There really is no nice way of saying this but religion really is an embarrassment to humanity. I just have a hard time believing that the majority of the people on this planet are willing to suspend the use of logic, reason, and the scientific method in favor of ancient myths that are ridiculous, self-contradictory, and immoral. Why would anyone belief such absurd stories from people who thought the world was flat over the actual scientific understanding of our modern world complete with testable evidence.
Tag belief
There is a dogmatic movement within Mathematics to get people to abandon their deeply held belief that 2+2=5. These “New Mathematicians” don’t respect everyone’s opinion about Math. Instead, they not only wish to push their own view of math on others, but they actually go out of their way to tell those with differing beliefs that our math is wrong. Worse yet, these “New Mathematicians” are preaching this view in schools and trying to make children as hateful and bigoted as they are about math.
While fundamentalist religious believers certainly have a lot of ridiculous beliefs, I actually can understand their position much better than I can understand the position of the more nominal believers — as the old saying goes, in for a pinch; in for a pound.
This week I am on vacation and today I took my kids to a small zoo. There we saw lots of strange animals, not the least of which were human beings. While at the small zoo there was two large groups of summer campers. Both groups were from the same summer camp, but one group was the girls (with women counselors) and the other group was the boys (with men counselors). The two groups were NOT together; they were segregated.
There is an article on CNN’s “Belief Blog” making the rounds that talks about “the six types” of atheists. This is hilariously funny… to me any way. Interestingly enough, a few years ago, I came up with a list of six reasons why people become born again. But that is a little different from saying six types of Christians.
I love religious believers; they are so hypocritical. Right now, the country is debating the role and rights that government has or doesn’t have to spy on its citizens. As it turns out, our government is already doing that and just wasn’t telling us about it.
The other day, while at work, I was approached by a Jehovah’s Witness. Personally, I love when they come to my door to tell be about their ridiculous beliefs. We can have an actual conversation and I can explain to them that their beliefs don’t match up with reality, but at work while on the job, I can’t have that conversation. I am in affect a captive audience.
As I talk to religious believers of various theological bends, I often hear them counter my criticism of their beliefs by informing me that I worship science. While I admit that I am quite fond of the scientific method because it allows us to better understand the world and makes our lives so much easier and more fulfilling, I wouldn’t go as far as saying that I “worship” science.
Many times when I get into conversations with Christians online, I get some Christian who inevitably tells me that not all Christians believe X. That “X” could be Creationism, Hell, Original Sin, Sin itself, even God. Many of these Christians accuse me of painting all Christians with the same brush. The thing is that I haven’t.
I used to tell some of my Christian friends that I don’t have faith in deities, but that I do have faith in people. This was and still is often my opening line in many conversations with religious believers.