Saturday 28 April 2012

A Note on Religion

Religion is one topic that is seldom out of the news (usually in a bad light), and one which I've been thinking a lot about recently. However, the main issue for me is not whether or not God exists (well- on one level it is, but that is not what this post is going to focus on), but the inability of people to accept any viewpoint other than their own on the subject- and this is true both for atheists and people who are religious. Although, I feel I should clarify, I don't actually believe in God (I think- I'm still keeping an eye out for anything vaguely holy), I personally think that the attitudes of atheists towards religion are more repugnant than the other way around. This is because, although the majority of religious people do indeed want to persuade atheists and those from other religions to convert, however annoying or offensive others find it, they believe that in doing so they will help those converted, and (In Christianity anyway, my ignorance may mean I am over-generalising) save them from death, whereas I can think of no reason for atheists attacking religion, other than to give themselves a feeling of superiority over "brain-washed" believers. I agree that, perhaps a hundred years ago or more, religious leaders were a serious factor in repressing the rights of some people, and that even now, in some places the church (again, forgive my concentrating mainly on Christianity, but it is the only religion I really feel I know enough about to discuss) does pose a serious problem on issues such as gay marriage, in lots of the world the church is too weak to really be much of a threat to progress, which means that attacks on it are not only pointless, but in my opinion rather cruel. If atheists really want to change the minds of religion, they would do better to follow it's example- while the church attempts to use kindness to change the minds of non believers (and, in my experience the church IS kind- the only activities run for young people in my village, for example, are two religious youth clubs, a a (free) Christian holiday club and the Brownie unit run by one of the church elders, none of which are trying expressly to convert children), atheists should do the same, but adding tolerance and acceptance into the mixture. Even if it doesn't convince everyone that God doesn't exist, the worst it can do is make everyday life, and maybe even everyday people, just that bit more like they should be.

Saturday 21 April 2012

University visits, selfish genes and punting.

As usual, apologies for the delay. Things are as hectic as usual around here. I've just returned from a visit to Cambridge, which was pretty inspiring. I literally can't wait to go to university (I'd love it to be Cambridge, but I know realistically it may not be- wherever I go, the new opportunities are really exciting), if only to be in an environment where you can just feel things happening. In addition, I want to go punting again. Since the visit, I've been ordering prospectuses (although I am waiting for some unntil the Higher education fair in Newcastle next week), and looking at websites with renewed interest- one of the things I have done is made a list of cambridge colleges that I may apply to based on the amount of grass you are allowed to walk on- the one thing that really bugged me about King's(where we were staying) when I visited. It's not as crazy as it seems, especially when you compare it to my friend's method of using brick sizes. Another thing that has got me quite excited about the idea of Uni, is that I recently read Richard Dawkin's "the selfish gene"- and I realise what all the fuss was about. Although the ideas were thought-provoking (and the rather aggressive atheism rather annoying), what really stood out for me was the glimpse it gave of a world in which it is normal to spend your time thinking, and discussing theories with other people. The book seemed, to me, to bring this much closer- and (whether this is realistic or not), gave me a feeling that it could me me doing that one day. I assume this is what one of the reviewers meant when he said that the book "makes you feel like a genius" (I paraphrase- I've lent it to someone so I can't check the exact wording). I am probably around the millionth person to do so, but if you have even a vague interest in science and haven't read it yet, do- it's also pretty easy to understand, so probably suitable for anyone from about 13 up.