The Phoenix Network:
 
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
Big Fat Whale  |  Comic Strips  |  Failure  |  Hoopleville  |  Idiot Box  |  Lifestyle Features  |  Reality Check

Holy War!

By JAMES PARKER  |  June 6, 2007

Richard Dawkins can be especially smug. “It is, when you think about it, remarkable,” he muses, “that a religion should adopt an instrument of torture and execution as its sacred symbol, often worn around the neck.” In fact, it is precisely when you think about it — when you consider, that is, what the cross means to its followers — that the crucifix worn close to the heart makes all the sense in the world. Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harris also share a peculiar quality of being pissed at God: for professed disbelievers in a Supreme Being, their attacks on him are rather personal. Dawkins says He’s lazy. Hitchens compares Him to Kim Jong-Il. “Our own bodies,” writes Harris irritably, “testify to the whimsy and incompetence of the creator.”

But perhaps we should allow them their smirkings and sulks. They’re only human, after all, and Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harris are in the fight of their lives against rocks-in-the-head religious fundamentalism. The woolly middle ground of faith — embraced by the majority whose devotions are more dubious — they’re less bothered about. “I have little doubt,” writes Harris, “that liberals and moderates find the eerie certainties of the Christian right to be as troubling as I do.”

If you’re neither a rancidly closeted anti-gay preacher nor a television blowhard for Christ, if you’re not a child-molesting priest or a suicide bomber, but simply one of the modestly fallible millions who suspects that you might have some other-than-biological relation to the force that brought you into being, you may feel that the current atheist crusade is not about you. You’d be wrong. Put your faith against the whetstone, brother and sister: these books can be read with profit by any believer, from the most frigid Catholic to the wishy-washiest homemade transcendentalist. (A joke from Hitchens: what did the Buddhist say to the hot-dog vendor? “Make me one with everything.”)

There might be something unwholesome, even slightly insane, in their attempt to remove the category of the divine from human experience. But by storming into the catacombs of doctrinal absurdity, and into television studios where the air is so thick with sanctimony one is surprised that the camera lenses are not in need of a regular wiping-down, the atheists are doing us all a favor. They’re turning up the glare of reality. You’d better thank God for them.

