Agnostic (a-, without + gnÅsis, knowledge) This is a literal translation of the word.
I am agnostic. There are several different meanings to the term but I am, what would most aptly be called, a pragmatic agnostic. It is "the view that there is no proof of either the existence or nonexistence of any deity, but since any deity that may exist appears unconcerned for the universe or the welfare of its inhabitants, the question is largely academic". I will say that I find very little in the way of "divinity" in everyday life apart from the overall randomness of it. Life's ability to be completely random but at the same time rigidly ordered never ceases to amaze me. I still believe that if Einstein had lived long enough, he would have boiled down the mysteries of life to one unifying and beautiful mathematical equation.
In simple terms, there may in fact be a God in the traditional sense of the word however, I think he views the Earth and it's inhabitants in much the same way that I view an anthill and it's inhabitants. While I may not have bestowed life on the anthill, I can certainly take it away with very little effort. What most religious people call miracles, I call the wonder and splendor of nature. Conversely, what is typically termed evil seems no more than the deviant behavior of just another animal with a diminished ability to reason. I believe in the theory of evolution but have not completely discounted the concept of intelligent design. I think the two can exist as equals and could, in all actuality, work together to further enhance the splendor of life. Could not God, in his infinite wisdom, have come up with evolution as a way to allow nature to decide which of his creations would survive and which would not? It seems plausible to me but I make no proclamations as to my theological knowledge.
If God exists, He gave me the intellect to question his very existence as a way for growth as a human. If He does not exist, then intellect and reasoning are simply evolutionary constructs. I do not claim to have the answers but I do admit that even as an agnostic, I have my own occasional crises of faith.
It's a common misconception that agnostics and/or atheists have no faith. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although I cannot speak for atheists, I can say that agnosticism requires faith of a different sort. Whereas Christians place faith in God and His son, I place faith in myself and those around me. I tend to see divinity in the people around me through philanthropy, charity and their own personal beliefs regarding religion. If believing in God makes you a decent human with compassion for your fellow man, I say more power to you. Keep on believing. I am somewhat comforted by the knowledge that many of those around me live their lives by religious tenets. On the other hand, I see evil in the horrific acts of men every day. I tend to attribute the brutality of man to the obvious weaknesses that all humans possess. Deviant behavior in modern times is no longer thought of as being influenced by Satan or some dark force preying on the weak of spirit but rather, it's now chalked up to chemical imbalances, brain defects or other genetic weirdness. It all comes down to the simple principle of free will.
If I choose to, I can buy a gun, load it and go shoot someone. Satan does not tempt me to do this nor does God prevent me from doing it. It is my own free will and my ability to reason (that killing is wrong) that prevents me from murdering someone. Free will is the closest thing to divinity that I see on a daily basis. It is, in my own opinion, the greatest of all the human attributes. The opposable thumb is nice and being able to harness fire is certainly handy when grilling out but without free will, we are all simply automatons with no chance of avoiding the inevitable "sameness" of life.
Having said all that, too much as I am beginning to suspect, I find the ever increasing crescendo of "separation of church and state" from many on the left to be a growing symptom of what is truly wrong with our country as it exists today. We have cut God from the public square as if He were a cancer to be excised. Christmas vacation is now called "winter break" in most schools. Books have been written by college professors that sought to downplay the role that religion played in the founding of this great nation. Removing the Ten Commandments from a courtroom is vastly different from attempting to remove Him from our history. I tend to place the latter in the "great crimes in history" category.
Let me clarify a point or two from that last paragraph before I continue. The current trend of removing God from the public square in all actuality is really removing Christianity. The progressive left has tolerance for nearly every religion on Earth apart from Christianity. The ACLU may well sue to have morning prayers in public schools stopped in a misguided effort to "defend the constitution" but will turn a blind eye towards Christian children adopting Muslim names as an exercise in "diversity". The nativity may not be displayed in the confines of any building that gets even a nickel from the federal government but a menorah is perfectly acceptable. I am uncertain if this behavior is the result of malice or guilt. Whatever the case may be, it must be stopped. Removing God from public view in these modern times is akin to the Romans driving Christianity underground after Jesus' crucifixion.
