I took a shot at Richard Dawkins last night on Facebook, because there was a photo meme depicting women's suffrage being opposed, racial equality being opposed, and gay marriage being opposed--in that case, with really offensive names for those who are same-sex attracted--and then it said, "When will you realize you're on the wrong side of history?" It richly noted that it was sponsored by The Dawkins Institute For Science and Reason. Let me be impolite here: When did a bunch of atheists corner the market on those two things?
First off, let me be direct and get the personal stuff out of the way. New Atheist Guy I Know, I'm calling you out, buddy. If you want to believe whatever, fine. But you're not half as smart as you think you are, and if you put aside your anger and try to think clearly, you might begin to see that one can make arguments against a whole lot of popular political things you like (gay marriage, abortion, whatever) without ever picking up a Bible. And you don't have to "hate" anybody. It's easier to dismiss people with ideas you don't like than it is to listen to them. I'm going to do a little unfair psychoanalysis of my own. Nominally Catholic father, young mother who got married because that's what you're supposed to do. It didn't work out. Mom "got religion" either then or later, and seemed like an alien from another planet to the guy whose Catholicism was more like the brand on a cow. Maybe some other stuff happened. But first off, you could just admit that you're angry about the whole thing. I wonder what Dawkins is angry about? I'd be mad at God, too, if these people who chatter about Him so much can't even realize how much damage they caused.
And frankly, I'd run away to the woods myself, do some drinking and whatnot. Find some people who just get it (because they've been through it, too) and F$#@ everybody else. Religious conservatives? Political conservatives? What's the difference? All just liars with secret skeletons in their secret closets.
I get it. And I might even do it, too, but for this one thing: There's only so long I can seek pleasure for its own sake, or hang with people doing the same thing, before I realize that it's not enough. I'm not truly fulfilled, and I'm still angry.
I digress. I'm not a philosopher, but has Dawkins or Sam Harris heard of metaphysics? They must know the Greeks argued to the existence of a First Cause from reason alone well before Jesus or Sarah Palin showed up. One sign I saw--since these atheists "evangelize" now--said, "There's probably no God. Relax, and enjoy your life." How? What does "enjoy" even mean, without reference to a Supreme Good, through which our life participates to a greater or lesser degree?
Actually, I really enjoyed Sam Harris' TED talk on ethics. He holds a pretty solid virtue ethics that he thinks we can hold without God. Who's gonna define it, if it isn't written in the world itself by the Creator? Wouldn't it be a will to power thing? This is what simple folks mean when they say, "What about right and wrong, if there's no God?" It doesn't mean we're afraid of the Big Man in the sky. It means we're afraid of the vagaries of that dude's ethical system, he who holds the power. If he's not bound by a higher Law, he's bound by no one but himself. How well has that worked out in history?
See you later. Sorry for any offense.
First off, let me be direct and get the personal stuff out of the way. New Atheist Guy I Know, I'm calling you out, buddy. If you want to believe whatever, fine. But you're not half as smart as you think you are, and if you put aside your anger and try to think clearly, you might begin to see that one can make arguments against a whole lot of popular political things you like (gay marriage, abortion, whatever) without ever picking up a Bible. And you don't have to "hate" anybody. It's easier to dismiss people with ideas you don't like than it is to listen to them. I'm going to do a little unfair psychoanalysis of my own. Nominally Catholic father, young mother who got married because that's what you're supposed to do. It didn't work out. Mom "got religion" either then or later, and seemed like an alien from another planet to the guy whose Catholicism was more like the brand on a cow. Maybe some other stuff happened. But first off, you could just admit that you're angry about the whole thing. I wonder what Dawkins is angry about? I'd be mad at God, too, if these people who chatter about Him so much can't even realize how much damage they caused.
And frankly, I'd run away to the woods myself, do some drinking and whatnot. Find some people who just get it (because they've been through it, too) and F$#@ everybody else. Religious conservatives? Political conservatives? What's the difference? All just liars with secret skeletons in their secret closets.
I get it. And I might even do it, too, but for this one thing: There's only so long I can seek pleasure for its own sake, or hang with people doing the same thing, before I realize that it's not enough. I'm not truly fulfilled, and I'm still angry.
I digress. I'm not a philosopher, but has Dawkins or Sam Harris heard of metaphysics? They must know the Greeks argued to the existence of a First Cause from reason alone well before Jesus or Sarah Palin showed up. One sign I saw--since these atheists "evangelize" now--said, "There's probably no God. Relax, and enjoy your life." How? What does "enjoy" even mean, without reference to a Supreme Good, through which our life participates to a greater or lesser degree?
Actually, I really enjoyed Sam Harris' TED talk on ethics. He holds a pretty solid virtue ethics that he thinks we can hold without God. Who's gonna define it, if it isn't written in the world itself by the Creator? Wouldn't it be a will to power thing? This is what simple folks mean when they say, "What about right and wrong, if there's no God?" It doesn't mean we're afraid of the Big Man in the sky. It means we're afraid of the vagaries of that dude's ethical system, he who holds the power. If he's not bound by a higher Law, he's bound by no one but himself. How well has that worked out in history?
See you later. Sorry for any offense.
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