Knowledge, Superstitions, and Fundamentalism
For thousands of years, human beings have wondered about the world they live in.
Why does it rain?
Why does it not rain?
Why are we born?
Why do we die?
Where did we come from?
Where are we going?
...and so on.
In recent centuries, great progress has been made in answering these questions.
We have learned why it rains, and why it doesn't rain.
We have learned the only way we are conceived and born (sperm delivery to ova, fetal development in the womb), and we have studied many of the ways we die. We have learned where we came from, and we have some plausible ideas about where we're going...
We've learned a lot more too.
Examples:
chemistry
biology
biochemistry
neurology
physiology
astronomy
cognitive science
history
anthropology
archaeology
geology
genetics
physics
that's a lot of knowledge...
This has been accomplished by hundreds of thousands of people collaborating on a great and ongoing project, carried out all over the world. This is a grand project to study the world and test current ideas against real world observations!
We have learned how to build airplanes that fly so fast you couldn't hear them coming!
We have learned how to make little boxes that let you talk to someone on the other side of the world!
We have learned that the Earth is a very old place.
We have learned that human beings evolved from common ancestors with other primates, and before that from common ancestors with all mammals, and before that common ancestors with all fish, and so on and so forth.
All these things are well established knowledge. The amount of clear evidence supporting them in the archaeological and genetic records is overwhelming.
But, still, some people aren't convinced! They think the evidence isn't all that compelling. They think they know better. When people ignore accumulated evidence and knowledge in favour of abstract, metaphorical beliefs, they are called Fundamentalists.
And what do they base their skepticism on?
For some people it is an ancient superstition that the Ultimate Truths of the Universe can be, and are contained in a book. Not just any book, this One Book. The other books are all wrong. How do we know? Because it says so in this book. Nevermind that other books make the same claim. This one is Right.
For other people, it is that Truth is Transcendent and can be realized through deep thought, or devoted meditation. They believe that they can access Ultimate Truth, and know things by feeling them out. Never mind that other thinkers and meditators have different opinions... Never mind that there may be compelling evidence to the contrary of their opinions or feelings... Never mind that this or that political ideology was made up by someone, and is not backed up by evidence. For people who believe in the superstition of transcendent truth (which includes many philosophers), none of that matters, because it is all in the realm of illusions (the observable world) and not in the realm of ultimate truth (the transcendent world beyond sensation).
Now, it is noteworthy that there is no evidence to back up the explanatory claims of religious texts, and certainly there is no evidence to back up esoteric introspective traditions. But, many people believe these things anyway.
In general, this kind of refusal to acknowledge reality is fairly harmless. At worst, it might make people do things that hurt themselves (say, believing that they can't get sick as long as they keep Jesus in their hearts, or as long as they keep their Energy vibrating with positive intentions). But, if people who subscribe to fundamentalist belief systems are able to seize power in a society, then it can become very, very dangerous.
Examples:
Stalin's Russia
Hitler's Germany
The Taliban's Afganistan
Bush's America
Fundamentalism can cause governments to:
Fundamentalism is the enemy of civil society. As such, it was very unwise for civil society in Germany to allow Nazi rhetoric to catch the emotions of the people, justifying the murder of millions of europeans. It was very unwise for civil society in Russia to allow the Us vs. Them rhetoric of Stalin's communists to get to the point where the governement could justify the mass murder of millions of his political opponents. And it has been very unwise for civil society in America to allow fundamentalist christians to control the presidency.
Fundamentalism is not harmless, but neither is it very resilient. It relies on devoted, persistent, committed campaigns of misinformation and indoctrination. To cure it, all that is needed is honest education.
Civil conversation is easier than ideological warfare. Honest education is easier than indoctrination. It is easier to prevent and undo fundamentalism than it is to create and maintain it.
As citizens and educators, it is our duty to protect children from fundamentalism.
To do this we need to:
Why does it rain?
Why does it not rain?
Why are we born?
Why do we die?
Where did we come from?
Where are we going?
...and so on.
In recent centuries, great progress has been made in answering these questions.
We have learned why it rains, and why it doesn't rain.
We have learned the only way we are conceived and born (sperm delivery to ova, fetal development in the womb), and we have studied many of the ways we die. We have learned where we came from, and we have some plausible ideas about where we're going...
We've learned a lot more too.
Examples:
chemistry
biology
biochemistry
neurology
physiology
astronomy
cognitive science
history
anthropology
archaeology
geology
genetics
physics
that's a lot of knowledge...
