

Why make the battle just over religion?

I've been thinking lately about the 'mission of atheists.' What I've come to realize is that the problem is not so much about a belief or disbelief in a god. It has more to do with being unreasonable. So, I'm wondering if the true issue is not belief or disbelief in a god. The real issue is man's irrationality and how that affects society as a whole. If you think about it, there are a lot of subjects other than religion where man is not rational and reasonable.

I, personally, do not think that man is inherently a rational creature. He is prone to hallucinations (experiences that aren't real), delusions (beliefs that aren't real), and unconscious forces that make him prone to violent and sexual impulse. Also, man is gullible and fickle for some reason. Man's strongest instincts are survival and reproduction, not reason and rationality.

My questions are these. Should we concern ourselves with not so much the topic of whether gods or devils exist, but, with man overcoming his natural propensity to be irrational and unreasonable? Also, since intelligence can be measured and distributed along a bell curve, is it possible that some people are not capable of the critical thinking needed to think reasonably and rationally? Is expecting all people to think and behave in a rational/reasonable way only setting ourselves up for disappointment? Should we not lower our expectations of people so that we are not bothered so much by their lack of making sense? To me, it seems the reasonable and rational thing to do.

Should the root goal of all people, atheists and theists, be to hold reason as an absolute guide to understanding and action? It seems to me that if this were the real goal of all people we would find a lot more peace and harmony in the world.


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