The Right to Closure
It is debatable if closure is actually possible. It is not possible to reverse the
course of time, which is something even religion does not pretend to offer.
However, religion almost always acts to withhold closure or a sense of
resolution. That is the basis of all eschatology – the wait for the eternal Day
of Judgment, when all the living will be judged, sins punished and scores
settled. The offenders who escape civil justice due to the poverty or
oppression endured by the victims, due to miscarriages of justice or the
socially-imposed code of silence upon victims shall not escape the judgment
and wrath of God. So teaches every religion. Every single fantasy – that of
the meek inheriting the earth, the pious being “raptured” into Heaven, the
wicked being reborn as “lower” forms of life, or just being reborn, period – is
driven by the desire to exact a long and painful punishment upon those who
got away.
Atheism allows you to accept that life is unfair, and so you must prepare to
protect yourself when necessary and accept the truth about the past. If you
cleanse your mind of the pain, or at least accept and understand it, your
future happiness shall be unconditional and independent of your past.
Religion promises that every single instance of perceived injustice will be
revenged severely and often endlessly. A core principle of justice is that the
punishment should fit the crime, and not be cruel or unusual. Religious
judgment violates all these principles, qualifying as both inhumane and
unjust. Its promise leaves millions resigned to their “fate,” where they live in
wait of “deliverance,” enduring cruelty and injustices without protest
because they literally think they are earning religious merit. The ultimate
reward of Heaven or Nirvana is only half the promise – the other being the
knowledge that your enemies will suffer endlessly.
Atheism does not play upon human sentiments. The embrace of bittersweet
truths about life and justice helps us regain our sense of happiness and
confidence without bottling our pent-up fury and pain. Truth is often painful
and difficult to endure, but it does not delve in exploiting desperation. A
believer approaches death with the desire to present himself or herself as a
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