It's been a few weeks since I announced that my new book "Sister America Goes To Prison: A Memoir" will be available for purchase on Amazon on February 16th of next year. There have been some family matters that have taken my attention away from promoting the book over the past several weeks, including the recent Thanksgiving celebration, but I'm looking forward to the radio interviews and other speaking engagements scheduled over the next few months and I hope to connect with others who share my concern over the parts of our system that simply aren't working.
Since I made the initial announcement, I have had several people contact me privately and share their own experiences with the U.S. penal system. As I know many of my friends were shocked to learn that I had spent time in prison, many of the people who have contacted me that I have known since childhood and reconnected with recently have left me equally surprised that they have been to jail or prison as well. It's not something many people know, but they choose to share it with me. That lets me know that there is a need for more information to be shared about issues related to incarceration, and that there is a shortage of people willing to talk about it publicly because there is so much shame associated with having been incarcerated.
This is one of the reasons I wanted to write this book - not only to give others who have been down the same road as I someone to relate to with regard to the many hidden struggles we "ex-convicts/ex-cons" face, but also to help those who will hopefully never see the inside of a jail or prison understand that there is a veritable mix of non-violent, societal contributors (albeit imperfect and not without errors in judgment) locked up at this moment, their incarceration which neither benefits or protects society in any way whatsoever. Clearly their crimes must be dealt with, but there exists a more intelligent and socially responsible way to do so, and it is through providing details of what one has seen that others may become aware of just how much money and how many lives are wasted and why we truly must do something to change what is quickly becoming a "prison nation".
There have been cynical people who have made comments that because there is money involved in the selling of a book that I am just "trying to get rich". What is laughable about that theory is that it is not unusual for authors to net about five cents an hour after all expenses are paid and the publishers get their cut. What's left isn't much. Sometimes it's not even enough to cover the expenses associated with writing a book (paper, software, computer, etc.)
I would love to write for a living, but thus far, I have had to supplement my meager writing income with things ranging from pizza delivery to app development and programming. If an opportunity comes up to participate in a think tank for pay, I take it. If someone needs a caretaker or babysitter, I do that. I also provide freelance grantwriting services and occasionally land a non-profit management consulting contract. I survive, and surviving allows me to continue doing what I enjoy the most.
Few authors ever make it to the national best seller's list, and many never even sell enough books to make writing a book any more lucrative than a minimum-wage-paying job. Why, then, do people write books? Are we all just playing the odds, hoping we will be one of the lucky few who manage to rise to the top?
For me, it's not about fame or fortune. I'm far too realistic for that to be a motivating factor. The reason behind all of my writing - be it blogging, books, or even social status updates, is to share my thoughts so I may connect with others, and to inspire others to embrace critical thinking and the logical conclusions to which it leads with regard to the many problems we face in our world.
There are those who believe our society to be so cynical that most people can not be motivated to action regarding this issue. These people often ask me whether or not I really think writing this book will make a difference, or whether any of the blogs and social status updates I post are worth the time and effort they require. My answer has always been that, yes, I do. However, over the past year that yes has become more of an "ABSOLUTELY!".
Last year, I began speaking on both internet radio talk shows and local A.M. & F.M. frequency radio talk shows about atheism. I also began blogging more about some of the issues that have come up for me personally as an atheist, and more recently, I have been sharing my views with my social networking groups.
Often, there will be severe opposition to anything I post promoting atheism, especially if it disputes what a religious person has come to believe. People don't respond well to having their world view challenged, and atheism definitely challenges the world view of many superstitious people.
Sometimes things get ugly, with those who do not like what I have to say using profanity and calling me names, and I've had more than a few death threats over the past year from radio listeners in the East Tennessee area in response to speaking about atheism and the nature of religion on local radio programs.
Often, when people are engaging me in a debate on the topic and I am able to invalidate what they are claiming and/or show that the case for skepticism stands up perfectly under scrutiny, they get frustrated with me. "Know-it-all" is a common term used to describe those who refuse to cow down to pseudo-intellectual bullies. (Those who respond to logic with emotional, irrational outbursts of frustration stemming from not being able to get us to blindly swallow their arguments without evidence, or even in the presence of evidence to the contrary.)
