Common sense, good, fanaticism, bad: Part 2
So, as I was saying: the evangelicals.
They say that without their god, there is no way to know what is right or wrong, how one should live. Poppycock.
Right from wrong - it's easy!
Most people I know, thank us, do not have a belief system that is religiously based. Yet, we do not kill, we do not steal, we do not try to hurt people, we think it's a bad idea to cheat on your partner, and we even feel guilty about getting too angry when someone cuts us off in Boston traffic (well, some of us).
All this is more than can be said about the evangelical christians who are trying to take over the country, the right-wing conservatives.
The idea that this country will become a chaotic hellish mess if there is no god is just plain insane. They say that without dictate from above, we will be reduced to the basest, most violent, selfish way of behaving. You know what, maybe they would - in fact, even when they're supposedly in harmony with their god's wishes they are - but that's simply not the way things work for decent people.
The most socially conscientious, caring, kind, compassionate, upright people I know are atheists and agnostics. And guess what? We figured out what acceptable behavior is all on our own! In fact, so could a 10 year old. You learn many important things early in life: if you treat people badly, it is more likely that they will treat you badly; if you see that you have hurt someone, you will commonly feel uneasy for doing so; when you are kind to someone, when you visit an elderly person in a nursing home, when you raise money for a community in need, you feel happy, alive. These things, for most of us, come with healthy human development. They just exist, they just are; just as we learn to breathe, we learn to love and care.
And for those for whom healthy human development is disrupted or thwarted, for those who turn violent and mean spirited, there are reasons why this is the case, and the world of psychotherapy along with the encouragement and love of people has proven to be redeeming and healing.
No gods needed.
Look at the more progressive nations of the world, where religion is not an obsession - Canada, Norway, The Netherlands. These places are much safer places to live than the US. Women and homosexuals are not attacked for existing.
Bad evangelical, bad!
The war in Iraq is an evangelical mission. How many innocent people have been killed as a result? Alan Keyes, republican Illinois senator and former UN Ambassador, abandoned his teenage daughter who is a lesbian. A parent rejecting their child??? These are the morals he so fanatically screams his head off about? And if the child, in Keyes' twisted ideology, is corrupted, and in need of help, how doubly horrific that he is leaving her on her own! Tom Delay is a thief, and a mean man. These people have 'found god' and made our society hate filled, corrupt, and more violent as a result.
jem
They say that without their god, there is no way to know what is right or wrong, how one should live. Poppycock.
Right from wrong - it's easy!
Most people I know, thank us, do not have a belief system that is religiously based. Yet, we do not kill, we do not steal, we do not try to hurt people, we think it's a bad idea to cheat on your partner, and we even feel guilty about getting too angry when someone cuts us off in Boston traffic (well, some of us).
All this is more than can be said about the evangelical christians who are trying to take over the country, the right-wing conservatives.
The idea that this country will become a chaotic hellish mess if there is no god is just plain insane. They say that without dictate from above, we will be reduced to the basest, most violent, selfish way of behaving. You know what, maybe they would - in fact, even when they're supposedly in harmony with their god's wishes they are - but that's simply not the way things work for decent people.
The most socially conscientious, caring, kind, compassionate, upright people I know are atheists and agnostics. And guess what? We figured out what acceptable behavior is all on our own! In fact, so could a 10 year old. You learn many important things early in life: if you treat people badly, it is more likely that they will treat you badly; if you see that you have hurt someone, you will commonly feel uneasy for doing so; when you are kind to someone, when you visit an elderly person in a nursing home, when you raise money for a community in need, you feel happy, alive. These things, for most of us, come with healthy human development. They just exist, they just are; just as we learn to breathe, we learn to love and care.
And for those for whom healthy human development is disrupted or thwarted, for those who turn violent and mean spirited, there are reasons why this is the case, and the world of psychotherapy along with the encouragement and love of people has proven to be redeeming and healing.
No gods needed.
Look at the more progressive nations of the world, where religion is not an obsession - Canada, Norway, The Netherlands. These places are much safer places to live than the US. Women and homosexuals are not attacked for existing.
Bad evangelical, bad!
The war in Iraq is an evangelical mission. How many innocent people have been killed as a result? Alan Keyes, republican Illinois senator and former UN Ambassador, abandoned his teenage daughter who is a lesbian. A parent rejecting their child??? These are the morals he so fanatically screams his head off about? And if the child, in Keyes' twisted ideology, is corrupted, and in need of help, how doubly horrific that he is leaving her on her own! Tom Delay is a thief, and a mean man. These people have 'found god' and made our society hate filled, corrupt, and more violent as a result.
jem
posted by jemcollections at 9:24 AM
1 Comments:
Right on sister (and I mean that literally)!
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