by Currie Jean

Created on: April 24, 2008

Closed-mindedness and dogmatic thinking can be a part of any worldview, and those atheists who forget the reasons underlying their disbelief might fall in to such a problem, hence losing a portion of their freedom.

The kind of freedom discussed in philosophical debates is freedom of the mind, and in this sense, knowledge is inextricably linked with freedom. However, atheism alone doesn't offer freedom; rather, it is a product of freedom. If you want to critically assess your world in order to learn about it, you must first allow yourself to freely do so. The quest for mental freedom is a challenging and complicated process that starts with the relationship with the self: the willingness to learn about, and try to accept, reality.

You may have heard the phrase, "Don't be so open minded that your brain falls out." A person need not be gullible, or accept every idea, in order to be open minded: it's the truth that sets us free, because thinking and acting upon true beliefs is enabling. Reasonable open mindedness is what finds the truth, and thus, freedom.

The first step is to dismiss relativism: there actually is a truth to discover. Tiptoeing around with statements like "everyone's right about god even though they disagree," is silly and a bit cowardly, as it denies conflict where conflict does in fact exist. Contradictory statements can not be true at the same time. This is a logical fact: there are no square circles, and no single god can require that his adherents accept only the Koran (as the Koran dictates), and only the Bible (as the Bible dictates), at the same time.

When you use false beliefs as tools to determine your actions, you don't achieve the result you intended. Not only are you not free - you suffer. This is what makes freedom valuable. If you use true beliefs in determining your actions, you are much more likely to achieve what you expect to achieve. You suffer less, and participating in the world requires less effort.

This is easily demonstrated: imagine a perfectly clean, sliding glass door, and imagine that it is closed. On the other side is a comfy sofa and a fireplace: a nice lodging for the night, a place no one would not want to be. Someone who knows the glass door is closed will open it or find a way around it, while someone who believes it is open might earn herself a bloody nose. Whoops! Simple mistake. She has a bloody nose, but she now knows the door to be closed. She can open it and go inside.

Now, let's make the woman devoutly religious.

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