I’ve never quite understood these so-called “new atheists,” folks like Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and the like. I mean, it’s one thing to say you don’t believe in God, or a god. I don’t agree with that point of view, naturally, but I can grasp how people get there.
But new atheists, or “angry atheists,” as they’re sometimes called, seem to not disbelieve as much as the hate the very concept. They consider faith not just a fallacy, but a dangerous delusion: It, not the love of money, such atheists argue, is the root of all evil. The title of Hitchens’ bestselling book denouncing religion says it all: “God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.”
But anyone who looks at history with just a smidgen of fairness can see that religion doesn’t poison everything: It flavors it. Even those who deny God as the source of all creation can’t, in good reason, deny that the belief in God has influenced and, arguably, improved, everything that it’s touched: Art, architecture, literature, law, music … we all owe a tremendous debt to people who celebrated their Creator through their own creativity.
And while some atheists shout their denial at such evidence, others seem willing to acknowledge their debt to faith.
“More than any other institution, religion deserves our appreciation and respect because it has persistently encouraged people to care deeply — for the self, for neighbors, for humanity, and for the natural world — and to strive for the highest ideals humans are able to envision,” writes Bruce Sheiman in his new book, “An Atheist Defends Religion: Why Humanity is Better Off With Religion than Without It.”
The Religion News Service (via USA Today) offered a fascinating take of a movement it calls “Atheism 3.0″ — a pretty sudden movement, considering Hitchens’ and Dawkins’ 2.0-version of atheism really just got off the ground less than a decade ago. These new, new atheists, as RNS author Daniel Burke calls them, want to make peace with their religious brethren, not war. They want to, if not embrace religion themselves, at least acknowledge that it holds a place in the public square and that it can be a catalyst for good behavior.
That’s great, of course, on a couple of different levels.
For one, it’s so much easier to talk with those who disagree with you when they’re not shouting all the time. And we’ve got a lot to talk about. As Greg Epstein, Harvard University’s humanist chaplain, tells the RNS, it really behooves believers and non-believers alike to not fight with each other, what with the world facing so many problems. “When our goal is erasing religion, rather than embracing human beings, we all lose,” Epstein says.
But that dialogue may open up new, more spiritual avenues, as well. Because when one looks at the benefits of faith rationally, one can’t help but wonder whether there’s something to it, after all — more than just a benign fairy tale. Statistically, people of faith live longer, happier lives than those without faith — and the more religious you are, generally the happier you think yourself. Religion has been a tremendous source of beauty, of justice, and societal advancement. It’s survived and thrived in times of war and peace, famine and plenty, superstition and skepticism. And, with science and nature so ruthlessly efficient, is there really a better explanation for the enduring power of faith other than … it reflects the truth?
” … you have to have a purpose in life bigger than yourself, and that not everything is all about you,” Epstein says. But that purpose, if atheists give the matter enough thought, almost assuredly points to the possibility of Divine purpose. It almost has to. Faith is, in many ways, both gloriously implausible and relentlessly logical. We must never forget that what we believe is not just beautiful — it is true. We can’t definitively prove it to be true, of course — I think God likes the mystery — but every indicator points us in the right direction, if we give it enough thought.
And I think it’s possible that, when folks are given a glimpse of that truth, it might lead them back home.
