"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." -- (Albert Einstein, Religion and Science, New York Times Magazine, 9 November 1930
51% of Americans do not believe they evolved ... 15% agree (that those 51% didn't evolve) (grin)
Majority of Americans Reject Theory of Evolution
Do these numbers provide affirmation to Creationism? Creationists may think so. I don't.
Other "Christian" countries don't think so either:
Comparing U.S. Religious Beliefs with other "Christian" Countries
Educators don't think so:
National groups won't let Kansas use materials in science standards
What DO these numbers tell us?
- Our science education is not what it should be. Our public education system is being abandoned and more and more kids are going to private Christian schools.
- Other countries better understand what a secular government is (our country once did)
- We value dogma over learning and inquisitiveness. We've become a country of anti-intellectual pride.
"It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it." -- (Albert Einstein, 1954)
"I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I nor would I want to conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature." -- (Albert Einstein, The World as I See It)
13 comments:
We've become a country of anti-intellectual pride.
I think that the intellectuals need to take some of the blame for this. Nobody wants to be called stupid. We need to explain ourselves without patronizing, even if it's incredibly frustrating sometimes.
Think about how Democrats keep calling Republican presidents and candidates dumb. Even if it's true, it just helps them, because it allows them to pretend they're populists since the snobs look down on them, too. They're invariably rich, white men who are out to make the rich richer and they get to masquerade as populists because we just call them stupid.
Let's stop being condescending.
JA -- Agreed. That's a big part of what What's the Matter with Kansas? says. I'm sure there are just as many smart Republicans as there are Democrats. There are certainly as many Harvard and Yale educated ones.
I apologize if I was being condescending. That certainly was not my intent.
I'm just tired of anything scholarly being criticized as being "elitist". On your own blog, we were all criticized as being "eggheads". And that is laughable, as I do not consider myself an intellectual. I'm just poor white trash with a college education and a desire to learn. :-)
Good point JA. I certainly do not feel like I should be lumped in with the phrase "anti-intellectual" even if there are some Christians that lack common sense. That's what's lacking in some of today's Christians--common sense.
I'm tired of coming up against Christians who try to strong arm every one. Yeah, I send my kids to public school! Yeah, my family celebrates Halloween! Yeah my husband and I use birth control--it's called common sense; knowing when to shut up and let people live their lives.
JA said: I think that the intellectuals need to take some of the blame for this
Indeed they can. Partily for their lack of engagement with the public and partily for their patronising attitude when they do engage.
However I feel that most intellectuals refuse to engage in any kind of debate because modern thinking seems to have forgotten that it is possible for one side of an argument to be wrong. Some things are not simply matters of opinion - somethings are true and other things are false.
DbDad said: I'm just poor white trash with a college education and a desire to learn. :-)
Ditto - OK University educated but the principle's the same. (I get a bit confused with the cross-pond terminology)
Unfortunately there are too many people who not only don't think about things - they don't want other people to think about them either. Anyone else remember not so long ago when 'bright' people were considered worth listening too. Now anyone with an educated opinion is seen as somehow denigrating to the general population just by existing...
My biggest problem is the sentiment expressed in your first Einstein quote. It's the same type of sentiment that the colonial regimes in Latin America and elsewhere used to keep the masses appeased: You're poor, your sick, your life sucks, your government sucks - but here - read this Bible and go to church and you'll be rewarded in the afterlife. That's the type of mentality that Liberation Theology grew out of.
There are far too many people, as Sadie said, that don't use common sense. Too many people believe that you should be a good citizen and kind person because God (or whatever) says you should, or so that you'll be rewarded in Heaven. If that's your only reason for being a good person (getting the proverbial gold star), then I don't think you're a very good person.
That type of moral reasoning is childish, and lacking critical thought. It's the same simplistic thought process that children go through at a young age: good behavior= reward, bad behavior= punishment. It's that type of simplistic world view that leads people to the conclusion that morals come from religion and that without religion, morals wouldn't exist and therefore that non-religious people lack moral fiber. That's bull. There are many sources of morals.
Cyberkitten -- I completely agree. As the name of your blog suggests, we should all be Seeking a Little Truth. Whether you are Christian or not, educated or not, the goal should always be the search for truth.
Laura -- Einstein's quote and your comments are basically the humanist view that I most closely subscribe to. It very much goes to the heart of moral relativism that has been discussed on JA's blog. For some reason, as I was reading your comment, the end of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 3" kept running through my head: "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding, how can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat!" Rewards-based morality is very dangerous.
I used to believe in evolution, until I realized it was such a damned insult to chimpanzees. I know damn well that they sit around their cages in the zoo and mutter "there is no way in hell that evolved from ME".
How about this for a taste of the Future (or is it the Present):
"No, I don't know that Atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God." [Republican Presidential Nominee George Bush]
CK- It's not that modern intellectuals refuse to engage in the debate. Many modern intellectuals write, lecture, speak and debate until blue in the face. The fact is, the Christian right and neo conservatives have for thirty years waged a campaign that equates high intelligence with a lack of common sense, with being out of touch with reality. Eggheadism, as it were.
The time was when people in this country respected the best and the brightest. The founding fathers were the leading intellectuals of their day.
We now ridicule the best and brightest, then wonder why those who run the country so consistently disappoint us. To quote Momma Gump, "stupid is as stupid does"!
unofrtunately, as an athiest, I can tell you it is much closer to the present.
greatwhitebear said: unofrtunately, as an athiest, I can tell you it is much closer to the present.
I read a lot of American newspapers on-line so I can't help but agree with you. It does seem (at least to me) that the USA is sliding, or being pushed, into a Theocracy.
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