Our founding fathers were deeply religious men who felt called by God to change what they saw as a monarchy that sought to supplant His divinity with it's own. To believe that George Washington or Thomas Jefferson were atheists or "Deists" as as is more commonly associated with them, is to deny our own history. To deny it is to forget it and to forget it will allow yet another despot to trample on the liberties that those hallowed men fought and died to secure for us.
I believe there will be a "push back" from the Christian community as a whole that will rival the civil rights movement in it's ferocity and it's justification. Just as the Jews were persecuted for thousands of years, so too is Christianity suffering it's own modern persecution at the hands of "secular humanists" who seem hell bent on removing all things "Christian" from view.
Pun fully intended.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Are There Mosquitoes In Canada?
I had the most interesting conversation last week. I walked away from it with the reaffirmation that the difference between perception and reality is vast and for some, unexplored. It raised questions about the effectiveness of our educational system, the power of continued learning through life and the effects that television has had on our society.
Let me start with a little background to set this in the proper light.
My wife is Canadian, therefore, a foreigner. Her acclimation to living in America has been filled with questions, observations and sometimes, complete disbelief. Though difficult at times, she has made the transition with grace while still showing a sense of wonder about this great nation. She marvels at the fact that Wal-Mart is open 24 hours, 364 days a year. Not only is Wal-Mart the titular heart of the capitalist ideal, they sell alcohol, tobacco and firearms at almost any hour of the day or night. To her, this is something unheard of.
Her understanding of how America works aside, some of the friends we've made recently exhibit the same sense of wonder about Canada. The main difference is that while my wife has a better than average understanding of our country, most of our new friends have an understanding of Canada based on what they've seen on television and half remembered classes on world history.
I had my own misconceptions about Canada in the past so I won't count myself out of the "stupid American" group just yet. During my first trip to Canada, I asked my future wife where all the moose were. I fully expected to see moose walking down the road or strolling through town leisurely.
The differences between Canadian society and ours are varied but there is a lot more that's similar. Our governments are similar but with very important differences, theirs is first and foremost a monarchy but they have elections, politicians and the same types of government greed and waste that we suffer from. One odd difference is that the Canadian government is in the tobacco business. The government imports tobacco, processes it for sale and then distributes it but with much higher costs than we here in America deal with. Imagine $10 per pack for Marlboro or a comparable brand. Gas is much more expensive there. While the cost of gas here hovered between $3 and $3.50 per gallon, theirs was between $5 & $6 a gallon.
I've meandered away from my point but the subtle differences mean more as we go on. My wife and I were visiting with our neighbors and some friends of theirs last week. I introduced myself and my wife and we all sat talking and enjoying a cold beer on a warm day. The conversation turned to where we were both from and when she mentioned she was from Canada eyes lit up and they leaned forward as if hearing some fantastic secret. My wife was inundated by a barrage of questions both serious and inane. One question almost brought the entire evening to a halt. The couple we had just met were very nice and we were laughing and joking about how different our two countries were until the wife, Margaret, asked, "Hey, don't you have that free health care in Canada?"
My wife's face changed to a scowl as the group grew quiet. I simply leaned back and let her go. She leaned slightly forward and began to describe how free that "free health care" really was. She talked about diminished choice and rationed treatments. She told them of the inordinately high taxes they paid as Canadian citizens. She related the accident she had at work when she injured her ankle and it took 6 weeks to get the results from her x-rays. When it was determined that the results of the x-rays were inconclusive, that was it. There was no next step. No second x-rays, no MRI no nothing. She was given pain medication and anti-inflammatory drugs. So much for the Canadian health care system being so much better than ours.
I joined in and helped explain the difference between the major countries and their health care systems. Canada is a single-payer system, England is universal, meaning all health care personnel are quite literally government employees. Canada's system is fixed so that the government just pays the bills but still makes an absurd amount of decisions about who gets care, why and when. There are important differences between the two, and neither of those bear any resemblance to our system, Obamacare not withstanding.
