X-Message-Number: 17764
Date: Sun, 14 Oct 2001 12:50:18 -0700
From: Kennita Watson <>
Subject: Re: MY ATHEISM AND OUR SCIENCE
References: <>

> From: "Gurvinder Bagga" <>
> 

> It is FORBIDDEN to cut your hair and shave your beard! That is why you find 
sikhs

> looking like afghanis and wearing turbans and sporting long beards. Anyway 
when I

> was in the sixth grade my kada(metal bangle) hit a fellow student on the head 
and

> the teacher (who was a christian) took objection to it and punished me. I was 
made

> to kneel outside the school building under the sun on the road! For being a 
Sikh!
> I became an atheist that day!!

Um -- by my rading, you were punished, not for being a Sikh, but for
hitting a fellow student on the head with your kada.  Never mind if it
was an accident.  Kids get punished for accidents all the time, 
without religion having anything to do with it.
> 
> > The only belief I am against here is the fanatic
> > certainty that one's own way of thinking is the right way, and all the
> > ills of the world can be blamed on someone thinking differently

Otrowism -- belief that one's own way is the One True Right and Only Way.
> 
> ... Becoming an atheist does seem to be a good start. Does that mean I don't
> believe in GOD?
> 
> I DON'T THINK RELIGIOUS PEOPLE HAVE A MONOPOLY OVER BELIEF IN GOD.

I think we have a language problem here.  According to my American
Heritage Dictionary, the definition of "atheism" is "Disbelief in
or denial of the existence of God.".  Similarly, the definition of
"theism" is "Belief in the existence of a god or gods.".

I think that the meaning (actually a complex of meanings) you 
ascribe to "religious people" applies to only a subset (I'm not
willing to debate how large a subset, because I think it's 
subjective) of theists.  

That some religious people have done bad things does not mean that
religion is bad per se.
> 

> WHEN THEY IMPLY THAT ATHEISTS ARE FANATICS AND THAT THEIR WAY OF THINKING IS 
THE

> RIGHT WAY IT IS TO THE RELIGIOUS PRIESTS (MOSTLY MALE) THAT  YOU SELL YOUR 
SOULS
> FOR FREE AND SACRIFICE SCIENCE.
> 
There are fanatical atheists just like there are fanatical 
believers in anything.


> RELIGION IMPOSES A WAY OF THOUGHT ON YOUNG CHILDREN WHO ARE A DAY OLD  AND IT 
IS
> AGAINST THESE THAT A FEW LIKE ME RISE AND BECOME ATHEISTS.
> ...

> What do the people who are so ready to defend religion at the drop of a hat 
have to
> advise me on my atheism vis a vis sikhism.
> 

> SHOULD I BECOME A SIKH AND GIVE UP MY FREEDOM? SHOULD I SPORT A BEARD AND KEEP
LONG
> HAIR? FOR WHOSE SAKE? YOURS? BUT THAT WILL MAKE ME QUOTE SOMETHING.....

Gurvinder, I can see that you are angry about how you have been 
treated. and want to save others from your fate.  Attacking their 
beliefs and culture is probably not the best way to win persuasion
points, however.
-- 
May you live long and prosper,
Kennita
--
Kennita Watson          | Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
     |   None but ourselves can free our minds.
http://www.kennita.com  |           -- Bob Marley, "Redemption Song"

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