A passing thought

[avevale_intelligencer]

Just read this post, following a link from Clement's blog, and was intrigued by the way the writer describes how being exposed to creationism and other pseudo-science at an early age caused him to start thinking and questioning what he'd been told. This parallels my own experience; reading von Daniken caused me to question conventional science, from which I passed as a natural consequence to questioning von Daniken.

And that's one of the things that bothers me about the perennial claim that religion, or creationism, or pseudo-science, causes people's brains to shut down; the people making that claim have obviously encountered these things themselves, and it's had quite the reverse effect, as it had with me and the writer of the article. Either he, and I, and a select few, are examples of a superior race whose enhanced brains are immune to the numbing effect of the opiate of the people so decried by Marx (a suggestion which I view with a certain scepticism)...or ideas are just ideas, and people have control of their own brains, and it's just as easy to choose to be asleep at the wheel whether you believe in Richard Dawkins, YHVH or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or nothing at all. And just as easy to choose to wake up and question. (I should perhaps make clear that this latter is the explanation I favour. I don't have an enhanced brain.)

Comments

[howeird]

Really. Let me give you one small example from my life. I was raised in a conservative Jewish family. My parents encouraged me and my three sisters to read, go to synagogue, and attend services any place where we were invited, and this included Protestant and Catholic churches and the Japanese Buddhist temple. We all read the Torah all the way through every year, and the rest of the Old Testament more than once.

It took me 30 years, but I decided all the religions had it wrong, and I am an atheist.

OTOH My older sister (only 18 months older), after spending a year in Israel after high school on a scholarship, came back to the US, completed her Bachelor of Science in Psych, married an American who also wanted to be more religious, and moved to Israel in the mid 1970s. She is more Orthodox now than anyone we grew up with, as are her 5 children. The main reason for her move was to be among those who believed as strongly as she did (a fringe benefit was the ease of obtaining kosher meat here). One of my nieces visited my apartment and was shocked that I had a Tarot deck - "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live", you know.

And then there are the substantial communities in America of Amish, Mormons, Chasidic Jews, and so on, which stay together and maintain their traditional beliefs.

the revolt into atheism was quite frequently achieved in a climate of almost universal belief, and against the strenuous opposition of parental and other authority figures.
Sure, but only a tiny percentage take part in that revolt. The vast majority stick with what they have been taught.

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

In other words, you each made your choices. I'm struggling to see something wrong with that. I congratulate you that you gave your decision full and unhurried consideration; in my opinion too many people rush into these things, but that of course is just my opinion and the choice, as it should be, is theirs.

Incidentally, Jan says that "witch" in that quote should really be translated "poisoner", which lets out Tarot readers and the like. I wouldn't know, but I know she's read widely around the subject.

That's why it's a revolt, because only a few do it. If the majority did it, it would be a change of fashion, and have about as much impact. I don't think you're actually disagreeing with me here.