Last
Wednesday I discussed politics. Now, I will discuss the other taboo subject.
Religion is a very touchy subject that people either avoid or hide their true
feelings. It is not a matter of what you know but it is a matter of what you
believe. And what you believe depends on who your parents were and what
experiences you have had. Both atheist and theist are usually dogmatic and
unyielding in what they believe. No matter how reasonable your argument, you
are not going to change what another person believes. You can’t reason a person
out of a position that they didn’t reason themselves into in the first place.
It’s just what they believe or have faith in. And that is why it is a subject
that is usually avoided. It is a difficult subject to discuss. Nobody is going
to change their mind so don’t try to win an argument. You are just wasting your
breath!
I
find agnosticism to be a perfectly respectable and tenable position. It is not
dogmatic and makes no pronouncements about the ultimate truths of the universe.
It remains open to evidence and persuasion; lacking faith it, never the less, does not deride faith. Atheism, on the other hand, is as unyielding and
dogmatic about religious belief as true believers are about their faith. It
tries to use scientific reasoning to demolish something that is not built upon
reason but is built on faith. That ain’t gonna work! It has been my experience
that there are good people in all the religious faiths as well as atheism. So
let’s live and let live! That is my philosophy. Amen.
