Oh noes! My religion has been mocked!

August 25, 2008 at 1:10 pm (belief)
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When it comes to religion, one treads from the calm pools of reason to the dangerous currents of high emotion.  It seems that some religious beliefs are so fiercely held, that to challenge them invites an almost primal response.  We’re all very familiar with the massive and violent demonstrations in the Muslim world at any real or perceived slight of the Qu’ran or Muhammad.  Many in the west are appalled such displays, but, apparently, only because it’s not their religion that’s being disparaged.  When a college student absconded with a  Eucharist wafer, for example, it earned him instant Catholic vilification and calls to kick him out of school.

I was reminded recently of this tendency toward emotional overreaction, abeit on a milder scale, when chancing upon a recent blog entry from a Christian remarking on an atheist “de-baptism”.  It seems some atheists are marking their deconversion from Christianity by having themselves blowdried, a mocking counterpoint to baptism’s immersion in water to signify the washing away of “sins”.  This Christian found the event “sad,” “sarcastic,” “insipid,” and “uninspiring” because “baptism is a statement and commitment to humility, growth and change. The de-baptism…is simply about declaring ‘unfaith'”.

This is the religious myopic mind at work, which categorizes all its sacred practices and beliefs as “good,” and, therefore, every other practice or belief as automatically “bad.”  The real point of the event was ignored on this Christian, which was to bring atheists out of the closet and demonstrate to politicians that we are voters too.

You see, the religious mind allows no possibility that its cherished beliefs may be false.  The entertaining of such a notion is even held to be evidence of the devil’s influence and a sinful demonstration of one’s lack of faith.  This is why even the most innocuous expressions of mockery toward religion are met with disproportionate outrage and disdain.  All religious followers may not be so dogmatic, but the teachings of the major religions logically lead to absolutist, albeit incompatible, paradigms.  This fact explains religion’s tendency to fracture, even within sects, and the concordant violence which periodically erupts among them (Catholic vs. Protestant, Sunni vs. Shia, etc.).  If you believe you hold The Divine Truth, it follows anyone who disagrees is “evil”.

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God as Bumbling Chef

August 20, 2008 at 5:30 pm (belief)
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The theory of evolution has always presented a tremendous number of problems for theists.  Besides the obvious complete upending of the traditional creation myth, the theory elegantly demonstrates how order and design can emerge from mindless chaos, given time.  Previously, only an intelligent agent was thought capable of creating the design we see in nature.  While some theists still deny evolution, others who’ve faced the obvious truth of the theory, many of whom support the idea of Intelligent Design, reconcile their beliefs with the justification that God used evolution to create the diversity of life on earth, “guiding” the process to produce us.

No evidence is actually put forward to support this view; rather, it is surmised.  Since the existence of God is assumed a priori, he must have used evolution in some manner to populate the planet with a diversity of life, and, ultimately, humanity.  Since we are myopic creatures, say these evolutionary theists, who are we to suggest this was not the optimal way?  Evolution and theism are not incompatible, they correctly, if lamely, point out.

Before critically examining this view, let’s step back for a moment and recall how costly and time intensive evolution is.  It took almost a billion years after Earth’s formation for the first pre-life forms to appear, the prokaryotes.  After a couple billion more, the first true cells appeared, the eukaryotes, upon which most current life is based.  It took another 700 billion years for multi-cell organisms to arrive.  Throughout all this time, billions upon billions of lifeforms were born and died.  Finally, humanity appeared, which apparently was the goal all along.

With this in mind, let’s compare how atheists and theists view evolution.

Atheist: Evolution is a natural, mindless, and meandering process, without supernatural direction.

Theist: Evolution is a supernaturally-directed process, but God made it only appear to be natural, mindless, and meandering.

Both views are possibly true, but which is simpler and therefore to be preferred?  I’ll let you be the judge of that.  But the obvious question theists need to answer is, why would God utilize a process that, for all intents and purposes, makes it look like he had no hand in it at all?  What happened to the heavily intercessionist deity–you know, the one who will blow up the world some day–we’ve been told exists all along?  What’s more, evolution means no Adam and Eve, and therefore, no Original Sin, which pretty much collapses the whole raison d’être of their religions in the first place.

As quaky as the theistic creationists are, they’re to be commended for at least adhering to a consistent view of God, one that , according to their holy books, created life, the universe, and everything about 6,000 years ago.  It’s just that creationism is akin to belief in a flat-earth or geocentrism in its total rejection of reality.  Theistic evolution, on the other hand, makes God appear to be some kind of bumbling chef, toiling away in his kitchen earth to finally (!) achieve the dish he intended.  No wonder many creationists wail and gnash their teeth at evolution.

