Apparently, there's a blogswarm this weekend against Theocracy. BostonPobble's Sunday Question is devoted to it...sorta... I'm personally against the concept of a "Theocracy." And am a firm supporter of the separation of church & state. You'll remember that I recently wrote 2 posts entitled Our Civil Religion and Civil Religion - Establishment of Religion.
You should also know that this week marks the first viewings of the controversial film Expelled. The premise of this documentary is that there are "educators & scientists being persecuted for their belief that there is evidence of design in nature." (Wikipedia)
There is a funny story about the free screening at Mall of America that you should read. (Thanks to GamerGeek for sharing the link with me.) The short of it is that PZ Myers was not allowed in to see the film, but his guest, Richard Dawkins got in.
Who are PZ Myers & Richard Dawkins? Scientists, atheists, secular humanist & most importantly two men who were duped into appearing in the movie under false pretenses.
Now, make no mistake, I'd probably not want to spend time with either of these two camps. I'm generally of the opinion that the Intelligent Design movement is heresy and should be condemned by the leaders of just about every Christian & Jewish organization. I've also gotta take issue with a guy who writes a book calling religious faith a delusion. Still, I'm definitely going to have to side with them godless scientists against them heretical crusaders. Perhaps this is the rational man in me. Perhaps it's the science degree I "mostly" earned. BUT I digress...
This is the playing field. Those are the teams. This is the power and danger of the first amendment. Here in America, they both have the right to spew their crap. It could be worse, they can generally spew the same crap in most of Europe. People just don't care there anymore. Maybe it would be better if both of these camps would just disappear. I'm not sure. Sometimes, I think it's all part of the universe trying to figure itself out. If we didn't have discourse, we would not grow. Sure, it's frustrating that such raw antagonism exists, but that's also life.
In conclusion: Theocracy BAD! Secular Humanism...not a fan! First Amendment ROCKS! Keep your why out of my how and stop disrespecting my why just because your how says my why is lunacy. And if you understood that last sentence, seek professional help!
5 comments:
Have you considered the teachings of the Flying Spegetti Monster?
http://www.venganza.org/
His Noodly Appendage touches us All.
I think you might have a flawed definition of secularism and secular humanism, especially if you're so in favor of the first amendment... that makes you a secularist, since you believe that the government should not legislate religion, and vice versa. Two great tastes that taste great when not interacting at all, right?
Cainam - Funny...very funny
GG - I have no problems with secularism and I like what you said, mostly. Rather, I simplified my argument against secular humanism as a movement that does not give credence to the power of God and spiritual thought in order to create a just and moral society. Even in a secular society, God is still there, stirring the pot. A person does good, believes in common decency, mutual protection, love, all those good things because of God's hand in our lives...Even if that person does not make the connection.
Thank you for explaining your position! Count me among those who do good, believe in common decency, mutual protection, love, etc, but just don't make the same connection that you do. In the end, we're both about letting the world get along together in peace and harmony. We'll leave the violence to video games :)
And movies!
Post a Comment