Religion is a Mental Illness

Christopher Hitchens: Now I see with a horrific clarity why you didn't like my mention of Sigmund Freud. Nietzsche was supposed to have said god was dead, Freud is supposed to have said god was dad.

In [Freud's] "The Future of an Illusion," his best essay on the subject I think, he says that it's impossible to study religion without noticing its connection to wishful thinking. That people would like, as they expire, to think, I'm not going anywhere, I'm just going into the arms of a loving father. Who wouldn't like to believe that?

Who here decides what they believe on the basis of their wish though, I may inquire? Do any of you decide to believe things cause they would console you?

What about a word like... it hasn't come up yet in our discussion. Big, interesting, important word, begins with e: evidence.

All the evidence says that the cosmos doesn't know we're here. That evolution doesn't know it's created us. That the stars don't look down on us, that there is no one who knows about or cares about or supervises our existence. That we have to face this on our own responsibility. All the evidence is that way. There is no serious evidence any other way.

But there is a strong desire that we could abolish and dissolve our responsibility, and just relax and say well, I'm so glad that, as I check out, daddy will be taking care of me.

I don't think it's moral to be preaching that kind of thing, I'm sorry to say, and I think it's positively immoral to be preaching it to people who are ill, suffering and defenseless. I think it's hateful to tell lies to people in that condition.

Q: What would you tell them?

Hitchens: I would not encourage them to delude themselves. And when my turn comes, I won't listen to any rubbish of that kind.

"I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state." -- Roger Ebert

"As long as a population can be induced to believe in a supernatural hereafter, it can be oppressed and controlled. People will put up with all sorts of tyranny, poverty and painful treatment if they're convinced that they'll eventually escape to some resort in the sky where lifeguards are superfluous and the pool never closes." -- Tom Robbins

"We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred?" -- Richard Dawkins

"I'm an atheist, and I don't have any belief in an afterlife.

You could say that I'm resigned to the fact that this wonderful life that we get here is it. And having hit 60, it's a good time to get resigned to these things and not be too nervous or upset - and enjoy what great times one can have."

-- David Gilmour

"What does atheism have to offer people in this circumstance [the reality of death]? People like ourselves, and people more fearful and self-deceived than us, that great body of humanity that recoils at a mere suggestion that a first century carpenter may not be able to hear their thoughts, much less answer their prayers?

Well, atheism, as mere disbelief in god, doesn’t have much to offer. It’s a corrective to a whole raft of bad ideas, but it doesn’t put anything in place of bad ideas. It’s a necessary corrective, but what fills the void is science, and art, and philosophy. Atheism is just a way of clearing the space for better conversations."

-- Sam Harris

"Unlike religious people, we atheists really have a good reason to make the most of life. To make the most of the present moment. Cause even if you live to be a hundred, there are just not that many days in life.

So, what is the point of life? Is anything sacred? Does such a question even make sense? This is what religious people are worried about. And I think that these questions do make sense and there are answers to them.

But the answers are not the matter of getting more information. The answer is a change in attitude. There are ways of experiencing life as sacred without believing anything, and certainly without believing anything on insufficient evidence.

There are ways to really live in the present moment. Okay? What’s the alternative? It is always now. However much you feel you need to plan for the future, to anticipate it, to mitigate risks, the reality of your life is now."

-- Sam Harris

“Heaven is a coping mechanism. We are told our family is in Heaven for the same reasons we were told our childhood dog ‘ran away to the farm.’”

-- David G. McAfee

"You did not exist for about 14 billion years. You exist now and when you die you will not exist again. Forever. Enjoy your existing years."

-- Ricky Gervais

“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty.  To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”

-- Bertrand Russell

“It is natural to believe in God when you're alone-- quite alone, in the night, thinking about death.”

-- Aldous Huxley

"Religion convinces us not to take death seriously. That's actually its selling point: we don't have to take death seriously because we live for eternity after we die. Needless to say, there's no evidence for that."

-- Sam Harris

"People are so afraid of death, that most will believe anything over nothing...

They will live their lives by that belief, fighting for, defending, and even killing over this belief, while the only thing we really know for sure is nothing."

-- Morgan Freeman

“Afterlife is a fairy tale for those afraid of the dark.”

-- Stephen Hawking

“You will die, you are alone There is no god upon his throne Impose thy will upon earth's mess Else your life is meaningless No hell below, no heaven above Live life now and act with love”

-- Grayson Perry

"I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But as much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking."

-- Carl Sagan

"I don't understand religion. I don't get it at all. I understand why people need it, but I think they're wrong. They don't. I do see that on a crude-ish level, when someone dies, it's nice and comforting to think that they're going to heaven and that they're going to be wrapped up warm for eternity. But they're not. Heaven doesn't exist. If you just think about it for a minute, the person is dead, they're gone, they're not coming back, and you'll never see them again. And when you go, you'll never see anybody again. Just face it. I feel stronger because of it. Knowing that I can't lean on religion to get through life. If you are leaning on it, you won't be living your life to the fullest."

-- Sir Ian McKellen