Positive Atheism

How in the world can the rejection of something that so many consider positive be itself positive?  Answer: If those people are wrong and the thing is in fact harmful or a hinderance to greater happiness.

Many citizens of North Korea believe that their Supreme Leader is supremely good.  Loyal North Koreans would not for a second consider the possibility that life would be better under another leader.  Yet these people live in abject poverty, are blocked off from the rest of the world, and risk life long prison sentences if they merely speak the wrong words.  North Koreans born and raised under the watchful eye of Kim Jong Il simply know nothing better.  The don't know that they're being oppressed. They have been convinced that they live in the greatest country ruled by the greatest leader-a leader so revered he is spoken of as a god.

And so we see one basic formula for the indefinite continuation of oppression:  Get the oppressed to believe they are actually blessed by convincing them that truth comes from one divine figure, and that that god or god-like figure alone cares about them (or cares about them more than anyone else could), and that he is the only thing standing between them and some great evil.  There can be many more factors thrown into the formula to make it more affective, but from this simple equation oppression finds free reign.

I know-this is dramatic language for someone trying to make a point about modern religion.  Churches today are not instruments of mass oppression (not anymore), certainly not in the way that Kin Jong-un's totalitarian state is.  No, the severity of modern religious oppression is several degrees less, but a milder form is nonetheless prevalent.  Its just that we can't detect it-we just don't know any better.  We've been convinced that life is best lived according to instructions from our religious leaders and doctrine.   We're told that these leaders care for us and that religious adherence will save us from some great evil.

The rejection of the belief in God and the abandonment of our religious affiliation is positive in the sense that our minds are freed from the chains of prudish censorship, truth bias, and in-group/out-group identification.  Freed from our religious programming, our minds are simultaneously opened to all information and closed to all but the most convincing truth claims.  We are humbled by what little we know, but emboldened to discover that which is knowable.

Anything that increases freedom to seek happiness in as many legal ways possible is a positive thing.  The denial of a God who sets arbitrary commandments and limitations on our actions allows us this freedom.  Without religion, a selfish, greedy individual will still find that social dynamics and the rule of law will impose controlling limits on his victimization of others.  But most people are not purely selfish and greedy-we don't find empathy hard to muster, nor good works difficult to accomplish.  Morality is ingrained in our DNA as well as our culture.  Harming others is rarely a choice the average person willingly makes.  My point is that there are natural and easy to abide by restrictions on our behavior, and that most of us will only find life more pleasurable and enriching when we abandon the artificially devised moralities of religion.  We will literally be freer to do and say more.

I could go on and on about the positive aspect of the logically negative assertion that God does not exist.  Perhaps I will in the next post.  Hopefully the reader will be able to see how my last post and this post are not completely contradictory.  Atheism can be the catalyst for tremendous positive change in the world, but it won't be if it doesn't rise to compete with religion on a higher level: a level that speaks directly to the human heart-the same level that religion has owned and operated on for thousands of years.

Impotent Atheism

How can a logically negative claim-that God does not exist-overcome the overwhelmingly positive assertion that God does exist?  What incentive exists for disbelieving anything that feels good to believe?

Fast forward a hundred years.   Belief in the supernatural still exists.  Fast forward a thousand years.  God is still alive and kicking in the minds of millions.  One billion years later, if our species hasn't yet destroyed itself, a large percentage will undoubtedly still be worshiping "the almighty".

Why?  Because, simply put, positivity survives while negativity does not.  Negative assertions are not attractive to the opposite sex.  They don't help us find partners in life.  Negativity doesn't attract friends either.  Raising the flags of disbelief and skepticism doesn't endear you to anyone but others who have done the same.  Embracing one's own atheism may provide the means of finding people who are also proud to call themselves atheists (because, in part, it pumps up their egos), but those who become friends will do so in spite of their disbelief, not because of it.  Or at least this is my assertion at the moment: that a negative claim-the denial of something-cannot provide the positivity needed for friends to bond, families to grow close, and society to prosper.

As a truth claim, the denial of the existence of God is a desert wasteland compared to the fertile garden made up of religions' myriad claims.  In the vast menu of ideas, atheism is a measly one-bite appetizer whereas religious claims are a satisfying full course meal.  And in the ongoing war over hearts and minds, religion is a superpower unleashing its military might on the impoverished third world country of disbelief.

As an idea, "God does not exist" just can't compete.  Throughout human history, atheism has failed miserably to win a foothold in human consciousness.  Atheism exists only as a parasite to religion.  Religions bleed divisiveness, extremism, abuses of power, fear, and hatred-all things inherently offensive to the common person.  Atheism gains much of its strength from these wounds.

The disbelief in God is presently finding some success thanks in part to religion's failings, as well as recent (the last 100 years or so) efforts to link atheism to scientific discovery and the morality of humanism.  Prominent intellectuals have worked hard to imbue atheism with nobility, respect, and morality.  They have painted belief in God and loyalty to religion as choices devoid of these positive attributes.

These tactics have worked to a degree, but unfortunately they do not have staying power.  Atheism remains impotent in the lives of real people.  The problem is, it is not a religion.  I use the word "religion" in this case to mean an organized collection of specific sayings and rituals that offer adherents purpose, joy, guidance, and peace throughout life's difficulties and in the face of their own mortality.  Modern religion is also the primary means of intimate, emotional expression of a tribe or nation.  Its positive social component is perhaps its most powerful tool.

Until atheists admit that their claim will continue to lose the war of ideas without some kind of "religion" to enshrine it in a positive light, supernatural belief will continue to hold the minds of future generations captive for millennia to come.