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IAN McEWAN ON ATHEISM
ISAAC CHOTINER, NEW REPUBLIC - Do you see religion as ineradicable, or
do you think there is a chance to change people's minds on religion?
IAN McEWAN - I think it is ineradicable, and I think it is a terrible
idea to suppress it, too. We have tried that and it joins the list of
political oppression. It seems to be fairly deeply stitched into human
nature. It seems to be part of all cultures, so I don't expect it to
vanish. And yet at the same time, if it is built into human nature, why
are there so many people who don't believe in it? I think it is
important that people with no religious beliefs speak up and speak for
what they value. It is a bit of a problem, the title "Atheist"--no one
really wants to be defined by what they do not believe in. We haven't
yet settled on a name, but you wouldn't expect a Baptist minister to go
around calling himself a Darwinist. But it is crucial that people who do
not have a sky god and don't have a set of supernatural beliefs assert
their belief in moral values and in love and in the transcendence that
they might experience in landscape or art or music or sculpture or
whatever. Since they do not believe in an afterlife, it makes them give
more valence to life itself. The little spark that we do have becomes
all the more valuable when you can't be trading off any moments for
eternity.
http://tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=2cee28d1-869d-447a-8e83-4e046f5ad6df&k=80115
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IAN McEWAN ON ATHEISM
ISAAC CHOTINER, NEW REPUBLIC - Do you see religion as ineradicable, or
do you think there is a chance to change people's minds on religion?
IAN McEWAN - I think it is ineradicable, and I think it is a terrible
idea to suppress it, too. We have tried that and it joins the list of
political oppression. It seems to be fairly deeply stitched into human
nature. It seems to be part of all cultures, so I don't expect it to
vanish. And yet at the same time, if it is built into human nature, why
are there so many people who don't believe in it? I think it is
important that people with no religious beliefs speak up and speak for
what they value. It is a bit of a problem, the title "Atheist"--no one
really wants to be defined by what they do not believe in. We haven't
yet settled on a name, but you wouldn't expect a Baptist minister to go
around calling himself a Darwinist. But it is crucial that people who do
not have a sky god and don't have a set of supernatural beliefs assert
their belief in moral values and in love and in the transcendence that
they might experience in landscape or art or music or sculpture or
whatever. Since they do not believe in an afterlife, it makes them give
more valence to life itself. The little spark that we do have becomes
all the more valuable when you can't be trading off any moments for
eternity.
http://tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=2cee28d1-869d-447a-8e83-4e046f5ad6df&k=80115
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