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.