There were several serious questions about how the Canadian government worked, what the major political parties were and so forth. My wife felt excluded when those of us who were born here spoke of why it's so great to be an American but she laughed in spite of our loud proclamation that people weren't exactly flocking to Canada in the numbers we see in the States.
I knew that the beer was having it's desired effect when Clayton, who we'd just met, suddenly grew quiet and a quizzical look crossed his face as he asked, "Are there mosquitoes in Canada?"
My wife bellowed with laughter as she explained, "Look, it's not like there's a huge wall between here and there. Things that can fly...can fly across the border for heavens sake."
It was at this point I decided to have a little fun at our new friends expense. I hinted that there was no Christmas in Canada and that people walked around in wooden shoes. Cruel, I know but by this time I wanted to have a little fun and exploit the obvious lack of knowledge about my wife's home country. They knew I was being less than honest and eventually we all just laughed and finally said good night and went our separate ways.
The next morning I sat drinking my coffee from my favorite mug, a Toronto Maple Leafs mug. I know precious little about hockey but I'm doing my best to try to show some appreciation for all things Canadian. I know there's a puck and sticks and many of the players are missing teeth. That makes sense when you consider that grown men swinging sticks at each other would lead to some toothless grins. I know now that what we call Canadian bacon is really what they call pemail bacon and is more along the lines of ham.
I discovered that my wife knew a great deal more about American culture than I knew about hers. Through careful questioning I learned that she even had a better grasp of American history as well. While she couldn't name all the founding fathers, not many Americans can after all, she had a firm grasp of the basics for our displeasure with the British all those years ago. I, on the other hand, could not tell her when Canada officially became a nation. I knew little of their political system apart from the fact that it mirrored the British. While she didn't fully understand our current health care system, she was amazed that we could go see any doctor we wanted and choose which hospital we wanted to have our baby in, she was a quick study and seems more and more "American" every day.
All this is leading somewhere, I promise you. My theory is this: America is more of an ideal than we are sometimes led to believe. That would explain the millions that cross the border illegally every year. Many outside this country learn our ways and our history as a matter of course in their own countries. I think many foreigners view America in much the same way many of us view Florida. As a destination where we will live the good life free of the struggle of everyday life. I have in-laws who live half the year in Canada and half the year here. My wife has told me of friends and acquaintances who have come across legally and just decided to stay because of our love of freedom and individualism. I suspect there may also be a very strong love of the climate as well. Can you blame them really? I mean, can you picture yourself firing up the barbecue in January...in Toronto?
Let me start with a little background to set this in the proper light.
My wife is Canadian, therefore, a foreigner. Her acclimation to living in America has been filled with questions, observations and sometimes, complete disbelief. Though difficult at times, she has made the transition with grace while still showing a sense of wonder about this great nation. She marvels at the fact that Wal-Mart is open 24 hours, 364 days a year. Not only is Wal-Mart the titular heart of the capitalist ideal, they sell alcohol, tobacco and firearms at almost any hour of the day or night. To her, this is something unheard of.
Her understanding of how America works aside, some of the friends we've made recently exhibit the same sense of wonder about Canada. The main difference is that while my wife has a better than average understanding of our country, most of our new friends have an understanding of Canada based on what they've seen on television and half remembered classes on world history.
I had my own misconceptions about Canada in the past so I won't count myself out of the "stupid American" group just yet. During my first trip to Canada, I asked my future wife where all the moose were. I fully expected to see moose walking down the road or strolling through town leisurely.
The differences between Canadian society and ours are varied but there is a lot more that's similar. Our governments are similar but with very important differences, theirs is first and foremost a monarchy but they have elections, politicians and the same types of government greed and waste that we suffer from. One odd difference is that the Canadian government is in the tobacco business. The government imports tobacco, processes it for sale and then distributes it but with much higher costs than we here in America deal with. Imagine $10 per pack for Marlboro or a comparable brand. Gas is much more expensive there. While the cost of gas here hovered between $3 and $3.50 per gallon, theirs was between $5 & $6 a gallon.
