Show Notes::What Dune Reads - ATHEISM: The Case Against God

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Valerie Tarico in an article  exploring the evangelical or fundie mind-set against yoga, cited this statement from CARM:

“’Your body will most likely become much more flexible by doing yoga, and so will your mind [Yoga Journal].’
As one can see, Yoga is more than just a physical exercise.

We as Christians do not want to make our mind more flexible. We do not want to leave our mind open to false teaching.”

Which got me to thinking,,,

In ATHEISM: The Case Against God, the primary goal of George Smith was to demonstrate that irrational beliefs are in fact harmful and that theism and religion are prime examples of irrationality (specifically Christianity).  The conclusion, that both must be abandoned and new ways of thinking about the world adopted in their place.  What struck me, a word used often by Smith throughout his book - conformity - and where that group think leads.

The following can be found on pp. 184-185:

When conformity is required, as it is in Christianity, what are the results? To begin with, the sacrifice of truth inevitably follows. One can be committed to conformity or one can be committed to truth, but not both. The pursuit of truth requires the unrestricted use of one’s mind—the moral freedom to question, to examine evidence, to consider opposing viewpoints, to criticize, to accept as true only that which can be demonstrated—regardless of whether one’s conclusions conform to a particular creed.

The fundamental teaching of Jesus—the demand for conformity—thus gives rise to a fundamental and viciously destructive teaching of Christianity: that some beliefs lie beyond the scope of criticism and that to question them is sinful, or morally wrong. By placing a moral restriction on what one is permitted to believe, Christianity declares itself an enemy of truth and of the faculty by which man arrives at truth—reason.

Whatever minor points may be offered in defense of Christianity, they cannot compensate for the monstrous doctrine that one is morally obligated to accept as true religious beliefs that cannot be comprehended or demonstrated. It must be remembered that this teaching is not incidental to Christianity: it lies at the heart of Jesus’ mission, and it has played a significant role throughout Christianity’s history. It was this belief that “justified” the slaughter of dissenters and heretics in the name of morality, and its philosophical consequence may be described as the inversion—or, more precisely, the perversion—of morality. To be moral, according to Jesus, man must shackle his reason. He must force himself to believe that which he cannot understand. He must suppress, in the name of morality, any doubts that surface in his mind. He must regard as a mark of excellence an unwillingness to subject religious beliefs to critical examination. Less criticism leads to more faith—and faith, Jesus declares, is the hallmark of virtue. Indeed, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Children, after all, will believe almost anything.

The psychological impact of this doctrine is devastating. To divorce morality from truth is to turn man’s reason against himself. Reason, as the faculty by which man comprehends reality and exercises control over his environment, is the basic requirement of self-esteem. To the extent that a man believes that his mind is a potential enemy, that it may lead to the “evils” of question-asking and criticism, he will feel the need for intellectual passivity—to deliberately sabotage his mind in the name of virtue. Reason becomes a vice, something to be feared, and man finds that his worst enemy is his own capacity to think and question. One can scarcely imagine a more effective way to introduce perpetual conflict into man’s consciousness and thereby produce a host of neurotic symptoms.

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