thread: 2005-08-09 : The New Open House 2: Religion
On 2005-08-09, Jasper McChesney wrote:
I'm an atheist and always have been: no baptism, no circumcision, nothing. Growing up, I was probably exposed to more Native American mythology than Christianity or anything else, but I remember thinking (I'm like 5) about Amerindian myths, and this "god" person the Christian believed in, and seeing no difference: both were reasonably interesting *ideas* (Yahweh less so) but nothing I believed in. It was part of culture, but that didn't make it true.
Later on, of course, I began actually using the word atheist, mostly in the face of religious friends, who did their best to tell me about how great God is.
I always have two minds about religion. It both fascinates and baffles me. I don't see how anyone can subscribe to one particular, narrow religious tradition while also being aware of the *thousands* of other traditions out there, each with competing, equally compelling claims. All those trapping and methods seem so obviously of human design, just tapping into some universal ape-man emotions and mental devices. And religion often irritates me, especially the in-your-face proselytizing and the smarmy self-confidence.
On the other hand, religions posit some really compelling cosmologies, inspire very interesting world-views, art, etc. And they help people make sense of things, especially themselves. So I've given up trying to argue people away from religion—That's the last thing I'd try. But I'm still baffled, and mostly look at it from an anthropological position now, because it's the only way it makes any sense to me.
