By CA - January 13, 2014
On January 11,
Salon.com published an article titled "15 ways atheists can stand up for
rationality." One cannot overemphasize the importance of standing up for good
values like rationality. The article encourages atheists to
speak up, to freely refuse being part of religious customs, and to have their answer
ready when conflicting religious people. Salon.com is an pro-atheist tabloid, focusing
on politics and entertainment. The article expresses an opinion that religion
corrupts societies, and that it should be exposed for what it is.
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The
article quotes 15 religious statements and gives advice on how atheists should
respond to them. The second statement is this: "Religion is a personal matter.
It’s not polite to bring it up." Jeffrey Taylor, an author of the article, says
that religion is fundamentally collective, continuing:
"Nonbelievers need to further advance the cause
of rationality by discussing it openly; doing so, as uncomfortable as it may be
at times, will help puncture the aura of sanctity surrounding faith and expose
it for what it is."
The
11th statement says: "You
have no right to criticize my religious beliefs." Underneath it, the author writes:
"Wrong. Such a declaration aims to
suppress free speech and dialogue about a matter influential in almost every
aspect of our societies. No one has a right to make unsubstantiated assertions,
or vouch for the truthfulness of unsubstantiated assertions on the basis of
“sacred” texts, without expecting objections from thinking folk."
There
is a problem with these principles. One of the greatest victories of atheism
and other present or past minorities was to shield their beliefs from people
who tried to enforce their convictions on them. When the western society
started treating people as individuals that have the freedom to believe what
they choose, our civilization made a step forward.
Of
course, when debating social issues, religion should be discussed, and
criticised if necessary, for the good of the public. The problem is starting a
confrontation with individuals, criticising their personal beliefs, and
believing to have the right to set them straight. If Salon.com intended to send a different message from what was explained in this text, they did a poor job not being clear. This offensive behavior is
something that would normally be advised at some of the most conservative churches.
These kind of advises show that atheism has an evangelical stream that
wants to enforce "rationality" upon others who think differently.
Rationality
is an important value, but it is not the only one. Respect and the right to
believe what you choose(being right or wrong) are equally important. In the most
destructive relationships, one person often takes the right to change the other,
stating that it is in her/his best interest – showing an extremely destructive
behaviour.
Looking
at other pro-atheist sites on the internet, one can see that the principles shown
in Jeffrey Taylor's article are not foreign to other atheists. Atheism claims
to have a superiorly better influence on society than religion. Atheists need to prove this in
their discussion, in their videos on youtube and posts on forums, in their
articles and news; they need to show class compared to their
opponents from religious circles. Present situation indicates that this is not the case.
