Friday, June 15, 2007

Leave Religion Out/Devastation and Dead Ends

Crazy religiosity is the cause for most of the evils in the world. From political debates to theocratic states, creeping religiosity seems to substitute for rational critical thinking.

Many Americans supported George Bush because even if he wasn’t a brilliant and complex thinker, his morals seemed to show that he wouldn’t be committing adultery with an intern. Sadly, using “good Christian morals” as a proxy for more well-rounded, critical introspection has resulted in still more political corruption.

Although Americans may be wising-up to the consequences of simplistic, value-based thinking, entire countries have made the mistake of rule by religion. The theocracies of the Middle East are rampant with Islamic terrorists and suicide killings in the name of Allah. Ironically, these same countries thrived in their Golden Age during the west’s stagnantly religious Middle Ages.

The reason Arab countries flourished during their Golden Age was because there was a large latitude for religious freedom, once the conquered territory succumbed to Arab rule. In fact, the modern scientific method was developed during the Islamic Golden Age, where experimentation distinguished the empirical truth between competing theories. Religion was kept out of the scientists’ labs.

Today, modern Arabs long for the Golden Age. Islamic terrorists suffer from the entitlement of these glory days to the point of blowing people up in spite. It is ironic that the one thing that would move the Middle East toward success – secular governance – is so remote.

It is not too grave to say that the fate of the world is bleak. Let us all learn the lesson now about the evil wrought by crazy religiosity overwhelming critical thinking.