Atheism in a Post-Religious World

Tremblay- Francois - Atheism in a Post-religious World - Suite101- 2004 "If a man would follow- today- the teachings of the Old Testament- he would be a criminal. If he would strictly follow th Contd...

Tremblay- Francois - Atheism in a Post-religious World - Suite101- 2004

"If a man would follow- today- the teachings of the Old Testament- he would be a criminal. If he would strictly follow the teachings of the New- he would be insane"

(Robert Ingersoll)

Is ours a post-religious world? Ask any born again Christian fundamentalist- militant Muslim- orthodox Jew- and nationalistic Hindu. Religion is on the rise- not on the wane. Eighteenth century enlightenment is besieged. As the author himself often admits- atheism- as a creed- is on the defensive.
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Atheism in a Post-Religious World
Atheism in a Post-Religious World
Tremblay- Francois - Atheism in a Post-religious World - Suite101- 2004 "If a man would follow- today- the teachings of the Old Testament- he would be a criminal. If he would strictly follow th...
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First- we should get our terminology clear. Atheism is not the same as agnosticism which is not the same as anti-theism.

Atheism is a religion- yet another faith. It is founded on the improvable and unfalsifiable belief (universal negative) that there is no God. Agnosticism is about keeping an open mind: God may or may not exist. There is no convincing case either way.

Anti-theism is militant anti-clericalism. Anti-theists (such as Tremblay and myself) regard religion as an unmitigated evil that must be eradicated to make for a better world. This treasure of a book - it is incredible how much the author squeezed into 50 pages! - is about anti-theism.

Tremblay labels religion a swindle and mental terrorism and explains- convincingly- why he chose these epithets. He demonstrates the inextricable link between the belief in the afterlife and immorality and castigates religion/' s intolerance coupled with its ever-shifting philosophical goalposts. Its dogmatism leads to a loss of experiential richness and to negative cognitive consequences to both the believer and his milieu.
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Religion- observes Tremblay with undisguised repulsion and bitterness- scams people with false promises of the hereafter- its texts are objectionable- it is unnatural- and it promotes falsities. In other words- it is a criminal enterprise.

In the chapters he dedicates to refuting the bogus arguments from design- he refers to the works of George Smith- Michael Martin- and Corey Washington. His own treatment of the issue is even more original and refreshing - complexity and order do not a design make- he shows.

The book is not without its flawed arguments - but these only add to the fun of mentally sparring with this thought-provoking author. For instance- he does not distinguish between established religions and cults or sects. Similarly he defines theocracy as the rule of religion (lexically correct) when- in the real world- it is the misuse and abuse of religion by rulers.
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I missed references to the plethora of relevant discoveries- theorems- hypotheses- and theories in the exact sciences and in formal logic. Consider this example: it can be proven that God cannot and does not exist ("strong atheism")- Tremblay argues- because having a God leads to either meaninglessness or to contradictions or to both. But this is precisely the Gödel theorem: formal logical systems can be either complete or consistent- but never both. It is a pity he neglects to mention it.

Finally- to my mind- Tremblay misses the big picture. As Freud correctly noted a century ago- religion is a mental pathology. You cannot rationally argue with people whose judgment and reason are suspended. Distinctions between personal and objective beliefs are lost on delusional fanatics.

Religious people have faith in a god because it fulfills basic and entrenched (and unhealthy) emotional needs - not because its existence can or has been proven. We all - even atheists - hold irrational beliefs to some extent. Religion just happens to be a particularly virulent and insidious strain of irrationality.

If you want to survey the emerging battle lines between the regrouping forces of reason and the resurging Dark Ages - read this book. It is a gem of a guide to the real Armageddon that is upon us.


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