Letting Go of God

Julia Sweeney describes the process almost perfectly. I am thrilled to see such lucid and accessible role models emerge, helping to make it safer for people of similar experience to open up about our own paths of discovery.

Inevitably, the intellectually authentic and spiritually curious human can only reach one rational conclusion. Admittedly, I am biased toward my own similar journey, and therefore hold a somewhat deeper respect for atheists who have walked one or more paths of faith along the way to the ultimate burden-lifting, liberating enlightenment. I simply believe this permutation of atheism is better informed by better data.

Atheists who arrogantly and ignorantly fling about mischaracterizations of religion as justification for their positions do atheism as much a disservice as zealots and fundamentalists of any stripe. An accurate understanding of religious doctrines is just as vital to an authentic foundation for our own position as is an accurate understanding of any other perspective that might differ from our own.

Rather than eschew exposure to religious doctrines, we should become better versed in them to the extent that we are interested in helping humans to get over Santa Claus and live happier, more fulfilling, more functional, and adaptable lives. Why would we care? Because it is the moral way to believe and behave; and rational humans don't need a taskmaster deity to compel them to moral behavior.

Scientists often differ over interpretations of the same data set; however, revealing ignorance of the data itself is generally grounds for dismissal from the debate. There are still too many under informed hyper intellectuals occupying the atheist spotlight. Many such voices are philosophically and dialectically unassailable, but from time to time I've noticed some glaring credibility gaps in the shape of doctrinal misunderstanding or misinterpretation. If we are to preserve the world from the ravages of religious strife -- from superstition's tribal rivalries -- we need more everyday people to share their experiences. Perhaps hearing from relatively more familiar and accessible actors and actresses can move us one step closer to that quotidian tipping point.

infective.invective