(no subject)
Flip-flopper.
What a great sentiment. One I feel all the time. I alternately wish to lead a revolution and sit on the couch and watch Star Wars. I am equally torn by my atheism - Not in my beliefs, I have never believed in any actual, literal god, but in my perspective.
God as a metaphor, spirituality as a method of coping and finding ones ethics, these are things that have begun to interest me greatly. I am asked, inevitably when discovered to be an atheist, why I read so many books about Buddhism, posess various bits of iconography, little statues mostly, and why in general I am, to the observer, somewhat observant of Buddhist and Jewish theologies and ideologies.
My answer is mostly irrelevant to my question to you, I am simply fond of their logic and find them as agreeable a philosophy as I have found. We get along. My disbelief in all literalilties of religion do not interrupt my learning from them, even if it is by reinterpreting it as metaphor.
The literalities are the problem, though, aren't they? That one religion is correct, that one god is true, the details of belief are what seem to start wars and cause rifts. The whole hilarity about whether the communion wafer represents God/Jesus or literaly is God/Jesus, that there are rules which must be observed, that you may be put to death for not observing, that people are sent to war because of the arrogance that the idea of one true god creates, these are the bad things. These are the ideas have outlived any shred of usefulness in the world and must be destroyed.
Do you think that is possible? For the growth of civilization, the continuing of humanity, must there be a cultural revolution of sorts? Is there a way to allow people their faith while defeating the aspects that lead to disagreement?
In an older world, these problems existed, but were loosely contained due to geography and slow communication. Now, there is a globe, with satelittes, mass communication, international business, and while one would hope that would lead us uncontrollably to peace, love, and understanding, I for one fear greater war and opression. I fear fanatical religion, be it the religious right in America, or any other faith that feels the need to impose it's will on others. I fear them because they are irrational, and they are blinded by details. The details of their faith, their intimate knowledge thereof, and their staunch belief, blind them to the truth that all literal belief in god is the same, and all of it is foolish. The details of their faith blind them to it's opression, even though it is the same as the opression of other faiths which they are able to see because it is not their own. Do we advocate the dismantling of religious institutions? How is that possible without affecting culture? I am often perplexed by this. I believe that belief in the existance of god and the rewards and punishments and laws therof have outlived what usefulness they had in the infancy of human knowledge and need to be swept away before there can be peace on earth. But I marvel at the beauty and diversity of religious culture - ancient traditions, ancient buildings, metaphors that can still provide ethics and life lessons, beautiful works of art, the silent peace of meditation, I am as fascinated by religion as I am sickened by it's destructive power.
Belief in god is comforting. We must not forget that many people enjoy being shepherded, be they herded by God or Hitler or Oprah. Theism or no, the masses of the world do not seek their own answer. This is why religion served a purpose for many ages, it answered questions and built a framework. But now that we have different, better answers, answers founded in greater knowledge of science and civilization, we can't manage the same result. There is no unlearning the billions of believers, and no way to stop them from teaching their children about God, or Santa Claus for that matter, although we can usually un-learn the latter. Returning to the example of me, I am very comforted by my, well, not by belief because there is none, but by the truths I have learned about myself and the world at large from my armchair study of Buddhism and Hinduism. I find it very helpful in my everyday life, and quite possibly would feel lost without it.
Anthropologists originally thought dinosaurs were sluggish, lizardly things. They then learned that they were also very bird-like, the way their bodies were built. Maybe even warm-blooded. But the public's conception of dinosaurs didn't change - I was taught in school that dinosaurs were just giant lizards that dragged their tails many years after this was disproven. What did it take to change the mind of the public? Jurrassic Park. Perhaps our movement needs a hit movie. I can see the name on the marquee - "Not only is there no God, but there never has been a God, and your belief in a literal God is as foolish as a literal belief in the Easter Bunny."
Do you have any answers for me?
yours,
jesse
What a great sentiment. One I feel all the time. I alternately wish to lead a revolution and sit on the couch and watch Star Wars. I am equally torn by my atheism - Not in my beliefs, I have never believed in any actual, literal god, but in my perspective.
God as a metaphor, spirituality as a method of coping and finding ones ethics, these are things that have begun to interest me greatly. I am asked, inevitably when discovered to be an atheist, why I read so many books about Buddhism, posess various bits of iconography, little statues mostly, and why in general I am, to the observer, somewhat observant of Buddhist and Jewish theologies and ideologies.
My answer is mostly irrelevant to my question to you, I am simply fond of their logic and find them as agreeable a philosophy as I have found. We get along. My disbelief in all literalilties of religion do not interrupt my learning from them, even if it is by reinterpreting it as metaphor.
The literalities are the problem, though, aren't they? That one religion is correct, that one god is true, the details of belief are what seem to start wars and cause rifts. The whole hilarity about whether the communion wafer represents God/Jesus or literaly is God/Jesus, that there are rules which must be observed, that you may be put to death for not observing, that people are sent to war because of the arrogance that the idea of one true god creates, these are the bad things. These are the ideas have outlived any shred of usefulness in the world and must be destroyed.
Do you think that is possible? For the growth of civilization, the continuing of humanity, must there be a cultural revolution of sorts? Is there a way to allow people their faith while defeating the aspects that lead to disagreement?
In an older world, these problems existed, but were loosely contained due to geography and slow communication. Now, there is a globe, with satelittes, mass communication, international business, and while one would hope that would lead us uncontrollably to peace, love, and understanding, I for one fear greater war and opression. I fear fanatical religion, be it the religious right in America, or any other faith that feels the need to impose it's will on others. I fear them because they are irrational, and they are blinded by details. The details of their faith, their intimate knowledge thereof, and their staunch belief, blind them to the truth that all literal belief in god is the same, and all of it is foolish. The details of their faith blind them to it's opression, even though it is the same as the opression of other faiths which they are able to see because it is not their own. Do we advocate the dismantling of religious institutions? How is that possible without affecting culture? I am often perplexed by this. I believe that belief in the existance of god and the rewards and punishments and laws therof have outlived what usefulness they had in the infancy of human knowledge and need to be swept away before there can be peace on earth. But I marvel at the beauty and diversity of religious culture - ancient traditions, ancient buildings, metaphors that can still provide ethics and life lessons, beautiful works of art, the silent peace of meditation, I am as fascinated by religion as I am sickened by it's destructive power.
Belief in god is comforting. We must not forget that many people enjoy being shepherded, be they herded by God or Hitler or Oprah. Theism or no, the masses of the world do not seek their own answer. This is why religion served a purpose for many ages, it answered questions and built a framework. But now that we have different, better answers, answers founded in greater knowledge of science and civilization, we can't manage the same result. There is no unlearning the billions of believers, and no way to stop them from teaching their children about God, or Santa Claus for that matter, although we can usually un-learn the latter. Returning to the example of me, I am very comforted by my, well, not by belief because there is none, but by the truths I have learned about myself and the world at large from my armchair study of Buddhism and Hinduism. I find it very helpful in my everyday life, and quite possibly would feel lost without it.
Anthropologists originally thought dinosaurs were sluggish, lizardly things. They then learned that they were also very bird-like, the way their bodies were built. Maybe even warm-blooded. But the public's conception of dinosaurs didn't change - I was taught in school that dinosaurs were just giant lizards that dragged their tails many years after this was disproven. What did it take to change the mind of the public? Jurrassic Park. Perhaps our movement needs a hit movie. I can see the name on the marquee - "Not only is there no God, but there never has been a God, and your belief in a literal God is as foolish as a literal belief in the Easter Bunny."
Do you have any answers for me?
yours,
jesse