"Say nothing of my religion. It is known to my god and myself alone." - Thomas Jefferson
Atheists are rapidly growing in numbers, probably more so now than any previous time in history of the planet, and especially among the younger generations. The number of atheists aged 18-25 has nearly doubled in twenty years, and young people attend religious services less than adults by a wide margin. Most striking, only 4% of Generation Y claims to becoming more spiritual. The trend is clear: America is becoming more secular with each passing generation.
Atheists are usually very vocal about their favorite issue- taking God out of politics. But ultimately, the atheists' message isn't gaining traction because their disrespect of religion clashes with the political perspective of the majority. Atheists are dismissed before the debate even begins because they can't even agree in premise with the theists, who constitute an overwhelming majority of present-day politicians and voters.
According to a recent Gallup Poll, more Americans would vote for a homosexual president than for a atheist. Clearly, the atheists need to start making more friends if they want to achieve their desired ends.
The atheists' commitment to eradicating religion from law to preserve rights of free expression is an important contribution, and I commend them for their efforts in this arena. Atheists passionately fight for individual rights and embody the spirit of American freedom more than any other group, perhaps outside of libertarians.
What I think the atheists could improve on however, is their underlying message. It isn't religion that corrupts politics, as the atheists proclaim, but politics which corrupts religion. It seems that atheists have it half right.
Religion, in its most pure and fundamental form, is about helping a person harmonize with the world to realize its true nature. Every religion in the world would agree that in order to realize the universe's true nature you must heed divine lessons through performing selfless acts of generosity, compassion and love just as the divine did when forming the universe. Certainly, if every politician was truly spiritually enlightened, our society would know abundant success and peace.
But when religion evolves from a deeply personal and creative experience to an institutionalized system of government, it becomes corrupt. Because politics is fundamentally about egos vying for power in a meaningless game of King of the Hill, any divinity is lost and religion loses much of its meaning. When Catholicism was institutionalized for example (see Holy Roman Empire in your AP US History text book) it became a sad parody of itself.
The lesson to take from this division is that we should take religion out of government for religion's sake. Let's not desecrate religion by muddying it in the very human game of politics and power. Reaching the divine essence is still the noblest aim of mankind and should be treated with reverence, even if you personally think God is made up.
Atheists would be much more successful if they adopted a mindset that, rather than shunning religions, they accepted them and focused their energy on limiting government power instead. As the atheists would undoubtedly agree, warped and spiritually misguided politicians have assumed way too much power over the last several decades. By eliminating redundant, wasteful government agencies, cutting government spending, and lifting market restrictions, we drastically decrease the power of crackpot politicians. As we all should agree, the root of the problem is not religion, but in giving ethically insolvent politicians leverage over our lives.
"Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong." - Thomas Jefferson
The above work is the opinion of the author, and not necessarily that of the Prometheus Institute
Godless and proud, Mr. Richard Dawkins