I used not to think about religion at all, until its supporters started not only thinking about those who don’t share their bizarre views, but got together to act in ways that negatively affect everyone around them. Of course this has gone on through history, but I felt that we had somehow “grown-up” and were past holy wars, witch burning, brain washing and the denial of science. I was wrong, and religion is an even more potent and dangerous threat than it ever was. I will argue that it threatens the survival of humanity, along with most species more sophisticated than a cockroach.
I used to label myself as an Agnostic, or an possibly Atheist, depending on whether I remembered the distinction.
I guess I have become closer to an atheist. I not only have no need for supernatural explanations, I also think it is vanishingly unlikely that there is a God at all, just as I think that there is no flying spaghetti monster, no fairy godmothers, and no Father Christmas. How many adults will state that they are agnostic about Father Christmas?
How one can feel satisfied with “supernatural explanations” mystifies me. It is self contradictory, invoking the supernatural explains precisely nothing, instead it is merely a way of making ignorance sound like something positive.
Since my position is somewhat reactionary, it may be closer to the truth to describe myself as an anti-theist. This is unfortunate for those theists who keep themselves to themselves, but in the USA, and many other parts of the world, the quiet, caring, self absorbed theist seems to be in the minority.
June 27, 2008 at 8:09 am
You know Andy, you may be a few years younger than me, but your outlook on religion matches mine ‘exactly’ so I’m sure we would have been great pals if you lived nearby.