Wednesday, January 11, 2012

inequalities...

Just because a person feels strongly about a certain belief (or any belief system) doesn't mean we should simply decide "Okay, I'm not going to question that belief. That belief must be true for them." If the person's belief is ultimately true, it is going to be true for me too---so I better understand that belief, I better think about that belief and ask questions about it. I need to make an informed decision about it (granted, there will always be a need to learn continually about said subject as I will never possesses all knowledge of it). The person who jumps in and says "Don't make waves, you're going to hurt someone's feelings....you're stirring up hate, you're being divisive" isn't helping. In the end, someone is going to be hurt, because reality doesn't entertain all possibilities.

Every time I hear someone proclaim with absolute confidence that "God answered my prayer", I always think about the average 36 thousand CHILDREN who die each day of hunger on our planet. Either you have to question the priorities of your deity, or you have to push this question aside because it makes you feel uncomfortable (or you make up a very complicated theological explanation for why this happens and why your friend sitting in his air-conditioned office just got a promotion and a raise).

There are inequalities. These are present not because of the "sinful nature" that plagues all of humanity (not because there is a God who elects some and dismisses others)---but because of WHERE you were born, your parent's socioeconomic status, the economic and political status of the country you were born into, the climate and crop growing conditions of your country, whether you have easy access to a relatively clean and plentiful water supply (waterborne illnesses and malaria cause untold numbers of death each year), your I.Q. and the job opportunities you have later in life...etc etc etc. There are physical explanations for why there are inequalities on planet earth. We don’t need to consider mysterious supernatural explanations when we can barely exhaust the list of available physical explanations to these conditions.

Now that we know the answers to our world’s problems are physical and not supernatural, we know that the solutions will also be physical. There are answers, we just have to keep on looking—but they will always be physical.

6 comments:

  1. I would think the only time not to question another's belief system is when it becomes their only support mechanism,as in a life threatening circumstance,(such as one in a hospice). Even then though I'm not sure a questioning attitude wouldn't serve all concerned to their best interests.

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  2. In "Guns, Germs and Steel," Jared Diamond argues that contingencies which include geography and availability of resources (e.g., animals that can be domesticated, like horses) account for human history in terms of who dominated who. The inequalities seem to have begun as a consequence of those contingencies and the effects are still here to be observed and pondered. Thanks for sharing your insightful thoughts.

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  3. Well put as always. Also, good job on your new video "I hate religion but love Jesus response". It always bothered me on religions inconsistantcy on interpretations.

    Off subject, how is the new job goin?

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  4. I agree with you on the fact that there seems to be an amazing amount of inequality in the world. Most people in this country, and it really is only in America, we send missionaries off into these other countries hand them a bible (but not food or medicine) and explain to them that if they choose to not believe in God that they will be stricken down and burned forever in the pits of Hell? Honestly more people need to stand up and protest this behavior because it is down right absurd that we allow this type of cynicism to exist among human beings. We are all equal, and I do not give a damn if you happen to come from a household that "happened" into fortune, which nothing does but more the fact that people turn a blind eye to the most specific form of hate. Religious hate, I am not talking about people hating on Christianity or Catholicism I mean when people from those specific sects believe they need to go and "educate" the mass of people like they are freaking apes or something. I enjoy talking about this type of stuff with others who are actually educated and not using God as their answer for everything. I appreciate the blog.

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  5. Thank you all for your input. I really appreciate it.
    Thank you John. Very nice to have some encouragement here.

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  6. Hi Rene ....I wanted to respond to this comment, "Now that we know the answers to our world’s problems are physical and not supernatural, we know that the solutions will also be physical. There are answers, we just have to keep on looking—but they will always be physical." I appreciate your knowledge of philosophy. I just can't get beyond "materialism". I posted this on YouTube:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvzdsIyTcKs&list=UUcpmcXRW5W0ctbNFdadJT3Q&index=1&feature=plcp

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