Right now, the big news is war in Georgia, or for those with skewed priorities, who’s won what at the Bejing Olympics. I’ll leave these issues to the pros and focus on a different contest. This one’s not for land or gold, but the hearts and minds of the local populace. The much-maligned Church of Scientology, which was founded by the science-fiction author L.Ron Hubbard in 1952, has come under sustained attack from the internet-based group Anonymous, whose members have taken the war to the streets.
My boss is a Polish expatriate who grew up under Soviet rule, and despite our obvious differences, we usually get along well. We have similar views on the Western world, which we feel has entered a state of decline that may be irreversible. Here’s an account of a brief exchange with far-reaching implications.
Nearly all of my close friends have been to university. This weekend I gave some thought to signing up for a course myself. One of my brothers is a doctor, and he earns twice as much as I do. If I went to university, I would probably end up studying art, creative writing, or even religion. All these topics fascinate me, but so far my interest in them has hardly earned me anything. I’m not sure if a course would help - but I’d like the qualifications.
Given my thoughts on religion, some people wrongly assume that I am a socialist. The political left has an active presence in Sydney’s Inner West, and its members frequently accost me, trying to get me to sign petitions or join them in demonstrations. Like the worst evangelists, they think they are the sole possessors of a high and mighty truth, which humanity will have to embrace if it is going to be saved. I met one on Australia Day, and after the usual ear-bashing, I politely declined to sign her petition. I was in a good mood at the time - but in retrospect I should have stayed and given her a piece of my mind.
This probably seems self-indulgent, but I feel the need to vent. If anyone out there is paying attention, don’t feel obliged to bear with me. Tune out if I’m boring you.
Tonight I was at a friend’s place. I won’t mention any names for reasons that will soon become clear. Until now, we have got along well - she’s intelligent and open-minded, and pretty damned attractive too. I’ll admit I was a little upset when I learned she was using drugs, but she’s not alone on this count. I’ve known many others like her, and I had no problem with them at first - if they respected my lifestyle choices, I didn’t interfere with theirs.
My site was bound to offend some viewers, and recently one of them lodged a complaint. While I expected hate mail from religious fundamentalists, my first detractor was a DJ who took offence at my “ecstasy” picture after it appeared on reddit. I dislike drugs for many of the reasons I dislike religion: both offer us a false escape from life’s innate challenges, and both give the morally suspect a way to profit from our weaknesses. I could pursue this theme further, discussing the pros and cons of each or lamenting our need for such diversions, but my friends want me to post the letter and my subsequent reply.
To my surprise, the good folks in Pyrmont sent me a reply by mail. It consisted of more propaganda - several A4 pages, in fact - with the following message scrawled across it (prose style their own): “The Oxford dictionary defines ‘empirical’ as based or acted on observation and experiment. NOT ON THEORY. Evolution is still a theory and NOT OBSERVABLE. You believe IT by Blind FAITH. coupled with a deep hatred of GOD. Have a read of this IF YOU DARE. And please explain!”
No love or forgiveness, to be sure! Though fully aware I was wasting my time, I wrote a far more civil reply, which is reproduced below. It elaborates on the themes I mentioned in my first letter, such as my rejection of the Bible on ethical and spiritual grounds. I believe this is the stance we must take when debating with such people. I also believe that civil discourse is preferable to name-calling, threats of violence and the like. If we indulge in the latter, we are guilty of the very excesses we are supposed to be fighting against.
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For a long time I have followed the debate between science and religion. I never took part in it until mid 2007, when I picked up an anti-evolutionary tract on George St, Sydney. Although it was being distributed by an Australian group based in Pyrmont, it was published in the USA. The arguments in it were puerile, as you will be able to deduce from the following reply. However, my main problem with it stemmed less from its attacks on science than its insistence that the Bible was entirely free from mistakes. I have always believed that the best ammunition against any religion is to be found in its teachings. Sit back, read on and enjoy!