Being Good is More Important Than Being Right

As someone who doesn’t at all identify as “religious,” I still find it annoying when people bash “religion” in general, because they seem to think that everything that can be called “religion” consists of believing in a big scary guy in the sky who issues an arbitrary laundry list of commands and flings people into eternal fire if they disobey. That is not all that the word “religion” can mean.

Unlike “government,” which is always a vehicle for violent aggression, “religion” has been the excuse for violent domination and it has been the “excuse” for people helping each other and being nice. If someone is a peaceful, kind human being, I don’t particularly feel the need to froth at the mouth just because he happens to believe some stuff I don’t. And given the choice between nice people who believe in a god I don’t believe in, and those “enlightened” atheists who feel the need to constantly and intentionally insult and offend others just for being “religious,” I would rather be surrounded by the former.

To put it another way, being good is more important than being right.

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Larken Rose is an anarchist author best known for challenging the IRS to answer questions about the federal tax liability of citizens, and being put in prison with no questions answered. He is the author of The Most Dangerous Superstition.