Quote of the Day, On The Ending of Christianity, by Jerry Rivard

I am an atheist. I believe that gods do not exist. I also believe the world would be a better place if all or most people didn't believe that gods exist, and in particular if children weren't taught to believe in something I consider to be a myth. And I would like to see a (peaceful) end to Christianity, and of all religious belief, within my lifetime. I have no illusions that is going to happen, of course, but I do believe that if we don't blow ourselves up in the next few hundred years or so that religion in general will become about as uncommon as, say, paganism is today. I believe that will happen because I believe that theism is false, and I believe that the power of truth is such that it will always emerge from the darkness, as I believe it always has – eventually. I believe that our increasing scientific knowledge will convince more and more people of that truth over time. For the same reason, I believe that this will be an improvement for mankind.

But regardless of how I want the world to be, I would oppose any attempt to bring about that change by force. My utopian dream is that people choose to give up religion. If any legislation were proposed to control peaceful and consensual religious practice in any way, I would be firmly against it. Every person has the right to believe what they believe and to act on those beliefs, so long as they don't infringe on the rights of others to do the same. Everyone has the right to teach their children what they believe to be true; my personal disagreement with it is irrelevant.

And I would certainly be against "eliminating" anyone because of their beliefs. I would be shocked if I thought that Loftus, Avalos, Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, or any other vocal atheist would call for such tactics. But if they did, they would be no less wrong for advocating force against someone for peacefully believing in a god than those who in the past advocated and supported the torture and murder of people who failed to believe in one.

If those seem like fighting words to you, read them again. If they still seem like fighting words, turn them around, as if I were a Christian hoping that the whole world would embrace Christianity because I believed that to be true.

You as a believer have no less – and no more – right to live your life as you see fit than I do as a non-believer. If you don't accept that, then it's you who is starting the fight.