It is commonly claimed that two subjects that should be avoided at all costs are politics and religion, and this blog specializes in both, so controversy is no stranger here. That of course is tempered by the fact that people who don’t agree with me, seldom bother to stick around for long. And much the same may be said when I travel the blogosphere as well.
You may have noticed a rather strange comment to a post I did Thursday on the Ascension. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the topic, and was rather hostile to me personally and to the idea of evolution as well as same sex unions.
Tim jumped to my defense, and I am so grateful of course, but, I received a couple of other distressing e-mails from folks who were unhappy that such a post which was intended to uplift, was rather doused with such an unfriendly comment. And so, alas, I concluded that further explanation was due, since certainly it is hard for anyone who has not been privy to the entire episode to understand what was going on.
If you are interested you can go to Answer the Skeptic, especially to these two posts and more specifically, the comment section to both. The links are here, and here.
You should note that this topic will take two good posts, and I’ll do my best to finish it off when I return from church tomorrow.
Now a bit of history. I have no hidden agendas about what I believe. You can read it in all its long and perhaps boring glory under the autobiography category, I believe the last ten posts. In any event, many of those who have been with me now for some time know that I used to frequent Catholic Answers. I did that after giving up on discussing issues with unchurched fundamentalists. I, (don’t ask me why, I have no rational reason) assumed that I would receive a more thoughtful response from Catholics, both by having been one, and having been taught by some extraordinary nuns and priests whom I to this day regard as highly educated and highly logical.
Alas, I learned that I could not rationally discuss evolution or biblical study with them either. Most of the fundamentalist Catholics turned out to be converts from fundamentalist denominations, and they brought their thinking with them I found.
Ironically, I often told those Catholics that I found most atheists rational, thoughtful, and considerate debaters. So, when I could take it no more, I went to atheists blogs to have some conversations there. Alas, I found that they are as closed minded as fundamentalists in their views. Not all of course, but the Internet does bring forth the extremes more than the middle. Most atheists online who blog seem to view Christianity only through the lens of fundamentalism, and I usually agreed with their criticism if not their broad brush of inclusion of all Christendom.
Next I went to conservative evangelicals, mostly to get their theological take on social justice issues, of which I had never received a good explanation. And that is where I ran into John from Answer the Skeptic and “Mark” who left the comment.
Although Tim has suggested to me more than once that I am barking up a futile tree, I guess I believed otherwise. I was wrong. I have a hard head about some things.
There is no basis for discussion with the mind that is closed to other possibilities. And I know, for I have some familiarity with the subject. Let me explain.
My politics is informed by my faith certainly, but it also goes the other way as well. I have had deep internal beliefs about justice issues since I was at least in college, maybe even before. They have of course grown and filled out over the years.
I am a believer in climate change, and although I agree that we may be entering a cycle of normal weather change, the human has added significantly to it, and may well have made it exponentially worse.
I believe in the basic equality of all humans, and I believe in concepts such as institutional favoritism otherwise known as affirmative action to redress past wrongs. I believe that the “developed” world owes much to those who have been exploited by us all, in terms of assistance and debt forgiveness.
I believe in universal health care. I believe in the ending of the death penalty, and a serious revamping of our penal institutions. I believe our educational system is rotting, and that most of us got little more than an education in how to be a lawful and voting citizen, and a hard worker.
I believe that religions serve people in ways that are valuable even though some, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism have strong minority fundamentalist groups that are prone to violence and desire to impose their worldview on us all. I believe strongly in separation of church and state.
I believe that a free market economy, in a global sense is dangerous and if left unchecked will end up being our real rulers. The increasing concentration of wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer suggests this most strongly. There is no such thing historically speaking, in the concept of “trickle down economics.” Is has been gloriously proven not to happen. Greed supersedes all.
I believe that immigration was of little concern to anyone until the brown population grew to levels that now threaten to become the major voting block in some states, threatening the white Republican power base. As far as I can remember, not a single “terrorist” has crossed the Mexican border into the US, while a few at least have entered through the Canadian, and not a whimper is heard.
I admit, that I look for articles, blogs, books, and so forth that substantiate these views. I have little in the way of an open mind since I believe these issues essentially proven to my satisfaction by competent evidence. Those of you who followed this blog during the last election know that I was relentless in attacking John McCain and Sarah (that woman is an idiot!) Palin.
The Contrarian would freely tell you that he has said to me more times than I can remember, “If George Bush discovered a cure for cancer, you would reject the treatment!” And he is probably right.
Yet, I do read critically, as best I can. I am careful that my sources are accepted as reasonable by moderates at least. I stopped following the Daily Kos during the election when it became apparent to me that they were unfairly bashing Hillary Clinton because they favored Obama. I distrusted their coverage and stopped reading them.
So I have some familiarity with closed minded thinking. I confess to being thus to a degree as to political issues.
What has this to do with evolution and fundamentalists? Stop by tomorrow.