< prev  1  |  2  |  3  | 
Related:
  • Backlash blues
    Will the Larry Craig scandal bolster anti-gay bias?
  • Feeding the rabid right
    If Mitt Romney can’t persuade conservatives that he’s one of them, his hopes are dead. But convincing them could be fatal too.
  • Springtime for Darwin
    The wars of evolution are louder than ever. What Ben Stein, Bad Religion, and a physics professor from Quincy can tell you about where you came from.
  • More more >
  Topics: Lifestyle Features , atheism , Mitt Romney , Richard Dawkins ,  More more >
  • Share:
  • RSS feed Rss
  • Email this article to a friend Email
  • Print this article Print
Comments
Holy War!
I have no problem with believers and their beliefs until they start trying to forcefeed me those beliefs. Then there's a major problem...with them and their beliefs. Keep your religion to yourself, folks!
By Terry C on 06/07/2007 at 7:19:02
Holy War!
"Secularism is not glorious: it’s a dude in Starbucks tweaking his Blackberry." Funny, to me Secularism the freedom for people of other faiths or none not to fear persecution by the authorities for their beliefs, for a trial based on law and evidence rather than seeing if the Devil makes the witch float, to decide matters of conscience based on rational discussion rather than the dictates of bronze age tribal leaders long gone to dust, to question long held beliefs with inpunity and accept or reject them based on the answers forthcoming rather than face arrest and even execution for apostacy and to question the majesty of the universe without having to fear the consequences should my observations not match religious dogma. That is Secularism and I think it IS glorious, it's opposite is not 'Faith', rather 'Theocracy' and it has been seen too many times where that leads. Atheism is not a necessary prerequisite to be a secularist.
By PJ on 06/07/2007 at 8:13:19
Holy War!
hooray for PJ! 'cosmic gallantry' indeed!
By rain king on 06/07/2007 at 8:09:13
Holy War!
I second that, though I'd have broken up that killer second sentence of PJ's into a couple pieces. But regardless your defense of secularism is, itself, glorious. PJ.
By Ron Huber on 06/09/2007 at 3:47:12
Holy War!
I agree about breaking up sentences. You may also want to acquaint yourself with "topic sentences." Why not run expressions like "mumbo-jumbo juggernaut" through a "statistically improbable phrase" checker? This may be an interesting article, but who knows? It's completely unreadable!
By zorg on 06/10/2007 at 9:20:00
Holy War!
Droll, these "anti-god" belivers, are worse than zealots. They think about god more than belivers albiet in a negative light and pursue their point of view until they are either smashed or the other person backs away usually to their harpy cries. They push their non belief the same way they acuse other of pushing their beliefs. Monsters most of them.
By jshm2 on 06/10/2007 at 9:23:12
Holy War!
As always, those who attack atheism do no speak to fact; they resort to insult and derision. The basics of religion are so flimsy and tenuous that no believer can argue them without coming to the conclusion that their beliefs are baseless and bizarre. Which is, of course, why religions prefer their adherents to just have faith and not question. Questions lead to answers and answers in this case lead to an undeniable conclusion: religion is false, dangerous and indeed poisons everything. WriterWriter www.stupid-files.blogspot.com
By writerwriter on 06/10/2007 at 10:04:45
Holy War!
Great article I would disagree that "[the atheists] attacks on him are rather personal." Bronze age tribesmen who wrote the Old Testament describes god as capricious, immature, and insecure. The reason for why the universe exists is described by religions as a man and with a human personality. For example, "god" plays a game of favorites with Cain and Abel (his grandkids), and he does this arbitrarily and the result if murder. God hardly hesitates at the idea of wiping out all of mankind in a flood because he decides he didn't make us well. Pointing out these details helps illustrate the lack of credibility that should be attributed to the writings of primitive writings who could only imagine the cause of the universe as a man
By bachdog on 06/10/2007 at 10:20:43
Holy War!
Terry C.: excellent comment. Well put and right on the mark.
By writerwriter on 06/10/2007 at 10:32:21
Holy War!
At the least, religions should not proselytize, but the fundamentalists do anyway as part of their doctrine. But the problem is not just about forcing personal beliefs on others and the public school system. The problem is that much of this country's policy comes from the opinions of church leaders. Ralph Reed? James Dobson? The US is unique in that we do not have a religious state, but we are getting closer to what could be called a synthesis of "theocracy" and "plutocracy" By the way, if god is all-powerful and all-knowing then why does he need the fundamentalist to go out and convert people? Why does he need missionaries at all?
By bachdog on 06/10/2007 at 11:28:43
Holy War!
When mixed with force or government religion moves from silly to dangerous. The "righteous" crusade in Iraq which has now killed, maimed and displaced millions and unleashed a religious-political civil war as well as America's endless consensual crime war which is responsible for needlessly imprisoning millions for sin are both tragic examples of the results. If only people could see through the fog that clouds their minds from early childhood. Believe what you want but make an attempt to refrain from enforcing your beliefs with a gun or threat of violence.
By hrothgar on 06/10/2007 at 1:16:28
Holy War!
I had to register just to point out that America is not at all unique for having a religious state. Most non-Americans recognise that America is extremely religious, with a very thin veneer of secularism. I can think of about fifty countries which are not religious states, and the US doesn't really rank highly in the list. Also I had to enter my zip code to register which is exceedingly stupid as i don't have one.
By phauna on 06/10/2007 at 7:52:13
Holy War!
I like how when you criticize Christianity or Islam, suddenly you are a big, bad, Atheist! What is the difference between the unverified claims of Zeus fathering Hercules, and that of this Jewish god named YHWH fathering Jesus? What about Osiris-Horus? Why don't you have faith in Ahura Mazda? You are blinded by your faith in a superstition originating in the Middle East. If you had been born in Iran, you would be a Muslim. If there is a god, it doesn't care if you believe in some Zombie Jew, or some Pedophile from Arabia. At least, any god worth worshipping wouldn't care about such trivial bullshit.
By zoot on 06/10/2007 at 9:06:36
Holy War!
"Secularism is not glorious: it’s a dude in Starbucks tweaking his Blackberry." Ah, such a subtle thing. An everyday scene, but the gadget and the internet which supports it would have been speculative fiction twenty years ago, the coffee (transported thousands of miles and still fresh), the cups (marvels of mass production), even the very fact that the economy supports such gratuitous indulgence - these are the products of scrupulous realism. The atheist with his Blackberry is in harmony with his surroundings. The religious man is an incongruity.
By Just a Guy on 06/11/2007 at 12:53:24
Holy War!
Picking the ancient scab of religion Christian right intelligent design of faith compliance. Scientific left Darwinian Theory on fact based science. Clergy quote Geneses stating Gods creation dominance. Atheist scientist map and quantify human experience. Tithing religionists wobble in slack jawed wonderment. Agnosticism is beginning to grow beyond confinement. Prayer is becoming stagnant as crime and war escalate. No divine intervention peace God visible to participate. Muslim terrorist bowing to Allah to justify human killing. Christian soldiers circle in prayer before combat go willing. Apologetics patch holes in the hypocritical gay church. God fearing news media keeps all the public in the lurch. Has the mortal brain fossilized into superstition and myth? Is humanity still operating with Pleistocene chromosomes? Technology did not alter fear thinking Stone Age brains. Psychobiocircuitry tells man to cover body when it rains. Some persons think smarter, electrochemically evolving. Their offspring acquire new DNA for brains requalifying. They become free thinkers for the betterment of mankind. Operating from fact based educated freewill choice mind. Self-governing self-sufficiency education need be learned. Land ratio population birth control must not be spurned. Mentality of commonsense must evolve to qualify reality. Ideals of truth, beauty, and goodness being the normality. Discarding daily apocalypse fear, myth and superstition. Will leave room for a healthy evolving loving disposition. Todays fear praying & worshiping religions are antiquated. Living goes at the speed of commonsense choices anticipated. ~~~Gasser~~~
By commonsensekid on 06/11/2007 at 3:13:06
Holy War!
Religion Reality Check Using commonsense reason to subjugate superstition. Will prove embarrassing to believe in God’s position. Thinking mans intelligence will check all illusions. Erasing fear, myth, and all apocalyptic conclusions. Real reality goes at the speed of educated fact choices. Not by ecclesiastical hypocritical authority voices. A morality gut feeling is the natural default setting. Trusting ethical intuition won’t leave you regretting. Belief, prayer, and faith lead to absolutisms incased in lies. Stabilizing and protecting fragile myths that fact denies. Most religionist are completely deranged by religious faith. Holy books are badly construed fables imbedded with wrath. Christian moderates are just as bad as jihad Muslim fanatics. Immunizing religion from rational discussion of its dramatics. The Bible story of Jesus is a phantasmagoric parable fairy tail. The Koran is a manifesto for religious death divisiveness on sale. ~~~Gasser~~~
By commonsensekid on 06/11/2007 at 3:17:38
Holy War!
Separation of Church and State is crucial in America, the only Western nation not officially secular. We've gone to the moon, we have enough nuclear weaponry to wipe out all life on the planet, and our President creates a National Day of Prayer, creates a Jesus Day in Texas, and has as his "favorite philosopher" for whose existence there is no shred of contemporary historical evidence. I have no quarrel with people practicing their belief in private and in designated places of worship - I support the tax exempt churches, I want them where I can see them! - but religion of any stripe should not be active in government, and certainly not in public schools.
By Rozmarija Grauds on 06/11/2007 at 11:43:46
Holy War!
All very impressive. Now the only question left is: How many divisions does Chris Hitchens have? I mean aside from the NATO forces in afghanistan and what's left of the "coalition of willing" in Iraq.
By Scalawag on 06/11/2007 at 3:10:51
Holy War!
The current atheist attacks on religion are, of course, only a conflict-du-jour. Without religion to fight about, we would find any number of other tribalistic reasons to have at each other -- nationalism, racism, competing claims on resources, whether your mother wears army boots, and so on. We live to be in conflict, and we'll find any reason to be so. Religion is particularly well suited, though, because it is both unprovable (and therefore unresolvable) and a matter of life and death to its adherents.
By KY Independent on 06/14/2007 at 2:33:45

