Help me understand this

The Atlantic reported today that Muslims are the LEAST likely religious group to believe that targeting and killing civilians is sometimes justified, followed by atheists and agnostics. You know who was MOST likely to believe that targeting and killing civilians is sometimes justified? Mormons.

The Gallup poll question was this: “Some people think that for the military to target and kill civilians is sometimes justified, while others think that kind of violence is never justified? Which is your opinion.” A) Never, B) Sometimes, C) Depends.

Here were the results that interested me:

Muslims: 78% Never, 21% Sometimes
Atheists/Agnostics/Nonreligious: 56% Never, 43% Sometimes
Mormons: 33% Never, 64% Sometimes; 3% Depends

Protestants, Catholics, and Jews trailed Mormons in thinking it’s sometimes justified to target and kill civilians.

“Am I alone in being horrified by the percentage of Americans who are sometimes okay with efforts to ‘target and kill’ civilians?” asks the article’s Conor Friedersdorf. Obviously I’m with the 56% (only 56%?) of nonreligious folk who say, “Never.”

Regardless of your religious affiliation, if you would have answered that it’s sometimes okay to TARGET AND KILL CIVILIANS (and that should be over half of you) please help me understand. Leave a comment and clue me in.

True colors

It was my first day back at church camp. I had come to the camp the summer before and loved it. Our counselor asked each of the boys in our cabin to introduce themselves and to say why we were there, if we had been there before and if so what we liked about camp.

I said that I felt like camp was a place where I could show my true colors. I’m not sure exactly what I meant by that—I certainly wasn’t thinking about my burgeoning attractions for other guys—but I know that’s the phrase I used. There was a beautiful television commercial for Kodak film that had aired the previous holiday season using the song.

It turned out that “true colors” sounded just a little too suspicious to a group of teenage boys. I was embarrassed to find out later that they had been referring to me as “T.C.” One of the boys apologetically admitted at the end of camp that he understood what I meant, that he also felt that camp was a place he could be authentic, whatever that meant for him.

The irony of my remark at church camp, and of the setting of the Kodak commercial, of course, is that nearly every community of faith is more concerned about conformity than authenticity. According to Nicholas Wade in The Faith Instinct, unifying a group of people is the purpose of religion and the evolutionary advantage that religion lent to our ancestors. Even the Latin root of religion, religare, means “to bind together.” The singing, the dancing, the rituals, the shared stories, all serve to unify individuals within a group. But what happens when an individual just doesn’t believe the supernatural claims, or is gay, or is the wrong color? Some differences can be suppressed or hidden, but only to the detriment of the individual.

“Imagine a world where everyone feels like they can be themselves and be accepted for who they are.” These were words uttered at the Social Justice Summit that I helped plan in February. The sentiment was repeated at the Social Justice Training Institute that I just attended last week. The group facilitator talked about presenting oneself authentically in the world, and allowing others to feel physically and psychologically safe to present themselves authentically as well.

I want my own kids to feel safe to be who they are, to state their likes and dislikes, their beliefs or lack thereof, without feeling the suffocating pressure to lie in order to fit in. I know that pressure will be there, especially in high school, but the challenge will be to foster their sense of self confidence that they are fine just the way they are.

Thank you, Phil Collins, for making a video just for this particular post, complete with kids and religious imagery (including a devil and a unicorn?!—they’re mentioned 9 times in the Bible). Roseli loves you Phil, so this was just perfect!

And thank you, Rosine, for allowing me to be authentic. I love you.

Who are you?

If you have kids and they’re white, have you ever talked to them about what it means to be white or what it’s like to experience racism? I haven’t. But do people of color talk to their kids about race? Sure they do.

If you have kids and they’re able bodied, have you talked to them about what it’s like to be differently abled? Again, I haven’t. But do differently abled parents or parents of a child who is differently abled talk about their unique experiences and challenges? You bet.

I just returned from four days at the Social Justice Training Institute where one of the attendees made a comment that we should talk to our children about our privileged and subordinated identities. Why? Because being aware of our privileged and subordinated identities helps us better understand how they impact our lives. Only when members of society acknowledge their relative positions of power can we progress toward a society that is equitable, where all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure.

His comment stuck with me. I realized that I talk to my kids about sexual orientation and religion, two areas surrounding my main subordinated identities, but my other identities are largely off the radar. My hope is to help my boys feel comfortable with their own identities, some of which are fixed and others that will emerge later, and to feel comfortable with the identities of others whether they are shared or different.

Teach your children well

…from the Old Testament. Forbid them from intermarriage. Love one child more than the next. Lie to foreigners that your wife is your sister. Conspire with a loved one to deceive an elderly family member, and you too will be walking in the righteous path of the Lord.

These four new stories were just added to the book of Genesis in The Brick Testament.

Consider again that pale blue dot

I just love this video.

Children are naturally superstitious

Religious beliefs are cognitively natural, predictable products of our brains—these are the findings of the international Cognition, Religion, and Theology Project out of Oxford, as reported in Science Daily. The three-year research, led by Dr. Justin Barrett, cost over $3 million.

