Religion is a touchy and sensitive subject, so I'm going to try and be as sensitive as I can. I'm personally an atheist and reading chapter 17 of Brave New World had me thinking of religion and society. Mustopha Mond says, "God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness." Part of me believes that's true. Globalization and the growth of the trade has created a threatening world for religion. Religious violence has increased all over the world especially in the Middle East and full scale wars are being fought over it. Is this just an example of how religion can't function in this ever changing world?
Here at home people are starting to notice too. Religulous (a mixture of the words religion and ridiculous) is a documentary by pundit Bill Maher who talks about and spreads his beliefs (or lack of) in God. It talks about the many hypocrisies in many popular religions and how he believes religion is holding back society from growing into something better. I personally believe religion DOES hold society back and is credited for thousands of years of violence and persecution which has still not ended. I'm not saying a world without religion is a perfect one nor the abolition of religion will create world peace (because it surely won't), but it will bring a world where people are free to speak their ideas (ideas like, I don't know, gay marriage or women's rights or control of one's own body) without fear of persecution by those who think its against the will of some all knowing entity. Of course this is my opinion and I'd like to hear others.
Quang, I agree with you; I am an Atheist as well. In fact, let me recommend a book to you, to everyone. The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins. An excellent literary work.
ReplyDeleteWith that aside,
This is a subject on which everyone has an opinion. And by starting this thread, you have opened the doors of an ancient debate that perseveres to this day and has manifested itself in many forms throughout the pages of history, from full scale wars to intellectual debates.
I faced discrimination in my own country because the majority of the population is Catholic and I wasn't. I was foolish enough to speak my mind. You are 150% right, Quang. Persecution continues to this day. I have suffered it.
America, sadly, wasn't much better.
I have seen how divisive religion can be here.
Think about this: if a politician admitted he was an atheist, gay, or an adherent of a religion other than Christianity or its derivatives his political career would be over.
Why? Because a great many people are unwilling to vote for someone who is of a different religion than themselves.
Thomas Jefferson would die again of disappointment if he saw the religious fanaticism that pervades this country. He is an idol of mine, for speaking against the treacherous ways of organized religion in a world where doing so was grounds for social banishment.
Let me give an example. You've all heard, I'm sure, of Thomas Paine. The man who wrote common Sense, a pamphlet that helped ignite the Revolutionary War.
Postman, I think, mentioned briefly that he died a lone man. Only six men attended his funeral, two of whom were freedmen. Paine died in penury, abandoned by former political allies. Why? He wrote a pamphlet criticizing Christianity. Only the honorable Thomas Jefferson remained an ally of Paine.
Now, I will refrain from going on any further. It seems I got carried away.
I was going to recommend the Dawkins book to you, Quang. We do a nonfiction book review at midyear.
ReplyDeleteThanks for starting this debate. I very much enjoy hearing people’s opinions of religion.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a catholic household, But I dreaded Sunday as a child because I knew I would have to listen to the priest blab on about this man who everyone seemed to think was amazing. I would silently think to myself, “If this God guy was so great why doesn’t he ever show up?” I began questioning at a ridiculously young age. When I was 7 I asked a priest, “You say that Jesus was a human being right? Then why worship him, he is a man, not a God?” Needless to say my mom had a rebellious child in her hands.
I guess I am considered an agnostic, although I wouldn’t call myself that. I just couldn’t be part of a religion where they taught, you could be sent to a place of misery for all of eternity. I do believe in a higher power though.
I agree with a lot of the things you guys said. I liked the religious is a gross between religion and ridiculous, it made me laugh. One pretty bad example of that was my history class last year. On a final test we had a question that asked us the difference between God and the Greek gods. I got the question wrong when I wrote, “The Greek gods were hundreds of deities worshipped by the Greeks. God is a higher power who is believed in by Christians and Many other religions.” When I later asked him what the correct answer was he said he wanted to see this answer instead, “People created gods. God created people.” The ridiculous plays in here, my teacher was so engulfed in his religion it effected his teaching. Everyone knows teachers teach facts not opinions, apparently my history teacher missed the memo. All year I heard lectures about how evolution is bull crap, Gay people are condemned to hell, and how Muslims are idiots. Listening to this teacher made me sick to my stomach and embarrassed to be Christian.
Some people take religions too far, two great examples are the KKK and The Nazis. But on the other hand where would we be without Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King Jr.? I recently had a chat with a friend of mine who is Jehovah Witness, I asked her where mother Teresa was right now. Heaven or Hell. (ps Jehova Witnesses believe only their religion gets into heaven.) She looked at me and couldn’t tell me an answer.
I guess I’ve blabbed on enough for now. I would love to read more comments!
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ReplyDeleteQuang,
ReplyDeleteI've gone through my doubts in the Lord just as any normal human would. There have been times when I think God isn't real and times I am so desperate for help I pray to that God that just a few words ago I didn't believe. I was taught (from my fathers side) that "Atheism" is for youngsters; teens and kids that are too young to know all that is out there in the real world. But for some odd reason I feel that if I don't believe in God, I'll go to hell. Ridiculous right? Growing up and being forced to embrace two religions, I believe, is contradictory and unfair, so I would ask my 2nd grade teacher if God faxed the bible down to Earth; when she couldn't answer this I totally gave up on God, at that moment I just knew there was no Gods or prophets but as I got older my opinions changed. Like Anna said, I do believe in a higher power but I believe more in scientific explanations on how humans were made, but that doesn't mean I am throwing in the towel about God. Evolution is something I will always consider even though I am Mormon/Jewish.
I actually don't accept being labeled as a "Religious Person", I'm actually not all that religious per se. Can't I believe in God without being labeled Mormon or Jewish? I guess it's just something you must deal with until you turn 18 and move out. I just think it's hypocritical of me to call myself Mormon when I don't agree with anything they believe in/practice, it's not personal, I just don't believe in being overtly religious. Anna's opinion was great but Quang, religion is a touchy subject, (Anybody who knows Leanza knows that, haha) but “A thorough reading and understanding of the Bible is the surest path to atheism." -Donald Morgan. ('Nuff Said.)