tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681740221183857496.post9195666478755886306..comments2023-09-07T00:55:11.381-07:00Comments on χειρ: The God DelusionUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681740221183857496.post-91814030050980086892010-12-14T04:00:31.511-08:002010-12-14T04:00:31.511-08:00I agree, we were lucky. There were a lot of diffe...I agree, we were lucky. There were a lot of different people we grew up around, most were progressive Christians, some were not religious at all. And I cannot recall ever being denied the freedom to explore and choose my own beliefs. As you point out, it could've been a lot worse. <br /><br />I exercised that freedom when I realized that, contrary to what they say, Christians do not have a special window on truth that no other religion or belief system shares. As I saw it, other approaches to knowledge (many of which deny any supernatural causes) seemed to account for the evidence of reality <i>better than</i> or at least as well as Christianity did. And that was the death knell for my belief. Christianity didn't deserve its special status. Now I categorize it along with other interesting mythologies that have long and complicated histories. If our society could only improve the education and standard of living for everyone I am sure most others would come to the same conclusions as I. (Sadly, I recently heard the national life expectancy just decreased for the first time in years.) <br /><br />But some people never abandon faith in a diety. (Surely they must consider themselves near the apex of progressive Christianity, verging on some sort of interfaith philosophy.) I think the only thing holding them back from letting go of their delusions is fear. Fear of being alone, fear of responsibility, and the fear of helplessness that hides behind egoistic pride. It takes a mature person to consider that they may be wrong (especially when it isn't obvious they have anything to gain by doing so.) Perhaps it is a sociobiological limitation on their part. But I digress...Eric Schaetzlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17658689292611460708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681740221183857496.post-88350189295317162982010-12-13T16:05:05.716-08:002010-12-13T16:05:05.716-08:00I like that way of putting it.
Another thing I w...I like that way of putting it. <br /><br />Another thing I wanted to say about this post is that we are both lucky to have grown up around relatively progressive Christians--that is to say that their beliefs and their beliefs in belief were characterized by being mostly harmless. I was just reading up on how for some people who were raised by creationists or in a creationist community, simple facts that I took for granted were earth-shattering for them, like the fact that dinosaurs existed millions of years ago, not 6,000 years ago. Can you imagine being raised to by such people? I couldn't. <br /><br />And you know, I don't think the kind of Christians we were were the kind who rejected evidence or facts. If anything, I can honestly say that I never felt I needed to reject reality to make it conform to my beliefs. I don't believe you ever did either, nor did our caretakers. I suppose I would describe this kind of Christianity as a kind that builds itself up rather than a kind that tears reality down.<br /><br />Still, I don't know how I ever squared my anti-monarchist/anti-authoritarian mindset with belief in a god other than not really considering it. That <i>divine king</i> aspect of Christianity is the one thing that grates on my nerves during Christmas as it pervades even the best religious Christmas carols.Aratina Cagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05191120796865740975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681740221183857496.post-30945788047624671472010-12-13T13:01:22.650-08:002010-12-13T13:01:22.650-08:00I should clarify that I meant belief in the genera...I should clarify that I meant belief in the general sense of the word; as something more akin to an “awareness of the numinous or the transcendent”. But I would formulate my opinions differently now. After reading Dawkins I read Hitchens, who pointed out that “There can be no serious ethical position based on denial or a refusal to look the facts squarely in the face.” And this, for me, is the starting point for anything worthy of my belief. I think ethical beliefs are possible, so long as they account for the facts.Eric Schaetzlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17658689292611460708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681740221183857496.post-48154049721007315832010-12-12T22:21:21.978-08:002010-12-12T22:21:21.978-08:00I think I'm a little more strident in that I d...I think I'm a little more strident in that I dislike belief in gods and I dislike belief that belief in gods is worth having in practice, but then I tend to see god beliefs as an extension of monarchical servility amongst believers and a danger for our national and global society. Such thinking does not sit well within a democracy, and I believe we see the outcome of it reflected in the growing wealth disparity in the USA and the world.Aratina Cagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05191120796865740975noreply@blogger.com