![[calendar]](http://forusa.org/images/070921/FORcalendar.png)
Prophetic Voices: Chris Hedges Doesn’t Believe in Atheists
I will admit that when I had finished Sam Harris’s The End of Faith I understood the urge to ban and burn books. I had never read anything so bigoted, inciting, wrong-headed, even evil, before in my life. Chris Hedges, however, has been more methodical in his response, shredding Harris’s positions (and those of his fellow atheists), in a powerful, challenging, and dark but honest pragmatism.
I Don’t Believe in Atheists is Hedges’ book length essay of indignant realism. He has debated Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and others around the country, and now sets down his basic beliefs as a response to their hate-filled polemics. Starting with an acceptance of original sin, Hedges argues that our greatest fault has been to accept a myth of moral progress, that mankind is perfectible and improving over time. Hedges urges a position of deeper humility and more profound caution and restraint.
“Human evil is not a problem. It is a mystery. It cannot be solved. It is a bitter, constant paradox that is part of human nature. When one evil appears vanquished a new one rises to take its place. The forces of darkness are our own forces. If we fail to name or acknowledge these forces they will destroy us. Acknowledgement means accepting that our encounter with evil is permanent and perpetual. We must always anticipate it. We must work against it. We must be vigilant to conscience. The belief that we can achieve human perfection, that we can advance morally, is itself an evil. It provides a cover for criminality and abuse, a justification for murder. It sanctifies war, murder and torture for an unattainable absolute. It denies our own moral pollution. It reduces human beings to the status of a virus. And it turns us into brutes. Those who permit torture and war in their own names empower sadists and psychopaths. They consign whole populations to moral and physical oblivion. They become, as Conrad and Doestoevsky knew, as morally depraved as those they oppose. They sink to barbarity, all the while exalting themselves as saviors. They become Kurtz. They become insane. They forget what it is to be human.”
- Free Press, New York, 2008, pp. 156-157
Sober sentiments borne of years as a foreign correspondent in wars around the world, informed by a theological education, and drawn to the surface of published, prophetic clarity, by those who would resolve us of responsibility, complicity, and arrogance in wars we are conducting around the world today.
Is belief in God a moral requirement?
Admittedly I haven't read the book, but I'm a little confused about how "starting with an acceptance of original sin" is going to change the mind of any atheists! Perhaps the purpose isn't to argue with atheists but to reassure Christians of the morality of their own beliefs?
The fact is that people will find whatever justification they need for their beliefs whether violent or loving. Some people find this in God, others find it in humanity, others still find it in science. As a Buddhist, I could also be considered atheist, or at least non-theist. In fact, it's been a long time since I concerned myself with whether a God or gods exist. I find motivation and morality through teachings passed on by a community of humans just like myself, through connections to others in the community, and through mindful experience of the world around me.
No the issue here isn't God, but it is moral context
As I read Hedges neither God, nor belief in God could justify the wrong (evil) perpetrated in the name of God by human beings. Both the proposition that belief in God could bear the onus of the evil done; or that denial of God's existence could then liberate the human species to eliminate perveyor's of evil without moral consequence are both unsupportable.
I think your point is not far removed from Hedges point, which I may not have effectively captured in my selected quote or short commentary. We are by example each responsible for the survival of the species in our choices and behaviors large or small. The darker side of his message may be, however, that this requires a perpetual vigilance; that we will never be fully free of the evil we can do to one another, and that is part of human nature. Metaphorically characterizing that as "original sin" is to use one narrative among many. The atheist's narrative is another. The point is that neither narrative absolves us of our personal responsibility.
"neither narrative absolves us of our personal responsibility"
I can't argue with that.
Hi, I agree that Human evil
Hi,
I agree that Human evil is not a problem. It is a mystery and cannot be solved. It is a bitter, constant paradox that is part of human nature. When one evil appears vanquished a new one rises to take its place. The forces of darkness are our own forces. If we fail to name or acknowledge these forces they will destroy us. Acknowledgment of these evils can help us to protect from them but it is very difficult to vanquish them completely.
I do not believe in original
I do not believe in original sin or any dogma created by humans in the name of God. But I believe there is a God and that being does not punish or condemn or judge or refuse to forgive. I believe God is merciful, forgiving, tolerant, and again: does not punish especially for all eternity in fire that burns souls.
I believe in Love: God is Love. I believe in non-violence because of my faith in Love.
I do not believe in civil disobedience because I am not capable of it emotionally. I also do not see it being effective because government (politicians) can ignore us. And they do. How often is the peace movement in the news! No matter how much my country's policies hurt me in my heart, I could not go to a Congressional session or hearing and disrupt it. It is important to me to respect people.
It feels like masochism, to me, to get myself arrested. Behind bars, locked up by people who do not respect life, I would be extremely enraged. How self destructive must I be in order to be respected as a man who stands on his beliefs?
I understand civil disobedience and understand why it is important and why people do it. But I cannot do it. And when I was active in the 1960's, my "friends" insisted I engage in it. I struggled emotionally. If they were listening to me and had my well being in mind, they would have told me NOT to do it. Instead they pushed me and would not give me emotional support. When I was told that the AFSC would never give me a job, that was the last straw and I withdrew from the movement. Some of these "friends" were professional counselors. they had the tools to steer me in the right direction ( to help me find my way in the world). They did not give me any good guidance. It took me until a few years ago to resolve the pain I felt in the 1960's. That pain was over all the issues, especially women's issues and war and racism and the Native American issues and the environment. What some people want to do within 10 years is what we should have been committed to 40 years ago at least.
Jesus taught us to love our neighbors and love our enemies. And to forgive.
I believe the essence of all of the great religions is love and non-violent living. That includes mercy, forgiveness, compassion...etc. But violence in the name of God and Freedom is blasphemy.
I believe in being non-violent in my every day relations with people.
I believe in reverence for life because I experience life to be sacred.
Post new comment