This was going to be a single sentence in the next post, but it sort of grew out of hand. If you’re of an Abrahamic bent, and want to believe that I’m not really an asshole, stop reading. Here’s your chance.
Still with me? Are you sure you want to be here?
OK, thanks. Regarding the shared bits of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mormonism, etc., here it is, in second person:
I believe that your God was the favorite tribal deity of a polytheistic, nomadic, historically insignificant Bronze Age people living in North Africa and the Near East. Through a bizarre historical accident, a tiny messianic doomsday cult of this people was adopted as the state religion of the most powerful empire on the planet, despite the utter failure of any of the doomsday prophecies to transpire in the allotted time.
I believe your shared “testament” is a heterogeneous anthology of self-aggrandizing revisionist history, stolen legal codes, institutionalized bigotry, justifications for ethnic cleansing, “Just So” stories, the ravings of the mentally ill, census data, a sprinkling of common sense, and some truly beautiful poetry and children’s literature, all of which was rolled together and authorship attributed to a deity, which means to many of you that it has to be 100% factually accurate, even when it’s internally inconsistent or demonstrably wrong.
I believe the premise and existence of the modern state of Israel is at least as bizarre as if my family declared ownership of the British Isles, invaded, subjugated the citizenry, imposed martial law, renamed the nation “Gondor”, and declared war on Western Europe.
I believe that were we to argue theology, I’d argue to the point where we agreed that your god is undetectable, untestable, unpredictable, inelegant, unnecessary, paradoxical, and at least one of impotent, malicious, and completely incomprehensible, not to mention just plain weird, at which point I’d consider the topic not worth any further thought, you’d declare ineffability a feature rather than a bug, and I’d look at you as if you’d turned into a walrus in front of my eyes.
I believe people who “sort of” believe in God, “don’t really think about it”, “guess they do”, or find it the path of least resistance, are pussies leading unexamined lives.
I will, however, fight tooth and nail for your right to engage in your superstitions in your own home or normally-taxed buildings, or very quietly and personally in public. I believe it is your right to live an unexamined life, in the same way that it is my right not to exercise, even though I know failing to will contribute to my early death. I get it, kinda: we all have mental blocks. I will even tolerate you indoctrinating your own children, although I really wish you wouldn’t, in the same way I wish Jews would stop mutilating the genitals of their male infants and Mexicans would stop piercing the ears of their female infants.
So there.
The “asshole” in the tagging of this post refers to me, by the way.
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I believe the premise and existence of the modern state of Israel is at least as bizarre as if my family declared ownership of the British Isles, invaded, subjugated the citizenry, imposed martial law, renamed the nation “Mordor”, and declared war on Western Europe.
I thought that we were already living in Mordor.
My favorite, favorite, favorite Bible story is the story of Jericho, because it mirrors so perfectly the current situation in the region.
Children of Israel: Wow, that was some rough trade we just survived. Fortunately, here we are in our promised land!
Jericho: Uhhh… Hey, we’re living here.
Children of Israel: Maybe you didn’t hear us. This is our promised land. It’s our birthright.
Jericho: We heard you just fine, but we’re living here. We’ve been living here for a while. These big-ass walls didn’t just spring up overnight.
Children of Israel: Interesting. Say, have you heard anything about our omnipotent ally? It works a little something like this…
[Jericho is wiped off the map.]
From GURPS Low-Tech, 1st Edition, by Evan Jamieson, Richard Meyer, and William H. Stoddard:
Neato, huh? This is not the first time (that was 1991), and will not be the last time, I cite a GURPS book as an authoritative reference, by the way.
I thought that we were already living in Mordor.
I thought “Gondor” was too obscure. The intention wasn’t to say that Israel is inherently evil (I’d have to believe in evil for that), just that creating a Biblically-named modern state is not relevantly different from creating a Tolkien-named modern state.
I thought “Gondor” was too obscure.
For your readership? Unlikely.
This is not the first time (that was 1991), and will not be the last time, I cite a GURPS book as an authoritative reference, by the way.
I dislike the GURPS system, but I own several of the sourcebooks, because they’re so well written.
Also: Neeeeeerrrrrrrddddddsssss!
Most of what you wrote is not being an asshole, except for the part where you inaccurately refer to male circumcision as “genital mutilation.” The genitals are never modified in any way, only the skin around them. Ask any victim of actual genital mutilation if there’s a difference between modifying the genitals, and modifying the essentially useless skin around the genitals.
I also see absolutely no difference — from an atheist perspective — between the existence of Israel and the existence of any other nation. Almost all national boundaries exist for one or more of a few reasons, but one of those very common reasons is cultural. To an atheist, religion seems like it should simply a part of the culture. I see no difference.
But you do treat religion differently from other cultural phenomena, and I do not understand that all. You seem to imply it should not be treated differently by saying it should be taxed normally, but then you treat it very differently (saying it should be “quiet” in public). Hell no: I’ll be as loud as I want to in public, just like the Tea Party and Occupy protestors, or Lady Gaga, or PETA, or anyone else.
And yes, I will tolerate you indoctrinating your children as you tolerate me indoctrinating mine. Every parent indoctrinates their children, even if they try not to.