In the 21st Century, many people still feel the need to believe in a supernatural god or gods. We think no such entities exist and that there is a natural explanation why people believe. We also consider that religion can in fact cause harm.
Why we think there are no gods
There are three reasons why we think there are no gods:
- none of the traditional “proofs” for the existence of gods work;
- the texts religious people use to try and show the existence of gods are inconsistent and incorrect; and
- after thousands of years, there still isn’t a single piece of credible evidence beyond people’s own entirely subjective “faith”.
Religion is a natural phenomenon
So if religion isn't a supernatural phenomenon, then it must be a natural one. We consider religion to be a tool that our ancestors came up with to try and understand the world and how we should live in it. It purports to provide:
- an explanation of how everything, including us, came to be;
- a purpose to our lives;
- rules for living together;
- a way to express our sense of wonder and joy at being alive (some people call this their “spirituality”)
- a sense of community; and
- rituals for dealing with life’s major events.
These six things are important elements of any framework that a person may use to navigate the world and his or her relationships with the people within it. The religious version has lasted because it is simple, gives us comfort and, until recently, hasn’t faced a better alternative. Now, through the use of our reason and compassion, we do. We call it positive atheism.
The problems with religion
The problems with religion are that:
- the explanations it provides are wrong, lack evidence or have been superceded;
- faith can be used to justify any behaviour including hurting or restricting others (or yourself) — this is not okay;
- dogma is a poor tool for solving the problems we face together and can limit our creativity in responding to the wonder and joy of being alive.
There are many examples of these problems. In fact, they continue to occur almost daily. You can have a look at our news feed for such stories.
Its not just the more egregious examples of violence, bigotry and intolerance that we see overseas. You might say that Australia is a relatively secular society with a fair degree of religious tolerance. Yet there are a number of important ways in which religion continues to impinge on the rights and beliefs of others here. For example:
- children’s education — religious instruction is compulsory in most States and Territories in Australia but little equivalent is provided for atheist, humanist or secular students. The needs of such students for ethical guidance are largely simply abandoned. Further, the children of religious parents are not provided with the tools to make an informed choice about what their own views on such matters might be, whether religious or secular;
- equality of sex and sexuality — a number of religions continue to treat women as second class citizens. Further, homosexuality continues to be stigmatised and discriminated against and, as yet, gay and lesbian marriage remains unlawful;
- reproductive rights — despite it being the 21st Century, abortion remains a criminal offence in every State and Territory in Australia other than Victoria and the Victorian position only changed in late 2008;
- rights of the terminally ill — there is a lack of rational discussion about euthanasia in part due to religious institutions arguing that their belief in a god makes it somehow unconscionable for mentally competent adults to choose to terminate their own lives rather than continue to suffer pain. It also remains a crime simply to provide information about euthanasia over the internet;
- secular government — our Governments have the responsibility to represent all Australians. However, our constitutions contain references to gods and our Parliaments begin with a prayer.
It is true that there are many sources of wrong in the world. However, a good part of that wrong is justified in the name of religion. Or, at least, religion serves as a way to hide the underlying social, cultural or economic issues - the arguments become about "what God wants" rather than "what people need to live together peacefully".
It is also true that most people who are religious are good. But it would be wrong to say that they are good because they are religious. Rather, they are good because they recognise, consciously or not, the value of other living things and the importance of treating each other with love, respect, compassion and understanding. It is the dogmatism of religion, the reliance on faith alone, that causes harm. Perhaps the greatest concern is that to claim the right to believe in even a meek and mild god allows others who believe in a more repressive god the freedom to do what they will.
As atheists and atheist-friendly people, we don’t necessarily have one united view regarding these issues or how best to address them. What we do advocate is that evidence-based reasoning and compassion are the best way we have to solve problems when people have different opinions about things.
A few points about atheism
Finally, its important to note a few things:
- atheism isn’t a religion since we don’t believe in the supernatural;
- atheists aren’t dogmatic as we are always open to the evidence; and
- as regards atheists and agnosticism:
- those who believe in only one god (monotheists) are already atheists about all other gods — we just go one god further; and
- just because we can’t disprove that gods exist doesn’t make it probable that they do.
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