Faith/Loyalty/Common Sense

This past week I had the pleasure (and I really do mean that) of meeting David Robertson, author of The Dawkins Letters. I have a lot to say on that, but I'm going to give that a miss for now as I'm in desperate need of some sleep. However, I have this to say:

The more I read, the more I hear, the more I see - the more I am convinced that following a religion, and indeed NOT following a religion, is like following a football team.

• You either follow the one your dad supports through family loyalty, or you rebel and choose another team just to wind him up
• You stick with the team no matter how good or bad they are
• Even when you don't like what's happening at your club, you stick by them because they are YOUR team
• On very rare occasions, when something happens to really test the patience, some people defect to another team
• Ultimately, that's your team and you will defend them with passion

From everything I've read, THIS is where everyone is going wrong when writing about religion and atheism. So much passion and so much good meaning, yet so little substance. I will no doubt fall foul of the same accusations as I write.

Dawkins is wrong. Robertson is wrong. Zacharias is wrong and Harris is wrong. And God knows that the bible is wrong (see what I did there?)

The tone is wrong, the argument is presented badly and we end up going around in one big circle. What is obvious is that at present there is no tangible answer, and there will probably never be one in your or my lifetime. But as human knowledge grows we are more likely to find the answers that we seek.

THAT is why I am an atheist.

And actually, not a lot else matters.