Evolutionary Religion

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, in What is a Freethinker, provides their answer to the question “Is atheism/humanism a religion?”:

No. Atheism is not a belief. It is the “lack of belief” in god(s). Lack of faith requires no faith. Atheism is indeed based on a commitment to rationality, but that hardly qualifies it as a religion.

Freethinkers apply the term religion to belief systems which include a supernatural realm, deity, faith in “holy” writings and conformity to an absolute creed.

Secular humanism has no god, bible or savior. It is based on natural rational principles. It is flexible and relativistic–it is not a religion.

This very well may be true, today.  I could, and have, argued either position.  However, I think this question misses the bigger question which opens radically more interesting possibilities: “Should Atheism be a religion?”

Even with the massive preponderance of evidence on our side, Atheists still represent less than one-sixth of the global population.  In countries where religion has been persecuted and outlawed, people still retain their religious beliefs.  Clearly, the major religions of the world have at attraction for people which Atheism is just not matching.

So what do we do?  Do we simply write these people off?  Do we abandon them to their ignorance?  If nothing else, September 11 served to remind us of the folly of that line of reasoning.

We must find some way to make Atheism attractive to our fellow human beings.  I believe that borrowing some of the lessons learned by the worlds leading religions is the path to making that happen.  We must discover what benefits our brothers and sisters are finding in religion and find a way to offer them a better alternative.

The benefits of science are so well-accepted by society as a whole that they seem barely worth mentioning.

Nonetheless, the rules of symmetry demand at least pro-forma coverage of this topic.

• Science provides comfort to people by providing answers to life’s knowable questions.
• Science guides mankind in making rational objective decisions regarding societal structure.
• Sciences guides mankind in making rational objective decisions regarding civilized guidelines for proper behavior.
• Science improves mankind’s quality of life by enhancing mans ability to obtain desirable goods and experiences.

One weakness of science has been the hubris which it excites in normal men.  Science has solved so many problems that men have come to believe that they can competently use it to solve all problems.  Unfortunately, when put to the test, it turns out that we are not as good at applying the rules of science as we think we are.  Karl Marx used the tools of science to create an economic theory for the common good which resulted in creating poverty and death on a scale which the world had never before seen.  Clearly, this should be a reminder for caution when attempting to replace traditional beliefs with “scientific” theories.

Many Atheists angrily deny the benefits of religion and point incessantly to it’s well documented history of violence and repression.

These individuals, more often than not, are speaking out of anger.  A more objective evaluation of religion reveals both advantages and disadvantages — with the advantages far outweighing the disadvantages.

• Religion provides comfort to people by providing answers to life’s unknowable questions.
• Religion provides structure to society, which helps to reduce mankinds terrible sense of loneliness.
• Religion provides standardized guidance for proper behavior.

The deeper truth is that religion would exist even if it was proven to have no positive qualities at all.  Mankind creates religions.  Religion is part of who we are.  Every human society has created their own religions.  Religion is part of our evolutionary makeup.

The purpose of Evolutionary Religion is to merge the science of evolution with the humanity of religion, bringing mankind the benefits of religion with fewer of it’s historical drawbacks.

Every religion which mankind has created has been built upon faith in unproveable claims.

As citizens of the 21st century world, we demand more than that.

For thousands of years the forces of superstition have been slowly retreating before the power of science. Atheism has grown from being the solace of rational individuals into one of the major belief systems on the planet.

Mankind is now ready to take the next step, to fuse Atheism and religion.  We are now ready to merge theses and antihesis to create a new synthesis — a religion of science.