Lately, for whatever reason, I've been noticing lots of people talking about having loads of kids. They like babies, apparently. The unfortunate thing is, all of these people are either very stupid or very religious. Usually both.
It's a well-established fact that stupid people outnumber smart people; the reasons for this are debated. Some, like myself, believe it's at least partially due to a system that rewards excessive reproduction; others think it's due to the removal of restrictions placed on women- back in the day, smart women became teachers because that's all they were allowed to do; today, smart women can do anything a smart man can, and if you set up a nice practice as a lawyer or doctor, would you want to take time off to give birth to a kid? I doubt it.
I also believe that many people do no fully comprehend the implications of childrearing. I know a couple of girls I graduated high school with now have kids, the sad thing being that they were looking forward to being mothers.
See, I place babies in the same category as puppies, kittens, and guinea piglets: sure, they may be cute now, but when you have to clean crap/barf/urine off the carpet, you're going to be thinking differently, at least until said animal learns better. The difference between these girls and me is, they don't see the downside- all they think is OMG babiez SOOOO CUTE, and that's it. No plan for the child's future; no plan to make their future kid more successful than they are (this wouldn't be difficult for the girls I've cited; it would involve going to college and not having kids right after you graduate). But no, instead they choose to have children not for their childrens' sake, but for theirs. It's some kind of bizarre maternal badge of honour, apparently, to have kids even when you're not ready for them.
As if teenage ignorance wasn't enough, we also have a movement within most fundamentalist communities (christian and muslim alike) that aims to produce as many children as possible per sanctified union; women are treated as nothing more than baby factories, and girls are taught never to aspire to anything other than reproductive excess. I wouldn't be so opposed to this "quiverfull" movement if 1) it was not inspired by superstition and 2) the kinds of people having boatloads of kids were scientists, engineers, and doctors- you know, people who actually contribute tangible benefits to society.
But no, you instead have Billy-Bob and Sue-Anne marrying right out of high school and never aspiring to make anything of themselves; they are taught that sex is evil and that higher education is the work of the devil, so Billy-Bob is resigned to working the rest of his life at the steel foundry or whatever, and Sue-Anne is relegated to an existence made up exclusively of cooking, cleaning, fucking, and breeding, in varying order.
Does anybody else see the problem with this? THIS IS WRONG! People should not make more people simply for the sake of having more people; they should make more people because they believe they can make better people than themselves: individuals who, once their education is complete, can turn around and give something back to society.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Actually... No.
Do you ever notice how Christians are almost expected to traipse about and exclaim their faith, while the mere mention of disbelief on the part of a rational individual is enough to have him labeled an "aggressive atheist"?
Why do you think that is? It's probably due to the fact that atheism, by the nature of its most popular definition, is openly antagonistic towards fairy tales. This offends people, and they believe they can use the "freedom of opinion" to quash it.
It is an unfortunate truth that people seem to believe they have to respect others' opinions. This is actually not the case; one is merely obliged to respect anothers right to their opinion.
This is where I'm having an issue. I think it highly frustrating when I meet fellow atheists who "respect other peoples' opinions". I mean, really, why would you? If it's stupid, it does not deserve respect. If I say sin and vice are the devices of the Cosmic Leprechaun and his gang of evil fairies, do you respect that? Or do you tell me that you think I'm a fucking idiot, in lieu of any actual evidence in support of my claim? I desperately hope it's the latter.
You do not need to respect other peoples opinions. You are free to call their opinions stupid. You can choose to not be an intellectual pussy, and do the right thing instead of the easy thing. Yes, I know that it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside to think that you can avoid conflict with your unenlightened friends, but really you're just seeking desperately for the justification for your cognitive cowardice. Don't be an asshole; educate!
