Crusading Again

This article and everything behind it just upsets me to my core.

ISIS Onslaught Engulfs Assyrian Christians as Militants Destroy Ancient Art

God is good. So why do you kill in his name? Why is your religion more important to someone else's?

Idols are bad, yes we get it, it's a commandment. Other religions are bad because they worship differently. But what/who gives you the right to go about destroying things that you don't agree with?

In the Middle East, people are dying over their religious beliefs. Meanwhile in the US, we're worried about getting high in Alaska.

I feel as if Americans are so far removed from the persecution of others because of our geographic isolation. But also because we act like squirrels who's only concern is saving our own nuts. We don't care about what goes on in the Middle East because it doesn't affect us.

But it does. It affects all humans. Religious tyranny is not confined to the deserts of Iraq. No, we find religious tyranny right here at home in the people who wish to impose their "Christian" beliefs upon others. Adults and children alike have suffered and died as a result of this (faith-based healing, anti-abortion violence). Or more frequently we'll hear news of immigrants who want to form laws based on their religious beliefs. The Conservative Christian reaction to this is amusingly and alarmingly a double standard; they push their religion on others but heaven forbid if a non-Christian tries to do the same to protect their beliefs.

In so many ways we are fighting crusades again, only set in modern times. When will it stop? How will it stop? Should we be afraid of that answer?

We humans are going to destroy ourselves because we have failed to love each other.



Further Reading:
What ISIS Really Wants

Commentary on Comments Against Humanism

I saw a post on Facebook and some of the comments really upset me. The post itself bashed humanism, going so far as to label Hitler and Stalin as humanists, which is rather insulting, but interesting and not so far fetched if you read about the tenants of humanism.

So this Matt guy. While I love that he actually uses ‘balderdash,’ I’m baffled by his ‘unbearable arrogance’ comment. I’m assuming he’s talking about non-believers mostly, ‘cause obviously a good Christian girl isn’t going to have an abortion, or even put herself into a situation that would tempt her to have an abortion. So, given this, I find him “unbearably arrogant” to assume that a non-believer will care about playing God when they don’t believe in said God. Therefore his logic does not apply, negating the whole argument. Right? A believer should never presume that their beliefs apply to all people. That’s what gets us into trouble and leads to people hating people. Which is against the most basic tenants of your faith. Circular logic there. Yes, as a Christian you are called to share the Good Word, not kill over it, and love thy neighbor as thyself, even if you can’t convert them. And don’t even get me started on the first portion of Matt’s statement! Seriously, it’s the 21^st Century and you have to question what RIGHT a woman has to her own body?! A woman has as much of a RIGHT to her own reproductive organs as a man has to his. What RIGHT does a man have to give or withhold his fruit of his loin? What ever happened to a culture were women were respected and appreciated for more than their subservience to man? Oh right, that was before your Christianity came along.

And the Frank guy obviously doesn’t know history. Yes, Hitler and Stalin were in the 20^th Century and killed millions not in the name of God. Funny how he completely ignores the other 1900 years of persecution, war, crusades, inquisitions, etc. killing millions or even billions in the name of God. Well, the Christian God at least. Should probably count the Hebrew God “Before Christ” too since it’s the same God and all. Even though he insists that before the 20^th Century God and his ways were thought of. Contrary to popular belief, people like Hitler and Stalin were brilliant. They may not have used this brilliance for the acceptable common good; however, there is no way a mentally deficient person can take over a whole country with a set of ideals that are contrary to the modern norm. Their people wanted change, something to believe in, and went along with it until finally the people realized that this was not the change they wanted. But now they were stuck, entrenched in the new regime, and called out for help! Which came in the form of their neighbor who may not have shared in their religion beliefs, but shared in their faith in each other. Maybe Frank’s “God and his ways” refers to the prevalence of Christian wars of the past. Because it’s okay to attack and kill others when it’s done for the good of the Christian God. But when you attack others under the name of another God or sans God altogether, that’s not cool and means you’re a bigot and racist.

I’m not crazy, right? I can respect another person and their beliefs even when they don’t respect me and mine. But when that other person attacks me and completely ignores the history of his own religion, I don’t appreciate it. I believe we have a right to believe. But I do not believe we have a right to force that belief upon another person through words or actions. I believe we have the right to agree to disagree. And then get on with living and being who you are and what you want to be, with God’s help or without. It doesn’t matter as long as you are happy with yourself.

