CREDIT: JIM ZUCKERMAN
The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo.

A number of philosophers, scientists and social critics have gone on record as dismissing all religions. A good portion of them are British. For example, during the past century, British academic Bertrand Russell became famous for saying, among other things, that "Science" presents to us the world as it truly is, and that this world is utterly void of meaning. "The whole temple of Man's achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins — all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul's habitation henceforth be safely built" ("A Free Man's Worship," 1929, available online).

Harrumph.

And in this way Russell tossed out the Christianity he grew up with. And for much of the 20th century, if not up to the present, "intellectual" young people in high school throughout the British Empire and its remnants were the ones who "realized" that Christianity was something their parents valued, but really...

Today the chorus generated by Russell and others has been taken up by the socalled New Atheists, among them Richard Dawkins, and the recently late Christopher Hitchens. They take the view that "religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises" (Wikipedia, "New Atheism"). They believe that we should revile religion as false and destructive for individual and political life. (I myself think that the word "religion" should be avoided and actual faiths named since they are very different from each other and non-reconcilable.)

Especially after 9/11, their views have grown in popularity. This is understandable. So much violence around the world today is perpetrated in the name of the god of Islam. Witness the recent shooting of a 14-year-old girl and the Taliban claiming responsibility. Not the best PR. And violence has been committed by Christians, although this is always done in direct violation of the words and actions of Jesus.

But countering and exposing can go both ways. Atheism too should be countered, criticized and exposed, etc. Its spell can be broken.

For example, atheists frequently say that if only we could get rid of religion, most of the world's violence would come to an end. Really? The French Revolution, which was barbaric, was perpetrated in the name of atheism — anti-Catholicism and anti-clericalism. The savage treatment of Russians by Stalin, arguably the most disturbed character to ever rule a country, entailed a literal war against the Russian churches. Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao-Tse-Tung, and others who competed in the 20th century for the Most Barbaric Ruler of the Century award never did so in the name of religion. In fact, they trumpeted the end of religion, especially of Christianity. Although, to look at them from a different angle, they made a religion of their political ideology, which helped justify their mass murdering.

This is not to say that none of the organized killing in the 20th century involved religion. The Japanese in their invasion of Manchuria and other areas of the South Pacific did so in the name of their emperor who they regarded as divine, according to a World War II documentary I just watched.

But if Christianity was never again promoted, would that affect you or me?

Christianity has a view of the human person that I think we should not live without — and which has no parallel in atheism certainly, but neither in Buddhism, Islam or any other core belief system.

The opening (two) chapters of the Christian Bible give us a hopeful foundation on which to build a life. In those chapters God is the Creator, but humans also emerge as Creators — by tilling the land. God gives order to our world, but so does the human being — by understanding and naming the animals. God celebrates, but so does the first human — when man and woman meet. Cocreator with God, co-orderer, co-celebrant.

Human beings are meant to be like God, not in dominating others by violence or religion, but by creating, ordering and celebrating. The story goes on from there, but it's not a bad starting point, would you think?
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