Yep, I think 90% is in the ballpark, but it's not the percentage as
much as the trend which bothers me. That, plus the fact that "we" are
just passively allowing the degradation of education, and the teaching
of critical thought to continue as is in Texas, and other parts of the
religion-dominated regions of our country.
Don't see the religion factor? Look again.
--Doug
No, I do see the strong correlation with religion... in this case
various forms of Christianity.
The *other* Abrahamic (Ibrahamic) religions (Islam, Judaism, and
variants) seem just as bad. I honestly don't have enough experience
with any others... the *eastern* religions in their original form look
more like mystical philosophical teachings than what I'm used to, and it
is easy enough to cherry pick from their various translated writings to
get a good warm fuzzy feeling, but the westernized versions (in
particular American Buddhism) is infected with the very same stuff that
buggers us in the Abrahamics... but that may be more about *us* than
about the original religions/spiritual-paths/philosophies?
On the flip side, I *still* insist that a lot of the "anti-religious"
rhetoric is sadly it's own form of religion... My ex- M-in-Law, a
staunch Catholic who pretty much thought she knew more than anyone
(excepting the Pope, cuz he was speshul) about the "Truth" had a real
bone to pick with the "Secular Humanists". At the time I thought she
was *just* nuts... but since then I have come to realize that while she
*was* nuts, she might have known something.
While *I* do ascribe to the same tenets ( from Wikipedia ... Humanism
embraces human reason <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reason>, ethics
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics>, social justice
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_justice> and philosophical
naturalism <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_naturalism>,
whilst specifically rejecting religious dogma
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogma>, supernaturalism
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernaturalism>, pseudoscience
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience> or superstition
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstition> as the basis of morality
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morality> and decision making) I find that
many self-avowed Humanists are Jack-Humanists, discarding reason and
ethics and social justice when *their* convenience or comfort is on the
line.
My point, vaguely, is that I think my enemy's (fundamentalist right-wing
whackos) enemies (overzealous, selfish, lazy, thoughtless goofballs
hiding under the trappings of progressive, liberal, and humanist
thinking) are not my friends either.
Also from Wikipedia Secular Humanism
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism>: /the humanist life
stance emphasizes the unique responsibility facing humanity and the
ethical consequences of human decisions. Fundamental to the concept of
secular humanism is the strongly held viewpoint that ideology---be it
religious or political---must be thoroughly examined by each individual
and not simply accepted or rejected on faith/
Too many of us treat our irreligion and even rational skepticism as if
it were faith itself. We mouth the words of thorough examination while
blindly following the herd of other skeptics and rationalists, etc.
The failure in our self-enlightenment as a species or culture may be
most painfully evidenced in the places you point, but I'm afraid it runs
through us more completely. With very few exceptions, I feel we are
*all* just seeking a choir to join so that we can preach to ourselves.
In that sense, your comment that "we are screwed, and we let it happen"
gets upgraded to "we are screwed and we are doing it to ourselves".
Said another way, if all the religious screwballs got wiped off the
planet (or had an epiphany to our liking) tomorrow, we would only be
marginally better off. At best, I'd call it, "a good start" but at
worst, I fear we would discover that lurking inside of the rest of is an
"ignorant, irrational tyrant" just waiting for the field of the bigger
bullies to leave the field so we can take over the playground.
But then, if I watch the "birds and the bees" in their (springtime now!)
dance, I realize that this kind of continuous struggle for "predicting
the future by creating it" is just what life itself is about.
- Steve
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