Honorary Knight Major
"It would be difficult to imagine a more useless waste of time than that spent in the worship of an imaginary god or preparing for a non-existent everlasting life in some mythical supernatural
realm of eternal bliss.."
It is far better to aim for the happiness and well being of individuals and society than to try to compel people to accept a moral code into which they had no input, especially when that code is not based on fact or reason but on myth, superstition and primitive suppositions.
By accepting that life is only for a finite period, short or long, the atheist is confronted by the matter of how best to spend the available time and therefore, if suitably informed, will most likely spend the time worthy of a human person. It would be difficult to imagine a more useless waste of time than that spent in the worship of an imaginary god or preparing for a non-existent everlasting life in some mythical supernatural realm of eternal bliss.
No one with the task of moving a mountain will resort to prayer. Prayer is one of the most futile and time-wasting exercises in which humans indulge. It has absolutely no effect on the weather, it does not cure sickness or find lost children, it does not avert natural disasters and it does not improve the tone or outcome of either Council meetings or Parliament.
THE SUPERNATURAL vs REASON
The question is sometimes asked "If religion is removed what will replace it?" One could just as logically ask "If the splinter or the cancer is removed what will replace it?" The answer is simple "Nature will restore the body and reason will repair the mind."
Do some people require religion as a crutch to help them over a traumatic experience? The tooth-fairy may help some child when a tooth is lost but the aim is for children to grow into adults. A friend at your side is better than an imaginary god in the sky. Religion has been described as the opiate of the people. If drugs are needed they should be prescribed by the physician � not the priest.
However, belief in the existence of the supernatural will continue for a long time yet. Atheists extend the right of everyone to hold to their own opinions free from duress, but claim the right to challenge anything which we see as detrimental to human beings and therefore to society. We consider it far better to work for the welfare of humankind than to seek to curry favour with some imagined deity.
The history of belief in the supernatural is a record of disaster.
The record of reason is glorious.
ATHEISTS have no doubts about their choice and look forward to the time when human beings reach maturity.
Keith S. Cornish
Atheist Foundation of Australia
Further reading
