Biting back

 

I, and this website, are not exclusively concerned with politics, even if it seems that way to some. Political goals are high on my list of things needing achievement, but they do not happen in isolation. It's great to dream of an equalitarian society, but the reality of it requires equality in the schools, the workplace and elsewhere. My greater goal is bringing about a Good Society, a just society, a caring society, which requires me to be interested in a whole slew of things.

I am non-religious. Basically, religion does not interest me at all, except as a sub-discipline of sociology or anthropology. While religious practices have had an important role in most of human history - no one can ignore that - I think the era of religious influence, the religious way of life, is over. Since the Renaissance, we have moved toward lives and societies based on science and human fulfillment. People are more interested in the here and now, what my life is like, than Heaven or Hell. Little by little, for most people, religion has become a token salute to the past, a habitual ritual, but not a determining factor in one's life.

There's lots of labels put on people like me: atheist, agnostic, infidel, etc; all unpleasant and derogatory. However, I ignore those, preferring 'non-religious.' The reason for my choice is simply that all the other labels are emotionally loaded, and carry a burden of activism. 'Non-religious' means I just don't care about the subject. I'm not a pro- or anti-religious militant. If others want to talk about religion, or even express their religious opinions in these pages, that's all right. But, I take such talk as banter and mostly ignore it.

My non-religion does impact one area seriously and immediately: government. I believe the government should be 100% secular, totally non-religious. This is the one area in which I am militant with respect to religion. Why do I feel this way? Take a look at Ireland, Bosnia, Israel and the Middle East. The Founding Fathers knew the dangers of religious zealotry, because they knew what had happened during the German 30 Years' War: 2/3 of the people were slaughtered. The fact is religion, like tribalism and provincialism, can be a powerful negative force. The American solution, embedded in the Constitution, is tolerance. The way to achieve that tolerance is written into the First Amendment, traditionally known as the 'separation of Church and State.' This should continue to be the American solution, because it is a solution that works. Oddly enough, Barry Goldwater, precursor of the bigots now occupying the seat of national government, would probably agree with me.

I am extremely interested in science and scientific knowledge. I want to know things like:
 

Over a lifetime, the most important and interesting things involve the foregoing questions. In the end, everything else is, by comparison, humdrum and routine. For example, I enjoy cooking, so, until this year, I prepared the Thanksgiving dinner. I remember fixing some really excellent dinners (per other peoples' report), but, for the life of me, I cannot remember what they tasted like. They were what they were, at the moment; now they are gone. The same is true for most other things in life. I remember practically nothing of my life in college, or my experiences in marriage. All that was temporary. What I do remember, clearly, is many of the books I've read, the lessons taught, and the grand design of it all.

This is not to say people are not important. I remember well many people, dead and alive, who influenced me, or who were exceptional characters. I don't remember them for shared meals, or sexual performance, athletic prowess, or doing the chores we all must do to maintain life. I remember their insights, their peculiar moral qualities, or their "character," energy or determination. I am impressed by people who have transcended their mortal lives, to become known to us in the media and pages of history. I think such people determine the learned content of everyone elses' lives; i.e., they invent and propagate culture. I am also impressed by people who have just as surely formed the culture without being advertised in every history.

It is simply not enough to get born, get schooled, get children and get killed. Our relatives, the Chimps and Gorillas, do the same, as do most monkeys, dogs and cats. I am enough of a human chauvinist to believe there is something special about our kind of life, something that transcends other, ordinary biological life forms. That something has everything to do with art, language, and writing - the arts and sciences. To be uneducated by choice is to choose to be something less than human.

So, that gets to the end of my Editorial Policies: I am a believer in intelligence, and doing things intelligently. To my mind, that excludes bigotry and stupidity. If anyone wants to be like Archie Bunker, please do it out of my sight and keep it to yourself. I see no reason to go easy on people who are like that primordial redneck. In my works, I hope to promote the liberal arts and sciences, and the liberal attitude pertaining thereto.