A Lack of Tolerance

Something interesting happened today.  While perusing my twitter feed, I witnessed something I was a bit taken aback by.  So I chimed in to add my 2 cents.  The conversation was between an Atheist and a Theist and what I could gather was the Atheist was "attacking" the Theist as "delusional and an idiot".  Not to mention being complicit in all wrong doings of any God-fearing man, woman or child for all times.  So I chimed in and asked a simple question.  What if, no matter how minuscule the chance in your mind, there is a God?

I pointed out that while there is no empirical evidence of the existence of a deity, there also absolutely no data to suggest that he doesn't exist.  We all go about our information gathering in different ways and was surprised to find out that this question, without a seconds introspection, was crazy and made me an idiot.  I was dumbfounded.  While I do not "believe" there is an all knowing omnipresent Father figure and live my life as such, I am not 100% sure of anything.  When I encounter people that are Theists I do not vilify and denounce them as crackpots.

a·the·ism

[ey-thee-iz-uhm]

noun

1.  the doctrine or belief that there is no God.

2.  disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings.

I found that some Atheists today have taken that simple, understandable  definition and have turned it into something altogether new.  While I can comfortably be associated with this definition, I somehow don't seem to be in tune with the younger more "militant" Atheist of today.  From what I gather, from an albeit small sampling, is that Atheism is a movement bent on denouncing the Church (in all its forms).  In fact if you believe in a God, you are complicit in such things as the AIDS epidemic in Africa, the Rise of Nazis in post WWI Europe, Witch Burnings, Spanish Inquisition, Genocide in the New World, just to name a few.  

I make an important distinction between religion and the existence of God.  If I believe in God, than I wouldn't need a religion to sell me on the idea.  I would believe and that is that.  Religion is bent on converting and building numbers under the guise of helping humanity.  It is a man made institution bent on controlling the hearts and minds of people, this and nothing more.  Now this is my opinion and I understand that there are other opinions out there, and for every "good deed" there is a corresponding "atrocity".  I concede the point.  I was surprised to see just how much Atheists ( the one's mentioned above) hated the Religious aspect of the God mythos.  So if you believe in God and worship in a church than your hands are soaked in the blood of the innocents.  This new form of political Atheism was new to me.  The policies of the God worshipers was killing us all, and that was the end of the story.  I just felt that being an Atheist was a denial of the existence of God, and they didn't much pay attention to the workings of religion, since it is the arm of something that doesn't exist.  I do not like religion and my grudge list is long and biting, and I share the concerns of the small number of atheists I met today.  However, to not acknowledge that religion (for better or worse) is a part of our culture and thus must have a say in the workings of our policies and government is wrong.

Separation of Church and State is a pillar of our Constitution, and must always remain thus.  Without it we risk becoming a Theocracy that would have the power to outlaw not just our freedoms, if they don't follow the prescribed religion, but our very nature.  Free will is what separates man from all other beings natural or supernatural.  The ability to choose our own future and our own lifestyle.  I agree with the militant atheist that religion needs to be downplayed when writing policy, I also acknowledge that much of our society prescribes to religion and it has effected their moral and ethical psyche.  So that aspect of American life must be respected.  Seemingly there are lots of areas where the two worlds meet, thou shalt not kill, etc.  In areas of grey, of which there are many, perhaps we should be more bent on tolerance and understanding.  After all, we are all individuals trying our best to lead good lives, we all hold a different definition of that and that starts needing to be OK.