From Chapter 24—Why I Wrote This Book. © 2020 by Emory Lynn.
If I had to name one thing about religion that upsets me it would be that believers in a judgmental, creator God typically assume that they are morally superior to nonbelievers. With believers and nonbelievers alike, there are many who live by very admirable moral standards, many who live by modest moral standards, and many who are seriously deficient in moral behavior. How it balances out overall between the two groups has been a difficult call to make. But, a wealth of sociological data now shows that social dysfunction, as measured by numerous factors, is by far more common in the most religious U.S. states, and by far more common in the democratic, first-world countries where religion is predominant. Where secularization flourishes, so does a high degree of social well-being. This flies in the face of the all too common belief that without faith in God society would lose its moral anchor and drift into chaos. The numerous democratic, secular countries around the world, and the secular leaning states in the U.S., are making loud and clear statements that this isn’t so. Clergy, apologists and others who actively perpetuate this fallacy should be given every opportunity to explain why the secular world isn’t behaving the way they insist is inevitable, nor is the religious world behaving as they think it should.
I’m reminded of a televangelist who said on his national radio program that some members of his church had come to him with a “problem.” They had several atheist friends who were very good and happy people, and they didn’t know what to make of it. The minister couldn’t argue that their friends really weren’t good, moral people; his church members had attested otherwise. The answer he gave them was that their friends were “spiritually dead.” His pithy answer could very well have been dead wrong. In no way does a lack of religion prohibit a person from being spiritually alive, from having feelings of wonder, awe and inspiration about life, humanity, the workings of the universe and more. A person can be happy, morally upright, spiritually alive and religiously detached. I know because that description fits me well.
Not nearly enough religious believers in America have heard the news that they are not morally superior to nonbelievers because of their religion. Unfortunately, believers all too often have no qualms about discriminating against those who don’t share their theism, particularly atheists. This is especially common in the most religiously conservative parts of the country.
Mistreatment comes in many guises, some subtle, some blatant: A cold shoulder, harsh gossip, ostracism, lost job opportunities, missed raises or promotions, political barriers and more. It’s rather stunning that these days so many Christians in America see themselves as the victims of religious persecution. Their claims of persecution might be credible if they were afraid to even let their Christianity be known to family, friends, neighbors, classmates, employers or customers, because they could expect to be discriminated against. Nonbelievers in America by the millions are afraid to even disclose their nonbelief for fear of the all too real consequences.
For those who doubt that nonbelievers are seriously discriminated against in many parts of America, consider this: What if a major TV network planned to document the kinds of evidence presented in this book in a multi-part series during primetime? The rhetorical venom that would flow from the so-called religious right would be loud and clear, as would groundless claims of persecution and the loss of religious freedom (i.e., religious privilege). A call to boycott the sponsors would be inevitable and probably effective.
I experienced one form of discrimination first hand from a long time friend. We had been friends since first grade and had a lot in common. The last time we were together I casually mentioned that after years of research I was no longer a believer. We live in different parts of the state, weren’t normally in contact often, and consequently things seemed OK for a few months after my disclosure. But it slowly became obvious that everything had changed. I never again heard from him; he wouldn’t even reply to my emails. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why he had turned his back on our lifelong friendship. As I write this that was nine years ago.
Nonbelievers also suffer from being grossly underrepresented in public affairs in the U.S., especially in elective office. To be electable one should either be a believer, preferably a Christian, or pretend to be a believer, preferably a Christian. But these things are a-changing. Nonbelief is growing rapidly and the rate of growth is growing. The young adult generation is leading the way. The best way for nonbelievers to help achieve a more broad-minded society is for more nonbelievers to simply let it be known that they don’t believe in God. It’s called “coming out of the closet,” an expression I don’t like because it carries the implied stigma of being embarrassed or ashamed of what one is. When it comes to believers and nonbelievers, the wrong people are in the closet. As secularization continues to grow in large segments of America, the fallacy of the immoral, untrustworthy nonbeliever is wilting under the light of day.
A word of caution for readers who might consider coming out as a nonbeliever. When a religious person’s religion is even questioned, it’s often taken as a strike against the psychological core of their being. Neurologist Andrew Newberg, after decades of pondering the question of whether it was “ever possible to easily alter someone’s way of thinking, especially if he or she was a ‘true’ believer,” decided the answer was probably no. “From a neurological perspective, the more we immerse ourselves in a specific ideology, the more the brain responds to that belief as if it were objectively real.”1 This is one of the more important takeaway points from my years of research, and not just as it relates to religion. Our society today is suffering severely from this human inclination.
A person who has reached this level of religious ideology can be intolerant and confrontational when their faith is brought into question. Make no mistake, coming out as a nonbeliever will likely be seen as questioning the faith of the true believer. Fear that such people will turn on you might be well founded. Nevertheless, the more likely the discrimination the greater the need for the many millions of American nonbelievers to say “enough already!” The discrimination doesn’t need to be kicked down the road for even one more generation to deal with.
Another thing that needs to change is the taboo against even talking about religion in a questioning manner. Religions are shrouded in unprovable paradigms about the inexplicable. Yet believers insist on respect for their faith, even though their faith is a substitute for evidence, reason, logic, and the modern scientific understanding of actual reality, and even though they often won’t return the respect in kind. As I’m about to explain, the future of our nation and the planet that sustains us should not be jeopardized by this taboo any longer.
We must respect the other fellow’s religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children are smart.
— H. L. Mencken
