The only differance being probably that I do have beliefs as such about the divine.
Surprisingly (to some), as do I. While I may appear atheistic in my thoughts and approaches at times; it is only because I tend to divorce my faith from my reason. I'm closest to Deism in terms of belief, which means I value the evidence of god's own creation over the stories in scripture or the myths of our ancestors. Although, I don't go in for the whole argument for fine tuning many other Deists claim... largely due to the trashing it's received after being hijacked by the ID/Creationist movement.
So since my religion begins and ends with the single statement of belief in god, I'm sure you can understand it doesn't come up very often when exploring the topics of other religions. It's simply not relevant most of the time. As such, I get the awkward distinction of being one of the very few Creationists who Atheists can support... and I often find myself on their side of most debates - excepting those who wish to see religion abolished, which I don't agree with. I think there are deeper and more fundamental issues at work which turn believers into fanatics - and it extends to other spheres of culture and society as well. Dealing with them would, ultimately, cause the collapse of most religions regardless... but would allow such institutions to persevere for those who value the good and ennobling contributions they can (and have) make to culture, morality, and identity.
And, yes, I do value the establishment of religion. Growing up fairly non-religious in a Roman Catholic household, I've come to cherish the art, literature, symbolism, allegories, and many of the lessons which Christianity has inspired. Not as literal truth, but as a human layer of context and color by which to paint our perceptions of the world. To say nothing of the impact of Greek, Norse, Zoroastrian, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, and Islamic religion on our world.
You are very right Atheist or Bible Basher or whatever, we all need to grow up in regards to where, why and how we gain, integrate and act out our belief systems inregards to morals and codes of behaviour as such.
Undoubtedly. But it goes a bit deeper than this. As I mentioned perhaps far too briefly, this extends beyond religious concerns. It relates to nearly ever sphere of our society. The very human nature we need to study in order to know ourselves better has long been a taboo. Instead of religious doctrines, we cling to ideas of innate equality regardless of genetic or developmental factors. For instance, it's long been known colloquially that musical talent seems to run in families. Studies on twins (both identical and paternal, adopted and raised at home) seem to confirm that while musical aptitude can be learned to varying degrees by most everyone, that the children of talented musicians tend to have musically talented children - even when those children had been raised by another family who didn't have much musical talent.
But does this extend other faculties of the mind? Tendencies towards Aggression? Towards apathy? Leadership? What of IQ, as Francis Crick (the guy who co-discovered DNA's double helix) which sparked a damning controversy by musing over the possibility, which in the end forced him to retire and left him with the stigma of being considered a racist?
While there has been no (to my knowledge) definitive link between IQ and Heredity - assuming there were, does it then follow that just because someone is born to a group who are disposed to a lower IQ, that they should be discriminated against? Does it follow that if various dispositions towards certain behaviors or aptitudes are established genetically, that we should try again at Social Darwinism?
This is where we need to grow up as well. Not just in religion, but in the realization that if we're going to leave religious beliefs behind as guides to our morality, then we should look objectively at ourselves and face some of the unpleasant truths we might find as responsible and reasonable adults... not fearful children.
Does it matter if one race or another has a higher IQ on average? No... because you cannot judge the individual by the average of a group they cannot help be a part of. We still must judge each other on the basis of our own merits, as individuals. In Pinker's book, he evoked "Hume's Guillotine" in regard this poser. Basically, that just because we can show that something IS true, does not mean that we should regard it as the way it ought to be.
I'm sure you've seen the thread about racism which the mod's have been drawing attention to through U2Us. I think one of these hard truths we must face responsibly is the admission that we all harbor racist tendencies at some level. Either belligerently, or over accommodatingly. Whether those who don't care for the company and influence of other ethnic groups, or those who take steps beyond what they normally would in order to prove they "aren't racist"... it's the same thing. I think this stems largely from two main factors. One, our tribal/clan/family group heritage in which we spent the majority of our evolution, and the other being our brain's inability to conceptualize more than about 150 (IIRC) unique personalities. Our brains simply didn't evolve in an environment where there was a great need to remember so many people. So we boil other "tribes", other ethnicitys, other reiligious believers, other political positions, etc, down to commonly associated traits shared among the members of that group, as well as cultural memes which are projected upon that group. This is, I think, where stereotypes come in. It's not an bad habit insomuch as it's a way of anticipating the mindset of those in different tribes without knowing each of them individually.
But if we accept that it is innate human behavior, instinct, to stereotype and harbor racist attitudes, does not then our evolutionary history justify these actions? NO, it doesn't... because as said, just because we can verify something is true, doesn't mean it ought to be. We also evolved with altruistic natures, and the capacity for empathy. We know it's wrong, because we know what it's like to be discriminated against, and know that it's not a pleasant experience.
But if one ignores that they possess these behaviors, hides from what may be an ugly truth out of fear of bigotry and intolerance using that truth as a justification, then they also ignore their own expressions of these traits to others, thinking they are not capable of racist behavior. Perhaps, in a common case, it may be over compensated for towards one ethnicity - while used belligerently against a religious or political group. How can one be racist against a Republican, if it's not a race?! Because racism is only one expression that is being over-focused on, but doesn't address the root of the behavior.
But what if you acknowledge this tendency as a shared human trait, and have a good idea regarding the root causes of it? You wouldn't be able to divorce yourself from this behavior, but you could gain perhaps a better perspective on it, and learn to identify it elsewhere in your behavior - then try to mitigate it. Understand that just because you may hold a stereotype, doesn't mean you can't try to drop it and assess the person you talk to on their own merits.
Going back to my prior post, this is where I believe we still have a lot of work to do growing up. In accepting the things we cannot change, having the courage to change the things we can, and having the wisdom to know the difference (as the popular prayer goes). By acknowledging that humanity is ultimately the promoter, demoter, and definer of our moralistic values, I carry a greater responsibility for the morality that I inherit and that I choose to live by, reflect upon the actions those morals effect on others, and strive to refine them.. so that they will hopefully continue on beyond me and help influence the morals of our culture tomorrow. To quote Gandhi again, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Rather than fear at acknowledging this, I feel at peace, contentment, and hopefulness for the future.
To conceptualize this sentiment, I end here with a quote from Chris Abani from the end of his 2008 TEDTalk: Stories of our shared humanity.
The Igbo used to say that they built their own gods. They would come together as a community, and they would express a wish. And their wish would then be brought to a priest who would find a ritual object, and the appropriate sacrifices would be made, and the shrine would be built for the god. But if the god became unruly and began to ask for human sacrifice, the Igbos would destroy the god. They would knock down the shrine, and they would stop saying the God's name. This is how they came to reclaim their humanity. Every day, all of us here, we're building gods that have gone rampant, and it's time we started knocking them down and forgetting their names.
