Alternative to Religion
Seeking to replace one’s religion with something else has been likened to being cured of one disease and seeking another to take its place. Nobody gets cured of cancer and decides that they should switch to herpes instead. However, in an excellent letter, Michael Shermer points out that a movement which is entirely negative, being against something rather than for something, is extremely unlikely to have much success.
I have to admit that I’ve spent most of my efforts trying to find just the right words to explain to theists that their religion is hurting the world and is without any basis in reality. Maybe what I should have been doing is explaining to them the way I see the world, and how beautiful it can be. Instead of trying to talk them out of one thing, I should have been trying to talk them into another.
But what, exactly, is the “alternative”? As I wrote recently, atheism is not a worldview, a political leaning, a religion, or anything else, really. What is it that atheists/freethinkers/Brights are onto? I can’t put it into words at the moment, but it is certainly something I’ll be thinking about.
If a theist can be likened to a child (and I think they most certainly can), it’s much easier to get them to take a new toy and have to drop the old one by default. Trying to take something away from such a child just causes them to scream “Mine!” and become determined never to let go.
Fortunately for humanity, I truly believe that the world seen without a veil of faith is much more precious and beautiful than the battlefield theists see. So we have a chance.
