Czeslaw Milosz: on belief and unbelief

       "A true opium for the people is a belief in nothingness after death - the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murder, we are not going to be judged."

       

       What a wonderful way of exposing the self deceit of atheism, or of some atheists, at least. "There is no pie in the sky after you die", they like to tell believers. "Faith is a false comfort".  But,"So is atheism", believers can reply: "You can give yourself permission to do whatever you want, without any fear of falling into the pit down below after you go. That's why you believe there is no hell to go to".
       Atheism is something to believe in, a faith, a doctrine, a justification for one's behavior, attitudes, philosophy of life, ambitions, dreams, etc.But it is in no way an equal alternative to intelligent faith in God. Atheism narrows the horizon to whatever the atheist decides to fit into his comfort zone, and excludes anything that would break that little world apart. Atheism is a plow horse with blinders on, focused on one thing only, plowing ahead at what he is driven to do, unable to let himself perceive the Beauty and Mystery that are around him.