The title of this article alone is cause for reflection. If we go with the definition, for the word respect, of holding someone or something in high esteem, then it’s rather obvious that atheists would not generally have respect for religion. However, it seems to me that atheism, as a personal worldview, is as one-sided as religion, though not as dangerous or imposing. Atheists don’t run around telling people not to believe in God or the Bible unless they are provoked to do so as a defense. But beliefs are strange sorts of thoughts and it is as misguided to be a hard core materialist as it is to be a religionist, because both require that one limits the totality of reality to a particular set of precepts.

We live in a dynamic and complex reality, so by setting boundaries for what is possible is hubris based on knowledge and belief, which are both limited. Knowledge can only ever be partial, incomplete; and belief is accepting an idea as if it is true without knowing that it is true. By this comparison it seems that beliefs are based on some instability of the mind. (I am not talking about practical beliefs like trusting that an office building won’t implode on us or that our car will suddenly begin to fly into a high-rise).

But there’s another question to this concept that you bring out in your article: Do atheism and religion serve a good purpose? Yes, on a personal level both offer security to the sense of self that is overwhelmed by the potentialities of life and prospect of change or disaster. So this becomes less a matter of what is believed than why it is believed.

I will add one more thought about the belief that there is no god versus a belief that there is: Atheists are not accepting a particular belief, but rather forwarding a general statement about refusing to believe what cannot be proven. Religious people, on the other hand, are accepting some specific beliefs to the exclusion of others and then using the belief as a weapon against non-believers. It appears that religious people are far more willing to impose themselves on others, as we have seen throughout history, and this is where the danger comes in. Atheism has never, to my knowledge, led to genocide, mass murder, church or synagogue or mosque bombings, book banning, stacking the courts with ideologues, witch trials, KKK rallies, misogyny, homophobia, or the Crusades.

While it may be postulated that atheism can be harmful, it’s only harmful to religious believers in a psychological sense IF they are unsure enough in their beliefs to feel threatened or invalidated. And it’s not difficult to offend them. Of course, atheists can be quite obnoxious in their own right, but it’s usually in response to religious people and their claims. Neither side, though, seems to have learned the lesson that facts and logic do not matter. Still, on the religious side the best argument is based on a logical fallacy of some sort.

The conditioned sense of self is conflicted, no doubt. Human beings have feelings, fantasies, beliefs, hopes, and dreams, and none of these can stand the scrutiny of scientific reason. Thus, as you suggest, “we suspend our disbelief to avoid cognitive dissonance and to keep the charade going.” In other words, people need their beliefs for some reason connected to psychological conditioning. One of the main problems, though, is that our science has disproved many of the beliefs upon which religion is anchored, making religion, to a logical mind, even more untenable. However, atheists, as human beings, are certainly not devoid of beliefs; they just happen not to be religious beliefs.

I am particularly struck by your statement: “Maybe God’s a tyrant who doesn’t tolerate dissent or disobedience.” The more pressure religious people feel from atheists, other religious groups, or a world that is closing in around them, the more vicious their god becomes. No coincidence, since their god is their own invention and so too is God’s mood on any particular day. Religious people are just making it all up to soothe their fears of insecurity in a world that’s beyond their ability to control or make sense of. Everything must have a cause and a reason, as long as it’s God.

Now, to be fair, not all people who believe in God are religious in that they follow a set of guidelines or rules particular to a specific body of belief. Nevertheless, the psychological need, based on conditioning of the mind, remains the same — to name, envision, and support an invention of the mind as if it is real for the purposes of quelling fear of the unknown or insecurity, both of which are the same. If this is indeed a real and valid need of human beings, say the atheists, then go ahead and believe your belief, but leave the rest of us alone.