Fantastic Essay about Idiot America

[liz_marcs]

jblaque has reposted fantastic 2005 essay by Charles P Pierce that was published in Esquire about science vs. religion, intellect vs. gut, enlightenment vs. deliberate ignorance, and the loss of the American Dream to Idiot America called Battle for the Planet of the Apes.

Fantastically long, but oh-so-worth-the-read, if only for the insightful punchline at

Comments

Re: Offended

[aramuin]

Okay, this is just my interpretation of the article so YMMV.

In the article, what Charles P Pierce actually seems to be decrying is not religion itself nor is he advocating the sort of science you're referring to. What he seems, at least to my reading of it, to be arguing for is the idea of analytical, objective thinking.

All the examples you list are a result of subjective thinking, the blind faith in an idea because it's easier to let another think for you.

The world he seems to be arguing for and again, it's possible that my interpretation differs from yours, is one where an individual who has devoted years of their life to the study of a subject can express their opinion and have it carry due weight. The problem he points out is that, at the moment, that individual (say a college professor) will go on television to take part in a debate with other people who have no history of interest in the subject and their opinions will carry the same (or more) weight as the professor's.

I didn't see this as an attack on religion, more a commentary on how blind faith, be it in a God or in state-sponsored propaganda, is always a dangerous thing to base a government on.