Not long ago, The Missus turned me on to Matt Taibbi’s blog. I’ve read his stuff on stolen copies of Rolling Stone Magazine, and, of course, I’ve seen him on Real Time With Bill Maher. His blog is a gem, even when I don’t agree with his positions, which is rare. A recent post taking on a pair of bloated academics masquerading as experts on Faith was a pleasure to read, but it was one of his commenters that really nailed it for me. Here’s the quote:
The existence of this eternal bickering between God-people and no-God-people is proof that the Devil exists and is trying to bore everyone to death. Great minds are wasted on this pointless argument. The day that someone actually comes up with an argument that convinces the other side that they are wrong, is the day that I stop believing in the all-mighty power of the self-affirming Ego.
That pretty much sums up how I feel. I have lived all over the country, but it wasn’t until I moved to the South that i encountered so much religion as identity. Sure, I was exposed to it in every State, but it was, in retrospect, mostly in isolated and privileged pockets of society. IIRC, the Los Angeles Times never had a “Religion and Faith” section. The exception might be Utah, where I was asked by nearly everyone to which Ward or Stake I belonged.
Strangely, I find myself be drawn into the subject, mostly, I hope, as a way for me to communicate my perspective to my children in the years to come, so that I don’t foist it on them early in their lives and force them to view it all through some framework I instilled in them. Sure, they’ve asked, but I mostly deflect, to avoid giving them too little or to much information. Its just such a personal thing.
We don’t attend church, which has actually caused my children some grief from their peers at school. One boy’s parents will not allow him to come over, though Nog is welcome at their home. The reason they gave is that we are not Christians. I wondered how they know that? SuperMousey recently had a blow-up with one of her girlfriends, who later admitted that she never had a friend that challenged her beliefs before. I found that refreshingly honest at least.
Its a bit of a trick to live and work here and to raise a family outside of any church-based social structure. It may be years before we know if we pulled it off….
All I know is that we have real, but fixable problems in front of us. Every minute we spend arguing over the existence of God is a minute wasted, and the ones behind us will suffer for it.
The Coyote Chronicles 
Mack:
The Syracuse paper has a religion column on saturdays and lots of other religious stuff finds its way into the local papers.
I don’t really care if people are christians or belong to any other faith until they start making MY lack of it their business. I am quite comfortable being where I am at the moment. It’s not about hating GOD. It’s about not worrying about what comes next. I don’t care, I got enough stuff going on right now to occupy my mind.
They won’t let their kid come to your house but your son can visit them? Maybe that’s because they like the opportunity to work on your son’s “problem” with not having JESUS in his life or fear that you will try to break down their son’s faith with your sly, devilish ways.
I heard an interesting comment by a Saudi Arabian government official yesterday on NPR. He was being questioned about a boycott on women’s intimate apparel stores, by Saudi women. The Saudi version of Sharia forbids women and men coming together in the workplace (although it’s okay in hospitals and government offices) . Women are upset about a very obvious disconnect in Sharia logic that says women can’t work in these stores, because they might wait on men, but allows the male clerks to wait on women and talk to them about highly personal matters.
What the minister said is that it’s really not about religion, it’s about customs and mores. While the answer sounds a bit disingenuous, I think he’s correct. I don’t think all christians are KKKristians, but I do think that a lot of them have an ingrained (and reinforced from the pulpit) distrust and misunderstanding of non-christians. This is nothing new, but it seems to have ramped up significantly in the last twenty five or so years.
For my part I don’t give a damn what people think of my “state of grace” or lack of it, as long as they don’t act on their thoughts.
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I read on the internets somewhere this weekend that Pat Robertson said Christians should not marry atheists.
Seems like they are missing out on a great opportunity to convert people that way.
I’m kidding but really, the fundamentalist/evangelical/right-wing wackadoodle Christians — the ones that the media is always presenting to us as the face of the American church — are in fact a minority in this country, and they are becoming increasingly isolated and out of touch from their neighbors and fellow Americans. They have isolated themselves in Christian ghettos, with their Christian music and Christian books, the megachurch that offers Christian child care and Christian camps and Christian employment. Such self-isolation leads to extremism. I think a large amount of the “fundiegelical” movement is on its way out.
Maybe that’s just me.
I think a large amount of the “fundiegelical” movement is on its way out.
Your lips to God’s ears. ha.
Demo, yup, thats kinda where i am, really, wanna worship cucumbers? Cool. Just don’t share it with me, and we be cool.
Battery operated cucumbers or regular?
So, we’ve heard from the cheap seats…
If people are religious that’s okay by me. It’s when they force a religion on me is when we have problems. You want a bumper-sticker with W.W.J.D. on your car then you better be ready for someone to have a swastika or some other form of hate on the back of their car.(The yin and yang thing.) Either or, Americans should be busy solving problems that we have now, not debating centuries old problems that CAN”T be fixed. Their will always be religious types, agnostics, and atheists. I am glad it is that way, and someone is not telling me what to believe in.
Oh, sure…you want to ban talk radio, but you have no problem with Wanda Sykes.
Not very Christian of you.
😉
Well, she’s “an entertainer” just like Rushbo!