Archive for December, 2006

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll just came out saying “more Americans express doubts about a candidate [for President] who served in Bush’s cabinet (59%) than one who is gay or lesbian (53%).” Ouch.

Other interesting results:

• 8 in 10 Americans say they would be “comfortable” or “enthusiastic” about an African-American or a woman running
• 53% say they would have “some reservations” or “be uncomfortable” with a Mormon candidate
• 19% say the same about a Jewish candidate
• 44% say the same about an evangelical Christian
• 66% say the same about a candidate over the age of seventy

Almost certainly the number of Americans out there who would actually have misgivings about these kinds of candidates is higher than any poll will ever indicate (people tend not to like to admit to their prejudices), but it’s still interesting to see that people are just as uncomfortable with Mormons as they are with gays. Ironic that Mitt Romney, who is basically pinning his presidential hopes to gay-bashing, must overcome the same prejudice against himself that he is now fomenting against others.

In response to the religious explosion on the last post, Brandon has written a guest post describing his hippie, communist, depressing, repressive, hate-filled, ape-loving evolutionary, atheist view of the world:

According to most opinion polls, I’m less trustworthy than any other group in America so I figured I’d give a quick explanation of where I stand so people can rightly fear ;-).

I’ve had well-meaning Mormons try to convert me. Old grandmothers tell me I’m going to hell in a back-handed manner by saying they were ready to be judged, and everyone else should be too (with a poignant stare at me). I’ve even had the Catholic priest in Puerto Rico who heard my confession give me a great big smile as we talked for an hour about what it means to be a Catholic. He looked me in the eye and said “The stuff in the bible, it’s all great stories. What really matters is not whether you follow everything, but that you lead your life according to the general principles. Be compassionate, don’t hurt others, you’ll be fine.” These are all incidents that follow people asking me about my religious beliefs.

“You’re an atheist!?” is the shocked response I most frequently get when someone asks me what religion I belong to as if they were expecting me to grow horns and cloven hooves at any moment and start eating their children. I generally just smile. Following incidents I encounter with various people, I’m often inspired to explain my atheistic worldview and what it all means to me.

From what I understand there are many types of atheists: active deniers, evangelical Atheists (see Richard Dawkins), non-believers, many Buddhists, and the apathetic. As for me, I’m more of a non-believer than anything else. I simply find the leap of faith to be something I can no longer make. I suppose there could be some sort of divinity, but the concept just doesn’t do anything for me. Many people respect my lack of belief, others pity me, and still others wonder what they are. I suppose I could be classed as a few things, but for simplicity I’ll say I’m something of a materialist and a humanist. The only things that matter to me are things which happen in this world because I neither know nor care whether there is a next. Human’s come into this world as relatively blank slates with a few instinctual and personality predispositions, but for the most part they’re impressionable and largely shaped by the reality in which they find themselves. It is this belief that tends to put me on the left.

Humans have a duty to one another to work to better the lot of their fellow man and all of humanity because if this is all we’ve got, we had better make it as nice as possible. The construct of the individual is irritating because it ignores the cooperative and essentially social nature of humans. The wondrous capitalistic principle that the greatest good will result from each pursuing his/her own self interest is a partial truth because one must always consider the impact one’s selfish behavior will have, it’s highly context-specific and ignoring context (generally the impact on others, etc) will result in a net loss.

We have a responsibility to all things living because we are no more special than any animal; our differences are of degree, not of kind. There is a duty to protect the environment because if there is no ever after then our immortality comes from the positive impact we have on this world and the legacies we leave to our children, so we had better make sure there is something to leave them. Furthermore, because we’re not all that nifty and blessed, we have a positive duty to minimize our negative impacts on the planet and its life.

Because there is no deity in my world-view, there’s also no such thing as an inherent right. We don’t have the right to do or have anything done to or for us. We create rights for ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, I like my rights, I’m just saying that I’m suspicious of eternal truths and broad brushstrokes. I suppose many would like to label me a relativist and that’s fine, but before criticizing it learn a little more about it. There is no objective, capital “T” Truth, but many interpretations of the same event. There are generally accepted views of certain things that are “right” or “wrong” but it is so context-specific that universalizing is problematic at best. The “right” or “wrong” of an action depends greatly on one’s personal experiences, cultural context, and timeframe. It’s like looking at the world through different types of glasses (or beer goggles) it looks a little different with each pair.

All that having been said, there is no church of atheism, so there’s no hard doctrine. I’m sure a lot of atheists would disagree with me on a lot of points and that’s fine, but my brand of atheism is one that most people who take the time to listen don’t find all that repulsive, of course others call me a dirty pinko and a commie. Oh well, just decided to lay out the basics because I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding and overall ignorance out there about this worldview.

~By Brandon

Thanks to Tom (a.k.a. Tet) for sharing one of his many incredible stories:

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a series of stories involving interesting people within the political and/or philosophical sectors during my life.

The Connecticut Valley is a Rift Valley, like the big one in Africa that first spawned humanity. The river flows down the middle of it with low mountains on either side. Occasionally, a small earthquake will knock down rocks. Only thirty miles to the East are formations that match rocks in Morocco. They slammed into the continent sometime in the Cretaceous, I believe.

Deerfield, Massachusetts lies along the river. It was the scene of a famous massacre back in the early 18th Century during Queen Anne’s War in 1704, when 56 people were killed and the rest of the village transported to Quebec. Even today, if you drive the backroads, you come upon signs stating where bodies were found when people investigating the incident began exploring. It feels sort of like a Puritan CSI episode.