I've meandered away from my point but the subtle differences mean more as we go on. My wife and I were visiting with our neighbors and some friends of theirs last week. I introduced myself and my wife and we all sat talking and enjoying a cold beer on a warm day. The conversation turned to where we were both from and when she mentioned she was from Canada eyes lit up and they leaned forward as if hearing some fantastic secret. My wife was inundated by a barrage of questions both serious and inane. One question almost brought the entire evening to a halt. The couple we had just met were very nice and we were laughing and joking about how different our two countries were until the wife, Margaret, asked, "Hey, don't you have that free health care in Canada?"
My wife's face changed to a scowl as the group grew quiet. I simply leaned back and let her go. She leaned slightly forward and began to describe how free that "free health care" really was. She talked about diminished choice and rationed treatments. She told them of the inordinately high taxes they paid as Canadian citizens. She related the accident she had at work when she injured her ankle and it took 6 weeks to get the results from her x-rays. When it was determined that the results of the x-rays were inconclusive, that was it. There was no next step. No second x-rays, no MRI no nothing. She was given pain medication and anti-inflammatory drugs. So much for the Canadian health care system being so much better than ours.
I joined in and helped explain the difference between the major countries and their health care systems. Canada is a single-payer system, England is universal, meaning all health care personnel are quite literally government employees. Canada's system is fixed so that the government just pays the bills but still makes an absurd amount of decisions about who gets care, why and when. There are important differences between the two, and neither of those bear any resemblance to our system, Obamacare not withstanding.
There were several serious questions about how the Canadian government worked, what the major political parties were and so forth. My wife felt excluded when those of us who were born here spoke of why it's so great to be an American but she laughed in spite of our loud proclamation that people weren't exactly flocking to Canada in the numbers we see in the States.
I knew that the beer was having it's desired effect when Clayton, who we'd just met, suddenly grew quiet and a quizzical look crossed his face as he asked, "Are there mosquitoes in Canada?"
My wife bellowed with laughter as she explained, "Look, it's not like there's a huge wall between here and there. Things that can fly...can fly across the border for heavens sake."
It was at this point I decided to have a little fun at our new friends expense. I hinted that there was no Christmas in Canada and that people walked around in wooden shoes. Cruel, I know but by this time I wanted to have a little fun and exploit the obvious lack of knowledge about my wife's home country. They knew I was being less than honest and eventually we all just laughed and finally said good night and went our separate ways.
The next morning I sat drinking my coffee from my favorite mug, a Toronto Maple Leafs mug. I know precious little about hockey but I'm doing my best to try to show some appreciation for all things Canadian. I know there's a puck and sticks and many of the players are missing teeth. That makes sense when you consider that grown men swinging sticks at each other would lead to some toothless grins. I know now that what we call Canadian bacon is really what they call pemail bacon and is more along the lines of ham.
I discovered that my wife knew a great deal more about American culture than I knew about hers. Through careful questioning I learned that she even had a better grasp of American history as well. While she couldn't name all the founding fathers, not many Americans can after all, she had a firm grasp of the basics for our displeasure with the British all those years ago. I, on the other hand, could not tell her when Canada officially became a nation. I knew little of their political system apart from the fact that it mirrored the British. While she didn't fully understand our current health care system, she was amazed that we could go see any doctor we wanted and choose which hospital we wanted to have our baby in, she was a quick study and seems more and more "American" every day.
All this is leading somewhere, I promise you. My theory is this: America is more of an ideal than we are sometimes led to believe. That would explain the millions that cross the border illegally every year. Many outside this country learn our ways and our history as a matter of course in their own countries. I think many foreigners view America in much the same way many of us view Florida. As a destination where we will live the good life free of the struggle of everyday life. I have in-laws who live half the year in Canada and half the year here. My wife has told me of friends and acquaintances who have come across legally and just decided to stay because of our love of freedom and individualism. I suspect there may also be a very strong love of the climate as well. Can you blame them really? I mean, can you picture yourself firing up the barbecue in January...in Toronto?
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