Richard Dawkins advocates for atheism and humanism, with the belief that better education, truth and widespread understanding of the scientific method will make for a better society. Socrates said that for a democracy is only as good as the education of the people. So Dawkins position seems to make sense : better education means a better democracy and religious morality can be replaced with humanist values, rooted in logic and scientific principles.
However, I feel pessimistic. I see so much stupidity and lazy thinking in the world and I see the strong rising to the top by bullying, aggression and by the sheer will to succeed. For people to be good, rationality and education might work in theory but there would be a huge effort involved in bringing knowledge and wisdom to generation after generation. Besides, people do not want this. In the dominant cultures of the anglophile world for example, the proletariat “choose” to sit in front of video games or inane television programs and eat junk food non-stop and consume drugs, legal or otherwise. In my opinion, the only realistic hope for a good society is religion, that invisible babysitter always keeping an eye on the children. It does not matter which religion it is, mostly they all preach the same thing : do not kill others without government permission, do not steal, do raise a family and so on.
Yes, sometimes religions are outdated and should be modernised, for example to promote more fairness for homosexuality or women but this is really just a detail. A modern religion could be designed for the good of society and watch over people to make sure they behave as well as giving hope and happiness to people in time of misfortune and need. Educated people, like Dawkins, can continue to be atheist if they wish but the weight of demographics is working against them. The world is becoming more religious, not less religious. In times of uncertainty even more so as people struggle to make sense of the world. Islam will soon be the world’s more common religion and we should be encouraging those clerics who are working on modernising Islam. Christianity will also continue to be influential even when it becomes the second most popular faith and so Christianity would benefit from modernisation. Other faiths too need to be modernised.
Maybe we need a new Ron Hubbard to create a new religion which suits the needs of the modern world, something which preaches being good to each other, helping each other, which preaches tolerance and mutual respect, which preaches respect for our natural world and which preaches moderation in reproduction. A benevolent and modern religion might be our best hope to make the world a better place.
Liam Mor's Blog