@ratikala : I see there is a misunderstanding or two above.
Nor do I. I was listing competing causes, not implying that one was the root cause for all others.
That said, opposing any or all of them is just as legitimate as opposing any others.
Also, you seem to be misunderstanding the goals of anti-theism, if this is any indication:
Thanks for elaborating your worries so that this may be clarified.
First of all, anti-theism is not about
disallowing beliefs. It is about challenging and discouraging them.
Or, equivalently, about allowing and removing the stigma of disbelief, and helping believers as a group to be indeed believers as opposed to rote repeaters of traditions they do not truly understand and respect.
The sense of separation is indeed worth of attention and doing something about. But I fail to see how hiding our objections to theism would help there.
Quite on the contrary, far as I can see it is through open discourse, and perhaps by no other means, that either perspective can attain the respect and trust of the other.
That may well be.
However, it is still a painfully clear fact that belief in Jesus specifically or in God generally suits itself far too easily to self-justification of many harmful behaviors.
Far too many wars have, in fact, had both sides claim that God was on their side.
Slavers, oppressors, murderers... all of those groups have no shortage of people who somehow manage to convince themselves that their belief in God justifies or evidences the righteousness of their behavior.
Even worse is that not all abuse of theism is blatant and obvious. We should not simply attempt to ignore the fact that there are people who have convinced themselves that God wants them to lie to, mislead or abuse their own relatives or people who trust them, for instance.
Belief in God is a powerful motivator, and one that is often assumed or simply claimed to be inherently safe, when it is anything but. Surely that is reason enough to remind everyone openly and often of the dangers involved.
We are all people ensnared in the net of causes and consequences, and that means that we all do, in fact, hold a lot of responsibility over everyone else, albeit sometimes more directly than in other cases. That, I feel safe in saying, has as a consequences that all of us can and in fact must attempt to learn what is best for others.
You speak as if we needed some sort of special justification, and such is not the case. Other people's well-being is a basic interest of everyone.
Right you are. As it turns out, making religion work better seems to me to be a goal best pursued by reminding people to question theism, its validity and its emphasis. Perhaps at some point in history there will be better ways of attempting to make religion work better, but right now that is the one I see.
Do you think I oppose that?
Again, right you are. I am not advocating their removal.
Truth be told, I am not even troubled by my own experience with a faith school (I studied in one for a number of years).
One of the reasons why I have fond memories of that time is because that specific school was wise enough to focus on actual quality teaching and did not attempt to justify or excuse much by invoking God or the belief in God. I wish more schools emulated that example.
