Back From The Future

Yesterday was Back to The Future Day — The day that the fictional character, Marty McFly traveled from 1985 to 2015. We might not have flying cars or Mr. Fusion, but we have come a long way.

In the morning, I received an e-mail from WhiteHouse.gov written by Michael J. Fox. In the e-mail Fox was optimistic about the possibility that we would find a cure for Parkinson’s and other brain diseases within the next thirty years. He pointed out that we have come a long way in the last thirty year.

Indeed we have. To think, 30 years ago we didn’t have cell phone, iPads, or the mainstream use of the internet. AIDS was a death sentence and being gay was considered a sin by the majority of Christians… okay, somethings haven’t changed all that much. But we have certainly made progress and in the next thirty years, we will make so much more progress.

Right now, Climate Change is the big threat to human survival on this planet. The world is just starting to take this issue seriously and even some Republicans have been slowly coming around on this issue (although they still can’t admit that humans are a principle cause of the problem). Where will we be on this issue in 30 years? What will the state of medicine be in 30 years? What new technological advances will be achieved? What social milestones will take place?

But not everyone seems to want a future with advancements. Many religious believers idolize the past and believe life was way better 2000 years ago than it is today. They would rather push humanity back toward ignorance and a “simpler life.” I see religion as holding humanity back and in this way, religion has become a threat to human happiness, human prosperity, and human life on this planet. Religion may not be the root of all evil, but it certainly is a really large source of “evil” in this world.

The really awesome news is that Hell is imaginary too. Today, with the internet, it is so much easier to dispel the myths, magic, and flat out bullshit of religion. With the internet, it is much easier for atheists to come out of the closet and to organize. So I want to take you on a trip thirty year into the future. I predict that religion will still be around… but that the majority of people will not be religious believers. Maybe it will take 50 years, but it will happen sooner than you think. Religion will be marginalized in the way that we marginalize psychics today. Sure there are people who still claim to have psychic powers and who claim to speak with the dead. In many towns you can find that quaint storefront or house that has the neon sign in the window advertising psychic readings. But few people take them seriously. For the most part, they are seen as for entertainment use only. In the not too distant future, religion will be just like that: Prayers for $5, confessions for $10. For $25, you might even get an indulgence.

We can make this future a reality. All we have to do is keep pushing back against religious bullshit. Just by standing up and pointing out the ridiculousness of religion, we are making this future happen at a much faster rate. For far too long, religious believers have gotten it in their heads that there ridiculous beliefs should be contrasted with real evidence-based thinking. But that’s simply not true. The magic tricks of Jesus are not any more believable than Superman’s heat vision.

Religious believers may not like to hear that, but it is true. I get that religion is their identity, but they have to latch on to a different identity. Religious identities are tied to religious beliefs and those beliefs are way more often than not, ridiculous. A time traveling DeLorean is more believable.