the evolving mind

I would describe the state of those who accept the Bible as containing literal truth as “massive ignorance.”

The above photo is of a centuries old cathedral in Sicily. The footer of the supporting granite columns sit upon bricks fashioned from stone rife with shells. Yes, shells in the stone.

I wonder: where in the Bible does it say that God created the lands and seas, waited awhile for the seas to become populated with marine life, then converted some of the dynamic sea fringes into rock-hard land?

It doesn’t.

Those who claim that religion helps us see the “big picture” are looking through the wrong end of a telescope. If anything, by allowing their thoughts to be shaped-by and even tethered-to an ancient understanding of a relatively limited world, they have distanced themselves from a newer, clearer view of the universe.

Technorati Links: atheism, creationism, religion

The above pic is from a small mountain church in Sicily. In Olde-Tyme religion, people frequently prayed to “higher powers” to help protect them against invaders, and/or to persevere in battle. So bow down to the leader(s) of your people and they will help you (dead/invisible leaders, too). In the least, your group will better rally together. And you will lessen your chances of being slaughtered or conquered — and forced to bow down to a leader foreign to you. Deities included.

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Thanks to the above “sign” sent to me by Gawd, I now understand that the most high, true deity of the universe and beyond is a duck. Or maybe a goose.

Consult the evidence for yourself. It’s right before your eyes — in the form of a photo I took of Greek ruins in Sicily. See the supernatural fowl? Yep. It’s a sign alright.

The image of a generic hippy-like Jesus on a grilled-cheese sandwich? Please. I’ve got that beat by a long shot. My sign is on a massive, solid-stone pillar, thousands of years old. Here, I’ll make it easier for you to see the truth.

Praise be to the mighty duck! Or goose.

I know what you skeptics are thinking: this is a textbook case of pareidolia, of finding significance in a vague, unintentionally produced image. But the Mighty Duck knew you would do this. By crying foul you actually provide further evidence of His Quacking Ways.

Technorati Links: atheism, perception, religion

Many parents drag their children to church every Sunday. As I was. Poor kids. What a waste of the precious, long hours of youth.

While I don’t believe this practice is tantamount to child abuse, I would prefer to live in a world where children were first taught critical thinking skills before being exposed to such important, world-view shaping ideas.

This definition of “cult” from the Online Etymology Dictionary is relevant, I think:

1617, “worship,” also “a particular form of worship,” from Fr. culte, from L. cultus “care, cultivation, worship,” originally “tended, cultivated,” pp. of colere “to till”

The child’s mind is nearly virgin soil. Care should be paid to what is encouraged to grow there.

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I’m fairly certain the above structure — built onto an island hillside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea (l’isola di Ustica) — was made for Jesus and his holy ghost. Not for Casper the non-holy Ghost.

I’m not sure what’s in the building — I was on a different cliffside path, needing my zoom lens to discover the image of Jesus on the door. Couldn’t poke my head in. The purpose for the structure? Probably not a welcoming station for Jesus’ return to Earth. Maybe a mausoleum? The small building was certainly nicely locating so the souls of the dead can take flight and soar up to meet Jesus. Of course, the Bible god did not equip all souls with wings to fly — nor even the propensity to grow wings through good deeds. Consequently, many will leap and fall into a downward arc that leads to everlasting torment. Or so the story goes.

I prefer Casper the friendly ghost.

Technorati Links: freethought, photography, religion

See, I go to church. Okay, not very often. The photo above was shot a bit over a year ago in an ancient, mountain-top Sicilian chapel. More recently I ventured into a massive, adobe cathedral in the Old Town area of Albuquerque, NM.

When I go to church I go as a cultural anthropologist. I look, I listen, I read. I soak up the ambiance and the history. I may even take some photographs. Cultures fascinate me.

Is it possible to be both open to new ideas and experience AND to think about these things critically? I think so.

“Critically” has some unfortunate connotations. As if the intent from the get-go is to shoot anything and everything down. But that isn’t the case. The truly critical mind acknowledges the good as well as the bad. Like a film critique.