Once again, Occam’s razor trumps theism.

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Is It Springtime?

August 14, 2008 at 4:26 pm (health, relationships)
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My life for the past 5 months has been a winter.  All of last year, I was in a relationship that was as topsy-turvy as a rollercoaster.  It was a times extremely thrilling and supremely depressing.  Rarely had I enjoyed a women’s company so much as when I was with her.  But we were never very serious, though I loved her. As nature herself withered during the winter, so did our relationship.

I miss her terribly, and it’s been very difficult recovering from the loss.  Motivation to go out all but disappeared. I mostly stayed at home, slowly growing out of shape.  I distanced myself from friends and other relationships.

I always knew, however, that this was but a phase and I would be back to active socializing. I just didn’t know when.  Slowly, but surely, like a sapling, the desire has returned.  Lately, I’m happy to report, it’s been in full bloom.  Part of the reason for isolating myself was a loss of confidence.  The 10 lbs. in weight gain didn’t help, nor the skin problems.  These, I’m taking care of. Last I checked, I was down about 3 lbs!  But the really heartening thing is that my social abilities, particularly with women, haven’t dwindled.  If anything, they’ve gotten a little better. The attention I’ve been getting when out dancing has greatly restored my confidence.  I gotta watch getting too cocky.

I’m feeling more motivated.  I’ve begun my new house search in earnest.  I’m not only returning to salsa, but plan to pick up cha cha again too.

A breeze at my back, the sun on my face.  Spring feels good again.

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The Potemkin Olympics

August 12, 2008 at 10:28 pm (world affairs)
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In 1787, as the story goes, the minister in charge of the successful Russian campaign to conquer Crimea, Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin, erected fake villages to impress the visiting Empress Catherine II with the new conquests.  Thus a new expression entered the lexicon: Potemkin village.  It means to give a false veneer of progress or success in order to mask an undesirable reality.

Anyone who has followed China’s preparation for the 2008 Olympic games will immediately appreciate the parallels.  The Olympics are tremendously important to the country, in the eyes of its leadership. They are a chance to show the world how far it has advanced toward modernity.

To be sure, China has indeed made huge strides, but as story after story has amply documented, the underlying reality apparently is not quite up to the standard China’s leaders hope to convey.  And so, no effort has been spared in order to correct the “deficiency”.

The latest example to come to light is the performance of the little girl who sang “Ode to the Motherland” during the Opening Ceremony.  It turns out her voice was considered not suitable, in the minds of China’s supremely image-conscious leaders, and so another was subsituted in its place.  Only her face was fit, so she was required to lip-sync the performance.  It was “in the national interest,” rationalized a member of the Chinese ruling circle.

Small potatoes, you may think, but this is merely the latest string in a long pattern.  Just a few days ago, we learned that parts of the Opening Ceremony were actually computer generated.  China’s Potemkin efforts have not been restricted to simple enhancement.  Entire sections of Beijing have been walled-off as too unseemly for foreign eyes.  Information on the Internet considered unfriendly to the country has been blocked by the Great Firewall, even to visitors.  Even some Olympic athletes had their visas revoked for fear they would speak critically of the hosts.

And so it goes.  Our view of China during these Olympics has been carefully managed by its censors and propagandists.  The real China?  Who knows.  But a country which needs to manipulate its image more carefully than a Hollywood star is not a modern one.

I’m skipping these Potemkin Olympics.

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This Blog’s Purpose

August 12, 2008 at 4:56 pm (Uncategorized)
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Humans are quintessentially social animals, and the Internet offers opportunities for interaction never before experienced in our history. Since 1993 I’ve traversed this new medium, in countless ways, variously exploring new ground or remaining within my favorite haunts.  The net is inherently a part of me.  It connects me to the world.  It makes humanity a little larger than it has ever been, and I feel I’m contributing a small part to this positive development.

I love discussion, but have never been very good at thinking off-the-cuff.  I need time to collect, consider, and express my thoughts.  The web is thus an ideal platform for me, and I’ve made continual use of it, from Usenet, to discussion boards, to blogs.  Discussion of this type offers an ideal way to expand my knowledge, to interact, and yes, sometimes to simply sound off.

This blog will be my soapbox.  Readers will not be treated to a single topic, but a diversity.  You may not agree with my opinions, but if you challenge them (and I hope you will), be prepared for a spirited and informed debate.

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