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"Since it is no longer permissible to disparage any single faith or creed, let us start disparaging all of them."

By Ann Althouse

"The 20th century, with its scores of millions of supernumerary dead, has been called the age of ideology. And the age of ideology, clearly, was a mere hiatus in the age of religion, which shows no sign of expiry. Since it is no longer permissible to disparage any single faith or creed, let us start disparaging all of them. To be clear: an ideology is a belief system with an inadequate basis in reality; a religion is a belief system with no basis in reality whatever. Religious belief is without reason and without dignity, and its record is near-universally dreadful. It is straightforward - and never mind, for now, about plagues and famines: if God existed, and if He cared for humankind, He would never have given us religion."

So I am reading that Martin Amis book, the one I said I was going to read. That paragraph ? from the second essay, written in 2002 ? struck me. The line I boldfaced explains the recent atheism fad, doesn't it?

Full post as published by Althouse on April 09, 2008 (boomark / email).