It's amazing how well I remember this. I couldn't have been older than 7 or 8. It was at Sunday School and the nice smiling woman was telling us kids the story of Noah and she gets to the part where Noah gathers 2 of every animal onto his boat.
This was the moment I thought
1. what a crock
and
2. shut up
3. Just go along and nod my head.
Now this was very hard for me as I was intensely inquisitive and never shy about asking questions. But I also somehow knew that challenging these teachers wouldn't go over well.
Christopher Hitchens speaks of a similar moment in the beginning of his book God is not Great and I just listened to him saying in an interview how other atheists talk about having had similar moments.
Hitchens describes a moment when his teacher while on a nature walk said "that God made plants green because it was pleasant to the eye". He just knew then that his sweet teacher was making it up. And like me, he never said a word.
I mention this moment as I assume that many many of you have had similar moments. And also to point out that for religions to persist they require that silence. Like a movie they must suspend reason and rationality to be successful.
And for most of my life, I went along so I could get along. But now I just can't. Maybe it's age and maybe it's the understand that silence makes me complicit.
If these beliefs were benign and kept to the individual, I wouldn't care. But they are almost all not benign and not kept to themselves. No, believers are usually compelled to spread the "good news" more fervently then the Coronavirus. These beliefs create an "us vs them" mentality. They value revelation over reason, and faith over skepticism and critical thought. It's one thing to say love your neighbor, it's another to say homosexuality is an abomination. And just because people call you Reverend it doesn't make you special deserving of respect.
I certainly want to get along with others. But I just can't stay quiet any more. This is why I feel compelled to speak up when believers share it. I'm curious about your position. Is it better go along or should we speak up?
This was the moment I thought
1. what a crock
and
2. shut up
3. Just go along and nod my head.
Now this was very hard for me as I was intensely inquisitive and never shy about asking questions. But I also somehow knew that challenging these teachers wouldn't go over well.
Christopher Hitchens speaks of a similar moment in the beginning of his book God is not Great and I just listened to him saying in an interview how other atheists talk about having had similar moments.
Hitchens describes a moment when his teacher while on a nature walk said "that God made plants green because it was pleasant to the eye". He just knew then that his sweet teacher was making it up. And like me, he never said a word.
I mention this moment as I assume that many many of you have had similar moments. And also to point out that for religions to persist they require that silence. Like a movie they must suspend reason and rationality to be successful.
And for most of my life, I went along so I could get along. But now I just can't. Maybe it's age and maybe it's the understand that silence makes me complicit.
If these beliefs were benign and kept to the individual, I wouldn't care. But they are almost all not benign and not kept to themselves. No, believers are usually compelled to spread the "good news" more fervently then the Coronavirus. These beliefs create an "us vs them" mentality. They value revelation over reason, and faith over skepticism and critical thought. It's one thing to say love your neighbor, it's another to say homosexuality is an abomination. And just because people call you Reverend it doesn't make you special deserving of respect.
I certainly want to get along with others. But I just can't stay quiet any more. This is why I feel compelled to speak up when believers share it. I'm curious about your position. Is it better go along or should we speak up?
via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2wTWJfP
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