Arrogance and Wonder

With regard to the first image above, I found this quote from a fellow called Gladstone, a columnist at Cracked.com (my highlighted text):

"Religion, like government or anything structured and administered by humanity, will always be flawed and ruined by all of our weaknesses and failings.  And given how much we suck, why shut the door completely on the possibility of something in this universe being better, stronger and wiser?  Something we could strive to be more like?  It's always seemed to me that the most virulent atheists - not the mere nonbelievers - but those who claim to be positive about God's nonexistence and openly hostile to anyone who could think otherwise - are incapable of believing there could ever be something greater than they.  Not a lack of faith so much as humility."

See…that's my problem with the people like Gervais and Hitchens.  The arrogance.  The wholesale ridicule of anyone who dares to entertain any kind of mystic or spiritual thoughts.  And, because we know that a lot of people like their politics and philosophy neatly packaged on a plate, they mirror this wholesale ridicule in the same way that the KKK dismisses an entire race of people based on skin color.  That's not just racism; it's being mentally lazy.

Hatred is a very powerful emotion, like cilantro and dill are a powerful herbs.  One should use them sparingly.

With regard to the second image above - a picture from the Hubble telescope - it is things like this that give me a sense of awe and wonder; in both a scientific sense and a spiritual one.  Did all of this just happen by some cosmic accident? I mean, if it did, fine…it's still awesome and beautiful.  But what if…??

I saw in a news feed, something about another planet that might support "life" as we know it; a planet with an atmosphere, water and non-hostile temperatures.  And while it's entertaining news, I'm like….so what?  There's no other humanoid life out there within our current grasp…and we're already destroying THIS planet, and our fellow inhabitants.  And following that thought, that moment, it's just very easy to see why throughout the ages people might entertain the notion of there being some other dimension of existence…because in this one, the little guy, the kinder, gentler souls, the people who entertain the idea that we're all in this together…they just seem to continually get ground under the boots of the rich, the powerful, the greedy, the ugly hateful souls of this planet.

So, you know, I don't have the answer.  Some suggest that man created god(s) in order to make himself feel better.  I can understand that line of reasoning.

But what if??

And amid cries and demonstrations for freedom (sexual freedom, religious freedom, etc.), mere logic would suggest that we should treat others equally, justly, and not discriminate against them for their sexual identity, their ethnicity, the color of their skin, or their beliefs.  So, I'm saying that you don't exhibit wholesale ridicule against anyone and everyone who entertains a sense of spiritual wonder. 

As Lindy West writes at Jezebel.com :

"There are a lot of people in the world who have nothing.  Faith in a higher power gives them one thing.  You know what we call people who try to take away other people's one thing?

A fucking dick.  Don't be one."