Comment: Atheism under attack
Thursday, 19, Feb 2009 10:10
By Ian Dunt
Atheists are having a tough time of it. So tough, in fact, that they've started banding together. Today, the not-so-snappily titled National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Students forms in central London, partly due to the hostility from campus faith groups that individual societies face when setting up. Why has it come to this?
About 200 years ago, most of the progressive men of Europe presumed religion would be dead by now. The enlightenment philosophers thought the triumph of science and reason would turn men away from God. Sometimes in Britain - arguably the least religious society in the west - it feels that way. But the reality is very different.
A few years ago, another educated man called Samuel P Huntington proposed an altogether different theory, neatly summarised as the 'clash of civilisations'. He posited that the main source of conflict would centre around a handful of distinct cultures, with the primary fault line being Islam and the west.
It was hopelessly reductionist, but it had the enviable quality of chiming perfectly with its time. Shortly afterwards, planes were flying into the Twin Towers in New York and the rest is history. Right now, religion is one of the most - if not the most - important issue in world politics.
In a global political system defined by the clash, atheists have discovered something curious. Religious people hate them very much, and they have organised against them with alarming speed and efficiency. Perhaps it gives Muslims and Christians living in western societies something to unite around. Regardless; the political momentum is on their side.
Recently, the UN's rapporteur on human rights, who is tasked with protecting freedom of speech, had his job description altered. The council agreed to a Pakistani request for the rapporteur to also tackle "abuses of free expression", including, rather shockingly, "defamation" of religions and prophets.
In the UK, religious protections have grown in a subtler manner. Tony Blair consistently rejected calls to discuss his deeply-held faith, but this was not evident in his policy making. Faith schools were not just tolerated, but encouraged. An attempt was made to outlaw 'religious hatred', including abuse or insult, although the Lords managed to water it down after an eye-catching rearguard defence by a motley collection of secularists, comedians, and free-thinkers.
Across the western world, religion has been elevated to a unique and entirely unhelpful position - a position which ringfences it against criticism or questioning. The only other qualities in this category are things like race, sexuality and gender. But these are qualitatively different. They cannot be changed. A black man does not choose to be so, nor does a homosexual. Religion is about conviction and belief. Its advocates call it faith and that is indeed a decent description of belief that does not follow from reason or evidence. But it does not somehow entitle it to preferential treatment.
The thought process that drove us to this undesirable state of affairs hinges on the word 'freedom', which is itself massively unhelpful.
Freedom in and of itself does not mean anything. Its only meaning derives from the words that follow it. Freedom to worship? Quite right. Freedom to hurt people in the street? Absolutely not. But many religious groups have framed the freedom to not have faith challenged as part of the freedom of worship. They have argued that criticism is an infringement of their right to be believers. It is not. It is merely the price one pays to live in a free country.
It is unacceptable for atheist groups to be prevented from forming in universities because faith groups deride them as negative. It is unacceptable that atheist posters and banners are defaced when we would react with outrage if Christian or Muslim posters were treated in such a way. These are real world examples given to me by atheist activists. They have every right to pursue their agenda as they see fit. Prejudice against atheists is as bad as prejudice against anyone else.