and tell me what you think of it. Personally, I think that if someone wants to spend the money on a degree program like that, good for them. I wouldn’t want to, but that’s just me. I don’t agree with a program like that, but I won’t judge it either.
See, I’ve noticed something recently. It’s about religion. I have noticed a lot of people who just rail on a particular sect or entire category of religion. These people generally think it’s cool or something, I don’t know. I’ve become less and less tolerant of people who make fun of religion. Now, let me clarify this. If you are sitting around with your friends and you are making fun of stuff and religions happen to hop in, fine. All I ask is that you give all religions fair play and don’t try to lift one above another with comparisons. The people that really bug me are those who think that religions are a “cancer” or a “menace” on this Earth. These generally seem to be atheists, agnostics, and pagans. I don’t understand how paganism got in with this anti-religionists, but hey who am I to judge? Oh, that’s right because I understand that paganism is a rejection of Christianity and it falls into it’s own religious category. Why aren’t the atheists and agnostics going buck wild over the pagans? Because the pagans with kiss anyone’s ass who will give them the time of day. Give a pagan an inch and they’ll blab your damn ear off about how they are soooo cool and Christianity is sooo bad. Pish posh, I say.
Now, again, don’t get me wrong. I know some cool cats who are atheists, agnostics, pagans, and even *gasp* Christians. See, it’s the throat-shovers I hate. The one’s who are so insecure in their own faith that they need to feel useful and try to convert anyone who falls into their vision path. I don’t mind at all those who are happy with what they believe and trundle along their lives all happy, not bothering anyone. My standpoint is that you can believe whatever the hell you want and I won’t criticize you for it. My reasoning for this is several-fold. First, I keep that standpoint because I expect others to treat me with that same outlook on my beliefs (which I will get to in a minute). Second, I fully admit that I can’t explain everything that happens or has happened in this interesting little universe of ours, so your explanation is just as plausible as mine. Third, it’s just nice to see someone who is so comfortable in what they believe that other viewpoints don’t bother them and don’t fill them with some weird conversion desire.
My viewpoint on existence? Well, I’m glad you asked. The way I look at the universe (presuming there is, in fact, only one, but frankly that’s up in the air too) is there is a lot left to discover and explain, but we don’t have the tools to make those discoveries or pen those explanations… yet. So, I figure everything that science can’t explain, is an unknown. Then of course our perceptions of science also change. The evolutionary line of human beings was recently shaken up by the discovery of a skull. The skull was from a previously thought early form of man that evolved into a next step. Turns out that those two steps probably weren’t there at all because they found evidence that those two steps existed at around the same time and probably had very minor if any interaction with each other. See? Previous perceptions and understandings change all the time. Things are never simple and that’s the way I like it.
However, I don’t discount anyone that believes that God hit a light switch, created the Earth, and played in the mud until he made Man. Entirely plausible until proven either correct or incorrect. Just like the Big Bang. While widely considered fact, it is still a theory. A theory that is entirely plausible until proven either correct or not.
I guess the whole point I’m trying to make is to not discount another person’s take on existence. You never know, you might be wrong. Think of it like you are telling a story about something that happened to you. You would want someone to believe that what happened in that story actually happened to you, right? Well, same thing with faith. You don’t have to take what someone else believes as fact and start preaching it from the rooftops, but you should at least file it as plausible until the evidence comes it. I can’t look up into the sky and see this God guy everyone talks about, but since I can’t prove that he doesn’t exist, I have to accept it as a plausibility. I know that gravity exists even though I can’t see it because I can watch it influence objects. I know that if I take my pen and let it go from my hand, it will fall and hit the first object in its path, be it floor, chair, or someone’s head; however, I accept the plausibility that, according to quantum mechanics, that if I let that pen go, it might stay where it is or even fall upward. I’ve never observed this occur, but I accept it as plausible because physics tells me it’s plausible. See how I’m kind of branching science and religion here? I’m cool like that.
Anyway, I’ve ranted and preached long enough. Remember, we live in a society that allows believe to believe whatever they want. Don’t take that away by making someone feel stupid over what they believe. If they want to believe in a light-switching sculptor, sure. If they want to believe in Raptor Jesus, fine. Let someone secure their beliefs.
So, yeah. Let’s hear what you have to say about that article up there that I mentioned briefly. You know… that like first sentence? Ah, forget you then. ;)
Also, give congratulations to Lexy for her last day working in Independence and a beginning to a sweet new career as a high school counselor. She’s doing way better in life than I am. I think I picked a winner. :D