This is when many of my well-meaning friends will say "Angie, give it a rest. It's a waste of time." Even though many of them agree with me regarding the subject under discussion, they themselves do not understand why I continue to spar intellectually with people who don't seem to have the emotional maturity to engage in a true debate, much less grasp what is being discussed. And here is where I reveal something that many of you may not realize:
Over the past year, there have been no less than 137 people who live mostly in the southeastern United States who have privately contacted me after reading some of these exchanges to discuss their true feelings regarding religion and to confess that they do not believe there is any supernatural deity in control of this world. They know that I will not "out" them, and they know that I understand their dilemmas and what it's like to be a non-superstitious person in a world that promotes and rewards superstition and often punishes critical thinking.
These people have, for the first time in their lives, reached out to someone to speak the truth about what they believe. Many of them have known all of their lives that they do not believe, and have struggled between the logic that tells them something doesn't make sense and the fear which has been instilled in their minds. They are constantly at war inside, and many develop severe anxiety issues and other psychological maladies that might otherwise not have manifested. When they see that I am willing to boldly dispute unfounded claims presented as indisputable truths, they often tell me that they feel they have found "sanctuary" (a place for refuge and protection) from the religious zealots who seem to come at them from all angles. Truly, I understand where they are coming from, as there are religious forces in this world that threaten to strangle out any and all voices but their own.
I don't know that anything I have ever written has ever changed anyone's mind about anything. I do know that things I have written have given people the courage to fully embrace what they already believed and knew deep within themselves all along, but were bullied into stifling and pretending otherwise. That is reason enough for me to endure the bullying, the profanity, the name-calling, the death threats, the ostracizing, and everything else that goes along with speaking out against the status quo, even if the status quo has become "speaking out" against things that aren't really to blame for the problems we won't take responsibility for ourselves. I spar with those people as well.
Interestingly enough, I have connected with some pastors and clergy members who openly admit that they do not believe in heaven or hell, or even in a god in the supernatural sense. It is truly inspiring to see that people who have invested their lives in ministering to their communities through religion are able to embrace the truth as they see it and remind people that figurative meanings are just as powerful (if not more so) than any literal meanings found in scripture. Here are some articles for those who are interested:
The Morning Bulletin: Priest Doesn't Believe In God
Newsweek: Non-Believing Clergy
BBC News: Dutch Rethink Christianity For A Doubtful World
This is a world in which we are often pressured by the cast of characters in a societal play to speak and behave in ways which none of us truly believes is authentic. It's as though a spell has been cast on humanity, and the only way to break the spell is to provide access to those who are willing and able to defy it.
You may be surprised to learn that someone as outspoken as I often am on the subject is not critical of those who choose to say "in the closet". On the contrary, I am all too aware of what is at stake for many people. Careers are ruined, marriages ended, families torn apart, and social circles fragmented over things such as this. For some, the cost is acceptable, for others, it is not.
I do not have children I must worry about getting bullied by religious classmates at school. I do not have to worry about losing my job since I am self-employed (although undoubtedly I get few clients who are religious and know that I am a non-theist). I do not have to worry about my constituents refusing to vote for me because of a lack of superstitious beliefs. There are people who have too much to lose by refusing to play along. I have little to lose, and I feel that it is important that those of us who can do so speak out not only for ourselves, but on behalf of those who do not find this world safe enough to allow the openness that we all should be able to enjoy.
There are many believers who do not consider themselves to be "religious". There are religious people who are not zealots. Even these people often feel oppressed by those who take religion to an extreme, and I have had many of these people message me privately after reading my exchanges with some of those who engage in zealotry and tell me that, while they are believers, they are appalled at the behavior of some of their fellow-Christians and think I'm not getting treated fairly and that they enjoy reading what I have to say. That tells me that even among religious people there is a need for someone to stand up to the extremists.
I often mention "Christians" when discussing religious extremists, because there are many Christians in this country who behave as American Christian versions of Al Qaeda. They may not have plans to kill anyone, and many of the extremist Muslims do not either, but these militant Christians do declare that everyone else is wrong for not allowing them the privelege of being the only voice when it comes to seasonal holiday celebrations, often getting very angry at those who choose to remain secular in their greetings and refusing to acknowledge that their religion hijacked older holidays, not the other way around.
