"all tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent"And it got me thinking how this political statement could be turned into a religious statement very easily:
"all irrationality needs to gain a foothold is for people of good reason to remain silent"I think this is something we all need to think about in today's society, especially with the state of affairs in the world right now. When our elected leaders refuse to accept the implications of global warming because only god can destroy Earth, people of good reason must speak up!
How can these people get into office you might ask? Well, we have no one to blame but ourselves. The great thing about democracy is that it gives the power to the people. The bad thing is that the people can be stupid, irrational, unreasonable, and wrong. How do we differentiate between right and wrong, what is true and what is false? Through debate, through science, through exploration of the known world and through discussion with fellow human beings. There is overwhelming evidence that the Earth is warming up, and regardless of humankinds's blame for that, if we have the ability to reduce this process, why wouldn't we! This is pure idiocracy at its purest, and it shows one of democracy's few weak points.
Think about it this way: If I go out and murder an atheist, and then at the trial I present the evidence that in the Bible, it clearly states "and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman" (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB). Will a judge and jury accept a verse from the Bible as evidence that what I did was right? Absolutely not, and for this same reason should the Bible never be used in any political stage ever. It is not the infallible word of god, it is not the holy book, it is not full of absolute truths. It is a book, just like any other, written a long time ago by a myriad of authors, many anonymous, and should in no way be depended upon as a guide of action. If you want to believe the Bible that is fine, I am glad we live in a free society where everyone is free to believe what they want. However, when you are entrusted with a public office and are making decisions that affect the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people, verses from the Bible are just not good enough.
3 comments:
It seems to me people don't see the difference between believing what you want, and acting upon that belief.
I agree with you that regardless of whether or not humans are at fault for the increasing temperature of the Earth, that does not mean we shouldn't be taken preventive measures. Whether we believe God's going to destroy the earth or not does not rid us of our responsibilities to protect this habitat, for the event that we may be wrong about the Bible.
Let's deal with the here and now, with what we know is true. With what we observe.
*Err, I meant "taking" instead of "taken" in my comment above.
Absolutely! This just goes to show the devastating effects that belief in a supernatural being can have, with this Congressman's opinion affecting and influencing hundreds of thousands of people.
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