99 Luftballons

marmoulak:

Atheism 2.0

Just finished watching this TED Talk video where Alain de Botton, a Swiss author, entrepreneur, and television presenter, talks about the benefits of organized atheism, or what he calls Atheism 2.0.

Now I’m not a big fan of turning atheism into an organized, disciplined, religion-like entity, with ceremonies, rituals, sermons, and so on, but I do think what he says is certainly plausible, or maybe even necessary, if we ever want to be heard and respected in the society and make our way to the government.

I highly recommend that you watch the entire video, but here’s the gist of it:

1. As atheists, we all agree that there is most likely no God, so let’s move on.

2. We need to steal the best aspects of religion and use them to our advantage:

• Replace scripture with literature and culture.
• Replace sermons with lectures.
• Keep repeating the lessons, like religion does.
• Create an atheist calendar to mark and celebrate important events.
• Speak well, always back up our arguments with facts.
• Use our bodies, not just our minds. Back up philosophical ideas with physical actions.
• Use the arts for propaganda. Replace churches with museums. 

3. Books alone won’t change anything. Unite, organize, and collaborate, like churches and corporations do.

I believe that, whether you like it or not, this will eventually happen; so why not look into all the different options and scenarios, and come up with a model that works for all us?

Thanks to http://99-luftballons.tumblr.com for sharing this video.