I read an article on Alter.Net a few weeks ago detailing a phenomenon I have not yet encountered. Apparently, religious people are now asking for some Atheist Seal of Approval for their beliefs:
"Typically, these believers acknowledge that many religions are profoundly troubling. They share atheists' revulsion against religious hatreds and sectarian wars. They share our repugnance with religious fraud, the charlatans who abuse people's trust to swindle them out of money and sex and more. They share our disgust with willful religious ignorance, the flat denials of overwhelming scientific evidence that contradicts people's beliefs. They can totally see why many atheists are so incredulous, even outraged, about the world of religion."1
But none of this gives any real justification for why you should need me to tell you whether your beliefs are good or bad, because it takes no special ability to judge for one's self the consequences of his or her beliefs. The consequences of a given belief are the best criteria upon which to pass judgment upon said belief--such as those of a religious nature--when it cannot be proven true or false.
We can easily see that that corporeal Jesus was far less judgmental and genocidal than the Jesus found in Revelation; we know that the literalist interpretation of the End Times could pave the way to global nuclear holocaust; and we know that to take the laws of ancient Israel literally and seek to apply them today would lead to widespread and wanton violence. It takes no special ability to consider what would happen if those beliefs were held by a majority of people. If in doubt, I would tell you to choose a utilitarian position: Believe that which would bring the greatest tangible aid to the greatest number of people without trying to change them.
Beyond that fact, I have absolutely no interest in telling you what to believe. I do enjoy arguing pro or contra, but beyond my abilities of persuasion, your beliefs are yours alone, and mine, mine alone.
As a secondary point, the American Atheists organization erected a billboard in New Jersey which displays a silhouette of the nativity scene with the caption: "You KNOW it's a myth... This season, celebrate REASON!"2
I actually don't care for this billboard. I don't think there is anything to gain by converting people to atheism. That should not be the goal. Being religious or not being religious is not so important for solving the world's problems as sharing the same values, even if we take different routes to justify them.
Far more important to ask for, and much more difficult to place on a billboard, is respect for science, education, democracy, and human life. The final item is practically a given, and through it, often the other three follow. It is extremely possible not only for the religious to support all four of these ideas (see Evolution Sunday), but also for atheists not to support them.
Beyond all of the implications for society and its future, there is something that's often missed when atheists decry religion. Do we not as well enjoy the fantastic? Sure, stories of burning bushes and global floods, of talking animals, and acts of supernatural heroism may not to us be factual, but are they not beautiful? Does the Lord of the Rings or Star Wars need to be factual in order for us to appreciate them? Sure there are times when we like to see a movie and say "That's totally fake. Look, you can see where they used CGI," but there are also times when we don't particularly care. Pan's Labyrinth is one of my favorite films, and even though I could not say that it is true, I still appreciate it.
But on the other hand, there lies a similar problem when one is preoccupied entirely with a holy text being literally true. This is a problem widespread among fundamentalists, where they are so preoccupied with whether or not the Creation story is literally true that they miss the beauty of it. Whether there really was a Sodom or a Gomorrah is far less important than why God wanted to destroy them--or more important still--that Abraham argued with God, pleading with him to not do it. The ability to even ask "What does The Bible/The Koran say about X?" is thus lost because as with any story, there are good and bad elements, and the goal is to discern which is which, an ability that, if one tries to say that all of it is literally true, is entirely lost.
It's funny. People like to say that atheists are as bad as fundamentalists, and here I've just demonstrated how true it often is. But not all of us, mind you.
1) http://www.alternet.org/story/148984/why_religious_believers_are_so_desperate_for_the_atheist_seal_of_approval/?page=1
2) http://www.examiner.com/essex-county-conservative-in-newark/american-atheists-billboard-provoking-hot-responses-nj-and-ny
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