god rant

the Washington Post has inspired this with a couple of articles. first, this one telling atheists and agnostics that they are wrong. the second is this one which tells Christians and Muslims to get along for the good of the planet, and sure, its a good point, but it does little good without incorporating Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, atheists, and the innumerable others that i could not begin to mention.

the first brings up the thought of religious freedom and respect. Michael Novak attacks atheists and agnostics for not giving in to the 'inherent' belief in god. i cant help but take exception to this. Christians would not take such a broad accusation, that they are wrong in their faith, with good humor. he claims evidence is all around us that god exists. maybe for you it points to god. but it doesnt for me. to me freedom of religion also means the freedom not to have one at all. i dont go around telling believers of any faith they are wrong.

he cites 'prison writing' as evidence. that through this hardship faith is all people have. but thats just a few. im pretty sure there are people out there in prison who have faith in family, friends, and themselves to get through hard times. when i was dying in the hospital, i thought of god. i wished somehow, that i could take comfort in him. but he was absent. there is a void where many claim to find god. i found comfort and strength and courage to fight not in god, but in man. it was my family, my friends, and, in time, myself that got me through that rough period of life. ive never felt the guidance or comfort of god. thats not to say that others dont. for me, the christian god it about as relevant as Zeus, Apollo, or Athena.

i have faith in myself and my fellow man. i think it is in the human character to believe in something, but to say it is god is a mischaracterization. i think its easy to have faith in god, who cannot be proved wrong because he cant be proved. to have faith in man, both others and one's self is more difficult. man is inevitably fallible.

its hard for me to argue this kind of point because it is so insulting and baseless. some see beauty in blind faith, but to me its terrifying and the evangelism of it is despicable. if people are inherently faithful, as you claim, let them come to it on their own. it just pisses people like me off.

the second article is nice. its about religions respecting and engaging each other in order to benefit all. well duh. the problem i see is that everyone with their different religious beliefs thinks they are right, and therefore have trouble engaging and respecting faiths that are wrong. i mean, if you cant even pick the right god, how can you possibly come to understand the issues at hand?

in 'Dogma' Chris Rock, who plays the 13th disciple, says "I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. Life should malleable and progressive; working from idea to idea permits that. Beliefs anchor you to certain points and limit growth; new ideas can't generate. Life becomes stagnant."(thanks to imdb.com)

i have an idea, you have an idea. so what. but my belief is right while yours is wrong. theres a fight in that. we could all stand to back off our beliefs, start having ideas, and start treating other humans like humans. my fellow man is my brother, and i do my best to treat him as such. no im not perfect. and neither are you. were all in this together and i think it will work out a bit better if we can put our differences aside and see how alike we are.

i may have faith in foolish idealism, but thats more productive than insulting whole groups of people who differ from you. it all goes back to my theory that the world would be a nicer place if everyone just quit being a dick.