In last Friday’s New York Times, Nicholas D. Kristof suggests that the U.S. is moving towards a “religious Great Awakening.” Americans, more and more, are putting much more emphasis on “faith” and less on actual historical or scientific evidence. He specifically cites from a Harris Poll that 91% of Christians (and even 47% of non-Christians) believe in the Virgin Birth. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, people still believe in this myth.

This scares me. We are waging wars because of the danger posed by Islamic fundamentalists. But, we ignore the danger of our own Christian fundamentalism. As we ignore logic and reason in favor of faith, we steadily move in the direction of that which we now define as evil.

Unfortunately, I predict that the occassional abortion clinic bombing or hate crime will become all the more common and accepted. As the fundamental Christian ideology become our only standard for a moral life, these horrible crimes will not only become to be accepted, but they will come to be revered. There is no difference between some people killing infidels in the name of Allah and some people killing infidels in the name of God.

I’ve now got a link to our website…NOZ Online. This is something I put together a couple of years ago, so it is in desperate need of updating. But, nevertheless, there’s some interesting stuff on it. Check it out.

I’ll never understand religion. For the last several years I’ve thought about religion often, trying to make any kind of sense out of it. My biggest question is how can so many people believe in something that is so ripe with contradictions and has no logic to it whatsoever? Actually, I think the masterminds behind organized religion were really on to something. You have all of these “myths” which purport to explain the unexplainable, and then when someone questions the feasibility of these myths, they’re told that they just have to have faith. I don’t understand this at all, and it confuses the hell out of me how someone could just accept anything “on faith.” Is there some faith gene somewhere in our DNA that just happened to pass me by? I’ve examined this whole religion issue for years and I’ve finally come to the conclusion that no matter how hard I try, there’s something in me that just won’t let me blindly accept things just because someone says I should. I wouldn’t say I was an atheist, because it is my opinion that it’s as arrogant to say definitively that there is no God as it is to say definitively that there is. We’re just human, who are we to know? I think there is value in religion for those who believe in it…it can offer comfort and peace, and is a way to promote positive social values. However, I think it’s possible to live a “moral” life without believing in a God; to just do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do, not because there might be some Great Cosmic Scorekeeper who’s keeping track of when you’re naughty and nice. If you don’t believe in an afterlife, in the possibility of going to either a good place or a bad place dependent upon your actions, all that matters is how you spend your time on earth. To me it almost seems MORE “moral” to live a good life and try to make a difference because you genuinely want to than to only act a certain way because you’re expecting some sort of a reward when it’s all said and done. This is why narrow-minded, ignorant people who automatically think that Atheists and Agnostics are “bad” people really piss me off. (Side thought…how can someone go to hell if they don’t believe in hell?) It’s not like one “chooses” to not believe in God, anymore than one “chooses” to be a homosexual. (Of course, anyone who thinks someone “chooses” to be homosexual is someone who isn’t going to buy my argument anyway.) Why would anyone choose to be something that they know most people won’t understand and that many will persecute them for? It just doesn’t make any sense. I believe in having empathy for other people in an effort to not judge them, to understand. I think if more people made this effort rather than jumping to easy conclusions, the world would be a better place.

Welcome. This is the first entry into our blog. Seddy and I decided to start this blog as an outlet for our many rants. Rants about religion, politics, music, movies, etc. The things that piss us off. The things that inspire us. Whatever. Just so long as it’s honest. It may not always be what you want to hear, but it will remain honest. And, not that anyone besides us will read this, but if you do, feel free to comment, argue, or correct. And, remember this is our first stab at this blog thing, so keep in mind that this is an evolving forum. Thank you.