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Do you think it might ever be possible for Salon to publish an article that explores an atheist's way of thinking?
I am running out of patience with this constant requirement that scientists and atheists keep an open mind; the reverse argument is never made, which is simply, "What would be so awful if this was it? If this was life, and if there is no afterlife and no big man in the sky who runs the show, and no guarantee of order and sense and meaning in our lives? Would it change the way you felt about your family, and would the way you behave be any different? Would your values suddenly crumble if there were no promise of reward or punishment in an afterlife?"
No one ever says to these people, "Well yes, that's all lovely, but i'd like to remind you to keep an open mind, that this could all be a lovely story but in the end, just imaginative drivel. It's important to always give rational thought its rightful consideration you know! You wouldn't want to be accused of being narrow-minded, would you?"
Salon, please, grow a back bone---offer an alternative. A piece about what the world might be like if we woke up tomorrow and there were no religions anywhere and we could all deal with our own mortality without going to pieces.
