Maggie's Farm

Dyson actually raises (unintentionally) a larger question I've heard thrown around in theological discussions. That is to say: When you don't believe in God or are an atheist or New Ager or whatever, there's a tendency to create a more acceptable God and show it a similar sort of reverence and fealty one expects (or at least, hopes) to find in Christians towards their God.

As an experiment, test this theory when you hear these discussions re Global Warming zealots, or those holding a similar position re some aspect of science or environmentalism. You might find that the proponents of certain positions hold their beliefs to contain a moral position, and consider disagreements as blasphemy.

In other words, they act rather like they were holding an inquisition.

One of the criticisms one hears of Christians from certain groups is that man invents God so as to give empty lives meaning. It's uncanny to see environmentalists, anti-creationists, etc., doing exactly that with their own belief systems.

"So, I'll just say that sounds mighty close to a generalization in your first paragraph. I'm thinking you didn't mean it to be as you probably know non-believers and atheists who are not in search of groups, causes, or meaning. I know several and they're neat people. Their philosophy is do the right thing and don't try to tell anyone what, how, or why to think."

I have observed a lot of people professing no belief in God who do want to tell others what to think. I also have observed a lot of people who are looking for a place to fit in. Truly independent thinkers are quite rare, as are people who don't either try to force their opinions on others, or become suspicious of those who don't quite fit in to whatever they have accepted as true.

If you know a lot of truly independent thinkers, well, good for you. I'm not saying you don't.

There's an old wisecrack: "I want to be an iconoclast, like everyone else." It's a cherished American belief that we think for ourselves, uninfluenced by others. We are all rugged individualists, at least in our own minds. Just look at the verbiage under the title of this blog - why, it's the freethinker's manifesto.

On the other hand, it's those who are most confident of their counterculture street cred who need to hear something like this: http://www.lyricsbay.com/w/woodyguthrielyrics/woodyguthrielittleboxesbeatnikversionlyrics.html

The stock market crash in 2000, and the housing crash of - well, right now - are empirical evidence that most people make their decisions based largely on what the people around them think and do. That's why houses in a neighborhood usually look alike - and why people get REALLY upset when they deviate. That's why The Man in the Grey Flannel suit dresses like everyone else in his company (at his job level, anyway). That's why the folks at Daily Kos rarely come to Maggie's to say hello.

Those folks paying too much for stocks in 2000? Caught up with a search for meaning in money, and a fear of falling behind their peers. The men in grey flannel suits? They define themselves by work - it's their 'God'. Etc., etc. The relationship between (wo)man and money, and political affiliation, and social position, and so on, very much resembles the relationship some (wo)men seek with God.

Until we realize and accept (acceptance being the challenging part) that we share certain tendencies at a basic, animal level, we cannot really begin the challenge and struggle of thinking for ourselves.

But that's just my experience. Your mileage may vary. In fact, I'm sure it does, and I hope you get a thousand miles per.

When the numbers reach a certain point, I see worshippers lined up on the sidewalks in front of the local bodegas. And yes, there's a fair amount of prayer and ritual involved...