Posted on 10/03/2007 10:15:01 AM PDT by jacknhoo
Religion Must Be Destroyed, Atheist Alliance Declares By Matt Purple CNSNews.com Correspondent October 03, 2007
(CNSNews.com) - Science must ultimately destroy organized religion, according to some of the leading atheist writers and intellectuals who spoke at a recent atheist conference in Northern Virginia. God is a myth, and children must not be schooled in any faith, they said, at the "Crystal Clear Atheism" event, sponsored by the Atheist Alliance International.
Some of the luminaries who spoke at the conference, held at the Crown Royal Hotel in Crystal City, Va., over the weekend, included Oxford professor Richard Dawkins, author Sam Harris and journalist Christopher Hitchens. The Atheist Alliance International describes itself as "the only democratic national atheist organization in the United States."
While most attendees on Friday night were adamant that God was a myth, the convention, attended by hundreds of people, brought into focus a divide among atheists as to their identity as a movement and the nature of the enemy they faced.
In his speech, Dawkins portrayed a black-and-white intellectual battle between atheism and religion. He denounced the "preposterous nonsense of religious customs" and compared religion to racism. He also gave no quarter to moderate or liberal believers, asserting that "so-called moderate Christianity is simply an evasion."
"If you've been taught to believe it by moderates, what's to stop you from taking the next step and blowing yourself up?" he said.
By contrast, Harris's speech was a more tempered critique of the atheist movement itself. While Harris said he believed science must ultimately destroy religion, he also discussed spirituality and mysticism and called for a greater understanding of allegedly spiritual phenomena. He also cautioned the audience against lumping all religions together.
"The refrain that all religions have their extremists is bull-t," Harris said. "All religions do not have their extremists. Some religions have never had their extremists."
Specifically, he noted that radical Islam was far more threatening than any radical Christian sect, adding that Christians had a right to be outraged when the media treated the two religions similarly.
Harris also criticized movement atheism and questioned the use of the word "atheist."
"Atheism is not a philosophy, just as non-racism is not," he said. "It is not a worldview, though it is frequently portrayed as one.
"Rather than declare ourselves atheists, I think we should emphasize reason," Harris added.
While the audience gave Dawkins a standing ovation, Harris received only polite applause. One questioner later declared herself "very disappointed" in Harris's talk.
But whatever differences the speakers had with each other, they were united in their contempt for religion and their belief that religious faith had to be challenged and ridiculed by secularism and reason.
"Religion is not the root of all evil, but it gets in the way of [determining] how we got here and where we find ourselves," Dawkins said. "And that is an evil in itself."
Dawkins was particularly critical of parents who raise their children as a "Catholic child" or "Protestant child." Children must not be labeled as subscribing to a particular religion, he said, and should be allowed to examine the evidence and determine their beliefs for themselves.
"If I said that's a post-modernist child, for example, you'd think I was mad," he quipped.
Other speakers at the convention included philosopher Daniel Dennett, evolutionary scientist Eugenie Scott, and Charles Darwin's great-great-grandson Matthew Chapman. There was also a performance by atheist rapper Greydon Square, who wore a shirt that read "The Black Carl Sagan."
Many of the attendees seemed to have developed an aversion to religion from conservative, Protestant Christians. Several of the atheists Cybercast News Service spoke to complained of living under fundamentalist parents who frowned upon any questioning of the Bible or any activity condemned in Scripture.
"It wasn't easy [telling my parents I was an atheist]," one said. "I still haven't entirely told them. I just say I'm a humanist, which they don't seem to mind."
Further emphasizing the attendees' distaste for conservative religion was the convention gift shop which, in addition to atheist materials, sold politically liberal-themed bumper stickers and pins, including "Impeach Bush" and "Stewart/Colbert '08."
A common decoration at the convention was the red letter "A," which was emblazoned on t-shirts and pins worn by several of the attendees. The "A," an allusion to Hester Prynne's punishment in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, is a symbol of the Out Campaign, a movement started by Dawkins to encourage Americans to proudly display their atheism.
Although Crystal Clear Atheism was well-attended, it received little publicity and media attention. The convention also experienced frequent technical difficulties, particularly during Dawkins' Powerpoint slideshow.
Atheists are still a small minority in America. A Newsweek poll earlier this year found that 91 percent of Americans believe in God. A more recent Pew Research Center poll found that atheists were among the most distrusted people in the nation, with 53 percent of Americans holding an unfavorable opinion of them.
But they are a proudly elitist and self-certain minority. When asked what the main difference between believers and atheists was, Dawkins had a quick answer: "Well, we're bright."
Apparently you are “dumb” enough to be religious, in this case the religion of atheism.
If you were agnostic then you would not waste your time on this thread.
Your Locke_2007 name should be changed to Hypocrite_2007.
You know one thing I don’t get about the libertarians is how they say they are pro Second Amendment, want lower taxes and to stop illegal immigration, but they can’t see how their pro-death agenda is inconsistent with this.
