The timely and celebratory death of Jerry Falwell has got me thinking about God lately. Two of the loudest voices we hear in the battle for God are the atheists and the fundamentalists, the former denying the existence of God because it cannot be proved by reason or science and the latter denying the existence of science because it is inconsistent with God.
Christopher Hitchens seems to be all over the place (well, Hannity & colmes) pimping his anti-God book. He is nothing more than an intellectual snob. Since it is not logical for him that there can be a God and there is no proof, God does not exist. This is a position that I find unreasonable. I agree that religion has brought a lot of bad things in the world. That is not God's fault. It is the fault of those that believe only their path to God is the correct one, and they wish to persecute or kill you if you don't agree with them, which brings me to the fundamentalists.
The fundamentalists are completely unreasonable. It is the fundamentalists, whether they be Muslims or Christians, who are more likely to persecute or kill others because they have a different path to God. They espouse intolerance. The followers of fundamentalism are typically stupid, lazy or completely lack the capacity for reason. Therefore, they allow themselves to be led by (submit to the will of) the likes of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Osama bin Ladin. They will do their bidding, whether it be ramming planes into buildings or shooting abortion doctors. Science cannot be responsible for anything. It is only God. Therefore, we must do as God says, and he only speaks through these leaders.
This leaves those of us in the middle. Some of us believe in both God and science and others are agnostics because they are not quite sure. I believe in God. I am a deist. I believe in God, but I also give credence to science. God is not a concept that human beings can completely grasp. Therefore, those that try too hard either become atheists or fundamentalists. Atheists cannot grasp the concept of God at all, and fundamentalist make it too easy by creating God in human terms. God is great. God is all around, but we cannot fathom that greatness so we must accept what is: God is bigger than us. God gave us the free will to think and live our lives ethically, and we will either get it right or we won't. I can think of two schools of thought that really miss the mark.
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As an atheist (at least I think I am), I think your point is well taken. On the other hand, isn't there some inconsistency in your comments about Christopher Hitchens between this entry and the preceding one?
No, there is no inconsistency in my comments. Though, feel free to point out specifics if you disagree. I merely said I prefer one to be an atheist than a fundamentalist (in the previous post), and I would add because I can't recall in history where wars have been started by atheists. Of course, South Park has some insight on what a world of atheist might look like in the future. Hail Science!
Hey Cartman,
While I understand your points, I have trouble with putting Christian fundamentalists and Islamic fundamentalists in the same category for a variety of reasons. We may disagree with their views of homosexuality or morality, etc., but how many Christian fundamentalists are waging wars, enslaving women and children, bombing planes and trains, etc. Yes, there are a few crazies like Eric Rudolph, but that is a relatively minuscule number. You can disagree with them, and Falwell is certainly worthy of criticism, but most of that sector's intentions are noble - the sanctity of life - even if some of their ideas are out of the mainstream.
Now, which way is Mecca?
What I would say to you is it is more culturally based than religiously based, but you tie the two together and you get planes into buildings.
There are Muslims that live in countries such as Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Albania and Turkey who are culturally very European, and you don't hear too much about the degradation of women in those countries, nor do you hear about the waging of wars. When was the last time Bosnia or Albania started a war. I argue that if you put Jerry Falwell fundamentalism in Afghanistan, and you have the same thing. Those cultures have placed little value on human life for centuries, which predates Islam. Now, put that on your carpet and pray to it.
Bomb Plot Thwarted at Falwell's Funeral: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3201543
This is the fundamentalist mindset. Imaging this brand religion in the Middle East.
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