Atheism Arguments
December 23, 2007
The bad
Not all atheists are hostile to religion, but many do think that religion is bad. Here are some of their reasons:
- Religion gets people to believe something untrue.
- Religion makes people base the way they run their lives on a falsehood.
- Religion stops people thinking in a rational and objective way.
- Religion forces people to rely on outside authority, rather than becoming self-reliant.
- Religion imposes irrational rules of good and bad behaviour.
- Religion divides people, and is a cause of conflict and war.
- The hierarchical structure of most religions is anti-democratic, and thus offends basic human rights.
- Religion doesn’t give equal treatment to women and gay people, and thus offends basic human rights.
- Religion obstructs scientific research.
- Religion wastes time and money.
The good
Most atheists willingly concede there are some good things about religion, such as:
- Religious art and music.
- Religious charities and good works.
- Much religious wisdom and scripture.
- Human fellowship and togetherness.
Atheists must objectively rely on their ability to reason.
TruthHugger 
dmb677, Religion is philosophy but philosophy is not religion. There are great attributes inside every religion, if they are taken as a whole. When a segment of a religion is focused on, without the balancing of the remainder of points, it is no longer religion, but a cult. Radical Christianity, radical Islam and radical Judaism are spin off cults that do not represent the whole philosophy or set of laws.
Disservice is done in the name of religion. Religions have thus become suspect, because characters with personal power agendas have found it too easy to appeal to the most gullible of souls.
okay I agree, I don’t know why you are directing that comment at me?
I was just prefacing my response that I DO agree with you, religions do have good qualities. Still, those qualities sometimes get lost in the noisy rhetoric from today’s extremists.
Good clear points, I am glad that you pointed that sometimes religion has some good attributes as well
Thanks for your visit Siddharth Singh, if you browse some of my editorials, you may find my own OpEds about the roles of religion and atheism. I do make a point of linking to my sources in every post.
I find more abuse in society stems from religion and not atheism. The world is not black and white as too many believe.
Oh wait,you got ot from a BBC website! Thanks anyways!
Do drop in on my blog sometime…
Hi. I loved the brief arguments you laid out.
Can I have permission to use this on my blog? I’ll credit it to you and leave a link to your site too!
Cheers.
http://bigotblog.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/the-mother-of-all-questions-comic/