Thursday, August 13, 2009

Some religions are more rational than other.

Incisive piece from Andrew "Spank me, Rupert!" Bolt, in which he reveals his views on some religions:

As I say, we’re on a retreat from reason:

THE Victorian Ombudsman has criticised a left-leaning inner-city council for spending $620,000 of ratepayers’ money on a self-styled “white witch” to assist with “change management”.

Port Phillip Council’s ad hoc but costly arrangement with pranic healing and astrology devotee Caroline Shahbaz was savaged in a report by the Ombudsman tabled in the Victorian parliament yesterday...It has also emerged that the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment has used Ms Shahbaz as a consultant, as have the Victorian Department of Planning, Parks Victoria, Melbourne Water and the Reserve Bank.

If you were wondering what kind of irrational, superstition-raddled brains left us with water supplies critically low, forests dangerously overloaded with fuel, housing land too scarce, and useless wind farms scarring the coastline to fight a warming that actually stopped a decade ago, now you know. It’s the kind of minds that took a witch for their guru.

Of course, could you imagine Rusty saying such things about Christianity? Or Judaism? Heck, even Islam?

Personally I see all religions, by and large, as irrational as each other*. Christianity involves magic Jewish zombies, Hinduism features a human/elephant/spider hybrid creature, and I don't know what paganism and witchery involve, but I doubt either is based on sound science. Religiously, I see no difference between a new-ager and a Baptist-so long as they don't try to force their beliefs on me, I've got no problem.

With Bolt, and I imagine other conservatives, is that Christianity is more 'logical' than other religions-the only possible explanations I that the monotheistic religions are older and more common than more recent ones. Which aren't so much reasons as they are fallacies, but I doubt that's the point.

And, true to form, he can't help but use this case as a way to bash environmentalists. What witchery has to do with controlled burning, water supplies and sustainable energy sources is beyond me-and probably beyond Bolt, given that he doesn't give any link to his hyperbole.

*When I say 'irrational' I'm referring to the belief systems. One can certainly be an entirely rational person and be religious.

2 comments:

RVBM said...

Victor = spammer = dickhead.

I don't think it's possible to be religious AND rational, if by religious, you mean theistically. If everyone was rational, there would be no religious people.

Private 'Baldrick' Tom said...

I'm inclined to disagree; I see no dichotomy between ration and religion, although I do see religion as an extremely powerful voice and justification for irrational thought. I think of people like Dr. King (Christian), Malcolm X (Muslim) and Mohandas Gandhi (Hindu) who, despite being deeply religious, were all entirely rational people.