That Loving Feeling
Offline Now that the election is over, I'm off my political kick and back to talking about religious irrationality. Here's my latest blog entry:
That Loving Feeling
Faith is a very emotional thing. Despite the attempts by Christian apologists to do so, it really cannot be logically defended. The practice of believing without evidence and against all contradictory evidence, really is the antithesis of scientific investigation based on logic, reason, and empirical evidence. In that regard, it is very similar to other often irrational emotional responses like trust and love. As such, it is just as easily misled, just as easily twisted and deceived and abused, and just as often wrong. Still, for many, the answer to the question of "Why do you believe?" is a simple one.
Because I can feel God's love. I know God is there because I have felt his presence in my life.
In the end, after all the arguments have been made, all the evidence and clever analogies presented, and all the counter-arguments refuted, many believers will fall back on the one thing it is believed that logic cannot assail, their own subjective feelings and experiences,
More:
http://wordsofwrath.blogspot.com/2008/11/that-loving-feeling.html
"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion."
- Steven Weinberg, Nobel Prize-winning physicist
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I must on principle take this to mean that you are either a monolateralist or a polytheist rather than a monotheist, because if we are to accept a Christians, Islamics, or Jews personal inner feelings as proof, then we must also accept the Hindi that tells us she can feel Krishna's love as proof of Krishna being real as well. We must accept the Zoroastrians insistence that he feels Ahura Mazdas love as proof that Ahura Mazda exists. We have to accept the Wiccan when she tells us that she feels the love of the Goddess.
Then again, we might just chalk them all up to elevated levels of serotonin, proclaim that the feeling is completely internal with no external cause, and move on.
Faith proves nothing save for that the person is willing to believe something without, or contrary to, evidence. Inner feelings, no matter how intense, prove nothing save for that the person has an inner feeling.
But hey, if you are really so willing to throw logic out the window, I have a great used car for sale, sight unseen. Just take it on faith that it is a great vehicle. No need to see it, test drive it, or take it to a mechanic. Just have faith! Or do you only disregard reason when reason runs opposite of illogical beliefs that make you feel good?
It takes a village to raise an idiot.
Save a tree, eat a vegetarian.
Sometimes " The Majority " only means that all the fools are on the same side.
Um, you must not have clicked on the link and read the rest of the article. You're preaching to the choir there buddy.
"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion."
- Steven Weinberg, Nobel Prize-winning physicist
Figures. I make a point to not read blogs. Every once in a while that aversion bites me on the ass.
It takes a village to raise an idiot.
Save a tree, eat a vegetarian.
Sometimes " The Majority " only means that all the fools are on the same side.