neurotaylor

The Atheist Credo

I’ve just been listening to Alain de Botton on the radio, talking about his favourite music and his book Religion for Atheists. He argues — and he’s not the first to do so — that religion has some good ideas, if you strip out all that supernatural gunk. I paraphrase. Rather than dismissing it wholesale, atheists should therefore borrow the good bits.

(So it’s OK to love Bach, as de Botton does. Indeed, I never came across an atheist intellectual who doesn’t love Bach, though there may be some.)

Since statements of faith are an important part of religious practice, I’ve taken de Botton’s proposal one step further to come up with an atheist credo (an ‘I believe’ for non-believers). Since such apparent basics as prosody and rhythm have important effects on mood and atmosphere, and since it’s nearly Easter, I’ve modelled my attempt on the Christian equivalent. After all, they’ve had centuries to get it right.

The Atheist Credo

I believe in one method

of data, hypothesis, and experiment

which was conceived by ancient Greek thinkers,

born in the Age of Enlightenment,

suffered under superstition

is struggling under religion

is bound to make people’s lives better

and will one day bring about a perfect world.