Frying Pan, Fire
I had a conversation with a neopagan about religion recently. Now that I consider how this conversation set off my memetic allergies, it comes as no surprise that they usually don't want to talk about it with somebody like me! "Why would I as a non-religious person want them to talk about it?" one might ask. Because there are so many of them in my social circles these days, that I've been trying to sound them out; figure out what makes them tick and what to expect from them. It was nice most of the time; I smiled, and nodded a lot, trying to perceive the basic motivations and needs behind the bare descriptions of doctrines and practices.
And then the memetic allergy was triggered. The suggestion was made that the practices of ancient Native American astrologers qualified as "a kind of science." Also at one point, somewhere, god created adam and eve, the wiccan informed me. And at another point, somewhere else, the evolution of species took place. With a dizzying rush, images of the science classes of America's schoolchildren passed before my eyes. In this vision, obscurantists were storming the gates. Their eyes girded about with the blindfold of faith, with which to ward off the fiery darts of disillusionment. Yea verily did they beseech their brethren to girt about their ears with the headphones of constant indoctrination. Then, in my vision, took they up the megaphone of passionate conviction, and the forced grin of fatuous peace and tepid joy, yea verily did they preserve their authentic heritage, amen.
In short, I had a flashback to my Creation Scientist days. I realized there is more than harmless personal enrichment going on. Differences in worldviews are emerging in which real harm to real people is potentially at stake. Don't get me wrong, this individual I was talking to was splendid and certainly no obscurantist as far as I know. And I'm not placing blame with any individual. But there are issues with larger movements of deliberate ignorance and anti-science cultures that do worry me.
It's been easy to write off a lot of traits of convention-goers as charming eccentricities, but I can't afford to forget where the line is drawn. I have a deep antagonism to faith, nature and heritages; I love reason, technology and the future. So I set out, about two years ago, to find somewhere to call a home; that these dearly-held core values would not merely be barely tolerated but perhaps even celebrated. At that time I was employed by a church; I was married to a Christian and we couldn't respect each other; I had only recently stopped attending my parents' church that was self-described fundamentalist. It goes without saying that friendship and love are impossible if you surround yourself only with people who are so disappointing, because closeness would only reveal that disappointment. I was completely alienated and felt like the whole world would hate and reject me if I revealed my authentic values to anyone. It was very depressing.
Although I escaped that life and built some good friendships, recently I've become concerned that the overall subculture that I've entered has some aspects just as nauseating as the tent revivals. The fellowship of reason, technology and the future-- which I've heard postmodernists refer to as "modernism"-- will not be welcome to everybody around me; not by a long shot. A little of the old feeling of being in a fortress has come back, in which I feel that even a friend might suddenly turn out to be on the other side of a culture war. I still have to remain watchful for criminal spiritualistic fraud, the overturning of science and medicine, and other evils of gullibility. It's no less common in the New Age than in the dogmatic monotheisms. Friendships, affections or loves might turn to contempt, held in check only by a polite silence, as it was in my old life, where anything important just can't be talked about for fear of starting a fight. I hope I haven't gone out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Comments
twoofdtm on Aug. 3, 2004 12:19 PM
I haven't run away yet matt. You're very much fun to discuss philosophy with and like I just said I haven't run yet. I'm not religious but I have my views on life and everybody does. We haven't really argued yet and that's okay to. We might someday but you know what that's okay. Friends can't expect to get along all the time. Not even married people do. Nor do families. It's part of life. I won't go anywhere though. *hugs*
matt-arnold on Aug. 3, 2004 1:48 PM — thank you
You are a gem. I need to see things the way you describe. If we pick any two people, we will find that they disagree on something, somewhere. For instance, I got on an e-mail list for Michigan humanists, but did we agree on everything? No, I found that they had serious fights about politics even though we agreed about religion. And very few of them are sympathetic with my desire for medical technology to cure us from dying of old age, so we got in a fight about that. So, I should stop trying to find a place where I could stop worrying about conflict. In fact, maybe that would be boring and stultifying. There will always be conflict, it just has to be with forgiveness. People just have to put up with each other and see the good in each other.
wormquartet on Aug. 4, 2004 4:01 AM
Hehehe..."memetic allergy." You clever little heathen. :)
Every time I read your entries I find myself wondering if you enjoyed "Dear God." I also have a mental image of your escape from fundamentalism...sweat-drenched as you run for the prison walls while sirens wail and amplified organs play "Have Thine Own Way" in an attempt to activate the subliminal programming that should make you kneel, dodging acolytes that try to trip you with those stupid long candle-lighting thingies and staying just ahead of the heavily-armed nuns in camouflage habits that are in pursuit while ninja monks somersault several yards above you hurling crucifixes like throwing stars, your knuckles white as you struggle to rip off your electronic Necktie of Servitude (sorry, you're a bit Mormon in this image) as its mechanics whir and it struggles to re-establish its grip around your neck and push its mini-hypodermics back into your spine to inject a heavier dose of the Elixir of Blissful Acceptance as its tracking device beeps faster and faster and a built-in speaker attempts to reassure you "Relax, child, and return to the herd. Return to the herd and all will be forgiven" and a squadron of stealth angels prepares to dive-bomb you and shove communion wafers down your throat...
...but I digress. Hi!
-=ShoEboX=-
matt-arnold on Aug. 4, 2004 10:35 AM
I am now converting to Shoeboxism. Shoebox is god. I am falling off my chair laughing. Just so that you know who I am, I'm that guy who harassed you at Penguicon about how much I love "Dear God" and bought two of your CDs. I enter them into the CD player gingerly to prevent smearing your signature any more than it already is. I am resigned to the fact that ballpen ink will never dry on a CD surface.
wormquartet on Aug. 5, 2004 4:23 AM — Correct!
That is, indeed, who you are.
-=ShoEboX=-
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