And then there is this very disturbing information, which made me shudder when I digested it:
I truly have a desire to share information and give as many people as possible the chance to be free of the shackles that the world puts on us through fear, intimidation, and lies. It matters not to me that they may believe their own lies. They are still potentially very dangerous, and they need to be confronted. If that means that some of my friends become annoyed at reading my relentless counter-arguments to those who continue to insist that their faith-based declarations are true and must be accepted or else one will suffer life in the eternal lake of fire, then so be it.
It isn't the people I'm sparring with who are the intended beneficiaries of the debate. It is the people sitting quietly in front of their computers, tablets, or smartphones who dare not reveal themselves who are taking it all in and trying to gather the courage to shake off the heavy chains of delusion that weigh so many down in this one life that we know for a fact we have to live.
A.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
"It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on Thanksgiving...
Charles M. Schultz's birthday was yesterday (November 26th) so I thought this blog post would be particularly timely.
My housemate's grandson came to spend the night on Thanksgiving Eve, and he wanted to watch what I call my "Charlie Brown Holiday Trilogy", which consists of the Charlie Brown Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas specials on DVD. (Sadly, the spinning "Special" logo from the C.B.S. network that used to appear right before specials in the 1970's was not included on the DVD's. I miss that part.)
So, we proceeded to watch the specials, the first one being "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" As I watched this video for perhaps the hundredth time in my life, I noticed something I hadn't noticed before...
The whole show is about faith in its varied manifestations and how it affects our lives. Hidden within the dialog, I found many nuggets of wisdom.
First, we see Charlie Brown in one of many failed attempts to kick the ball as Lucy holds it for him. No matter how many times she fools him, he's always willing to be a sucker one more time, because Lucy knows just how to manipulate him. It never fails. Lucy succeeds in fooling him because she knows that he wants to believe her, and his inability to kick the ball successfully has left him unfulfilled.
In the next scene, Charlie Brown asks Linus who he is writing to, and Linus explains that he is writing to "The Great Pumpkin", and proceeds to describe an entity that brings a bag of toys to all of the children on Halloween night. Even Charlie Brown, one who has been fooled multiple times by the same person over the same football kicking scenario, finds the idea of a toy-bag-toting pumpkin to be ridiculous. It is then that Linus points out just how ridiculous it is that Charlie Brown believes in the man with the red hat and the white beard that says "Ho, Ho, Ho".
Charlie Brown then comments to the viewer: "We are obviously separated by denominational differences."
As he finishes his letter to "The Great Pumpkin", he ends it with "P.S. If you really are a fake, don't tell me. I don't wanna know."
And so it is with religion.
I'm never quite sure where Linus gets his idea about "The Great Pumpkin", but he's definitely loyal to it, even though it means that he misses out on "Tricks or Treats", as Lucy puts it. Snoopy even laughs at the idea, but that doesn't stop Linus.
In the end, "The Great Pumpkin" never shows up. Linus and Sally never get their toys, and they miss out on "Tricks or Treats" while they are waiting for the pumpkin that flies through the air and delivers toys to all of the children.
Linus had faith in "The Great Pumpkin", while Sally had faith in Linus. In the end, Sally gets angry at Linus for cheating her out of "tricks or treats", and learns a tough lesson: just because you like a guy doesn't mean he's trustworthy or that he knows what he's talking about.
Sadly, there are many people who forego huge chunks of their lives in the hopes of receiving something spectacular from an invisible being (or even a real human). I am one of those people, having placed my trust in someone who helped steer me in a direction that ultimately cost me several years of my life. The men who crashed planes into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 gave up their lives in the hopes of obtaining 71 virgins when they died because they believe in a god that rewards them for doing such things.
The Westboro Baptist Church members believe that they will be rewarded in heaven for protesting at the funerals of soldiers and chanting that "God hates America, and God hates the soldiers who fight to save this evil country."
It's astonishing that adults believe in things that are not only more far-fetched than a flying pumpkin with a bag of toys, but that the things they believe in are so nefarious... a god that rewards people for committing mass murder because the people being murdered believe in a different god? That's something the innocent mind of a child would never come up with.
A god that hates American soldiers because they are paid to defend and/or follow orders of the commander in chief of a country that allows people the free will to choose their own religions (or none at all)? Why would a god hate a country that allows free will when said god supposedly gave us free will himself? I'll never know, because I don't even entertain such nonsense.
