What Can Atheists Learn From Religion?

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That and I can't remember ever meeting a Christian who said "You know, I'd so much rather believe there wasn't a God and believe in no life hereafter but I just can't find the evidence".

The argument is kind of broken.

You can have a religion and be an atheist.

You can have no religion and be a theist.

I can't fathom how religion would offer consolation to atheists. If one disbelieves a religion's tenets, what use is it to a hear a priest say, "There, there, things will be better in the great hereafter." And of what use is "ritual" to me if I don't follow the line of magical thinking that gives the behavior its spiritual effects? I'd rather not spend my Sunday morning taking the Eucharist because the ritual might be "consoling, subtle or just charming." It's none of those to me—just a waste of time for hollow ritual.

Buddhism.


Fnordism.