Links:

Humanist Manifesto I

Humanist Manifesto II

Humanist Manifesto III: Humanism and its Aspirations

Being a Non-Believer in a Believer’s World

I am a non-believer in a higher power. I can say this because it’s true and I’m not embarrassed by it. Growing up, the religious figures in my family were my grandparents. They took us to church and taught us to recite prayers. I remember kneeling beside my bed, hands pressed together. By high school I knew what little childhood belief I had was slipping away. I desperately wanted to believe, but nothing ever seemed to “click.” Not that I was heartbroken; hard to miss what you never had. I just learned to accept my lack of belief but also accept the possibility of a higher power. Keeps my options open. Until my eyes are opened and Jesus enters my heart, I personally don’t give one rat’s tail about believing.

I find one main misconception that believers have about non-believers is that we have “no morals.” Now, I have to admit that I was raised Catholic, so maybe that’s where my morals came from. However, I simply cannot believe that any religion has a monopoly on morals’ origins. A moral is a principle of right or wrong behavior. It’s learned through society and has evolved over the millennia of our social consciousness present in human nature. Basically, it’s a learned behavior designed for the well-being of the individual and those around her. As early societies began their sedentary lifestyles, the people had to learn how to work peacefully with each other to ensure the success of the settlement. Hence, morals are realized. Organized religions presented followers with a well organized list of morals. They basically took what was already around and copyrighted it, kinda like what Benson tried to do with “Who Dat?” One could make a stretch and say that non-believers can “learn” morals by observing the actions of believers but sometimes believers aren’t setting the best example…

As a non-believer, I am quite adamant that religion should stay out of politics, no matter how Christian of a nation we’re supposed to be. This nation was founded as a republic, a democracy, a free world, by a number of men who didn’t believe in Jesus by were influenced by a culture steeped in Christianity. Did you know that God was not mentioned in the Constitution, except in the date? The phrase “Under God” was not added to the Pledge of Allegiance until 1952. The First Amendment strictly prohibits the government from placing one religion over another. All of these things just reinforce my belief that Church and State should be separated. The government, and all its ruling bodies, was formed to protect the interests of all of the country’s citizens, not just a specific group. Which means your Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or whatever, beliefs are not necessarily in the interest of all of the citizens and so should not be forced upon another believer through the law. It’s one thing to argue for a cause you believe in, and another to demand that the entire country conform to your belief. As has been quoted in several ways: “People place their hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution; they don't put their hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.” As a lawmaker, it’s your duty to uphold the Constitution, for liberty and justice for all. I’m not saying to put your beliefs aside, just be cognizant that what you believe is best for one may not be best for all, then make your laws accordingly.

So now that you’re thoroughly appalled by my (non) beliefs, I know what question comes next: how on God's green earth will I raise children? Well, it’s not rocket science, Einstein. You teach them about love, compassion, peace. You know, the simple things a Christian needs a bunch of commandments to know. Then you teach your children about fear and pain, because it’s going to come one day and they’ll need to know how to cope with and overcome adversity. Don’t need fire and brimstone as examples when we have plenty enough bad examples in real life. When it comes to those pesky morals, you teach them to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Sounds like a bit of self-preservation common sense to me. Hmm, those two words: common sense; things that make sense on a common level. Like not lying to your mom because you know she’ll be mad if you do. Yep, didn’t need a commandment to tell me that one. See, raising children as a non-believer parent should be easy. Well, as easy as raising kids in any way can be.

Obviously none of my belief points here matter to anyone else, especially when that anyone else wholly disagrees with me. But that’s the beauty of this country: we’re free to disagree with each other. And to agree to disagree, but that seems a bit more advanced than we intelligent creatures seem to be able to handle. The apparent issue over religion in this country upsets me greatly. I respect your beliefs even though I don’t ascribe to them. All I ask is that you respect my beliefs and stop proselytizing through the law. Jesus may have said to spread the good news, but he didn’t say to force it unto us.


Links:

• Morals without God?
• How Will You Teach Your Child Morality Without Religion?
• Morality without Religion - Hauser/Singer (web text)
• Morality without Religion - Hauser/Singer (pdf download)

Further Reading:

• Christopher Hitchens - God Is Not Great
• Sam Harris - The Moral Landscape, Free Will, Letter to a Christian Nation, The End of Faith
• Dharmachari Nagaraja - Buddha at Bedtime: Tales of Love and Wisdom for You to Read with Your Child to Enchant, Enlighten and Inspire