How can someone claim the right to keep and bear arms for defense of themselves, their family and their country yet not be enraged by the fact that American abortuaries slaughter more than 3500 Americans EVERY DAY and that the culture of death is implementing laws that will kill these same self-proclaimed Second Amendment defenders when they become too infirmed to protect themselves? The Second Amendment isn’t worth a damn if someone also believes in the “right” to kill the innocent.
And what about taxes and illegal immigrants? Here’s a FACT that nobody in Washington wants to address: America has slaughtered 50 MILLION taxpayers and workers since January, 1973. When a society’s population growth is drastically changed (we essentially lost a generation, one-sixth of the population) in a short period, the entire economy is affected. Nobody will admit it, but we pay higher taxes because we have fewer taxpayers than we should and we need immigrants because we have fewer workers than we should (and we also need them to pay taxes, which is another unspoken reason behind amnesty).
But the good news is that most of the libertarians who stumble onto FR eventually realize (often involuntarily) that they fit in better with a non-conservative forum.
I’m NOT a libertarian! An easy disproof of whether LIbertarianism can work is the parking lot at any Mall as Chrismas time. Everybody fights to get a parking space, and little politeness is evident.
I don’t like abortion either. Did you read my previous posts? No? Go back and read them. Your knee-jerk buddies are labeling me as a libertarian because they think I am evil or something.
“Its already been proven that the more religious people are the more the IQ of that society rises”
Cite, please?
Sure, there are white supremacist groups who claim to be Christian, just like there are trolls on Free Republic who claim to be conservative. Both groups lie and Christians and conservatives see them for what they are.
However, in all the time I've been on Free Republic, I've NEVER seen ANYONE try to disparage Christianity by associating it with Hitler and Nazis.
“However, in all the time I’ve been on Free Republic, I’ve NEVER seen ANYONE try to disparage Christianity by associating it with Hitler and Nazis.”
On teh contrary, I think Hitler disparaged Christianity. He, and most of the Nazi leadership - considered themsleves to be Christian. Didn’t you read my post when I said they didn’t ACT like Christians? You guys are knee-jerk reactionaries.
I see, trying to get me banned, eh?
Thanks for the Christian good will. Hypocrite.
nazi christians?
Is that like under the category of dry water ? warm ice ?
So do plenty of liberals.
If your omnipotent, omniscient God had created a better world, we wouldn’t have to worry about such things, would we? I hate to tell you, but not all conservatives are “pro-life” as you call it. Or dumb enough to be religious.
Got it, you think conservatives are "dumb" and believe in "fairy tales" like the Bible.
Hey 8mm - ask nme any question you like about guns - I’ll bet I can answer in real time.
So can most terrorists.
Yep, the old "safe and legal and rare" approach. ALL liberals say that.
Here's a better way of saying it, "I haven't ever murdered a baby, but I think it's okay that 3500 a day get murdered."
Liberal trolls usually get themselves banned.
“So do plenty of liberals.”
WHAT!!??? WHO are these liberals???
“Got it, you think conservatives are “dumb” and believe in “fairy tales” like the Bible.”
NO! I think conservatives are SMART - orders of magnitude smarter than Democrats. I just don’t understand why they are so enamored of something that is obviously primitive superstition.
“So can most terrorists.”
No they can’t. Most terrorists are profoundly stupid. And I deeply resent the implication and the profound insult.
If you guys are Chrisitians, then I’d like to know when hate and intolerance became Christian virtues.
Previously you said that Hitler and the Nazis disparaged Christianity, now you call Christianity an " obviously primitive superstition." So, perhaps you (if you are as intelligent as you claim, though I have seen no more evidence of than than I have of your conservatism) can explain how a superstition is disparaged?
Fine on the gun stuff, I spent the weekend with NRA instructor friends practicing double taps.
My wife wants a Kimber Compact .45 now that she found it works wonders for her. The Colt defender looks the same but just doesn’t feel the same. Is there really a difference other than price?
That doesn’t change the topic, though. You should know, though, that if you shout you are super conservative and you are agaist conservative principles, you just aren’t a conservative. Pro-life and Faith are not just facets of conservatives but at the very core.
8mm
I don't hate you and I think I've been more than tolerant.
“I’ll give you all the rest, but Hitler was a Christian.”
post #113
Mosat of the Nazi High leadership, including Hitler, were Christians:
post #130
Uhhhh...fancy that!
Speaking of not reading...I specifically referenced the NEW Testament, you know that part of the Bible that specifically pertains to Jesus Christ?
evilbible.com...nazi-christians.com....and Christian-Hitler.com probaly aren’t exactly the best places for you to learn about Christianity!
Remember my comments earlier on projection. Haters call people they hate haters. Bigots call people they hate bigots.
And trolls on FR languish under the delusion that they are conservatives.
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