Concluding the case against God which I outlined here:

6) Belief in the “God” concept is worse than merely wrong or illogical. It inspires patterns of thinking and behavior which negatively affect us all. Whatever good this belief may have inspired owes nothing to its basic, dangerous irrationality and will survive our rejection of that irrationality.

F) Consider the impact belief in “God” has on our environment as a whole:

Although some religious traditions (such as that of certain Native American Indian tribes) do seem to value and treat the biosphere in ways which help sustain it, many seem not to. The “God” concept – being a creation of people – tends to put people at the center of things, and that tends to be rather bad news for everything else.

Perhaps the single most damaging line ever put into the mouth of “God” has been this one:

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” - Genesis 1:28

Such a line may have been understandable, practical, excusable, or even amusing when first written down a few thousand years ago by a member of one small tribe living in one tiny area of the world. It is anything but understandable, practical, excusable or amusing when adhered to as “Divine Wisdom” by more than a billion people with powers unimaginable just a few short years ago.

It is largely because of belief in lines like this that the human population on this planet is exploding, frequently exceeding the carrying capacity of the local environment and threatening global disaster. It is also largely because of belief in lines like this that animals have been denied souls (and often even feelings) and sacrificed, mistreated, and in every way subjugated to human needs, desires, and whims. Virtually no individual creature has been absolutely safe from human abuse, and many entire species have been driven to extinction by human activities once erroneously thought to be beneficial or benign. Now we find ourselves in the midst of what may be an unprecedented era of mass extinction largely brought about by our collective behavior – and we may be on the verge of speeding up the pace of that extinction while causing irreversible harm to the biosphere itself with our industrial activities.

Scientists are alarmed and urge a change in course before it is too late. Those who put “God” above science, however, continue to see humans as something apart from and better than all other species. Instead of empathy and concern, many continue to think in terms of brute dominance. Instead of seeing themselves as co-dependents of a common earth, they see themselves as “children of God” and remain confident that, in the end, “God” will provide. If animals become extinct, it must be “God’s will.” If extinction foils “God’s plan,” then “God the Creator” will surely find a way to bring extinct animal species back. If the world goes down the tubes, well hey – didn’t “God” tell us it was an evil world, anyway? Indeed, didn’t “God” declare it to be in the grip of the archfiend, Satan? Good riddance to this Satanic vale of tears, this Platonic shadowland, this mere testing ground. A far, far better place awaits us!

The same sort of “God” belief which devalues this time, place, and life and has made nuclear war palatable (even desirable) in the process seems to render many theists blind or indifferent to the range of ecological disasters we now face.

I sincerely suggest that giving the planetary car keys to people obviously drunk off “God” is NOT the best thing we can do right now.

Simply put: The time when our species could afford the luxury of wallowing in the delusion of “God” is long over.

*

This concludes my 6-part presentation of the case against “God.” Although this presentation amounts to a severely abbreviated version of that case, I hope it has nonetheless provided readers with a somewhat better understanding of why I am an atheist – and why I believe everyone else ought to be, too.