godlessness != goodnessless

[low_delta]

Dear Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
On January 29th, you published an opinion column by Dale Reich, about the incongruity of the beliefs of the nonreligious. I believe Mr. Reich is misguided in his beliefs about the "non-believers."

He started out with a complaint that seems to me to be valid, that many people who ridicule him for his illogical beliefs have illogical beliefs of their own. The rest of his column, however, is based on the faulty logic that "In a non-believer's world, self is all that matters." There are many atheists who feel that treating each other with respect is necessary for an orderly and kind society. Or to put it differently, "ye reap what ye sow."

Which brings us to my next point. God is not the basis for good and evil. Christianity is only a framework for bringing the concept to the people. I believe that we should treat our fellow humans with respect and kindness. I don't do this because God ordered it, I don't do it because I'll suffer in an afterlife if I don't, I do it because I believe I deserve to be treated this way, and therefore everyone else does too.

I wish Mr. Reich would make a better effort to understand the beliefs of others. He might then be able to sleep with a greater peace of mind than he does now.

If you're going to be an atheist, at least get it right
By DALE REICH
Posted: Jan. 29, 2006

A few days ago, I took off my religious beliefs and locked them in a closet.

Then, in a further act of mental gymnastics, I put on the robes of disbelief. I wanted to see how I looked and felt without my lifelong commitment to Christianity. It was pretty chilling. I didn't like the emptiness, the disconnectedness, the lack of direction and the prospect of it all ending when I die. It wasn't long before I reached back in that closet. I had gotten religion, so to speak, and I was glad to be back under the umbrella of my faith.

I know lots of non-believers, and I like a lot of them. They're generally nice people. A few have made fun of me for my beliefs and even implied that I'm intellectually inferior for believing in things as seemingly irrational as God and creation. ("Dale, have you ever been inside a whale? Do you really believe someone could live in a whale for three days?") I haven't minded their challenges, but now, I have one for them. Friends, if you're going to be atheists, start thinking and acting like it. Get rid of your own irrational beliefs and embrace the world as you say it is: a purely physical and random place where goodness and evil don't really exist and where the rules set down by organized religion and thousands of years of human history are no more meaningful than two rocks colliding at the bottom of a mountain after an avalanche.

What I learned from my foray into disbelief was that most atheists have it all wrong. They've merely substituted their own irrational belief system for the one I was given from 2,000 years ago.

One of my friends told me the other night that he had stopped to help a stranded motorist.

"Why would you do that?" I asked.

"Because it was the right thing to do. She needed help."

"But," I protested, "that doesn't make any sense. You wasted your time and efforts on a complete stranger, and for what? You got nothing out of it. You should have kept right on driving."

He gave me a puzzled look.

What I meant to say is that God is the basis for good and evil, and once you reject him and his rules, you're left with nothing but self-serving and self-preservation. In short, you're left with being your own god.

It's funny. Calling my beliefs irrational hasn't kept virtually all of my non-believing friends from coming up with a set of beliefs on their own. They find them in tradition, in rational thought, in politics, in philosophy, in the moon and the stars, in Tarot cards and even in the cookies where they get their Chinese takeout. They seem to need something, even if they don't know what it is, to guide their lives.

It seems to me, as a rational man as well as a Christian, that those thoughts are irrational and should be discarded immediately by any right-thinking atheist. I'm puzzled why they cling to something so silly. For them, life should be merely an exercise in seeking personal pleasure, procreating and then dying.

When I talk to my students about right and wrong - obeying the laws, for a start - some of them will quickly say, "It's only wrong if you get caught."

That's right! In a non-believer's world, self is all that matters. Don't stop to help others. Don't give anything to charity. Don't let your conscience be your guide. If it feels good, do it, because it doesn't matter anyway. Nothing matters. To put ourselves above the animal kingdom without the existence and rules of a creator is just plain silly. Like dogs and cats and mosquitoes, atheists should embrace their freedom and act accordingly.

Some people already do that. We call them sociopaths, but maybe that's too harsh. Maybe they're not sick; they're just free to do as they please. I don't envy them, because freedom is a two-edged sword. It isn't easy following Christ, but I don't want to be my own god. The path I've chosen is often difficult, but it's also the source of my comfort and contentedness.

I wonder if my non-believing friends close their eyes at night with the same peace of mind that I enjoy.

I have a lot more to say about this guy's beliefs about "atheists", but I've got better things to do right now.

Comments

[i.livejournal.com]

is that your letter to him?

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

My letter to the newspaper. I haven't decided if I'm going to write him or not.

[i.livejournal.com]

just checking. i like it.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

woo-wooo! Very nicely written.

Wow. This guy's some fantasies about what it would be like to live in a world without his belief in God. "Yay! I can screw people over and cheat and lie and be unfaithful and I won't go to hell!!" Yes, I understand your friend gave you a "puzzled look," Dale. You want to be a sociopath. Apparently this belief in god is the only thing keeping you from lying and killing. Hey! Religion does do some good in the world!

[cynnerth.livejournal.com]

You have written an excellent letter.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I appreciate your opinion.

[roadskoller.livejournal.com]

Dale Reich is a non-thinker.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I would have to agree with you, there.

[specificocean.livejournal.com]

IMHO, the so-called golden rule is all anyone needs. Believer or non-believer...

[emschin.livejournal.com]

I read this last night but I didn't get around to reading that part of the Journal/Sentinel till this morning. I read the column with your letter in mind. You wrote well.

I'm always surprised how many Christian people think that "going to Heaven and avoiding Hell" is the only reason for doing the right thing. With that attitude they would assume that a non-believer would have no constraints on 'what is right'.

It's an interesting question to me. I do a number of things 'just because it's right'. But why is it right? I haven't explored that well enough.

[open-secret93.livejournal.com]

Wow, I'm really glad you wrote that letter. What's really scary is how some Christians seek to divide people and pit them against each other. It's pretty irresponsible of him to write such things in a publicly-available column.

"Freedom is a two-edged sword," indeed. The other edge of the sword is responsibility. Those who have strength of will and character take it themselves instead of relying on a much-mangled children's fable to do it for them.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[rdsc.livejournal.com]

Glad he thinks he's a rational man, cos I thought the last 2 paras were mildly deranged. He certainly seems to live in a polarised world, "non-believers" is a horrible phrase whoever uses it.