There may be a god, there may be a great pumpkin, but until I have more to go on than someone else's imagination and/or writings claiming such things, you won't find me waiting in the field of life for an invisible entity to bring me what I want. You'll find me living my life like this is all there is, and if I end up with nothing but a bag of rocks like Charlie Brown, at least I can say I gave myself a fair chance.
A.
My housemate's grandson came to spend the night on Thanksgiving Eve, and he wanted to watch what I call my "Charlie Brown Holiday Trilogy", which consists of the Charlie Brown Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas specials on DVD. (Sadly, the spinning "Special" logo from the C.B.S. network that used to appear right before specials in the 1970's was not included on the DVD's. I miss that part.)
So, we proceeded to watch the specials, the first one being "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" As I watched this video for perhaps the hundredth time in my life, I noticed something I hadn't noticed before...
The whole show is about faith in its varied manifestations and how it affects our lives. Hidden within the dialog, I found many nuggets of wisdom.
First, we see Charlie Brown in one of many failed attempts to kick the ball as Lucy holds it for him. No matter how many times she fools him, he's always willing to be a sucker one more time, because Lucy knows just how to manipulate him. It never fails. Lucy succeeds in fooling him because she knows that he wants to believe her, and his inability to kick the ball successfully has left him unfulfilled.
In the next scene, Charlie Brown asks Linus who he is writing to, and Linus explains that he is writing to "The Great Pumpkin", and proceeds to describe an entity that brings a bag of toys to all of the children on Halloween night. Even Charlie Brown, one who has been fooled multiple times by the same person over the same football kicking scenario, finds the idea of a toy-bag-toting pumpkin to be ridiculous. It is then that Linus points out just how ridiculous it is that Charlie Brown believes in the man with the red hat and the white beard that says "Ho, Ho, Ho".
Charlie Brown then comments to the viewer: "We are obviously separated by denominational differences."
As he finishes his letter to "The Great Pumpkin", he ends it with "P.S. If you really are a fake, don't tell me. I don't wanna know."
And so it is with religion.
I'm never quite sure where Linus gets his idea about "The Great Pumpkin", but he's definitely loyal to it, even though it means that he misses out on "Tricks or Treats", as Lucy puts it. Snoopy even laughs at the idea, but that doesn't stop Linus.
In the end, "The Great Pumpkin" never shows up. Linus and Sally never get their toys, and they miss out on "Tricks or Treats" while they are waiting for the pumpkin that flies through the air and delivers toys to all of the children.
Linus had faith in "The Great Pumpkin", while Sally had faith in Linus. In the end, Sally gets angry at Linus for cheating her out of "tricks or treats", and learns a tough lesson: just because you like a guy doesn't mean he's trustworthy or that he knows what he's talking about.
Sadly, there are many people who forego huge chunks of their lives in the hopes of receiving something spectacular from an invisible being (or even a real human). I am one of those people, having placed my trust in someone who helped steer me in a direction that ultimately cost me several years of my life. The men who crashed planes into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 gave up their lives in the hopes of obtaining 71 virgins when they died because they believe in a god that rewards them for doing such things.
The Westboro Baptist Church members believe that they will be rewarded in heaven for protesting at the funerals of soldiers and chanting that "God hates America, and God hates the soldiers who fight to save this evil country."
It's astonishing that adults believe in things that are not only more far-fetched than a flying pumpkin with a bag of toys, but that the things they believe in are so nefarious... a god that rewards people for committing mass murder because the people being murdered believe in a different god? That's something the innocent mind of a child would never come up with.
A god that hates American soldiers because they are paid to defend and/or follow orders of the commander in chief of a country that allows people the free will to choose their own religions (or none at all)? Why would a god hate a country that allows free will when said god supposedly gave us free will himself? I'll never know, because I don't even entertain such nonsense.
There may be a god, there may be a great pumpkin, but until I have more to go on than someone else's imagination and/or writings claiming such things, you won't find me waiting in the field of life for an invisible entity to bring me what I want. You'll find me living my life like this is all there is, and if I end up with nothing but a bag of rocks like Charlie Brown, at least I can say I gave myself a fair chance.
A.
Friday, November 11, 2011
The Forgotten Ones...
On a day when we thank our veterans for their service and willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country, there is one group that is often forgotten.
