Why Atheists Choose Religion

"The idea “to be religious is to be a theist” as Christopher Hitchens stated in his debate with Lorenzo Albacete is a quite ethnocentric claim. It is true that in the West we have often associated a theistic God with religion, but this neglects Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Jainism and numerous religious traditions which have adopted a deistic, pantheistic, panentheistic or other understanding of God. And as I pointed out in my critique of Hitchens last week, Unitarian Universalism contains 19% of people who identify as atheist/agnostic."
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The author, Be Scofield, an atheist seminarian at Starr King School for the Ministry (Unitarian Universalist), apparently received a flood of comments following the above mentioned critique.  In this article in Tikkun Daily Blog, also published in AlterNet, he again counters the argument that religion and atheism are incompatible.

One quote, from Ricky, a fellow seminarian, particularly resonated with me:

I am an atheist not because I hate God, but because I cannot abide an understanding of God who merely lurks in the shadows waiting for science or another form of reason to cast light; a light which almost without fail shows greater beauty and complexity than we could ever imagine.

I am a religious humanist because I believe in miracles even if I believe they obey all the laws of physics. You see, just because I understand everything that happens biologically to make a baby, it doesn’t mean that there’s not still a place for a miracle there. There was not life, and now there is: that is a miracle however you slice it.

And perhaps most of all, I do not need a concept of God to be in awe of the world - if one opens one’s eyes, one can hardly help it.

Well said Ricky.

Here's the full article, with comments - well worth a click.
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The universe seems wondrous to me, with or without God. It has powerful lines and uncompromising ways. Patience and time sit like sages on the planets, strong and impersonal. There is a stark beauty to all of this.
- Real Live Preacher
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