Question
Could atheism be described as an application of anarchistic principles to religion?
Answer
No, it is the application of parental indulgence principles towards their kids' play fantasies, to certain patterns of adult play.
As all parents know (though I am not one), toys to fuel fantasy play can be a big drain on the budget, but its worth it if you're too exhausted to parent. If you can't afford fantasy play, you plop your kids down in front of TV and let TV raise 'em. Relgions that look similar to toy-play are generally much healthier than those that look like TV-watching.
As Marx said, religion is the opiate of the masses.
Activist atheism driven by misguided notions of being an oppressed minority is fairly silly. You could argue that most of the powerful rulers in history were actually closet atheists, manufacturing the opium. Far too much religion is suspiciously friendly to those in power for it to be a coincidence.
Those with ambitions of political power probably simply keep their closet atheism a secret from a very young age. I suspect many recent American presidents, with the exception of GWB, have probably been closet atheists.
As all parents know (though I am not one), toys to fuel fantasy play can be a big drain on the budget, but its worth it if you're too exhausted to parent. If you can't afford fantasy play, you plop your kids down in front of TV and let TV raise 'em. Relgions that look similar to toy-play are generally much healthier than those that look like TV-watching.
As Marx said, religion is the opiate of the masses.
Activist atheism driven by misguided notions of being an oppressed minority is fairly silly. You could argue that most of the powerful rulers in history were actually closet atheists, manufacturing the opium. Far too much religion is suspiciously friendly to those in power for it to be a coincidence.
Those with ambitions of political power probably simply keep their closet atheism a secret from a very young age. I suspect many recent American presidents, with the exception of GWB, have probably been closet atheists.