Militant Atheists

R.J. Eskow has an interesting column over at Huffington Post titled 15 Questions Militant Atheists Should Ask Before Trying to "Destroy Religion."

The piece centers on a questionnaire Eskow gives for what he calls "fundamentalist atheists" who advocate the eradication of religion. The argument is that religion causes far more harm than good and therefore should be banished. This is an idea advocated by people like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris.

Eskow's questions can be quite pointed ("Is all religious activity harmful, or just the fundamentalist variety (which one research project estimates involves roughly one-fifth of all religious populations)?") while at other times being rather esoteric ("Does the historical experience of nontheistic countries challenge the notion that religion is a major factor in causing internal oppression or external military conflict? (Note: I'm not suggesting that nontheistic countries went to war to defend nontheism," as one atheist writer characterized the argument. The question is: Does the absence of religion as a motivator reduce the likelihood of war, as the militants suggest - or not? Suggested countries of study: Cambodia, China/Tibet, USSR.)").

It's an interesting read, even for a Christian.