Prominent Atheist Says Religion Could Be Gone In 'One Generation'

A prominent atheist recently claimed that religion could be gone in "one generation" if schools begin the teach children about the "silliness" of religion, rather than treating religious groups "as if they're all sacred."

Well-known atheist and theoretical physicist Lawrence M. Krauss recently spoke on why he thinks children should be taught about atheism in schools. The outspoken atheist discussed his ideas at the Victorian Skeptics Cafe in Australia in late August, and excerpts of his talk have just been made available by the media.

"What we need to do is present comparative religion as a bunch of interesting historical anecdotes and show the silly reasons why they each did what they did," he told those attending the talk. "Instead of shying away from it, we have to explicitly educate people to confront their own misconceptions."

"People say, 'Well, religion has been around since the dawn of man. You'll never change that' […] This issue of gay marriage, it is going to go away, because if you're a a child, a 13-year-old, they can't understand what the issue is. It's gone," Krauss continued, according to The Blaze. "One generation is all it takes."

"Change is always one generation away," he said. "So if we can plant the seeds of doubt in our children, religion will go away in a generation, or at least largely go away — and that's what I think we have an obligation to do."

Krauss is a Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. He, along with fellow prominent atheist Richard Dawkins, created the documentary "The Unbelievers."