If you can stomach the near-insufferable smugness and condescension of Chris Hitchens (an increasingly difficult proposition), here's a pretty interesting, though juvenile, discussion of religion in American politics on Bill Maher's show.
Best—and funniest—point as far as I'm concerned comes from Dan Savage of Savage Love: “This is America. Australia got the convicts. Canada got the French. America got the Puritans. We’re stuck with them. We’re never going to have a presidential candidate who doesn’t believe some form of religious idiocy.”
3 comments:
I really don't mind smugness and condescension when it comes to putting down religion. In fact, I applaud it. Of course, I realize being smug or condescending when trying to change someone's view is ineffective, religious wing nuts rarely if ever see the idiocy of their sheep-like beliefs. Is that enough smugness and condescension for you? :-)
Well, of course, the point isn't to convince anybody. But I just can't stand sanctimony, smugness, or condescension, arrogance from anyone whether I agree with them or not. It just drives me up a wall.
And Hitchens has been on a smug roll lately. This from a former Trotskyite who supported Bush's Iraq Invasion, mind you. He's sometimes clever, but only in the way a sarcastic teenager is clever. And that bores me no end.
And to address your other point, he and Maher aren't just talking about wingnuts, they're talking about anyone who holds religious or spiritual beliefs. Which would include half or more of our friends. In attacking the dogma of other they're blind to their own dogmatism—that of scientific materialism and reductionism. Bully for them, the flip side of the same damn coin.
I guess that's where we differ. I actually appreciate a little condescension from people talking about those who believe religious dogma. Now, I don't think it's ever appropriate to talk down to someone individually, but I love to hear a good George Carlin-like rant. And frankly, I think that ANY follower of an organized religion is a wing nut. Sorry if that's harsh, but that's how I feel.
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