A long delayed and much contemplated post on religion
I have really been avoiding this because the last time I made a post about religion, people got really mad at me and left. Well, they didn't get the George Carlin homage, and I cannot be blamed for that, so enough of me being gun-shy, let's talk about what Anne actually believes.
Yes, you read that right. I'm going to write about what I actually believe about religion. Now, some qualifiers: I am not, nor will I ever, ask or think that anyone should believe as I do. Believe whatever the fuck you want, I don't really care. I only care about religious beliefs when people try to make their beliefs public policy that the rest of us have to live by because that is the point at which it is no longer your First Amendment Right and it is now affecting me, but I'm going to leave most of that off.
In order to facilitate this, I will frame it in the form of questions and comments that often get lobbed at me, much the way that trans-issue questions get lobbed at me:
What do you believe? Nothing
So, you're an atheist? No. An atheist rejects the concept that an all powerful, supreme being could exist. I am not even concerned with that question. When asked what I believe, I say nothing because I do not take anything on faith or belief. I only accept what there is evidence for, so when asked what I believe or what I believe in, the answer is nothing because belief is acceptance in the lack of evidence and I like to avoid that as much as possible. Whether or not there is a supreme being in the universe would not change me believing in him/her/it. If he/she/it wants me to believe, he/she/it presumably knows where I live and can pay me a visit.
But there is no evidence for evolution/gravity/etc! Yes there is. If you are saying that, then you haven't looked very hard and I'm not having that discussion with you because you are either willfully ignorant of the facts that have been tested and proved or you are stupid.
I'm stupid because I believe creation myth x is literally true? Yes. Garden of Eden or mud on the back of a turtle carrying the sky princess, I don't care. Moving on.
BUT!!!! MOVING ON!
So then what are you? I like to say I'm a militant agnostic: I don't know and neither do you! Yes, I stole that from a bumper sticker, but it does encapsulate how I feel about issues of gods and faith: we cannot know. Now, we can believe, we can have faith, but we cannot know. Knowing requires evidence and if you have evidence, you don't need faith.
But I know my faith/god x is true/real! No, you don't. You believe it. You have faith in it. That is fine with me. The second you cross the line to trying to tell me that your belief equals it being true or real, we have a problem because you have stepped into a fallacy that I'm not going to let go. I didn't ask for a discussion on your faith and I honestly do not care about what you believe. Believe whatever you want. If you choose to argue that it is real to me, you have to establish that a preponderance of evidence that your god exists and that your faith is right and correct, and you will never be able to do that. Keep your faith, I don't want to change you, but don't pick this fight with me, please.
Well how would you know? For a time, I wanted to be a theology student, and in the course of considering that, I read up on just about every religion you can mention or think of, and probably a few that you cannot. Ultimately, after all that reading, I concluded that people just made it up as they went along, stories became custom, custom became culture, culture became tradition, so on and so forth. At no point in my research did I come across any empirical facts proving the existence of your god or the truth of your faith. So, I say again, I know what I know, I do not wish to change your mind, believe in whatever you like, it matters not to me.
Don't you worry about hell/the afterlife Nope. Next question.
Wait! Why don't you worry? Worry, much like belief is not useful to me. I try not to waste time worrying because it will not help me. I do not worry about the afterlife or being punished in it because for over the last several thousand years, humans have worried about the afterlife and no one has even been able to demonstrate an existence beyond this one. Hell, at times we struggle to prove this existence is real, but that is another can of worms...
You're a bad person because you don't follow faith x. I am a bad person, sure, but not because I don't believe in what you believe. I am a mean, spiteful bitch to people who exasperate me and I make no bones about the fact that unless you are family, a friend, a student of mine or a colleague, I do not care about you at all. I have limited resources for giving a crap, and I care a lot about the people in my life. People not in my life are on their own. If that makes me a bad person, I accept it. It wouldn't change if I believed in your faith.
Can you explain some of the reasons why you don't believe? Sure. I personally find the notion that there is an caring god in the universe who lets horrible things happen when he could stop them a repugnant and disgusting idea. Saying that he has a plan or works in mysterious ways only makes me more disgusted. I find the notion of salvation or inner peace to be useless to me. I find the belief that we are created in a god's image arrogant. I find religious founders like Buddha, who believed that women could not achieve nirvana and that their only hope was to be reborn as a man, disgusting. Any religion that tells me what I can and cannot eat and what sex I can have turns me off to all of their ideas. And if that weren't enough, there are enough followers out there who take their beliefs to crazy places and fuck this world up for everyone else. That includes non-believers, too.
