The God Delusion (Part 3)
Why should we not ignore religion? We have witnessed an extreme of religious fundamentalism in the September 11 attacks. Why regard the extreme? How about the moderate ones? RD argues that the majority of people who directly influence social policies and political procedures can be regarded as religious moderates who promote religion as a way of life and when this 'way-of-life' contradicts with another, we see incursion or at least unrest. Religion without resilient obstructions thrives and develops into fundamentalism, where humans sacrifice themselves for martyrdom.
Martyrdom is mainly made possible by turning impressionable young minds against other religions/beliefs and the most alarming issue raised by RD is the indoctrination of children. One of the traits of human evolution is the children look up to the adults to fashion their lives which becomes dangerous when parents (try to) force their religious ideals onto their children (see Exhibit B: Jesus Camp). RD argues that inculcating children with religious ideas of hellfire and damnation is not unlike child abuse. The disheartening tale of Edgardo Mortara, a Jewish boy, abducted by the police squad by orders of the Papal States to be raised as a Roman Catholic, further provides an example of the religious extremism in the 19th century Italy. Years earlier, a domestic servant had given Edgardo emergency baptism in fear of his death as an infant. Edgardo survived and when the authorities heard of this baptism, Edgardo was forcefully removed from his Jewish parents and sent to a monastery where Jews were converted into Catholics. RD argues labels like "Christian child" or "Muslim child" are cringe-worthy, as opposed to the more accurate "child of Christian parents", and instead of teaching religious dogma we should strive to educate children about respect for diversity and the ability to work out the pros and cons of any ideology or theory.
If people wish to believe that God plays an important part in their lives, who are we to disagree? All the rationalists want is for the people to make an informed decision and not some age-old doctrine. You should not believe in God just because you were told to do so. We should not view the world from the narrow slit of a burka; instead we should use science to drop the claustrophobic vision thus "exposing our senses to airy and exhilarating freedom". The God Delusion is not just a great read; it is life changing.
I end with a quote by Richard Dawkins:
"Being an atheist is nothing to be apologetic about. On the contrary, it is something to be proud of, standing tall to face the far horizon, for atheism nearly always indicates a healthy independence of mind and, indeed a healthy mind."
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