DangerousTalkDangerous Talk

Why Fight It?

Posted on April 20th, 2011 by Staks

Currently 80% of America considers themselves to be Christian. Almost all the politicians are theists and religious believers hold a lot of influence in our society. Worldwide, religious belief is still very strong and the Pope still acts as king over a billion people. Life is short, so we really have to ask ourselves, why fight it?

Well, I can’t speak for every atheist, but for me I will continue to fight it and here is why. There is an old saying… I think it is Chinese, but I could be wrong, “May you live in interesting times.” Well, we make the times interesting and within the last decade or so, religious belief and religious influence has been decreasing… a lot.

In America, atheist groups are far more visible than they have ever been before and studies have shown that the more visible we are the more religious people accept us. Non-belief is up in every state in the nation and is continuing to rise. Churches are starting to close and mainstream religious believers are starting to polarize to either non-belief or fundamentalism.

Around the world, Scandinavian countries are almost entirely atheistic and England has now become a majority non-religious nation. Catholic priests have been sexually abusing children from decades and probably even centuries, but only recently has the public declared it a scandal. This is because the Vatican’s influence is waning and while they are still above the law, they no longer hold the sway over public opinion.

These are interesting times and we are making them interesting. We are quickly approaching the tipping point in which religious influence crumbles. The Information Age will soon be moving us into a new Age of Reason. It may not happen in my lifetime (although it may), but I am hopeful that it will happen in my children’s lifetime.

Part of the thing about not believing in an afterlife is that I get to enjoy this life. But part of that enjoyment is the responsibility to make this world a better place so that the next generation can enjoy this life more than I did. So I will continue to fight this fight and I hope you will join me.