[John Scalzi] The Belief Schism

SF author John Scalzi tackles belief and believers (two related but distinct
things). I always find it fascinating to read the specific nuance that
thinkers have for their thoughts.

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/08/01/the-belief-schism/
The Belief Schism
>
> *This article at New Statesman magazine<http://www.newstatesman.com/relig=
ion/2011/07/god-evidence-believe-world>
> ,* in which (mostly) prominent (mostly) British (mostly) atheists explain
> why they don=92t believe in God, is both interesting in itself and causes=
 me
> to remind myself why I=92m an agnostic who presumes there isn=92t a God, =
which
> is: there=92s no evidence for God, or evidence that a god-like entity (or
> entities) ever crawled around the skin of this world, telling humans what=
 to
> do with their lives. This is different than humans suggesting that a god =
(or
> gods) has spoken to them and told them that bananas are forbidden, or to =
go
> slaughter the people in the next town, or to wear day-glo orange pantaloo=
ns,
> or whatever. That process doesn=92t actually need the involvement of a go=
d; it
> just needs someone with a good enough understanding of primate grouping
> dynamics to sell it.
>
> It also reminds me why I don=92t feel particularly antagonistic toward
> religion as a concept, which is: Hey, if ritual and belief help you get
> through your life, and doesn=92t get in *my* way, enjoy. The fall down he=
re
> is not the concept of religion, but the practice of it, in which many peo=
ple
> seem to believe that it=92s not enough that they have to live as their god
> tells them to, but I do too, and so does everyone else. I find this annoy=
ing
> and typically speaking not strictly required by the person whom the relig=
ion
> purports to represent, and I regret having to spend the time and effort
> pointing out such things to the practitioners.
>
> Likewise I dislike it when people proclaim their religious affiliation and
> then steadfastly ignore the core teachings of it. This is the genesis of =
my
> comment that* I love Christianity, and wish more Christians practiced it*
> *(emphasis mine - JeC)*, although to be fair that complaint could be
> equally applied to practitioners of other religions as well. One of the n=
ice
> things about being an atheist or agnostic is that when you=92re an asshol=
e,
> you can=92t blame your god for it, you just have to own it.
>
> But then there are those who do walk the walk the precepts of their
> religion require (or at least try really hard) =97 the deep principles, n=
ot
> the social cruft that has accumulated around them =97 and I find many of =
those
> people gracious, tolerant and admirable in how they live their life. I do=
n=92t
> follow their particular creed, but I find that what they believe their cr=
eed
> requires of them and how I believe people should act toward each other run
> on parallel tracks, and that=92s fine with me.
>
> It=92s part and parcel of my belief that the apparent ingrained assumption
> that religious folks and non-religious folks exist at varying levels of
> hostility with each other is a bad assumption to have. Many of them on bo=
th
> sides of the belief schism *do*, of course; but they don=92t *have* to. T=
he
> fact that they have that hostility is on them personally.
>
Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |*
*
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