America's intelligence personnel are often working overseas in deep cover, unable to even communicate with loved ones or use their own names. They must live in a foreign land under foreign identities and are not even able to keep photos in their wallets or personal effects.
If and when they make it back home after their missions are completed, they are often met with a population who believes that spies only exist in 007 films, and I'm quite certain that they view some of the attitudes and behaviors of their fellow citizens as quite selfish and trite considering what they have given up for us to be able to continue living as we do.
Please, don't ever forget the men and women who work in the intelligence fields of our government. They are truly unsung heroes.
A.
America's intelligence personnel are often working overseas in deep cover, unable to even communicate with loved ones or use their own names. They must live in a foreign land under foreign identities and are not even able to keep photos in their wallets or personal effects.
If and when they make it back home after their missions are completed, they are often met with a population who believes that spies only exist in 007 films, and I'm quite certain that they view some of the attitudes and behaviors of their fellow citizens as quite selfish and trite considering what they have given up for us to be able to continue living as we do.
Please, don't ever forget the men and women who work in the intelligence fields of our government. They are truly unsung heroes.
A.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Can You Spot The Hidden "Arrogant Know-It-All" In This Test?
Please select the arrogant know-it-all from the following two choices:
1) the atheist who doubts, due to a lack of evidence, that there is any divine entity in charge of the universe, much less that any human would have the ability to discern which of 100's alleged entities is "the one true god/faith/religion" and who refuses to blindly swallow what religionists (including those who wrote various religious texts) are selling
This person respects the reliable, repeatable, testable, verifiable system of evaluating information most often referred to as science and does not expect anyone to accept their word for anything and is always willing to back up their claims with factual information. Likewise, they do not accept claims made by others that fly in the face of logic without reliable, repeatable, testable, verifiable information. This person also questions the likelihood that, with 19 major religions all competing for our "faith", any one of them will just happen to be the correct one, and wonders why anyone would assume that they just happened to be born in an area where the one true religion is practiced and that nobody else born in another area with a different dominant belief system could possibly be the "right" one.
2) the religionist who claims a divinely superior intellectual authority and deems themselves qualified to determine - and expects others to agree without question - that there not only IS a divine entity controlling the universe, but that only they and those who agree with them are qualified to determine which one is the "real" one, judging all others to be wrong and/or part of "the deception", with the only "proof" offered that their system is the "real" one being the written materials of - you guessed it - the system they are trying to prove (like trying to prove whether a virus is present on a specimen slide by quoting someone who said there was rather than examining the specimen, or trying to evaluate a person's mental status using their own assessment instead of a diagnostic manual such as the DSM)
This person rejects all rules of logic and critical thinking, and evaluates whether or not something is true based on a system of beliefs that are only respected by them and others who agree with them (they often claim this method is far superior to science). However, they are the first to take a child with an injury or serious illness to a hospital, (unless they're totally bug-nutty) because they secretly know that science has a better chance of saving the child than prayer, although when it's all over, they will "thank the lord" and give nary a mention to the hardworking medical team who gave up time with their family so they could be on call to help others. If they do, it's only to claim that "god was working through the medical team". (Why does any god need to work through a medical team? Why can't god work through something that isn't so expensive, like a tennis racket, or a magic wand?)
Which one of the above two options is the arrogant know-it-all?
Folks. If it annoys you that someone won't accept what you're telling them without question, and doesn't accept your claims as facts or your alleged "proof" as valid when it is only valid according to your own rules and not those of a standard benchmark, it's likely your ego causing you to be annoyed more than anything else. Don't blame it on the person who is refusing to swallow the shovel-load you're trying to cram down their throats, and don't accuse them of "attacking your faith" because they aren't accepting it as true.
The more I experience this kind of behavior, the more I am motivated to establish a safe haven for others who are likely feeling bewildered here in the "bible belt".
Never have I lived anywhere in the U.S. where this behavior is so prevalent, and yet I am fortunate to have some dear family members and friends who are religious, but who are not so arrogant as to assert that they can "prove" they are right. If it's about faith, it's about faith. If you're constantly trying to "prove it" to me, it's likely because you yourself have serious doubts, and are trying to prove it to yourself as much as anyone else.
