Stay away evangelicals: Part I
You know, I'm just not willing to accept that the beliefs of the 'faithful' are exempt from rational scrutiny. If the evangelicals are going to go ahead with their little plan of taking over the country, if they are going to purport to be public servants, to make the claim that they carry out the will of the people, then sit down for a while, guys, you're under the lights.
For the next few days, I'm going to look at a few of the evangelicals' most egregious offenses.
Today: a consideration of the idea that beliefs arrived at by faith are equal to those arrived at by reason.
Faith and reason are not equal
There's been a historical emphasis on the divide between faith and reason. Fine, Saint (I'm being polite here) Thomas Aquinas decided in On Faith and Reason that certain beliefs could not be arrived at with the use of reason. Thus, the Christian notion of the Trinity is understood only through 'the mystery' of faith. It is inaccessible through rational exploration. To believe it, you need to take the leap.
Similarly, the evangelicals believe that Jesus is a god, and everything the historical figure said (though altered repeatedly over time) translates into types of behavior. Of course, plenty of people disagree about what behavior is implied from what Jesus said (like, 'love thy neighbor' might actually mean 'don't try to dehumanize homosexuals simply because you're too hate-filled and violent to see that homosexuality is acceptable and normal behavior'). But in any case, the laws of the United States should reflect the supposedly immutable laws of this historical figure.
Um, and this is okay with everyone?
We all agree with Thomas Aquinas and the evangelicals that faith is an adequate means of arriving at truth, and from that, at a country's laws?
In my belief system, Sarah McLachlan is a goddess. Before the day begins in elementary schools across the nation, children will be required to sing the second verse of Sweet Surrender. Oh, and those of you who have a hard time understanding this dictate, don't try - you just wouldn't get it.
What the evangelicals ask of non- or variant believers is equally peculiar; creating laws based on their very unique, commonly unshared, and speciously arrived at belief system is repressive, aggressive, arrogant, and hurtful.
The illogical leap of faith that they've made, that informs their beliefs, is just plain odd, in my view. All you have to do to accept any set of beliefs is to suspend reason long and persistently enough, and truth shall be yours? Creepy. Glad if it brings you some comfort, but that sort of defiance of a more reliable means of gaining information is not something I can rightfully or comfortably participate in, especially since the belief system being adopted thereby so consistently lashes out at innocent, peaceful, decent people. Any belief system that advocates such behavior cannot logically be accepted as an adequate one.
The bottom line
What the evangelicals want is for everyone to act in a way they find acceptable. What they want is christian fascism. This is not okay. I don't believe in christianity, and don't want to. Even if their god spoke to me through the heavens, poked me on the shoulder with a giant finger (which, by the way, would have nail polish on it) I wouldn't be interested. I don't want my life to be as limiting and boring as it would be if I were to follow some uncritical, diluted set of rules that don't fit my unique set of experiences and interests. Stay away from me, evangelicals - your reality is not mine, thanks Fortuna.
jem
For the next few days, I'm going to look at a few of the evangelicals' most egregious offenses.
Today: a consideration of the idea that beliefs arrived at by faith are equal to those arrived at by reason.
Faith and reason are not equal
There's been a historical emphasis on the divide between faith and reason. Fine, Saint (I'm being polite here) Thomas Aquinas decided in On Faith and Reason that certain beliefs could not be arrived at with the use of reason. Thus, the Christian notion of the Trinity is understood only through 'the mystery' of faith. It is inaccessible through rational exploration. To believe it, you need to take the leap.
Similarly, the evangelicals believe that Jesus is a god, and everything the historical figure said (though altered repeatedly over time) translates into types of behavior. Of course, plenty of people disagree about what behavior is implied from what Jesus said (like, 'love thy neighbor' might actually mean 'don't try to dehumanize homosexuals simply because you're too hate-filled and violent to see that homosexuality is acceptable and normal behavior'). But in any case, the laws of the United States should reflect the supposedly immutable laws of this historical figure.
Um, and this is okay with everyone?
We all agree with Thomas Aquinas and the evangelicals that faith is an adequate means of arriving at truth, and from that, at a country's laws?
In my belief system, Sarah McLachlan is a goddess. Before the day begins in elementary schools across the nation, children will be required to sing the second verse of Sweet Surrender. Oh, and those of you who have a hard time understanding this dictate, don't try - you just wouldn't get it.
What the evangelicals ask of non- or variant believers is equally peculiar; creating laws based on their very unique, commonly unshared, and speciously arrived at belief system is repressive, aggressive, arrogant, and hurtful.
The illogical leap of faith that they've made, that informs their beliefs, is just plain odd, in my view. All you have to do to accept any set of beliefs is to suspend reason long and persistently enough, and truth shall be yours? Creepy. Glad if it brings you some comfort, but that sort of defiance of a more reliable means of gaining information is not something I can rightfully or comfortably participate in, especially since the belief system being adopted thereby so consistently lashes out at innocent, peaceful, decent people. Any belief system that advocates such behavior cannot logically be accepted as an adequate one.
The bottom line
What the evangelicals want is for everyone to act in a way they find acceptable. What they want is christian fascism. This is not okay. I don't believe in christianity, and don't want to. Even if their god spoke to me through the heavens, poked me on the shoulder with a giant finger (which, by the way, would have nail polish on it) I wouldn't be interested. I don't want my life to be as limiting and boring as it would be if I were to follow some uncritical, diluted set of rules that don't fit my unique set of experiences and interests. Stay away from me, evangelicals - your reality is not mine, thanks Fortuna.
jem
posted by jemcollections at 5:58 PM
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