What Believers and Atheists Can Teach Each Other
Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman: It’s inherently challenging for believers and atheists to have productive conversations. Discussing topics such as belief and nonbelief, the potential irrationality of religion, or the limits of scientific knowledge is difficult since each side often ends up more firmly entrenched in their own worldview.
But one bright person interested in broadening the conversation is Sam McNerney, a science writer who focuses on cognitive science and an atheist interested in religion from a psychological point of view.
I found Sam through his writing for Scientific American, and started reading his blog Why We Reason and his posts on Big Think. We discovered that even though we approached religion from different perspectives, we had great respect for each other.
So as two people with different religious outlooks, we wondered: what can we learn from each other?
Sam McNerney: There are many things we can learn. Let’s take one: the role of authority.
A recent New York Times article points out that secular liberal atheists tend to conflate authority, loyalty, and sanctity with racism, sexism, and homophobia. It’s not difficult to see why. Societies suffer when authority figures, being motivated by sacred values and religious beliefs, forbid their citizens from challenging the status quo. But a respect for authority and the principles they uphold to some degree is necessary if societies seek to maintain order and justice and function properly. The primatologist Frans de Waal explains it this way: “Without agreement on rank and a certain respect for authority there can be no great sensitivity to social rules, as anyone who has tried to teach simple house rules to a cat will agree.”
Ironically, atheists’ steadfast allegiance to rationality, secular thinking, and the importance of open-mindedness blinds them to important religious values, including respect for authority. As a result, atheists tend to confuse authority with exploitation and evil and undervalue the vital role authority plays in a healthy society.