Is religion the cause of all the evil in the world?
Exam retrospective put on hold for something that has been with me today.
The lighthearted reply for me re: this question is generally 'well, if you count most of the stuff I have to read on my course as evil, YES.' The longer, proper answer is of course it's not. Christianity has a rich mythology that is woven into my society and hopefully as we get more multicultural other religions will seep into secular life as well. I don't mean the barmy aspects, but anthropologically they're fascinating.
However.
I've made friends with this girl who's quite a bit younger than me, a friendship based on a shared interest in a series of books. Let's call her L. L recently lost a friend--a 67-year-old friend of the family. This is, of course, very sad.
She put on her Facebook feed that she felt horrible because she and her mother had prayed for his salvation for seven years but despite their best efforts he had died 'without knowing the Lord.'
...
So, in essence, he didn't go with her beliefs and she thinks he's gone to Hell now.
...
In this case, religion is pretty fucking evil. Her mother apparently bans her from reading Harry Potter because it's Satanic, and has homeschooled her for more than half her life. And she has taught her daughter to not accept any else's beliefs--in fact, try and actively change them--and as a consequence her daughter is confused and thinks this person is in Hell because he dared not to be a Christian.
I've had Christians try and 'save' me before. I was once told 'Omigosh, I feel so sorry for you!' when I said I was an atheist. I don't want pity or sympathy. I want respect for my beliefs. I can't make myself believe God exists any more than I can accept vampires exist.
People like my friends Cat and Hannah, my Dad: they're Christian and they don't try and convert me. We can have a religious debate without them saying 'oh, but you're going to go to HELL!'. The closest we've ever gotten is when I initiated a discussion with my father and asked 'so, if you think me, Mum and Fiona are going to Hell and you'll be in Heaven, doesn't that kind of negate the 'eternal bliss' argument?' He shrugged and said 'I make friends easily.'
It was hard to know what to put on that Facebook post. Obviously, I'm sorry for her loss, but her 'main concern' was so horrifically offensive to me I wanted to let her know. But death isn't the best time to argue with someone--and her mother's beliefs make me want to shudder. I want to be there for her so if she ever decides she's not okay with the tenets of the specific brand of Christianity her mother has set down--and she's indicated as much--she has someone to talk to. But I won't look down on her for her faith.
As an atheist, some people expect you to take every chance to shit on the head of organised religion. That is not my style. I try and respect people for their religious beliefs, and yeah, it's a struggle sometimes.
In the end I just said 'I'm sorry for your loss.' Because saying just how offended I was would have helped absolutely nobody.
The lighthearted reply for me re: this question is generally 'well, if you count most of the stuff I have to read on my course as evil, YES.' The longer, proper answer is of course it's not. Christianity has a rich mythology that is woven into my society and hopefully as we get more multicultural other religions will seep into secular life as well. I don't mean the barmy aspects, but anthropologically they're fascinating.
However.
I've made friends with this girl who's quite a bit younger than me, a friendship based on a shared interest in a series of books. Let's call her L. L recently lost a friend--a 67-year-old friend of the family. This is, of course, very sad.
She put on her Facebook feed that she felt horrible because she and her mother had prayed for his salvation for seven years but despite their best efforts he had died 'without knowing the Lord.'
...
So, in essence, he didn't go with her beliefs and she thinks he's gone to Hell now.
...
In this case, religion is pretty fucking evil. Her mother apparently bans her from reading Harry Potter because it's Satanic, and has homeschooled her for more than half her life. And she has taught her daughter to not accept any else's beliefs--in fact, try and actively change them--and as a consequence her daughter is confused and thinks this person is in Hell because he dared not to be a Christian.
I've had Christians try and 'save' me before. I was once told 'Omigosh, I feel so sorry for you!' when I said I was an atheist. I don't want pity or sympathy. I want respect for my beliefs. I can't make myself believe God exists any more than I can accept vampires exist.
People like my friends Cat and Hannah, my Dad: they're Christian and they don't try and convert me. We can have a religious debate without them saying 'oh, but you're going to go to HELL!'. The closest we've ever gotten is when I initiated a discussion with my father and asked 'so, if you think me, Mum and Fiona are going to Hell and you'll be in Heaven, doesn't that kind of negate the 'eternal bliss' argument?' He shrugged and said 'I make friends easily.'
It was hard to know what to put on that Facebook post. Obviously, I'm sorry for her loss, but her 'main concern' was so horrifically offensive to me I wanted to let her know. But death isn't the best time to argue with someone--and her mother's beliefs make me want to shudder. I want to be there for her so if she ever decides she's not okay with the tenets of the specific brand of Christianity her mother has set down--and she's indicated as much--she has someone to talk to. But I won't look down on her for her faith.
As an atheist, some people expect you to take every chance to shit on the head of organised religion. That is not my style. I try and respect people for their religious beliefs, and yeah, it's a struggle sometimes.
In the end I just said 'I'm sorry for your loss.' Because saying just how offended I was would have helped absolutely nobody.