Creationism: God's Gift to the Ignorant

Excellent rant by Richard Dawkins.

The conclusion is great:

The creationists’ fondness for “gaps” in the fossil record is a metaphor for their love of gaps in knowledge generally. Gaps, by default, are filled by God. You don’t know how the nerve impulse works? Good! You don’t understand how memories are laid down in the brain? Excellent! Is photosynthesis a bafflingly complex process? Wonderful! Please don’t go to work on the problem, just give up, and appeal to God. Dear scientist, don’t work on your mysteries. Bring us your mysteries for we can use them. Don’t squander precious ignorance by researching it away. Ignorance is God’s gift to Kansas.

Don't yeshivas have the same love of ignorance? Don't they forbid (or discourage) books and magazines which contain viewpoints counter to their own?

Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity with New "Intelligent Falling" Theory

More here.

Quote of the Day: Moral Indignation

"Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo." -- H.G. Wells

I've often been mystified at the intense emotions of those usually religious people who become outraged when other people don't live according to their rules. Perhaps Mr. Wells is onto something. The idea that the strongest homophobes are repressed homosexuals is a cliche, but maybe a similar mechanism is at work for all of the loudest proponents of "morality." Maybe they want to have sex how they want and eat what they want and watch what movies they want. Maybe they want to look at all forms of art and listen to all kinds of music. Maybe they just want to read secular philosophy. Maybe deep down they're afraid that they're passing on these parts of life for no reason and so they must shout out the doubts in their own minds.

(Quote via the comments of this completely unrelated post.)

Values and Religion

One idea which seems to be common, even among the non-religious, is that a religious upbringing is necessary to instill good values in children.

It's true that values come neatly packaged within many religions, and it's plausible that the belief in an Omnipresent God might be useful for preventing children from behaving badly in their parents' absence. Pragmatically speaking, though, religion is an imprecise tool for the task.

Religion as values-delivery package fails in two ways: first, it is overly broad, which may cause children to throw the values out if they don't agree with unrelated religious dogma; and second, religious people are vulnerable to having their values manipulated by religious figures and texts.

The first point is obvious: if a child is taught that one mustn't kill because God said so and later comes to believe that the Bible was written by men, then she might decide that murder is acceptable. Similarly, if she believes that the prohibition of eating milk and meat is silly, why refrain from stealing? Or, it could go the other way. Imagine a boy who is raised in a loosely religious household by parents who hold tolerance as an important value. If the boy decides to become more religious, he might be swayed by a religious figure or a book which extols discriminating against homosexuals.

The second point is a little less obvious since "religious values" are often thought to be consistent, at least within a particular religion. If you look at religion in practice, however, it's clear that two people of the same religion might hold completely opposite positions with regard to a particular value. Born again Christians are generally thought of as solidly Republican, but about a third of them consistently vote Democrat. Many Catholics enthusiastically support the Iraq war, while the Pope himself opposes it.

In short, religion is a bad tool for instilling values, and certainly not a necessary one. Parents must live their values, teach by example, and explain their value-beliefs to their children as well as they can.

Short Thought of the Day

When I was Orthodox, I felt a separation between myself and non-Jewish people. I was different in a fundamental way, and a Sikh was the same as a Buddhist was the same as a Christian: they weren't Jewish. When I met a non-Jew I knew he would never be a true friend. When my insurance company gave me a list of doctors to choose from, I scanned for Jewish names. When I entered the workforce, I looked for Jewish colleagues. When I heard tragic news from Africa or Asia, I cared, but still identified the victims as other. In some sense, the news about Africa wasn't real in the same way that news about Israel was.

Perhaps it doesn't have to be that way when you are Orthodox, but for me it was.

Now I feel a oneness with all people. It sounds cheesy, but it's true. I don't see Jews and non-Jews, I don't see Jews and Muslims and Christians and atheists, I see this person and this person and this person. When I meet a Muslim, I see a person, not a Muslim. We're all different, but we're all the same.