I hate the opening line, but the rest of the article is a nice profile of the atheists in Uganda, a country where only a small percentage of people don’t believe in a god.
Some people think religion is a force for good?
Here’s evidence to the contrary:
Miracle-healer televangelists are all too readily embraced as saviors, Onen [a former Christian] complains, and prayer is often invoked as a substitute for taking action to fix everything from the capital’s glaring potholes to HIV infection. First Lady Janet Museveni attributes the country’s tribal tensions to a curse from God, whereas many critics suggest they may have more to do with government-employment preferences.
God has also been invoked in support of the draconian anti-gay bill that could impose life imprisonment for homosexual acts and make it illegal to house a gay person.
…
Susan Muyama, editor of Pentecostal magazine the Rock, counters Onen’s grim view by arguing that Christianity plays an empowering role in Uganda. “Uganda has seen war, community trauma and civil strife. Religion offers the peace and reassurance that everything is O.K. — that an all-loving God is going to have your back.”
And how much of that “war, community trauma and civil strife” is caused by religion? Muyama doesn’t answer that.
(Thanks to Rational Ugandan for the link)
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