would even go as far as to say I'm a 'nice' person but as I try to tell them, this has nothing to do with my faith or lack thereof. Do try to bare in mind that a person can choose to be good without the threat of eternal damnation.
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4 comments:
Surprisingly enough, I'm completely with you here Josh! I've experienced exactly the same reaction from strangers. And blimey, there are loads of theological posts going on in the past week (all by atheists).
I strongly agree with your assertion that being an atheist isn't the easiest option - we have to face the widely-spread idea that we're going to hell (as you said, a place without flowers). But I truly believe that atheism is the only way to make sense of the world. It's rational and means that our ethics and morals are based on what we know to be right, rather than a fear of retribution. Surely that's the truest kind of morality?
I'm not sure I'd go as far as to call this a theological post, merely an opinion based on a reflection on a conversation I've had many, many, many times before.
Tho I missed both your and Hattie's post on religion, I'm thinking as it's been freezing cold this week, our minds are naturally drifting towards warmer climates? This is my stab at a theory to explain the sharp increase in religious posts by atheists.
I remember reading this article in the New York Times, about "sunday" schools for atheist children. In these schools instead of being taught religion, children are taught morality which normally gets taken care of under the Ten Commandments.
I thought the article highlighted this interesting dilemma, atheist parents face, of explaining certain moral issues, such as honesty, without having to drill the fear of God.
Zany, I believe that people don't need to have morality taught to them, a simple lead by example should be enough. The fear of God, though a useful tool, I don't think gives the right reenforcement. Be good because that's who you are not because you may go to hell if you don't.
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