Today's Event Picks
More Information

Doubt, doubt, let it all out
Five classics from the soon-to-be-established atheism section of your local bookstore:
1.Letters From The Earth: Uncensored Writings, by Mark Twain (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)
2.Why I Am Not a Christian, by Bertrand Russell (Routledge Classics)
3.Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, by Bart D. Ehrman (HarperSanFrancisco)
4.American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century, by Kevin Phillips (Penguin)
5. God, the Devil, and Darwin: A Critique of Intelligent Design Theory, by Niall Shanks (Oxford University Press, USA)

ARTICLES BY JAMES PARKER
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   DIRTY DEMOCRACY  |  December 17, 2008
    Sexual politics have never been more  — perhaps because there's so much sex in politics. A sexpert sorts us out.
  •   MEDICINE MEN  |  November 28, 2008
    Two Boston poets use their art for the good of the tribe
  •   A SMOKER’S TALE  |  November 26, 2008
    Will Self’s The Butt
  •   BABY FIGHTS THE BLUES  |  September 17, 2008
    Juliana Hatfield is still standing. How a hometown guitar hero dodged the bullet, and then wrote a book about it
  •   BLOOD SUCKS  |  September 02, 2008
    HBO does the ‘Southern Vampire’

 See all articles by: JAMES PARKER

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group