To me “thinking critically” consists, in part, of doing one’s best to see past sentiment, sales-pitches, and one’s own cultural presuppositions.

Believe it or not, some things can be critically evaluated and found to be both absolutely beautiful and fully false. Like the better elements of religion.

Technorati Links: culture, freethought, photography

It seems to me modern believers attribute three classes of events to the work of a god . Yet in each case they are mis-attributions.

1) Large-scale natural events.

Earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. These events have a profound impact on people’s lives. Yet they are not “about us,” so to speak. While dramatic, natural events occur, sometimes seemingly from out of the blue, and while the effects may be significant in terms of human lives affected, we are mistaken if we take them personally.

2) Fluke events.

An understanding of probability doesn’t come naturally to the human mind. So, if a person who survives an airplane accident is found unconscious and clutching a cross necklace (or even without it) — it’s a miracle. Meanwhile, the far more numerous passengers that perished with or without clutching their religious artifacts . . . they get left out of the equation.

When the improbably occurs it is not a miracle. Rather, it is a fully natural fluke. At least to those who see the bigger statistical picture.

3) The work of men and women.

An army is victorious in battle against its foe. Why? Not because they had greater numbers, better weapons or whatnot, but because they had a god on their side. An impressive cathedral is built. Not by human hands alone, but human hands doing the work of their god. The poor are fed. How? By people doing their god’s work.

What’s the unnecessary variable in all of this? A god. People do works they attribute to a god. Yet the works can be fully explained without a god.

The above photo shows a massive stone pillar and arch supporting the heavy ceiling and roof to a church. Wouldn’t a god’s house be more impressive if that god allowed his people to support it with not granite columns, but tall pieces of straw? Or better yet, cause the covering structure to continually hover, unattached? The reason we never see this: human hands can only do for their god what they could do without a god.

My conclusion: god is a worthless variable.

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I took the above photo in a small, Sicilian coastal town two summers ago. The religious statue is protected by a thick plexiglass sheet. Looking at the image this morning I recalled one of my favorite freethought quotes by Salman Rushdie:

“The idea of the sacred is quite simply one of the most conservative notions in any culture, because it seeks to turn other ideas – uncertainty, progress, change – into crimes.”

If any of a person’s ideas are protected by a sort of internal, intellectual/emotional plexiglass barrier, it seems to me that the extent of their ability to think freely has been limited. Their psychological horizon thus narrowed. If a person additionally insists that other people stand back from their cherished ideas – Don’t touch, keep your meddling hands at your side! – he or she is limiting the freedom and potential progress of others.

I like to encourage “getting your hands dirty,” intellectually speaking, on any subject that interests a person. Or any matter plainly important.  Freethinkers do just that in the realm of religion. And one might say that atheists have progressed beyond any internal plexiglass in the arena of religion and have found nothing out of the ordinary. Just statues made by humans, etc.

To sample some works of minds venturing beyond the sacred, I recommend checking out Carnival Of The Godless #127 over at Camels With Hammers.

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This vaulted ceiling in a Sicilian cathedral is pretty impressive — though not to my tastes. I have speculated before as to why the “up” direction is considered heavenly.* Is the height of the ceilings and their extravagant decoration a reflection of the builder’s mythology? Is the design meant to persuade all who enter of the legitimacy of the house beliefs?

I now wonder if a superstitious subterranean species of equivalent engineering and architectural abilities would design a place of worship with ornately decorated floors. Or something.

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* See: http://evolvingmind.info/blog/2008/08/why-godliness-is-up/; http://www.floridafreethinkers.com/726/the-hot-air-balloon-of-spirituality/

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Advanced cultures no longer view their leaders as super-human beings with super-normal powers. Okay, so we may erect monuments to them. But we recognize they were of flesh and went the way of all flesh.

To believe in the supernatural existence of religious entities . . . well, you might as well believe in ghosts. I don’t.

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[I took the above photo in the main square of the small, Italian Island of Ustica]

Technorati Links: freethought, photography, religion