I can't prove there is OR is not a divine entity or creator. I neither accept nor deny that there is or is not such a being. When pressed to accept it, however, I am persistent in offering questions as to why I should do so, and also in asserting that the "proof" offered up is not proof at all, but someone's interpretation of an unfounded claim as proof. It's like trying to pay your bills with fake money. It's counterfeit proof. Counterfeit money is not legal tender, and counterfeit proof is not a reason to accept anything.
Over the four plus decades that I've roamed the earth, I have been presented with literally hundreds of belief systems. Some are based on divine entities, others are based on nature, supernatural ideas, mysterious powers, and one was even a cult centered around the number 11:11 (referring not just to the time, but to the symbol itself as having some sort of magical power to open up various vortexes at strategic locations all over the planet). Yeah, I know.
The 11:11 cult really appealed to me, because I am fascinated by numbers, and the appearance of the perfect symmetry and balance of the symbol 11:11 appeals to my O.C.D. tendencies. I wasn't able to afford the trip to Egypt, in which the cult members were granted special access to the pyramids so they could do their special dances and open up the invisible vortex. However, at the time I truly believed there must be something very significant happening there.
I've studied and even immersed myself in many belief systems, and contrary to popular opinion, this created no confusion in me whatsoever. Instead, I became aware that all belief systems are very similar in that they all stem from emotional reactions to various aspects of life and our desire to have it all make sense so we can feel in control.
However, the truth is that sometimes life is just chaotic and out of control, and only when you are strong enough to accept that are you able to manage the chaos and enjoy the ride.
What I can tell you is that today not one faith-based system of belief makes sense to me beyond the understanding that it is all an illusion created by our own minds, and that they all make the same amount of sense equally, because they are all based on rules established by themselves and by nothing outside of themselves.
What prompted this blog post was that earlier today, (which is now yesterday), while lamenting the distraction of severe pain I was experiencing in my neck, someone implied that I should "rest my mouth" and "think" and the pain would go away, as though having the gall to question the opinions of others is some kind of character flaw worthy of punishment via physical torture.
Apparently, only those who agree with this person are allowed to have opinions and/or express them, and those who do not agree with them aren't "thinking". Funny, I thought questioning things and evaluating information based on factual criteria and critical thinking processes was what thinking was all about. Guess those fools who hired me to work in their think tanks over the years were duped by my clever tricks, since I'm apparently confused about what "thinking" is really all about and never really knew how to do it after all.
(Sigh.)
It takes courage to refuse to submit to self-appointed authority. Thankfully, I live in a country that makes it legal to refuse to do so, although it clearly is still not socially acceptable to many of the people who enjoy the same freedoms I do and would gladly reserve those freedoms only for themselves and withhold them from others if they could.
America doesn't need to be blessed by a divine entity. America and its people need to start paying attention to the elephant in the living room and stop the madness of self-deception that has caused every travesty known to humanity not brought on by natural disasters.
A.
1) the atheist who doubts, due to a lack of evidence, that there is any divine entity in charge of the universe, much less that any human would have the ability to discern which of 100's alleged entities is "the one true god/faith/religion" and who refuses to blindly swallow what religionists (including those who wrote various religious texts) are selling
This person respects the reliable, repeatable, testable, verifiable system of evaluating information most often referred to as science and does not expect anyone to accept their word for anything and is always willing to back up their claims with factual information. Likewise, they do not accept claims made by others that fly in the face of logic without reliable, repeatable, testable, verifiable information. This person also questions the likelihood that, with 19 major religions all competing for our "faith", any one of them will just happen to be the correct one, and wonders why anyone would assume that they just happened to be born in an area where the one true religion is practiced and that nobody else born in another area with a different dominant belief system could possibly be the "right" one.
2) the religionist who claims a divinely superior intellectual authority and deems themselves qualified to determine - and expects others to agree without question - that there not only IS a divine entity controlling the universe, but that only they and those who agree with them are qualified to determine which one is the "real" one, judging all others to be wrong and/or part of "the deception", with the only "proof" offered that their system is the "real" one being the written materials of - you guessed it - the system they are trying to prove (like trying to prove whether a virus is present on a specimen slide by quoting someone who said there was rather than examining the specimen, or trying to evaluate a person's mental status using their own assessment instead of a diagnostic manual such as the DSM)
This person rejects all rules of logic and critical thinking, and evaluates whether or not something is true based on a system of beliefs that are only respected by them and others who agree with them (they often claim this method is far superior to science). However, they are the first to take a child with an injury or serious illness to a hospital, (unless they're totally bug-nutty) because they secretly know that science has a better chance of saving the child than prayer, although when it's all over, they will "thank the lord" and give nary a mention to the hardworking medical team who gave up time with their family so they could be on call to help others. If they do, it's only to claim that "god was working through the medical team". (Why does any god need to work through a medical team? Why can't god work through something that isn't so expensive, like a tennis racket, or a magic wand?)
