Saturday, December 03, 2005

TOLERANCE

This is not a post about whether I believe in God, agnosticism, atheism or any other belief system. When pushed to say what I believed in, I said atheism but after some thought I have to admit I have no beliefs whatsoever and I don't care about it, one way or the other.

I have me and my decision to do bad or good in the world is mine alone.

I had made a note some time ago when the intelligent design argument started and that was whether Islamic scientists had the same problem reconciling faith with scientific teaching. I found the example of a Pakistani physicist who used a verse in the Koran to calculate that heaven is receding from the earth at 1 centimetre per second less than the speed of light.

New Scientist, October 8, 2005 has a special report on Fundamentalism including an article on science being fundamentalist too.
New Scientist's definition is "Fundamentalist religions are driven by a desire to get "back to basics", to turn the clock back to a supposed golden age, when their religion was untainted by secular influences. They fervently believe that they alone are in possession of the truth - usually an overtly, literal interpretation of a saced text - and an equally fervent desire to impose that truth on others. And, unlike mainstream religion, they cannot tolerate dissent. As cultural theorist Stuart Sim of the University of Sunderland in the UK puts it; "You're either in the charmed circle of believers or you're the enemy".

This is also from the same issue of New Scientist, "There is no science of history and no technology that will save us from the future, scientific fundamentalism deludes us with dreams of competence; it expects too much of this world, just as religious fundamentalism expects too much of the next".

What it all boils down to is one human being determined to impose their particular faith, whether religious or scientific, on another human being. We can make decisions with the heart or the head but I don't need a sacred text of any kind to tell me what is wrong or right. You can teach me about religion and I can experience science but I will resist both of them being imposed upon me.

The one thing I value above all others is tolerance and I am still reaching for it.

8 comments:

The Editor said...

Hmmm... Tolerance? You want Tolerance? In this age of increasing intolerance you want tolerance? You're not wishing for much, are you?

Well, you did beckon me to come here... :-)

Mother Sharon Damnable said...

WOW a prophetess, so glad you made it through Elizabeth.

The way I look at things is that Mighty God is a living Man and a Woman (That'll be all of us then!)

Much love as Shakespere wrote "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

JahTeh said...

My dear Elizabeth, since I am incapable of even posting my own photo on this blog, I could not in any way purloin your identity. Your purity is usullied by this poor sinner.

The Editor said...

Well, if it ain't you, JT, one of our friends is winding us up BIG TIME! I think it might be Brownie or Crystal (I still reckon they're one and the same.) In fact, I'm still not convinced that you're not Elizabeth yourself. She posted a comment only three minute before you did. Coincidence?

JahTeh said...

My vote's in for Davo. I actually went to that site thinking it was you winding me up. See how tolerant I am.

The Editor said...

I hadn't thought of him. Hmmm...
Well, whoever it is is probably cacking... Mind you, any future posts by "Elizabeth" or any other blog less than three months old will be ignored.
Gotta stop this tomfoolery dead in its tracks.

"Chick magnet" ?????????

Davoh said...

Nup, not me. Have only just figured out how to put links and stuff in the sidebar; much less hijack someone elses blog.

The Editor said...

Nah, Davo, this is not a case of hijacked blogs. This is a case of finding some sadsack's misguided website and borrowing the details therefrom to create a blogger blog. I actually think it's bordering on sick. It's certainly unethical. And I'm sure the real Elizabeth wouldn't thinkit was very funny at all.

I give it minus five out of ten.