No Particular Place to Go
Yesterday, in an uncharacteristic way, my boss was going off on a book he is reading during a meeting. The book is called "Leap of Faith" and is about how religion and, specifically Islam, is a wasteful enterprise that has taken far too much of humanity's time and energy and will only lead to more problems. This sounds like a book I would like/agree with, but one that promises only more stress if I actually go ahead and read it, so I won't.
I've been saying pretty much the same thing for years.
The other day on NPR they had a preview of coming stories. One of them involved the criticism of Harriet Miers who, from all accounts, deserves to be criticized. NPR was talking to some Christians who supported her and one woman said (paraphrasing), 'I think she's [Harriet] a wonderful person and that this criticism of her is the work of the devil'.
Argument over! Nothing kills a debate over who should be one of the most powerful people in the government like bringing up satan! Unless you resort to comparing her to a Nazi or something, which she certainly seems to be on abortion issues, anyway. Well, I think. Who knows? Apparently nominees to the Supreme Court shouldn't have to answer questions. Bush likes it that way, too: "I think it's important to bring somebody from outside the system, the judicial system, somebody that hasn't been on the bench and, therefore, there's not a lot of opinions for people to look at." —On the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., October 4, 2005
Back to religion. Kevin was watching a Nova show about--what else?--science. I caught a snippet of an interview with a scientist who scientifically calculated the effects of a hurricane on New Orleans and guess what? He was RIGHT! And he was visibly upset about not being taken seriously, saying that scientists in this country just . . . aren't taken seriously. I caught that comment on my way to bed, and I took a quick inventory of everything in my life that was a result of science. Think about it! Had smallpox lately? No?
Must be god.
Really. Will I ever live to see a time where ridiculous religiosos don't say shit like "god is punishing New Orleans" and overlook the 7th hurricane about to slam into Republican-stronghold and family wonderland Florida? When people who take Nyquil for colds and get vaccinated against Pertussis decide to forgo science and turn over their CANCER to god? Must I travel all the way to Europe to escape this crap?!
I'm rambling. I just don't get it, never will, and don't care to. But I will say this: a lot of people make the argument that science has made bad things, like the atom bomb and lead paint. I say that the results of scientific inquiry are neutral and it is people who make them bad. Much like religion. My beef isn't with the believers, although I think their beliefs are mystifying and their religious affiliation no more than a factor of geography and nurture, but with what they do with those beliefs. When it comes to my made-possible-by-science XM radio, hands off, fascists!
I've been saying pretty much the same thing for years.
The other day on NPR they had a preview of coming stories. One of them involved the criticism of Harriet Miers who, from all accounts, deserves to be criticized. NPR was talking to some Christians who supported her and one woman said (paraphrasing), 'I think she's [Harriet] a wonderful person and that this criticism of her is the work of the devil'.
Argument over! Nothing kills a debate over who should be one of the most powerful people in the government like bringing up satan! Unless you resort to comparing her to a Nazi or something, which she certainly seems to be on abortion issues, anyway. Well, I think. Who knows? Apparently nominees to the Supreme Court shouldn't have to answer questions. Bush likes it that way, too: "I think it's important to bring somebody from outside the system, the judicial system, somebody that hasn't been on the bench and, therefore, there's not a lot of opinions for people to look at." —On the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., October 4, 2005
Back to religion. Kevin was watching a Nova show about--what else?--science. I caught a snippet of an interview with a scientist who scientifically calculated the effects of a hurricane on New Orleans and guess what? He was RIGHT! And he was visibly upset about not being taken seriously, saying that scientists in this country just . . . aren't taken seriously. I caught that comment on my way to bed, and I took a quick inventory of everything in my life that was a result of science. Think about it! Had smallpox lately? No?
Must be god.
Really. Will I ever live to see a time where ridiculous religiosos don't say shit like "god is punishing New Orleans" and overlook the 7th hurricane about to slam into Republican-stronghold and family wonderland Florida? When people who take Nyquil for colds and get vaccinated against Pertussis decide to forgo science and turn over their CANCER to god? Must I travel all the way to Europe to escape this crap?!
I'm rambling. I just don't get it, never will, and don't care to. But I will say this: a lot of people make the argument that science has made bad things, like the atom bomb and lead paint. I say that the results of scientific inquiry are neutral and it is people who make them bad. Much like religion. My beef isn't with the believers, although I think their beliefs are mystifying and their religious affiliation no more than a factor of geography and nurture, but with what they do with those beliefs. When it comes to my made-possible-by-science XM radio, hands off, fascists!
posted by lulu | 5:32 AM
1 Comments:
Ramble on babe, it's good for ya. Then repeat after me: "I think it's important to bring somebody from outside the system, the judicial system, somebody that hasn't been on the bench and, therefore, there's not a lot of opinions for people to look at." Hey, why not refresh the Court with new blood? I think Harriett Miers would be good, or Mike Myers, Bridget Myers, Bess Myerson, Gunnar Myrdal, Meyer Lansky, Russ Meyer, Meher Baba, Golda Meir, Mies van der Rohe, Darius Milhaud, John Milton, Liza Minelli, Carmen Miranda, Mircea Eliade, Joan Miro, Eadweard Muybridge, Buddy Miles, Milos Kundera, or Mylanta. They are have that important advantage of never having been a judge.
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