Letter to the editor: Religion equals law not science
In regards to Rose Cora Perry's “Oh
Brother, Where Art Thou?”
“At the end of the day, it comes down to this science and religion are both merely belief systems. One is no more important, objective, free from partisanship, or truthful than the other.”
Fair enough, Rose. Perhaps then, should you ever be diagnosed with some debilitating illness, you should consult your Bible instead of a doctor.
Your idea of referring to the “Ten Commandments” as societal rules is short-sighted and offensive. How typically white-collared Anglo-Saxon you sound. Have you no motive to conduct even the SLIGHTEST amount of research before coming out with a statement as pretentious as that? What about the Qur'an, the “Bible” equivalent of the greater numbered religion of Islam? Or Judaism, for that matter. Do you realize that, of the three aforementioned religions, Christianity is the youngest? So where is the logic that it must have the best social ideals? For Christ's sake, have you even READ a Bible? It comes from a misogynistic time before any kind of modern belief or ethics system, and so many horrendous atrocities are mentioned, it would make your toes curl.
I am not attempting to push any belief system onto anyone: I am happily atheistic, after much research. I do, however, warn you about writing so casually about a topic as loaded as religion - having such little knowledge on the topic.
Science is a system built upon facts. Something either is, or isn't.
Religion was, and unfortunately always will be, a HUGE cause of wars. Religion is a system that governs by FEAR. For example, what is the scariest penalty for a crime? Not only will your misdeed haunt your life, but you will rot in your “afterlife” as well, and for all eternity! Yikes! Better avoid that then, right?
You would do better to make a comparison between law and religion - two things that share a motivation of fear to govern a people.
Also, just a little thing that irked me (but I'm picky like this) is that it is rather meaningless to ask non-religious people to acknowledge a greater power. Let's keep this objective, okay? If you want to talk about morals as they relate to Christianity, by all means - but you don't need to enroll the agnostic/atheist crowd into Sunday School. That commandment is about acknowledging that said God is blind, jealous, and demands loyalty (not an opinion, that is stated in the Gnosis, a.k.a. the Gnostic bible, a.k.a. the Dead Sea scrolls/scrolls of Nag Hammadi - which are the ONLY existing evidence of Christianity's validity and ironically, disowned by the Christian religious sects. Amusing, isn't it?). One can glorify it all they want, but it is, in essence, one small phrase. Not that I disagree with the principle of your statement and honouring humankind, nothing wrong with that.
Why am I an atheist? It is because I believe in doing what is right for the sake of it being right. I don't need any exalted piece of fictitious tripe, or the fear of burning for all eternity and being emancipated from my celestial father/mother to act as my conscience. I believe that human faith is a wonderful thing, and some people really need that extra push to keep them moving, faith and religion have done some amazing things for people, including inspire so much beautiful artwork and architecture, or encouraged dying people not to give up hope, or that they would die and go to an amazing place forever, with all of their friends and family.
I cannot, however, forgive the atrocities committed in the name of religion, nor by actual head figures of the religions themselves. This is not faith, or love, or peace, or what they tell you they all stand for. This is antiquated law, and in my opinion, it needs to be understood as such. Take it all with a grain of salt. Learn from the stories, because they are just that.
Thanks for giving me something to write about.
Tamia M
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
“At the end of the day, it comes down to this science and religion are both merely belief systems. One is no more important, objective, free from partisanship, or truthful than the other.”
Fair enough, Rose. Perhaps then, should you ever be diagnosed with some debilitating illness, you should consult your Bible instead of a doctor.
Your idea of referring to the “Ten Commandments” as societal rules is short-sighted and offensive. How typically white-collared Anglo-Saxon you sound. Have you no motive to conduct even the SLIGHTEST amount of research before coming out with a statement as pretentious as that? What about the Qur'an, the “Bible” equivalent of the greater numbered religion of Islam? Or Judaism, for that matter. Do you realize that, of the three aforementioned religions, Christianity is the youngest? So where is the logic that it must have the best social ideals? For Christ's sake, have you even READ a Bible? It comes from a misogynistic time before any kind of modern belief or ethics system, and so many horrendous atrocities are mentioned, it would make your toes curl.
I am not attempting to push any belief system onto anyone: I am happily atheistic, after much research. I do, however, warn you about writing so casually about a topic as loaded as religion - having such little knowledge on the topic.
Science is a system built upon facts. Something either is, or isn't.
Religion was, and unfortunately always will be, a HUGE cause of wars. Religion is a system that governs by FEAR. For example, what is the scariest penalty for a crime? Not only will your misdeed haunt your life, but you will rot in your “afterlife” as well, and for all eternity! Yikes! Better avoid that then, right?
You would do better to make a comparison between law and religion - two things that share a motivation of fear to govern a people.
Also, just a little thing that irked me (but I'm picky like this) is that it is rather meaningless to ask non-religious people to acknowledge a greater power. Let's keep this objective, okay? If you want to talk about morals as they relate to Christianity, by all means - but you don't need to enroll the agnostic/atheist crowd into Sunday School. That commandment is about acknowledging that said God is blind, jealous, and demands loyalty (not an opinion, that is stated in the Gnosis, a.k.a. the Gnostic bible, a.k.a. the Dead Sea scrolls/scrolls of Nag Hammadi - which are the ONLY existing evidence of Christianity's validity and ironically, disowned by the Christian religious sects. Amusing, isn't it?). One can glorify it all they want, but it is, in essence, one small phrase. Not that I disagree with the principle of your statement and honouring humankind, nothing wrong with that.
Why am I an atheist? It is because I believe in doing what is right for the sake of it being right. I don't need any exalted piece of fictitious tripe, or the fear of burning for all eternity and being emancipated from my celestial father/mother to act as my conscience. I believe that human faith is a wonderful thing, and some people really need that extra push to keep them moving, faith and religion have done some amazing things for people, including inspire so much beautiful artwork and architecture, or encouraged dying people not to give up hope, or that they would die and go to an amazing place forever, with all of their friends and family.
I cannot, however, forgive the atrocities committed in the name of religion, nor by actual head figures of the religions themselves. This is not faith, or love, or peace, or what they tell you they all stand for. This is antiquated law, and in my opinion, it needs to be understood as such. Take it all with a grain of salt. Learn from the stories, because they are just that.
Thanks for giving me something to write about.
Tamia M
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
