I Don't Believe in Atheists

I like Chris Hedges' point of view, even if he's voting for Jill Stein, who I find annoying. I don't think he understands atheists, though. I was one when I was a teenager and had I read this book, it wouldn't have spoken to me.

Religion is generally presented by people who don't really get it. He reads Reinhold Niebuhr, but religion was presented to me by sanctimonious bullies. Atheism is more often presented by smart people.

Now I understand what religion is about but I suspect most people don't, and I'm including most believers. Even Chris doesn't fully get it. He had a chapter on humiliation and its consequences but he doesn't really present the case for humility except to argue that it's justified, due to the human condition.

Actually humility is the vaccine that immunizes you to humiliation. It frees you from having to defend a false self. Chris writes about the fragmented self that is dressed up in a narrative to be made more user-friendly. But most people cling to their narratives, even if they read Samuel Becket and Ecclesiastes.

I heard a debate between Rabbi Sacks and Richard Dawkins. It was clear from the start that neither was really listening to the other. They both already knew the answer and that the other had no case. There's a case for atheism. It needs to be taken more seriously or the atheists won't listen to you. I was already in the choir that Sacks and Hedges were preaching to, and I appreciated what they had to say, but most if not all atheists won't hear their arguments. It's like telling an anorexic to have a good meal. It's not what they want to hear. It feels dismissive.

Better Still is Marilynne Robinson. I recommend her essays in Absence of Mind. I notice it's not on my Goodreads read-list. I need to read it again and review it.

Still, if you can listen to Mr. Hedges with an open mind, he may not make a believer out of you, but at least he's not mired in the superficial.