Today we woke up at 3am to fly to Varanasi, one of the oldest continually inhabited cities on the planet at over 6000 years old. The city is quite a bit different than Mumbai.
We got to visit the silk manufacturing center and watch jacquard loom's in use. I got video I need to upload.
We went out on a boat on the Ganges river to watch a Hindu ceremony. During the boat ride, we were each given a leaf-flower-candle-float to drop into the river and make a wish upon. I wished to experience a luminous/transcendental experience while in India. As a skeptical atheist, that's a pretty tall order, but then again, it was just a "wish".
India is amazingly religious. And I'm constantly wondering how much better off the people here would be if they focused their energy more on improving the welfare of their citizens, and less energy burning incense and candles and praying to imaginary forces. If they spent more time concerning themselves with this life (*cough*, only life) instead of seeking eternal whatever.
Tonight at dinner, I kinda picked a fight with the rest of my family about religion in general.
It started talking about anointing oil... I was telling my family about an interesting article I had read in the past that indicated that the early christian church used Cannabis as an ingredient in their anointing oil.
My mother laughed contemptuously, and told me flatly "you're not going to convince me". That pissed me the fuck off. I got mean. I said blunt, rude, crass things like "I don't have to convince you... I know I'm right, and you're wrong." and "Faith is one of the dangerous concepts in human culture." They countered with "do you believe everything you..." and "I'd like to see some peer-reviewed..."
Yeah... Right...
Do you believe everything you read in the bible?
Do you believe anything you read in the bible?
Why?
Peer-review?! HAHAHAHAHA
People who believe in things without evidence (aka "Faith") like... say... Bronze-age-mythology, who then try to lecture me about my intellectual rigor... yeah. no. That shit don't fly.
About half the people at the table just wanted me to shut up, and wanted the discussion to stop because (I'm guessing) it makes them uncomfortable to question their own beliefs.
The other half of the table was suggesting the "debate" (major danger-quotes) about creationism should be taught in A.P. Zoology, and kept trying to bring up string theory.
Normally I thrive on being the beacon of capital-T Truth against the hoards of the ignorant, but when its my own family, its way more frustrating and disappointing.
I got back to my room and spent a couple hours researching and writing an email to them all. But I doubt many (if any) of them will skim it... much less read it... much less watch all the attached videos... much less pay attention.
I hope the conversation continues tomorrow... I think... kinda... sorta... or maybe I don't.
What I know for sure is that its approaching 1am and I need to be in a van at 5:30am to go watch the sunrise on a boat on the Ganges. Ergo: I need to sleep.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Sorry the discussion got so frustrating. I stepped on some toes by telling my mom repeatedly that, because her present was from an atheist, she could open it at any time. Later, I was playing some videos and played Tim Minchin's "White Wine in the Sun" and when he sang "I don't go for ancient wisdom, I don't believe because ideas are tenacious it means they are worthy," my mom snapped at me to turn that off... I've decided that silence is the best remedy for the situation, but I do wish I could really talk with my family about this, rather than just omitting my opinion.
ReplyDeleteOn Christmas Eve, my dad wanted all of us to go to midnight mass. I went, not because I believe in any of that crap, but because it's important to my family and that's the kind of thing we do for each other. It was lame, but I lived. At least we got to sing some fun Christmas carols, and nobody made me take Communion.
ReplyDeleteIf human beings were purely logical, religion wouldn't exist. Nor would love, or war, or science fiction... I think we, as the non-religious, have a responsibility to assess whether pushing the subject of our lack of belief is going to have a positive or negative impact on those we choose to push it on. After all, religion isn't inherently wrong. It's people who are responsible for the wrongs attributed to religion. If we didn't have religion to blame it on, we'd find something else.
I've never been to India, but one of my good friends who lived there for some time told me that the poor there, even though they are much poorer than anyone in the west can imagine, feel like they have a place, and even a sense of hope, because of their religion. I wonder too, if those who have money to spare on insence and such would give their money to help those less fortunate if they didn't have religious paraphernalia to spend it on.
What I'm trying to say is that while I think religion, and supernatural beliefs, and all that are totally stupid and lame, I don't really like to begrudge people of them, particularly if they are causing no clear harm. And even if they are, I think most people would appreciate it if you just left it alone. I think that everybody has a responsibility to be a little indulgent of their family, and atheists have a responsibility to be the bigger person. In the long run, I think that'll work out in our favor.
@Jocelyn: I love discussing this stuff with you darling, but your arguments are seriously flawed, left and right.
ReplyDeleteI don't want humans to be Vulcan... I want them to take reality more seriously.
And I do think religion (more specifically "faith") IS inherently invalid, wrong, and furthermore harmful. Anything that distracts us from the truth (even unpleasant truths) by definition causes harm. Burning incense vs clean water is but one example in a sea of religious harms.
You're also offering a false dichotomy. It isn't a choice between "feeling like they have a place" and "not bathing in sewage".
Humans have ways of "feeling like they have a place" that could exist while they drink and bath in clean water.
And while I'm sure the Brahmins feel like they fit in quite well, I'm not sure the Hindu caste system is as pleasant for the untouchables.
I'm actually quite respectful of other cultures... its my friends and family whom I hold to a higher standard. In my head it works out to be something like "they should know better" or "I respect them enough to speak the truth to them."