[MD] Cracking Issue of the Edge

[MarshaV]

Ian,

This is interesting.  (url below)


June 14, 2007

Atheists' beliefs

Sir, Jonathan Sacks thinks that atheism is a "form of protest"; that 
when the great religions are in serious conflict with each other, 
people turn to atheism because they feel that religion has failed 
them (Credo, June 9).

This casts atheism in a very negative light, as the offshoot of 
religious friction. If this is true, then atheism only exists as a 
rejection of religion and you can't have atheism without also having religion.

But atheists see it the other way round. For us, the issue is not why 
people lose their faith; it is why people take up faith in the first 
place. We can get along quite well without the comforts and 
explanations of religion and we find it mystifying why anyone else 
should need them. We certainly do not need destructive clashes 
between the faiths to engender our beliefs.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/debate/letters/article1928986.ece