Saturday, 16 June 2007

Skepticism

On what exactly, am I a skeptic?
I am a skeptic of the notion that any religious claims are true, and I am a skeptic of the notion that religion is good thing for society.

I am against the notion that one should believe without evidence, that one should believe solely on faith. It is self-perpetuating; just go on having "faith" anyway, even if you're wrong, even if the pillars of logic behind your arguments have been knocked away. Failing that, redefine "God" in such a vague way that one cannot refute it. These type of mental gymnastics allow for even intelligent people to believe ridiculous things.
Religion is not a good thing for society. In fact, it is one of the main things that is ripping our societies apart. We end up with ridiculous laws and pointless deaths because of religious hatred. You may like to claim that this is a "perversion" of religion, but often the fundamentalists are on the winning side of the argument theologically. Religions, with their exclusivist truth claims, may never be able to co-exist.

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