// docswarley: nonplussedbyreligion: Well JJ...

docswarley:

nonplussedbyreligion:

Well JJ these billboards are coming down on February 19th. Thank you cogitoergoatheist for the heads up.

I want you guys to watch this video and pay attention to the Pastor that said he believed the billboards were wrong because we are born with a natural desire to connect to a higher power.

The inaccuracy of that statement is beyond laughable. No one is born a theist. No child is born seeking anything beyond the source that will provide their physiological needs. A baby seeks its mother because it needs to be fed, changed, and cared for; that is an ingrained biological response. The desire for a higher power is taught as evidenced by us all not seeking the same higher power. The gods of our lives are dictated by where we are born, and the religion of our family. Those never exposed to our religions, never practice them.

Of course the argument could be made that even the most remote tribes have some form of belief system and always have. Every ancient civilization we study shows evidence of having a creation myth and the gods that go along with it. However man has always sought to explain that which he did not understand. When lightning struck a tree and fire was first witnessed, an explanation had to be given. During times of droughts and other natural disasters, times of war, the birth of twins, when no male heirs were born, when anything happened that was unexpected, something had to be created to explain it. When things happened in the world that were inexplicable, a power greater than us was invented to make sense of it all.

That is not evidence of our desire to connect with a higher power at birth. We were seeking answers to the thinks we could not explain. When we learned to control the fire, we started to take back our power. We’ve since found explanations for most of the great mysteries that bewildered our ancestors, yet there are things that we still don’t understand. I can’t speak for the rest of you, but I am unwilling to relegate the unknown to “god did it.” I’m willing to wait it out and hopefully science and technology will be able to answer the questions in my lifetime. If they never come up with the answers, I’m willing to acknowledge that there will always be mysteries of the universe. I am not willing to teach my children to believe in a higher power because I think it’s good for them and it’s something that they desire. We’ve come too far for that don’t you think?

COMIC SANS.