Reply #54: Do the ants on my lawn believe in George Bush?

[Brazenly Liberal]

Do they stay up all night in little ant dorms dissecting where ****HE**** wants them to tunnel next and arguing whether his evil is nature or nurture?

There is a great deal beyond our ken. We know that because we keep learning new and surprising things. Like those ants, we tend to look for explanations that fit our current frame of reference, forgetting that frame of reference once excluded electricity and comfy slippers.

I don't know what's "out there." I don't feel a need to know. A lot of people do, though, and I believe it is that need to know, that fear of the unknown, that causes people to invent a truth that gives them an anchor within their frame of reference. That's why two people reading the same old book can see nearly diametrically opposed pictures of the same mythical being. The father figure of their religion frequently reflects their view of fathers/authorities in their experience. Reading the same words, some see a stern, vengeful God with a seriously bad temper, someone to submit to and to obey out of fear, while others see a benevolent, loving being who asks above all that we also love each other.

In the end, the idea of a Big Daddy in the Sky seems kind of silly and sad to me. As for those who believe in an all powerful deity, my feelings about them depend on what shape this religion takes. If it gives them hope and comfort and inspires them to be better, kinder people, good for them! If it is something they use as a bludgeon to control others, they can kiss my ass.