It’s all down to belief

Posted on July 8, 2005

1


A thought. Has there ever, anywhere in the world, been a single terrorist incident not carried out by religionists?
Islamic fundamentalism. Christian neo-conservatives. Irish Catholics and Protestants. Israeli Jews. Hamas. Hizbollah. Sikh separatists. There may, somewhere, be a ‘Buddhist People’s Front’. But no terror group called ‘al-Atheist’ or the ‘Real non-Churchgoers’.
It’s easy to understand why. Without the sense of entitlement and self-righteousness that religionists tend to claim as justification, atheists don’t do terrorism. Those who see religion for what it is – a need for comfort, a means of gaining power, a control system for the masses – don’t regard it as reason enough to start chucking bombs around.