(August 17, 2011 at 8:45 pm)Skeptic Wrote: Religions have temples and hierarchies because they are essentially businesses, something atheism can't be.
Yeah. Like the USSR wasn't atheist. Oh do come on! This is pure dogmatic BS. Secular society also has its temples - what do you think those massive shopping malls are? What about sports stadia? These are all temples for humans to congregate and express themselves spiritually. Why else would it be possible for a bunch of rather dim witted blokes kicking a ball around achieve the status of being a "beautiful game"?
Quote:Atheism can not supply you with what you want, if you want a secular public service of the type you are suggesting then it is society your gripe is with.
Atheism can't "supply" anything. It is a philosophical reaction to religion. Without religion there would be no atheism. It is an intrinsic condition of atheism that it depends upon the existence of religion for its own existence.
It is indisputable that religion has performed an essential role in the formation of the modern human society, and in my view many specific aspects of religion are an essential requirement for the continuation of cohesive society.
I am NOT saying that atheism needs to adopt religious systems of belief. What I am suggesting is that there are some aspects of religious organisation which greatly contribute towards society, and atheism rejects these aspects at its peril. For if they are indeed essential (as I believe they are) and not provided by secular means, then people will continue to be forced into religion in order to locate them, as they are today.
The obvious answer is for Atheism to accept the need for these various social organs and to work towards their provision in a secular society. For if they are not provided by secular society they will inevitably continue to be provided instead by religious organisations and the consequence will be the impossibility of creating a truly viable secular system of social organisation.
