Atheist faith?

The Pope has come to America and with him thousands of hours of media coverage talking about faith in America. But in the constant discussions of faith in America, whether in the political sphere or in the media, we rarely ever hear from people of no faith, which is a huge shame. \nThe cultural discussion of religion has been heating up recently mostly because of books and articles written by well-known atheists such as Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. The books have brought great praise from unbelievers but also strong complaints from the faithful. \nThe most common complaint I hear – one echoed by Christopher Hedges, the author of the new book “I Don’t Believe in Atheists” – is that the certainty with which “new atheists” argue is just as bad as any religion. Hedges writes: “(The atheists) propose a route to collective salvation and the moral advancement of the human species through science and reason. The utopian dream of a perfect society and a perfect human being, the idea that we are moving towards collective salvation, is one of the most dangerous legacies of the Christian faith ...”\nI am not sure what Hedges has read, but that is precisely not what atheists have been saying all this time, especially today’s prominent atheists. Atheists do not say that if we all stop believing in God, the world will be perfect. Far from it! Christopher Hitchens, one of the most read “new atheists” has said time and time again that atheism is not a “sufficient” condition for being moral. He goes on to say that atheists can be nihilists, fascists, etc. What is said by the atheist authors is that we would all be better off without religion in the world, that it would be a good step toward global peace and prosperity. Atheists, thank goodness, are not like religious believers, who do argue that accepting their belief system will make you a moral and righteous person. \nHedges goes on to defend his view on the new atheists by saying: “Religion, real religion, was about fighting for justice, standing up for the voiceless and the weak, reaching out in acts of kindness and compassion ...” It’s fine that Mr. Hedges claims to know what “real religion” is about, but I respectfully point out that Osama bin Laden can do the same. And this is precisely the problem with the “real religion” argument. No one has the ability to claim that one religion makes more sense than the other, especially when they are all based on the supernatural. The stories that are the basis for Hedges’ religion are based on just as much fact as those of any Islamic extremist.\nThe wonderful thing about atheism, agnosticism and secular humanism is that they discard the unnecessary supernatural beliefs that have been proven dangerous century after century. Disbelief in religion will not solve all, or even the majority of the problems humanity faces. But the use of rationale and the rejection of the unbelievable can go a long way in resolving them.