What would it take to get you to believe in x? A preponderance of evidence that can be verified. Lacking that, I will not accept it.
Well, you cannot prove x doesn't exist! And I'm not trying to. I don't want to convince a believer of anything. Not believing is not a religion. It's not even my hobby, to quote Bill Maher. I'm really concerned with a lot of other things; this is a low priority for me.
Well then why are you talking about it? Usually, because someone asked me and wouldn't let me go without an answer. In this case, just to talk about it all at once and get it out of the way.
Yeah, but why are you REALLY talking about it? Because a lot of people make decisions that effect my life on the basis of their religion. People go to voting booths, believing that God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, and now gay people can't get married. People go to school boards and demand that creation be taught instead of evolution or with evolution as equal, when one is science and the other isn't, effecting the quality of education in this country. School leaders flagrantly violate the rights of students who do not believe in their god and threaten and intimidate them (this actually happened to me) and encourage the believing children in the school to do the same. I am willing to leave your faith alone and let you have your belief. Can I please have my non-belief? And yes, there are non-believers out there who are dicks too, but let's not pretend it's equal. Fox News would have you believe otherwise, I'm sure, but can we all just follow Wheaton's Law when it comes to belief? "Don't be a dick."
Is there anything about religion you do like? Some of the songs are pretty. Some of the stories are interesting. A lot of the history is fun to explore. The religious people who are my friends are good people and they find strength and hope in their faith, as do many other people, and I do not object to any of that. It doesn't change anything for me though, because when I look at what they look at, I don't see the same thing.
Didn't you used to be religious? I used to try, but I never really believed. I went through the motions, I told others I felt what they did, that I believed, but all it left me with was nothing. No greater sense of the world, no presence, just empty. I do not look outside of myself for something to inspire me anymore because that has never worked. When I do, I usually look to music, food or art, never to something I cannot see, hear, taste, smell or touch.
If you had to pick a faith (gun to my head) what would you pick? Freddie Mercury. Freddie be with you.
That's not a real faith! You cannot pick that! Freddie existed. He made a lot of great music extolling many good ideas that we should follow in our daily lives. Freddie be with you.
Yes, you read that right. I'm going to write about what I actually believe about religion. Now, some qualifiers: I am not, nor will I ever, ask or think that anyone should believe as I do. Believe whatever the fuck you want, I don't really care. I only care about religious beliefs when people try to make their beliefs public policy that the rest of us have to live by because that is the point at which it is no longer your First Amendment Right and it is now affecting me, but I'm going to leave most of that off.
In order to facilitate this, I will frame it in the form of questions and comments that often get lobbed at me, much the way that trans-issue questions get lobbed at me:
What do you believe? Nothing
So, you're an atheist? No. An atheist rejects the concept that an all powerful, supreme being could exist. I am not even concerned with that question. When asked what I believe, I say nothing because I do not take anything on faith or belief. I only accept what there is evidence for, so when asked what I believe or what I believe in, the answer is nothing because belief is acceptance in the lack of evidence and I like to avoid that as much as possible. Whether or not there is a supreme being in the universe would not change me believing in him/her/it. If he/she/it wants me to believe, he/she/it presumably knows where I live and can pay me a visit.
But there is no evidence for evolution/gravity/etc! Yes there is. If you are saying that, then you haven't looked very hard and I'm not having that discussion with you because you are either willfully ignorant of the facts that have been tested and proved or you are stupid.
I'm stupid because I believe creation myth x is literally true? Yes. Garden of Eden or mud on the back of a turtle carrying the sky princess, I don't care. Moving on.
BUT!!!! MOVING ON!
So then what are you? I like to say I'm a militant agnostic: I don't know and neither do you! Yes, I stole that from a bumper sticker, but it does encapsulate how I feel about issues of gods and faith: we cannot know. Now, we can believe, we can have faith, but we cannot know. Knowing requires evidence and if you have evidence, you don't need faith.
