Frivology

My my, that Atheist bus campaign sure is stirring up quite a bit of conversation off in the land of the UK.  I only wish it was happening here, too.  Unfortunately, the former Archbishio of Canterbury has it somewhat wrong: 

“I have no doubt that one can trace a direct link from 9/11 to the aggressive and strident tones of such writers as Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and others. The result is a widening gap between religion and science; an unwillingness to engage, concluding in a dialogue of the deaf.”

via Former Archbishop of Canterbury says atheists use 9/11 as an excuse to attack all religions - Telegraph.

I’d say this statement is at least partially accurate.  At least for us in the US (where the attack actually happened), it was as it someone took a baseball bat to a hornet’s nest that had been slowly building for a few decades.  After 9/11, the fundamentalists couldn’t be shut up and any chance at us all living together and peacefully minding each other’s religions went out the window.

It’s not all bad news, though. The former Archbishop actually had a few very reasonable things to say about what he thinks of Darwin. 

Lord Carey said it was not true that Darwin’s theories about how life on earth evolved had created a permanent divide between science and religion.

“Many of us accept it, and speaking personally, I have always believed it as a well established explanation of the world we live in,” he said.

He concluded that the devout should engage in a more “positive, respectful and critical” way towards science, but also that atheists must concede that religion can benefit believers and society in general.

It’s a good try, really, but I think the Archbishop is trying, desparately, to close the lid on Pandora’s box.  What the likes of Dawkins, Hitchens and all of the above have done is to remind non-believers that we have voices, too.  While it’s a nice, cozy thought that we can all live in a Coke commercial and hug and love one another regardless of our differences, the reality is that religions aren’t made to be nice to those that don’t believe in them.  In short, enough of us are sick and tired of being told we deserve to go to a place where we’ll be tortured for all eternity because we don’t believe in the adult version of Santa Claus. 

Sorry, Archbishop, but coming to us after spending a good 2,000 years telling us that we’re the fucked up ones to apologize and say we should all be nice to each other doesn’t work.  9/11 didn’t open up Pandora’s box.  The way religions responded to 9/11 opened up Pandora’s box.  You’ll have no luck getting all of that chaos back inside. 

Also, don’t come at us carrying an olive branch in one hand and a switch in the other. 

Referring to the atheist bus campaign, Lord Carey said: “The inference is that all religions are bad for human flourishing; they are diseased and atrophied vestiges of human life.

“A reasonable and careful conversation is needed for us to overcome the infantile and trivial way matters of ethical behaviour are being discussed.”

All religions have had a very long time of fruitfulness and propserity during which they could have decided to treat those of other religions and non-believers in a mature, serious way.  Instead, they chose to kill each other over who’s god is better and treat us poorly.   For this, please turn to Galatians 6:7, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”

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