Which one of the above two options is the arrogant know-it-all?
Folks. If it annoys you that someone won't accept what you're telling them without question, and doesn't accept your claims as facts or your alleged "proof" as valid when it is only valid according to your own rules and not those of a standard benchmark, it's likely your ego causing you to be annoyed more than anything else. Don't blame it on the person who is refusing to swallow the shovel-load you're trying to cram down their throats, and don't accuse them of "attacking your faith" because they aren't accepting it as true.
The more I experience this kind of behavior, the more I am motivated to establish a safe haven for others who are likely feeling bewildered here in the "bible belt".
Never have I lived anywhere in the U.S. where this behavior is so prevalent, and yet I am fortunate to have some dear family members and friends who are religious, but who are not so arrogant as to assert that they can "prove" they are right. If it's about faith, it's about faith. If you're constantly trying to "prove it" to me, it's likely because you yourself have serious doubts, and are trying to prove it to yourself as much as anyone else.
I can't prove there is OR is not a divine entity or creator. I neither accept nor deny that there is or is not such a being. When pressed to accept it, however, I am persistent in offering questions as to why I should do so, and also in asserting that the "proof" offered up is not proof at all, but someone's interpretation of an unfounded claim as proof. It's like trying to pay your bills with fake money. It's counterfeit proof. Counterfeit money is not legal tender, and counterfeit proof is not a reason to accept anything.
Over the four plus decades that I've roamed the earth, I have been presented with literally hundreds of belief systems. Some are based on divine entities, others are based on nature, supernatural ideas, mysterious powers, and one was even a cult centered around the number 11:11 (referring not just to the time, but to the symbol itself as having some sort of magical power to open up various vortexes at strategic locations all over the planet). Yeah, I know.
The 11:11 cult really appealed to me, because I am fascinated by numbers, and the appearance of the perfect symmetry and balance of the symbol 11:11 appeals to my O.C.D. tendencies. I wasn't able to afford the trip to Egypt, in which the cult members were granted special access to the pyramids so they could do their special dances and open up the invisible vortex. However, at the time I truly believed there must be something very significant happening there.
I've studied and even immersed myself in many belief systems, and contrary to popular opinion, this created no confusion in me whatsoever. Instead, I became aware that all belief systems are very similar in that they all stem from emotional reactions to various aspects of life and our desire to have it all make sense so we can feel in control.
However, the truth is that sometimes life is just chaotic and out of control, and only when you are strong enough to accept that are you able to manage the chaos and enjoy the ride.
What I can tell you is that today not one faith-based system of belief makes sense to me beyond the understanding that it is all an illusion created by our own minds, and that they all make the same amount of sense equally, because they are all based on rules established by themselves and by nothing outside of themselves.
What prompted this blog post was that earlier today, (which is now yesterday), while lamenting the distraction of severe pain I was experiencing in my neck, someone implied that I should "rest my mouth" and "think" and the pain would go away, as though having the gall to question the opinions of others is some kind of character flaw worthy of punishment via physical torture.
Apparently, only those who agree with this person are allowed to have opinions and/or express them, and those who do not agree with them aren't "thinking". Funny, I thought questioning things and evaluating information based on factual criteria and critical thinking processes was what thinking was all about. Guess those fools who hired me to work in their think tanks over the years were duped by my clever tricks, since I'm apparently confused about what "thinking" is really all about and never really knew how to do it after all.
(Sigh.)
It takes courage to refuse to submit to self-appointed authority. Thankfully, I live in a country that makes it legal to refuse to do so, although it clearly is still not socially acceptable to many of the people who enjoy the same freedoms I do and would gladly reserve those freedoms only for themselves and withhold them from others if they could.
America doesn't need to be blessed by a divine entity. America and its people need to start paying attention to the elephant in the living room and stop the madness of self-deception that has caused every travesty known to humanity not brought on by natural disasters.
A.
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