In case my following post causes confusion as to my personal
stance: I am and as long as I can remember have always been an atheist.
I know that many of us have to suffer and struggle against the
influence of certain sects of Christianity and their ongoing attacks against secularism.
However, as important as it may be, fighting such Christians’ encroachment on
the separation of Church and State is, to merrily mix metaphors, tilting at the
windmills of low hanging (rotting?) fruit. We must not underestimate the
intellects, sophistication, discipline, psychological/philosophical knowledge
and historical perspective wielded by the original Christian church, i.e. the
Holy Roman/Catholic Church.
Unfortunately, against the sophistication of the Jesuits and
their complex Christian apologetics, barbs such as “It (science) works, Bitches”
or “Science is interesting, and if you don’t agree you can fuck off” are ineffectual
attacks against a straw man. The Vatican supports the search for “what it’s all
about” via science, including evolution, modern physics and cosmological
theories. Here is a quote, mined from Wikipedia, from a Vatican Astronomer and
astro-physicist, Brother (Dr.) Guy Consolmagno: "Religion needs science to
keep it away from superstition and keep it close to reality, to protect it from
creationism, which at the end of the day is a kind of paganism– it's turning God
into a nature god. “
To begin to understand how sophisticated the Soldiers of Christ
(Jesuits) and the philosophical
apologists of the Catholic Church are, you might want to check out the Vatican
Observatory website (http://vaticanobservatory.org/)
and google Brother Guy, as well as listening to his interview on Quirks
and Quarks (a CBC science radio
program and podcast) at http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Quirks+and+Quarks/ID/2363230875/.
Brother Guy does not believe in a 6,000 year-old earth, but rather accepts the
current understanding that our universe is 13.7 billion years old; understands
and accepts modern evolutionary theory (though I suppose he magically inserts
the soul at some point); accepts plate tectonics and would scoff at the idea
that the Grand Canyon was created by “The Flood”; and he has a much better
understanding of Quantum Physics than 99.99999% of the Homo sapiens not so
sapiens living on this blue dot.
I am not sure what point, if any, I am trying make here,
except that we should not write off theists as being stupid or ignorant.
Moreover, I have much more in common with Brother Guy and the deceased theist
Martin Gardiner, than I might have with many atheists. I only believe in one
fewer god than they. Visceral non-skeptical atheism can be a strange reverse type
of faith, though I must admit my atheism is as much visceral as it is based on
scientific skepticism. I do not
understand those who do not believe in the existence of god(s) but accept a
wide range of bat shit crazy woo woo (sorry, Seth, I know you have difficulty with
the second “woo”). Woo woo = e.g., ghosts, auras, acupuncture,
anti-vaccination, alien abductions, “there’s a reason for everything”,
psychics, speaking to the dead, astrology, reiki … ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
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