Saturday, August 19, 2006

A little from Column A...

According to this article, a recent study published in the Journal of Religion and Society found a correlation between religiousity and anti-social behaviour.
Colour me shocked.

I've been on a bit of an anti-religious crusade for a few posts now so I should probably clarify somthing. I don't personally think that religion is an entirely bad thing. It does have some good moments. Take for example the Anglican church's new position on causing environmental damage. It's a sin! Apparently that whole thing where we're all "stewards of the earth" was meant more as "Yo, take care of this shit" than "Yo, you own this now so do whatever shit you feel like to it".
I only have one problem with this. Anglicans who decide after this to do a better job at not raping the planet are only doing it because their church tells them to. Why couldn't these people come to the realization that they shouldn't shit where they live earlier, on their own?
Don't take me wrong, I am very, very happy to see the Anglican church taking this stance. However, my fear is that someday some church leader will change his (or her... snicker) mind and decide that Christians are masters of the world again and can shit to their hearts content.
Instead of blindly following whatever moral guidelines are being handed out, I'd be much happier if everyone, religious and not-religious alike, would just stop and consider what we personally feel is right and wrong. Once we've got things sorted into two groups, we should look at each thing and ask: why is it in this column? Can I really back this up on my own, or is "Because it is" the best I can come up with? If it is, maybe it's in the wrong column.
Then again, if we all did this nothing would get done for weeks. Even worse, we might end up with a severe shortage of flip charts and magic markers.
(That would go in Column B.)

3 comments:

La said...

dude, I was raised hardcore Catholic. oh the stories I could tell you...

Manifold Mess said...

Oh do tell, I'm dating a recovering Catholic so I'm somewhat familiar with your pain. He's big on the Catholic guilt, not so big on evolution. It's a strange, strange thing.

La said...

Bless his heart. I've got the guilt, for sure. Evolution is my friend, though. I've met too many "the earth is 6000 years old" kids. Scary!