Researchers found that ideas about gods, spirits, design in the world, and surviving one’s own death are a form of “natural religion,” in contrast with institutionalized doctrines, such as transubstantiation or a reward of 72 virgins. The findings pointing to a natural religion suggest that efforts to eradicate religion, as was tried in the former USSR for example, are likely to be unsuccessful.

Of particular interest to me are studies done with children. Some of the Oxford studies found that children under age 4 or 5 believe that other people, such as their mother, are omniscient. They believe, for example, that their mother knows what is inside a box, even if the contents of the box are unusual and she has not seen inside the box. If they’ve been exposed to the concept of God or some other supernatural entity, they similarly reason that he also sees and knows what is inside the box. Past about age 4, however, children begin to understand that their mother doesn’t know what’s in the box, but they usually still claim that God does.

I’ll eagerly await the upcoming book by Dr. Barrett called Born Believers: The Science of Childhood Religion. Until then, if you’re interested in the developing field of cognitive science of religion (CSR), look into:

Brain Bugs: How the Brain’s Flaws Shape Our Lives by Dean Buonomano
The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies – How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths by Michael Shermer
The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why It Endures by Nicholas Wade

 

Tasteless testimonial

A door-to-door sales representative came by our house pedaling some educational reference books for school-aged children. We’re all about reading and education in our house, so we let him in. I told him that the books seemed all right, but I just wasn’t sure if we’d use them since information is so readily available on the Internet. I wanted to know what others had to say about the books after having them for a while. This is when he pulled out a little purple, flowery journal.

He handed it to me explaining that when he knocks on the door of a family who has previously bought the books, he asks them to write a testimonial. I read through the testimonials with interest — it seems a number of people who have the books do use them and like them. Then I came across one entry that wasn’t exactly the testimonial the salesperson was looking for.

After giving the salesperson some advice about how he could improve his sales, the person wrote, seemingly apropos of nothing, “If you want to know the meaning of life or why you’re here, go to mormon.org or lds.org.”

Maybe the church member had a throwback to mission days and mistakenly thought he had rung the doorbell. I know, I know—the writer was probably thinking he was just tryin’ to share the good news of the restored gospel. But isn’t it clear why such a statement would be insulting? Okay, I’ll spell it out for you.

“If you want to know” kinda sounds like, “I know, but you clearly don’t know. Soooo, if you want to know what I know….”

The definite article “the” in “the meaning of life” conveys that there definitely is a meaning—just one meaning. And you too can be handed the meaning of your life on a golden tablet by visiting mormon.org.

Incidentally the sales rep and I laughed about this testimonial. Turns out he’s atheist too.

Mormons, like most theists, have very concrete answers to life’s three big questions: Where did I come from?, Why am I here?, and Where am I going? But look what happens when you reject supernaturalism, as atheists do.

Where did I come from?

Really, before the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in 1859, any answer to this question is pure speculation. Just look at all the world’s creation myths. But to know that my earliest ancestors emerged some 3.8 billion years ago, now that’s fascinating, and all the more so because there is evidence to back it up.

Why?

Why am I here?

Well, according to mormon.org, I’m here to get a body and to choose to follow God’s plan. Never mind that meaning in life is personally and socially constructed, not some inherent, predetermined dictate.

Far be it from me to tell anyone what their purpose in life is. I can only speak for myself. My purpose is to be the best father to my boys that I can be, to be an effective university professor, and to stand up for reason and truth. Compare this with “obtain a body” (that was easy) and “follow God’s plan.”

Where am I going?

I’ve often thought religion has a bit of an incentive problem anyway. So we get to live with God in heaven when we die? I don’t know, I guess I envision living with God being a bit like living with Grandma. Don’t run around or make noise. Bored? Deal with it. And DON’T TOUCH THAT! Heaven—it’s just so vague (intentionally so).

As Lou and Peter Berryman sing in their song “Glorious Prediction,”

Will there be less TV football if you don’t like football?
Will there be more TV football if you do?
And if you’re not sure if you like it, will there be some football
When the glorious prediction comes true?

Understanding that death’s blow is final, I know that the only things that will survive my death are approximately one half of my genes in my three sons and anything I happen to write, which of course is only worth anything if someone reads it.

No afterlife also means that if you want to do good in the world, this is your only shot. There are no second chances, no opportunities to make things right, and no divine justice (rats!). An LDS acquaintance put it to me in an email this way:

As a ‘believer’, it’s very shameful that other believers don’t do more. I have to wonder why that is. Perhaps they have the thought that because God is in charge that it doesn’t matter too much what they do because God will bless or help anyone that needs help. Perhaps atheists believe, that since there is no God, they are the actors in good/bad and can enrich lives by their own actions. I have noticed that the friends that I have that have joined groups, such as the Peace Corps, have been atheist.

*  *  *

Some people find the answers provided by reality to be troubling. Indeed, much of religion’s appeal lies in believing that you are sent to earth with a purpose, that you’re loved, and that you’ll be reunited with your loving creator when you die. Unfortunately, the answers ring hollow once you demand evidence.

I find reality’s answers to be much more satisfying than any answer religion can provide because they’re true. At least, they’re the best answers we have based on information the real world offers us. And reality’s answers are all the more reason for us to appreciate this life, to do good in this life. It’s the only one we’ve got.