Not all Faiths are Created Equal

I'd like to say something that is really, really unpopular among atheists: sometimes faith and religion are helpful.

It is the intent of this blog to show, and it is my personal philosophy, that faith is dangerous and less useful than reason. This feeling is likely shared by most atheists reading this. There is a tendency, though, among the faithless to deride all faith equally -- to be so completely incapable of accepting others' faith that any potential benefit from it is ignored.

As an example, consider two faith-based organizations: The Salvation Army and the Church of Scientology. From an intellectual and philosophical perspective, I consider the underpinnings of both groups equally ridiculous. Xenu's DC-8's are about as likely as Christ's ascension. They are both groups of people operating under what I consider a delusion for a concerted goal.

This is where, unfortunately, a lot of atheists get tripped up. Atheism is a radical stance in this country, and generally those who identify themselves as atheists can (and do!) defend their position fiercely. As a result, anything belonging to the mystical, religious, or faith-based realm is often condemned out of hand -- the logical proposition is untenable, ergo the result is unsupported.

But is this wise? The Salvation Army does a lot of real, measurable good despite being one of the more hard-line charities around. Ought they be lumped together with more dangerous "faiths" like Scientology*? The common sense answer is of course not.

Again, I think we (I presume to speak for atheists here) ought to disagree with all faiths equally, but temper our responses in a pragmatic and reasonable way. For example, I support the Christian Children's Fund. I don't care for the fact that they attempt to convert the children they help in third-world countries, but I can't ignore the fact that they are the largest and most successful children's charity in the world. Were I interested in supporting critical reasoning outreach (and I am), I would support NASS or the JREF (and I do). When I want to help starving children, though, the CCF is the most reasonable choice.

That's all I'm advocating here. Use the same reason and logic that tells you that faith is a dangerous and misleading thing to figure out that sometimes it needs to be tolerated, sometimes debated, sometimes fought, and sometimes destroyed.

Much more importantly than which charities you choose to support is keeping this idea in mind when dealing with people of faith. As we've discussed before, it is nearly impossible to dissuade a person of faith via argument. Faith is a component of identity, and people do not change easily (if ever). Again, the temptation for the atheist is to write a believer off entirely. It is easy to look down your nose at someone with whom you so fundamentally disagree.

Just understand that for many religious people it is their beliefs that provide the framework for the person they wish to be. If a particular belief gives them their impetus to be good or kind, then there is at least something positive coming from it. You are much better served in these situations not by deriding them as stupid or ignorant, but with a tolerant, reasoned approach. Lead by example. Show that a kind, caring life is possible without faith. Talk to them about the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic morality (next week's post!).

But don't start banging on about the Crusades or the Inquisition. Biblical reductionism will start a fight. Highlighting the failures of Papal infallibility will not help your case.

Please, please try to keep clear the idea that this whole issue is more complicated than "faith = bad" and that being a good atheist and person means not missing the forest for the trees. If we're the reasonable ones, we should act like it; and rejecting anything religious outright is unreasonable.

Be well,
Chris.



* As an aside, it is currently very fashionable to hate Scientology. My point here relates only to the facts that CoS has done measurable harm -- intentionally brainwashing the defenseless, illegally detaining people, manipulating the tax code, etc. This is not an ideological position at all.