Why I consider religion

9 July 2007

I saw a comment by someone calling themselves Shinade on one of Atheist’s Perspective’s posts, where she had this to say:

For a true Athiest would not spend so much of his time in discussions about something that he did not believe in.

It’s a good question, and it deserves a good answer, and Michael ably provides. But I would also like the opportunity to attempt to do so, and with some comparisons in the form of a severely impoverished poem:

For the reason that a priest considers sin,
for the reason that a police officer considers crime,
for the reason that a doctor considers disease;
I consider religion.

Not to cherish or esteem or glorify,
but to understand, to assuage and to remedy. â€” nullifidian

I am an atheist activist, not because religion is true, but because the faithful act as if it’s true.

Edit: note to people who quote this, the author is me (nullifidian) not Michael. I’m not precious about it, but if it’s to be attributed to anyone, I’d appreciate it if it was at least accurate.

No other posts are likely to be like this.

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3246 ResponsesWhy+I+consider+religion2007-07-09+02%3A15%3A00nullifidian to “Why I consider religion”

AV on July 9th, 2007 4:57 pm

Shinade’s comment is so inane that I hardly know where to begin.

If one ought to remain silent on the things one does not believe exists, then that pretty much rules out most discussion of fiction. No Shakespeare, no Lord of the Rings, no Harry Potter–we mustn’t discuss these things unless we actually believe that a Scottish king named Macbeth met three witches who foretold his future, that there was a land on Earth called Mordor, and that somewhere near the UK there is a training academy for wizards.

Furthermore, we live in a world suffused with religion and magical thinking. Many countries in the world are either theocracies or have no separation of church and state, and in those countries where such a wall exists, religious forces are constantly looking for ways to argue it out of existence. As people who have an intellectual disagreement with the vast majority of the human race, to say the least, and as people who have the most to lose should the theocrats ever hold sway in those secular liberal democracies where atheists currently don’t have to fear imprisonment or worse for not worshipping a sky-daddy, it’s far from surprising that religion would be a topic of discussion for atheists.

Also . . . what you said.
TW on July 9th, 2007 5:19 pm

Null – I agree wholeheartedly and would have pretty much said exactly what AV said.

Except I was beaten to it.
Vijkis on October 23rd, 2007 6:00 am

This reminds me of my sister who notes that me being an atheist tend to think more about god than a normal theist would do because i spend more time blogging around in atheist websites.
Thorn on January 30th, 2009 4:26 pm

That's a fine poem null.
Erra on February 16th, 2009 8:29 am

I wouldn't think or argue about religion, if the religious didn't try to force their views on me through legislation, advertising, evangelising, preaching, etc. Keep religion in the churches, and in your private home, and most atheists will probrably stop caring. It's when you teach lies in schools, deny proper education, retard science and medicine, preach hate and intolerance, deny people the right to love and marry who they choose, and otherwise inflict your deluded beliefs on the rest of us, that athiests, agnostics, and all rational human beings, need to protest religion.
nullifidian on February 16th, 2009 7:58 pm

Why thank you! :-)