Evangelical Atheism

[zombyshakespear]

As many of you know, I left Christianity in 2002/3 over a period of a few months. I went from born-again, die for Christ, Bible literally true style protestant to agnostic. After a few more months I gathered the courage to acknowledge that I was truly an atheist

Comments

[zombyshakespear]

People do cling to other things with fervor, but I think religion will always have the greatest hold on people. Even someone who firmly believes in capitalism with all their heart is unlikely to become a suicide bomber.

You are correct that wars are fought for many reasons. However, religious conflicts are the most ferocious, longest running, and hardest to solve. Racial and class conflicts allow for reparations and negotiations, but religious conflicts do not allow this. When I think about the worlds unsettled conflicts (Kashmir, Darfur, Sri Lanka's civil war, Iraq's civil war, Palestinians and Israelis, Chechnya's struggle with Russia) they are all religious. When people fight for other reasons e.g. capitalism vs. communism, the conflict can be solved and the people involved reconciled. This is rarely the case with religious wars.

I agree. I think we have religion written into our genes as a coping mechanism for a vast and unjust world we can't fully explain. I am in favor of preserving the knowledge of religion in the same way we preserve historical artifacts. I think that like the club and the spear, religion is no longer helpful in the world of today and it's time we retire it.