So the first sentence in our section this week really go me thinking. "atheist means communist" was said to be true during and post the cold war. Atheists at this time really made it a point to try and separate any religious affiliation with public requirements.
For example, Madalyn O'Hair filed a suit against her sons school because they began each day reading a chapter in the bible. She played a huge part in making this a prominent issue where the court ruled in her favor and banned any type of bible reading as a requirement in a public school.
In this case the Atheist side opposed the religious side with no prominent Agnostic middle.
Taking this into account, it's interesting to think about the religious vs. nonreligious side and what form of structure they'd prefer.
In VERY general terms, (in case I offend anyone in this statement), many of the people with strict religious views are ignorant and selfish with the world that doesn't concern them directly. By looking at their selfish religious take often results in them being content with the belief that only people like themselves are safe. They can live with this theory with no weight on their conscience about the rest of the people on this planet, and won't even take into account that their view is actually a view of the minority.
Compare this to capitalism. There is strong evidence that proves that capitalism has been a main contributor to the horrible economic state our country is in. Capitalism is a nutshell is the economic system in which investment in and ownership ofthe means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth ismade and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, and in theory this provides jobs for the rest of the community
Now which group of people have the most support for a capitalistic society? Conservative Republicans, looking around at the "bible belt" we can see that a majority of people with strong religious views consider themselves both.
DQ. Once again I am not generalizing every religious person in this statement but if you look at the selfishness that equates to both sides can you draw the same parallels I did?
Question
Madalyn O'Hair had what view?
A. Christian
B. Buddhist
C. Muslim
D. Agnostic
Answer: D
She was hard-core atheist, not agnostic.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that the strongly religious people tend to be very close minded and sometimes judgmental, I think the same can be said for the atheist of the world. At least in my experiences that is. It seems like any person that takes their beliefs to the "absolute" level, meaning they never doubt where they stand, stops taking other peoples feelings, thoughts, and beliefs into account.
ReplyDeleteat this time there was no definite middle ground.
ReplyDeleteExtreme Atheists were needed to counteract the religious side in this instance in order to achieve a balance.
I think generalizing strictly religious people as being ignorant and selfish proves the selfishness of the one saying so. In most religions peace and understanding are highly favored; therefore it's the interpretation and perception of the people themselves as to how they will react to other types of lifestyles. Anyone that decides that they are supremely right, has crossed into the selfish and ignorant path. That could be said for any religion or non religion or culture or group, even at the individual level. The subject matter of religion is based too much off of personal existence and perception to generalize.
ReplyDeleteI'm just playing devils advocate. I'm a free thinker surrounded by different groups of christians who all think they are right. They often generalize and don't even acknowledge that they do. I'm not pointing fingers at individuals, just throwing fire back at fire.
ReplyDeleteWhy would you want to make the fire bigger when you can be the one the brings the fire hydrant: at least for your own piece of mind. I know that religious people can be frustrating because I was one but when you give yourself the chance to chill and find your own "god of peace' then you allow yourself to perceive the god that was meant for you to be guided by. It's purely individual to me which is why I suppose I can understand both sides of our conversation.
ReplyDeleteLol just saw something I decided to have an opinion about... Nothing wrong with that. I don't normally generalize because I understand every person is different. But this is the same battle they had when the agnostics fought religion so my generalization is only aimed to shape concept I was trying to draw. I found it interesting that if you generalize strict conformist groups you come across close minded selfishness, therefore I generalized. That does not mean I generalize different groups all the time.
ReplyDeleteYeah that makes sense. I don't say any of this to argue, just to debate and question. Like my dad always said, "The tongue is sharper than a sword." I'm just kidding though. He never said that. I just bs-ed that. But it did sounded pretty legit if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteHaha I'm often afraid to bring up strong issues like this... But there is no way to improve a situation unless the issue is stated. I'm not saying you personally contribute and support capitalism, however it is a problem that is endorsed by a large number of christians, muslims and other groups of people who live only for their own good. Generalizing may offend people, but it also causes a controversy and therefore grabs their attention. So if I can make an issue prominent by stepping on a couple toes, I'd feel better then never saying anything at all.
ReplyDeleteReligion isn't a huge portion of my life right now so I don't feel compelled to try to fix the skewed version of christianity the bible belt kids know. I do have several issues with the institution of church itself because it's substitution for actually seeking a god for yourself.
ReplyDeleteBUT after trip on halloween, I have found a new peaceful almost hippiesque vibe about everything. My God is only mine because he's different for me than anyone else and I'm accepting of EVERYONE. haha like everyone everyone: Not the "oh i'm accepting of everyone except gays/lesbians and soldiers". No no that's not me. that's actually a pet peeve but i've been lucky enough to not have to deal with it in my home town or amongst my friends.
I know you're on your journey to finding yourself and the place you want place your faith; therefore, I can only hope you find the peace and love that I have :)
In my opinion Capitalism is what the big players in the world today form their economy around. So it is essentially the only choice our country has. Also although capitalism has ups and downs it also encourages growth and constant innovation which in my opinion will always trump other types of stagnant economic systems.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you're enlightened babe,
ReplyDeleteI am also content with myself, even on this journey and I always try and live in a manner to have a balance. The journey itself doesn't take away from my inner peace, I simply don't want to settle just yet.