Now, I know that this may sound a little extreme, and I'm not suggesting anybody try to collect and burn theists at the stake (not that I believe you could or are ignorant enough to try, but disclaimers never hurt). The point I'm trying to get across is this: the Christians of this country are not willing to show you respect for your logic, and so you really don't owe them anything. Oh, sure, you'll meet the ones who say that they respect your opinion, and then about five seconds later they'll tell you they just think it's so sad that you're so blind to the obviousness of the existence of their skydaddy. That, or they'll be kind enough to tell you that they don't hate you, per se, because their book-of-tales tells them to hate the sin, not the sinner. And that really grinds my gears.
When I was young and a naive, I wondered how the bible could call free thought a sin; and then I thought about the genesis story, and realized that the whole concept of not only Christianity, but all Abrahamic religions (I would say all religions, period, but I need to save such a claim until I am better educated about them) are predicated upon the machinistic, uninspired behaviours of their subscribers. In short, you have to be sheep to follow one of those religions (Surprise! I'm sure you've heard the sheep/shepherd metaphor before).
While I hate to belabor the point, I feel compelled to offer a summary: there really is no point to holding opinions on anything, if you are not willing to place them above the opinions of others. Not only are you allowed to do so, you are allowed to vocalize your ideas and challenge others. Your freedom to do so is limited only by your opponents right to live a peaceful life; you can't threaten to blow up their cars because they believe some hippy got nailed to a beam. Not only would be lowering yourself to their level, but you'd damage the reputation of freethinkers as kind, thoughtful, intellectually superior individuals, and we'd be happy to disown you.
Why do you think that is? It's probably due to the fact that atheism, by the nature of its most popular definition, is openly antagonistic towards fairy tales. This offends people, and they believe they can use the "freedom of opinion" to quash it.
It is an unfortunate truth that people seem to believe they have to respect others' opinions. This is actually not the case; one is merely obliged to respect anothers right to their opinion.
This is where I'm having an issue. I think it highly frustrating when I meet fellow atheists who "respect other peoples' opinions". I mean, really, why would you? If it's stupid, it does not deserve respect. If I say sin and vice are the devices of the Cosmic Leprechaun and his gang of evil fairies, do you respect that? Or do you tell me that you think I'm a fucking idiot, in lieu of any actual evidence in support of my claim? I desperately hope it's the latter.
You do not need to respect other peoples opinions. You are free to call their opinions stupid. You can choose to not be an intellectual pussy, and do the right thing instead of the easy thing. Yes, I know that it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside to think that you can avoid conflict with your unenlightened friends, but really you're just seeking desperately for the justification for your cognitive cowardice. Don't be an asshole; educate!
Now, I know that this may sound a little extreme, and I'm not suggesting anybody try to collect and burn theists at the stake (not that I believe you could or are ignorant enough to try, but disclaimers never hurt). The point I'm trying to get across is this: the Christians of this country are not willing to show you respect for your logic, and so you really don't owe them anything. Oh, sure, you'll meet the ones who say that they respect your opinion, and then about five seconds later they'll tell you they just think it's so sad that you're so blind to the obviousness of the existence of their skydaddy. That, or they'll be kind enough to tell you that they don't hate you, per se, because their book-of-tales tells them to hate the sin, not the sinner. And that really grinds my gears.
When I was young and a naive, I wondered how the bible could call free thought a sin; and then I thought about the genesis story, and realized that the whole concept of not only Christianity, but all Abrahamic religions (I would say all religions, period, but I need to save such a claim until I am better educated about them) are predicated upon the machinistic, uninspired behaviours of their subscribers. In short, you have to be sheep to follow one of those religions (Surprise! I'm sure you've heard the sheep/shepherd metaphor before).
While I hate to belabor the point, I feel compelled to offer a summary: there really is no point to holding opinions on anything, if you are not willing to place them above the opinions of others. Not only are you allowed to do so, you are allowed to vocalize your ideas and challenge others. Your freedom to do so is limited only by your opponents right to live a peaceful life; you can't threaten to blow up their cars because they believe some hippy got nailed to a beam. Not only would be lowering yourself to their level, but you'd damage the reputation of freethinkers as kind, thoughtful, intellectually superior individuals, and we'd be happy to disown you.
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