But I know my faith/god x is true/real! No, you don't. You believe it. You have faith in it. That is fine with me. The second you cross the line to trying to tell me that your belief equals it being true or real, we have a problem because you have stepped into a fallacy that I'm not going to let go. I didn't ask for a discussion on your faith and I honestly do not care about what you believe. Believe whatever you want. If you choose to argue that it is real to me, you have to establish that a preponderance of evidence that your god exists and that your faith is right and correct, and you will never be able to do that. Keep your faith, I don't want to change you, but don't pick this fight with me, please.
Well how would you know? For a time, I wanted to be a theology student, and in the course of considering that, I read up on just about every religion you can mention or think of, and probably a few that you cannot. Ultimately, after all that reading, I concluded that people just made it up as they went along, stories became custom, custom became culture, culture became tradition, so on and so forth. At no point in my research did I come across any empirical facts proving the existence of your god or the truth of your faith. So, I say again, I know what I know, I do not wish to change your mind, believe in whatever you like, it matters not to me.
Don't you worry about hell/the afterlife Nope. Next question.
Wait! Why don't you worry? Worry, much like belief is not useful to me. I try not to waste time worrying because it will not help me. I do not worry about the afterlife or being punished in it because for over the last several thousand years, humans have worried about the afterlife and no one has even been able to demonstrate an existence beyond this one. Hell, at times we struggle to prove this existence is real, but that is another can of worms...
You're a bad person because you don't follow faith x. I am a bad person, sure, but not because I don't believe in what you believe. I am a mean, spiteful bitch to people who exasperate me and I make no bones about the fact that unless you are family, a friend, a student of mine or a colleague, I do not care about you at all. I have limited resources for giving a crap, and I care a lot about the people in my life. People not in my life are on their own. If that makes me a bad person, I accept it. It wouldn't change if I believed in your faith.
Can you explain some of the reasons why you don't believe? Sure. I personally find the notion that there is an caring god in the universe who lets horrible things happen when he could stop them a repugnant and disgusting idea. Saying that he has a plan or works in mysterious ways only makes me more disgusted. I find the notion of salvation or inner peace to be useless to me. I find the belief that we are created in a god's image arrogant. I find religious founders like Buddha, who believed that women could not achieve nirvana and that their only hope was to be reborn as a man, disgusting. Any religion that tells me what I can and cannot eat and what sex I can have turns me off to all of their ideas. And if that weren't enough, there are enough followers out there who take their beliefs to crazy places and fuck this world up for everyone else. That includes non-believers, too.
What would it take to get you to believe in x? A preponderance of evidence that can be verified. Lacking that, I will not accept it.
Well, you cannot prove x doesn't exist! And I'm not trying to. I don't want to convince a believer of anything. Not believing is not a religion. It's not even my hobby, to quote Bill Maher. I'm really concerned with a lot of other things; this is a low priority for me.
Well then why are you talking about it? Usually, because someone asked me and wouldn't let me go without an answer. In this case, just to talk about it all at once and get it out of the way.
Yeah, but why are you REALLY talking about it? Because a lot of people make decisions that effect my life on the basis of their religion. People go to voting booths, believing that God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, and now gay people can't get married. People go to school boards and demand that creation be taught instead of evolution or with evolution as equal, when one is science and the other isn't, effecting the quality of education in this country. School leaders flagrantly violate the rights of students who do not believe in their god and threaten and intimidate them (this actually happened to me) and encourage the believing children in the school to do the same. I am willing to leave your faith alone and let you have your belief. Can I please have my non-belief? And yes, there are non-believers out there who are dicks too, but let's not pretend it's equal. Fox News would have you believe otherwise, I'm sure, but can we all just follow Wheaton's Law when it comes to belief? "Don't be a dick."
Is there anything about religion you do like? Some of the songs are pretty. Some of the stories are interesting. A lot of the history is fun to explore. The religious people who are my friends are good people and they find strength and hope in their faith, as do many other people, and I do not object to any of that. It doesn't change anything for me though, because when I look at what they look at, I don't see the same thing.
Didn't you used to be religious? I used to try, but I never really believed. I went through the motions, I told others I felt what they did, that I believed, but all it left me with was nothing. No greater sense of the world, no presence, just empty. I do not look outside of myself for something to inspire me anymore because that has never worked. When I do, I usually look to music, food or art, never to something I cannot see, hear, taste, smell or touch.
If you had to pick a faith (gun to my head) what would you pick? Freddie Mercury. Freddie be with you.
That's not a real faith! You cannot pick that! Freddie existed. He made a lot of great music extolling many good ideas that we should follow in our daily lives. Freddie be with you.