This has been accomplished by hundreds of thousands of people collaborating on a great and ongoing project, carried out all over the world. This is a grand project to study the world and test current ideas against real world observations!
We have learned how to build airplanes that fly so fast you couldn't hear them coming!
We have learned how to make little boxes that let you talk to someone on the other side of the world!
We have learned that the Earth is a very old place.
We have learned that human beings evolved from common ancestors with other primates, and before that from common ancestors with all mammals, and before that common ancestors with all fish, and so on and so forth.
All these things are well established knowledge. The amount of clear evidence supporting them in the archaeological and genetic records is overwhelming.
But, still, some people aren't convinced! They think the evidence isn't all that compelling. They think they know better. When people ignore accumulated evidence and knowledge in favour of abstract, metaphorical beliefs, they are called Fundamentalists.
And what do they base their skepticism on?
For some people it is an ancient superstition that the Ultimate Truths of the Universe can be, and are contained in a book. Not just any book, this One Book. The other books are all wrong. How do we know? Because it says so in this book. Nevermind that other books make the same claim. This one is Right.
For other people, it is that Truth is Transcendent and can be realized through deep thought, or devoted meditation. They believe that they can access Ultimate Truth, and know things by feeling them out. Never mind that other thinkers and meditators have different opinions... Never mind that there may be compelling evidence to the contrary of their opinions or feelings... Never mind that this or that political ideology was made up by someone, and is not backed up by evidence. For people who believe in the superstition of transcendent truth (which includes many philosophers), none of that matters, because it is all in the realm of illusions (the observable world) and not in the realm of ultimate truth (the transcendent world beyond sensation).
Now, it is noteworthy that there is no evidence to back up the explanatory claims of religious texts, and certainly there is no evidence to back up esoteric introspective traditions. But, many people believe these things anyway.
In general, this kind of refusal to acknowledge reality is fairly harmless. At worst, it might make people do things that hurt themselves (say, believing that they can't get sick as long as they keep Jesus in their hearts, or as long as they keep their Energy vibrating with positive intentions). But, if people who subscribe to fundamentalist belief systems are able to seize power in a society, then it can become very, very dangerous.
Examples:
Stalin's Russia
Hitler's Germany
The Taliban's Afganistan
Bush's America
Fundamentalism can cause governments to:
- Invade other countries (which we are justified in doing because we are right and they are wrong)
- Subject people to the horrors of war (necessary evil to accomplish our great mission)
- Deny people fundamental human rights (which is ok, because they're the bad guys anyway...).
Fundamentalism is the enemy of civil society. As such, it was very unwise for civil society in Germany to allow Nazi rhetoric to catch the emotions of the people, justifying the murder of millions of europeans. It was very unwise for civil society in Russia to allow the Us vs. Them rhetoric of Stalin's communists to get to the point where the governement could justify the mass murder of millions of his political opponents. And it has been very unwise for civil society in America to allow fundamentalist christians to control the presidency.
Fundamentalism is not harmless, but neither is it very resilient. It relies on devoted, persistent, committed campaigns of misinformation and indoctrination. To cure it, all that is needed is honest education.
Civil conversation is easier than ideological warfare. Honest education is easier than indoctrination. It is easier to prevent and undo fundamentalism than it is to create and maintain it.
As citizens and educators, it is our duty to protect children from fundamentalism.
To do this we need to:
- Become involved in local school politics, lobbying for the inclusion of teaching modules on belief systems, contrasting belief systems with established empirical knowledge. This basic life lesson is missing for many adults, and once people have become thoroughly confused about it, it is very difficult to overcome the misunderstanding. If children learn early on that truth is distinct from imagination, then they will be protected from fundamentalist claims of divine revelation.
- Lobby politicians to disallow religious fundamentalist educational institutions. Segregated schools where children are raised with fundamentalist beliefs should be phased out of our society, in order for children to be given a fair chance to learn how the world really works, rather than be indoctrinated with archane and socially alienating beliefs.
- Write letters to the editor of our local and national newspapers protesting the admission of religious fundamentalists into roles of public service, where, by their own admission, their fundamentalist beliefs compel them to contradict the general principles of freedom of and from religion. examples include religious pharmacists refusing to fulfill prescriptions that go against their "beliefs".
- Write letters to political parties informing them that you do not and will not support their political party if they include religious fundamentalists in their party.
- Support progressive institutes by making financial contributions. These contributions will help them hire capable and dedicated staff to analyze areas of concern and create strategies to influence them.
posted by VanCitizen at 11:05 AM
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