The cost of theist religious belief is high. To
properly engage with it involves joining a community that is totally
subservient to a universal dictator. You need to accept faith in God on
extremely questionable evidence and the associated statements about the nature
of reality sometimes run contrary to available evidence.
Alethian Worldview (on freethoughtblogs.com) describes
the cost:
“Religion encourages people to isolate
themselves from reality, and to vote for leaders on the basis of beliefs that
have been rendered impervious to fact and to reason.”
A significant cost is the loss of freedom. You sign up
to be a slave and agree to worship an authority who can never be questioned and
who subjects you to total surveillance from the moment of your birth,
throughout your life and even after your death. It is the epitome of
totalitarianism.
The late Christopher Hitchens likened religion to a
celestial North Korea, but where, he quips: “…
at least in North Korea you can f***ing die and leave.” No such escape
awaits us with God.
Another price to pay for religion is the isolation
from reality. The religious automatically form a ‘specific set of beliefs’
cohort group from which everybody else is excluded. Outsiders are automatically
condemned to whatever Hell the particular religion subscribes to. There is no
appeal or any arguments for the Defence, since ‘Church’ members’ beliefs cannot
be challenged rationally. Most religious apologists think that the faithful
have a right not to be seriously challenged anyway.
“What worries me about religion is that it
teaches people to be satisfied with not understanding.” (Richard Dawkins)
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