Atheist Meme of the Day: "Religion Is Comforting" Doesn't Mean It's Good or True

Today's Atheist Meme of the Day. Pass this on; or don't; or edit it as you see fit; or make up your own. Enjoy!

"Many people find religion comforting" is a terrible argument for religion. Many people are comforted by the idea that global warming isn't real, too. That doesn't make this opinion helpful -- for the people who think it, or for society. And it certainly doesn't make this opinion true. Pass it on: if we say it enough times to enough people, it may get across.

Comments

[Valhar2000]

Well, well, well: another statist regurgitating socialist dogma! I guess you commies just love having your property stolen from you, just as long as there is a history of tyrannical hegemony behind it! Why can't you liberals stop oppressing those who speak the truth about the global warming religion?

[stef]

Heh. Well the Global Warming analogy is sound and I don't mind it, despite being a skeptic myself.

But I'm often surprised at how religiously atheists defend the hypothesis that man-made CO2 is causing significant global warming. Do we have any evidence for that? Seriously, do we?
Greta?

[DSimon]

Stef, yup.

CO2 being emitted by humans is accumulating in the atmosphere:
http://www.skepticalscience.com/co2-levels-airborne-fraction-increasing.htm

Additional CO2 in the atmosphere causes significant climate change:
http://www.skepticalscience.com/empirical-evidence-for-global-warming.htm

[Doug From Dougland]

Stef,

This little chart may help you too. It's hardly comprehensive, but it boils it down like only the Information is Beautiful blog can.

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/climate-change-deniers-vs-the-consensus/

[Nigel]

Climate computer models, which are accurate throughout prehistoric times times, are unable to reproduce the recent rise in global temperature without adding anthropogenic forcing effects, including CO2 emissions.

Also, it makes little sense to produce a sweeping generalization atheists and climatology, as the two have nothing whatsoever to do with each other - unless someone is once again trying to make atheists look as dogmatic as theists through the use of cute phrases like 'religiously defend'.

[Ray]

If a religious faith is comforting or "just what [I] needed", that's useful ... to the degree that having the faith promotes one's values. (And there's _a_ rub. Folks don't know what to value.)

My value system is founded on the ultimate value of "the well-being of all sentience". It can be simply stated, but it's fairly complex in its implications.

The core teachings of some religions approach (in effect) an approximation of supporting my values. Thus, in those cases, whatever rationalizations or logical fallacies that lead persons to their faiths _is_ actually good. (To the degree that adherence to such faiths promotes my values.)

Sadly, most religious organizations seem to be at odds with their core teachings, so adopting the comforts of faith tends to be less of an ends-justifies-means sugary-spoonful-with-medicine situation and more of a drinking-a-sixpack-solves-my-problems situation.

I'm looking at you, hateful Christians. The teachings of Christ to be loving of _everyone_ are not easily followed or comforting to the likes of you. And I'm looking at all y'all, hateful whoevers.

[Eclectic]

PZ just made this point with some piquancy.

I have one simple question you can ask of any religion, whether it's animism or Catholicism, that will allow you to determine the Gnu Atheist position on it.

Is it true?

Asma's big mistake is assuming that our central question is, "Is it good for us?", which leads him into all these pointless anecdotes about how praying makes him feel better, and how animism helps impoverished people cope with their circumstances. I don't care if religion makes someone feel better. Stacking illusions over a grim reality does not turn it sweet. I have my anecdotes, too; I remember the tragedy of my little sister's death a few years ago, and how I sat through a funeral in which the preacher declared with absolute certainty that she was in heaven, and all I felt was anger. Lies do not make me feel better. There is no consolation in fantasy. You can sugar-coat the truth as much as you want, you can make up extravagant stories of my sister living in constant joy and rapture, frolicking with lambs and puppy dogs in fields of sweet clover while angels on gentle zephyrs sing to her, and it would not give me one instant of comfort. I do not lie to myself, and other people lying to me under the delusion that it will make me happier I find unconscionable.

Seriously, it's worse than that. I despise people who try to swaddle truth with lies in the name of consolation. It kills ambition, the striving to make the world better in the future, and it can allow evil to lurk unchecked. Those child-raping priests persisted because people lied to themselves, telling themselves that no man of god could do something so heinous…and even when finally exposed and removed, they continued to live in denial, reassuring each other that the institution that protected those vipers really was a force for good, overall.