Comment by Steven Knapp on October 11, 2009 at 2:17am

Thank you for writing this. This is exactly how I feel about these people. Sometimes when I think about those beliefs, I almost lose my trust in humanity thinking how people actually believe these things are true. And the part about them thinking you're the crazy one applies to those nuts in my life too. As if my disbelief in some invisible fairy that created the universe and all of the other silly things they believe is somehow unreasonable but their belief in it is perfectly normal.

As a side note, when people say they believe in God, I say, "You think a leprechaun created the universe?!" When they correct me and say, "No, God," I reply with, "They're both non-existent; do we really need to have an argument about whether or not he's wearing green?" Believing in both is just as absurd, but they don't make that connection, apparently.

Comment by Galen on October 11, 2009 at 4:35am

Actually, there's plenty in theoretical physics to possibly explain the existence and "supernatural" powers of a god-like being. Things are only "supernatural" until we can explain them, after all. Knowing this made it particularly hard for me to let go of religion, but the fact that a god-like being could possibly have evolved somewhere out in the cosmos is hardly evidence of any god or of truth in any religion whatsoever.

Comment by Doug Reardon on October 11, 2009 at 10:44am

Galen:
"God-like being" You can choose to define god in terms that are so general as to be acceptable even to a hard atheist like me, ie. Einstein's definition - god is the rules by which the universe functions. Also, most standard deffinitions of god posit his having created the universe, so how could he have evolved in a cosmos that he was supposed to create. And personally I find nothing in theoretical physics that could possibly justify any belief in the supernatural.

Comment by Reggie on October 11, 2009 at 7:24pm

And personally I find nothing in theoretical physics that could possibly justify any belief in the supernatural.

Ditto. Some theists try to use quantum weirdness as a hiding spot for God, but all it does is show their ignorance of quantum mechanics. It's a weak God of the Gaps argument.

I just cannot understand how any half way intelligent person could possibly accept their ideas as the least bit plausible.

You should look into the psychology of humans a bit more. I understand well enough how smart people can be deluded. It makes me less angry...until I meet the willfully ignorant or the intellectually dishonest. Those are the people that piss me off, not the plain misguided person that was raised on fluffy ideas.

Comment by Doug Reardon on October 11, 2009 at 7:36pm

Reggie: I have a dear friend who prides herself on her ignorance. She has no desire to understand how things work. I really like her and I really care about her, but she is an idiot. I understand the psychology of humans (I am an LPC), but even those raised on fluffy ideas should at least be aware of information and seek it out, to do otherwise is to be an idiot. Now, being an idiot does not imply that one is ethically or morally less than anyone else, it just means that you don't give a rats ass about learning the truth and are happy in your fluffy world. If that's what you want, go for it, but that doesn't make you any less an idiot.

Comment by Reggie on October 11, 2009 at 9:54pm

I understand the psychology of humans

I wrote that right before I realized this was your post. I would have amended it, but I figured I'd let it fly and see how it turned out.

I did not know you were an LPC, though. Learn something new every day!

Comment by Doug Reardon on October 11, 2009 at 11:07pm

I let my license expire, I lost the faith, I've converted to neurophysiology.

Comment by Reggie on October 11, 2009 at 11:08pm

You heretic!

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