But I have met those (back when I was a born again Christian in fact) who've essentially said that they don't care if their beliefs are true, they'll always keep their faith because it's comforting to them. From my perspective I can't see the difference between that and an adult continuing to believe Santa flies around the world delivering presents at Christmas simply because it's a nice thought. And yes, I know, that's a very Richard Dawkins thing to say but that's how I feel.
You would begrudge someone, someone who likely has it rough in many other areas of their life, the only thing that gives them the strength to keep on keeping on? This absolutely turns my stomach.
I can kind of see giving a hard time to people who logically or intellectually try to defend their religious beliefs, who argue that cold reason leads naturally to believing what they believe. Because if that were so, there'd be no need for faith -- it would be an article of fact. Intellectual environments deal only in what's based in logic, and anyone who advances a proposition using logic ought to admit the fallacy of his reasoning when it's pointed out to him, if he's being intellectually honest.
But there is nothing intellectually fallacious, nothing to argue, with someone who comes right out and says, 'I believe because it makes me feel better.' I respect such people MORE than the divine logic spinners, because at least they're being honest with themselves and others.
I'm one of these people you say you pity. I read a whole slew of atheist literature when I was 18, and went to a college where having religious faith was not really the done thing. I tried to embrace materialism, and the idea that I am an insignificant accidental speck in a cold uncaring meaningless universe. I couldn't. No matter how I spun it, I was unable to use this as a starting point for any worldview that felt positive or improved my quality of life or will to live. I've tried Humanism (both secular and religious), and have read (and not been convinced by) many arguments for why materialism doesn't lead directly to nihilism. It sure does for me.
I don't presently belong to any religion. But I do have a modicum of faith, that I cling to tightly -- namely that I am part of SOME great plan. I don't know whose plan or what that plan is, and I'm content not to know. All I need to have faith in is that our world, our lives, are not ultimately random and meaningless. Beyond that, I'm open to pretty much any possibility.
But I side with the religious, because whether they know it or not, whether THEY'D see me as being on their side or not, what drives them is the same as what drives me. While what drives materialists is something I cannot fathom.
So there you have it. Take a good. Hard. Look at me. Hate me, pity me, disrespect me, I don't care. I lay my cards on the table, and I make no apologies for what I believe. It just really sickens me that someone would kick a person for admitting human frailty in a harsh world. Life is hard for us all. So long as it doesn't harm anyone else, what makes your coping mechanism, your security blanket, any better than mine?
(Wow, I didn't mean to write a book here. But what can I say -- when a nerve is touched, I jump and yell.)
