Thursday, February 5, 2015
This past Tuesday, when discussing religion, I felt that I did a poor job of expressing what I believe about Theists vs. Atheists. I assumed that most of the people in the class were Christian, and so I decided to play devil's advocate (no pun intended) and argue on the side of Atheism. In doing so, however, I fear that I came across as bitter towards Christianity, which is not the case. I have no contempt for any religion, or lack thereof. Now, in response to the original question, I would say that Theists have done both more good and bad than Atheists, due to the very nature of their organization. Religious organizations have been around for thousands of years, and since they are already organized, it is easier for them to plan both good and bad works. While it is true that extremist groups are not representative of the religion as a whole (which we discussed in class), it is undeniable that they are still, in fact, members of that religion. Bearing that in mind, religious organizations do tend to do much more good than bad. Atheists are similar, but on a smaller scale, I believe.
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This is similar to the war crimes question, Who is responsible, the commander or the soldier? In either case, through misinterpretation or too literal an interpretation, atrocities have been committed. While we are quick to dismiss religion on the grounds mentioned above, we do not usually spare the commander from justice. We choose to cite his orders form such injustices to fault instead of the soldier. Should it then be the same for religious organizations; who in many cases have had their crimes spelled out centuries in advance of the actual events in which their followers act in? Just thought it interesting how this is one of the few case where we do not seek out retribution from the whole and instead focus on the individual. Great point Austin.
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