February 15, 2015

Social Media, Religion, Politics – Just Chill Out

Maybe it comes from the fact that I’m not religious. Maybe it comes from the fact that I don’t have deep-seated beliefs that I take “personally” when remarks I make are challenged. But, some people just need to chill out on Facebook, on Twitter, or whatever your social network of choice happens to be. If I challenge something you said in a Facebook status update, it’s a confrontation of that particular thought, not the entirety of you as a person. But if this “thought” is of religious nature, even if disguised as political, that’s where we get into the territory of the deep-seated belief. And maybe I just can’t understand how one would react in this situation because, again, I don’t have deep-seated beliefs on the level of religious dogma. And let’s not mistake this with ethics or morals, because they are not the same things. Your “beliefs” are not directly equitable to what society may consider ethical or moral in the aggregate. We need only look to Islamic extremists to drive this point home. Anyway, do I have a point here? Not really, other than people need to chill the fuck out when an opposing viewpoint “intrudes” into their social media territory.

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December 24, 2013

The Christian Right Wishes To Protect Intolerant ‘Religious’ Beliefs

There is great absurdity in calling “the left” intolerant, as it relates to the Duck Dynasty / Phil Robertson “story,” when the Christian right is masterful at employing intolerance by masquerading it as a protected religious belief. They wish to portray “the left” as being intolerant when liberals criticize hateful religious beliefs. If these religious beliefs were harmless, and if these religious beliefs were not discriminatory, then maybe, just maybe the Christian right would have a point. But if a Christian conservative vocally condemns an entire group of people based on sexual preference, or race, or anything else that is part of what makes them human, that is true intolerance, and they will rightfully be labeled a bigot.

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June 8, 2012

Millennials And Liberal Democrats Less Likely To Believe In God

A recent Pew survey reveals that 68% of Millennials, defined as those born from 1981 on, say “I never doubt the existence of God”, which is a decline of 15 points in 5 years. The “Silent” generation, those born between 1928 and 1945, did not see any change when it comes to belief in God in the past 5 years. Although I’m betting you could poll that older generation on any number of issues and rarely find much change in only 5 years.

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August 5, 2011

Less Than Total Recall

People are who they are, and behave as they do because of unique combinations of personal life experiences. The memories we create from these experiences are then used to formulate assumptions, opinions and beliefs. But assumptions, opinions and beliefs also play a role in the very formation of these memories.

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