Two of the premier private secondary schools in America are in Deerfield and in Northfield nearer the border with Vermont and New Hampshire. They’re the places where princes and sons of oil millionaires come to read Shakespeare and become cultured enough to take their fathers’ places in society. To the south is Northampton, known for Smith College and the highest per-capita population of lesbians in America. Amazing town–little crime and lots of fat, happy women.

My most radical wife lived for about 15 years in Greenfield, which was a town 10 miles north of Deerfield on I-91. She was member of the War Tax Refusers, which is an organization whose members do not pay some or all of their income tax which would be used to support the military. A lot of the work that the organization did was centered in a place called the Trap Rock Peace Center, which sits atop the west ridge overlooking the Connecticut River.

She told me story after story about this fellow who was sort of the philosophical center of the organization–and the eventual point of my story, here, I guess. Wally and Juanita Nelson lived next to the Center in a small unpainted wooden house.
She got us invited over for a meal, and I was amazed at what ensued:

Here was a couple who had been living their political beliefs without compromise for decade after decade. Wally was a Conscientious Objector in WORLD WAR 2! While I had heard of such, I didn’t realize that there were any that were still alive and being activists.

[It turns out that he also found that the alternative work that he was doing was contributing to the war effort, so he quit doing that and ended up spending a considerable amount of time in jail.]

Wally also did Freedom Rides beginning in 1946, YEARS before the rest of the Civil Rights movement caught up with him. He and Juanita stopped paying any taxes years ago, and took themselves completely off the grid to allow themselves to exist while using the minimum amount of money.

Their home was warm from the wood-burning stove. During the spring and summer, they grew crops in their garden. What they needed above and beyond their own food needs, they sold at the local farmer’s market and spent that cash on those things they could not replace themselves. Most of the time, they traded it in barter for tradesmen’s work in repairs around the house that they couldn’t do themselves.

Wally resembled a cross between Uncle Ben on the rice package and a bantam rooster. He was full of energy, even though he was only about 5 feet tall. I was absolutely shocked that this little guy had faced down Southern sheriffs, real racism and folks who were probably in the KKK in their spare time and lived to tell the tale–all while using completely non-violent, Gandhi-like methods. I thought back to the Gandhi movie with Ben Kingsley in a loincloth, spinning in his humble home, and suddenly realized that I was in the presence of greatness. He was nearly 90 years old on my first visit.

He and Juanita had made chili for us, and we sat around the table. Since there was no electricity, candles came out as the sun sank behind the next ridge ten miles to the west. The view westward was breathtaking.

We talked for hours. He and I didn’t agree on some things. He was more opposed to violence of any kind, for any reason, than anyone I have ever met before or since. I still don’t agree with him on that point–I’ve always figured that there are just some varmints that oughtta be shot–however, every argument that I ever proposed to him in favor of that was quietly, purposefully shot down when we were discussing it.

We returned to their home over and over over the next five years. They even came down to the house in Greenfield for Thanksgiving dinner–that was a lively bunch of dinner guests–and he was the one who mentioned that the insulation needed to be removed from the chimney to prevent even MORE smoke from filling up the house.

About the turn of the Century, he began getting ill. He was diagnosed with cancer, but decided to spend the time he had left at home. The last time I visited, he was drifting in and out–his frame covered with a blanket to keep him warmer. There was a near-endless stream of people who came to visit him atop that mountain–I kept thinking about all the cartoons I had ever seen in magazines about folks coming up to the mountaintop to consult the guru. Even though he was in pain most of the time, he was still sweet and talked when he could.

I was in Massachusetts in May of 2002, when he finally died. We attended his memorial service–I really didn’t know what to expect. It was absolutely huge. People from all over the country arrived over the space of an hour and were seated in a huge tent. David Dellinger, a Quaker pacifist, gave the keynote speech, as well as others, including Juanita, herself.

I was very surprised to find last year that there was an excellent wiki article on him. There are all sorts of links on it to things like his obits and articles concerning him. I think that, for the most part, the reason that he did not become more famous was that he was “means” driven, rather than “ends” driven like so much of the radical and civil rights movement.

Brian, this is the man who taught me never to compromise with evil:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Nelson

“I guess a long time ago I got it out of my head I was going to save the world. So I act to save Wally and his integrity. Sometimes it’s a situation that’s dangerous and sometimes not so dangerous. But I would hope that other people would be inspired to do what they ought to do.

Commitment may be seen as a constant state of fertilization of the heart and mind which fuels the determination to live up to one’s beliefs. It means keeping a promise to oneself and others. Sometimes it can be scary. Nevertheless, one feels a sense of integrity, striving to express in action the soul’s deepest sense of what is right and good.

We don’t intend to cooperate with the IRS in its attempts to make us pay for killing. What would you do if I came into your office tomorrow with a cup in my hand, asking for contributions to enable me to buy guns and kill a group of people I don’t like?

Nonviolence is a constant awareness of the dignity and humanity of oneself and others. It seeks truth and justice. It renounces violence, both in method and in attitude. It is a courageous acceptance of active love and goodwill as the instruments with which to overcome evil and transform both oneself and others. It is the willingness to undergo suffering rather than inflict it. It excludes retaliation and flight.”

All of the above were from wikiquote.

*sniff*

~By Tom (a.k.a. Tet)

Marriage is the only currency of commitment the real world understands.

Watch the ads. It’s a simple but too often overlooked argument.