I landed the cover story of The Humanist’s July issue, and it’s probably about someone you know.
I’m not an especially compromising guy, so “America’s Addiction to Belief” is not compromising. We live in a culture which prizes belief on par with fact. A lot of people are obsessed with “believing” things… and this obsession is marked by an emotional investment that makes them immune to critique, discussion, and good ole fashioned American dialogue. And if it isn’t addressed, fast, we will have no way of addressing the issues of tomorrow with a clear-thinking honesty.
From the article:
“It is a culture that thrives on the false principle that “all opinions are equal,” even those without a shred of factual data, documentation, or reasoned methodology. It is a culture where 20 percent of the American people believe NASA faked the Apollo moon landings, and where half the population believes the world was made in six days…
The reality is that the world we live in is irrelevant to belief. For example, I don’t believe that there are fish in the sea. Rather, I have seen the evidence for fish in the sea and accept that evidence. I have seen documentaries on fish and have visited aquariums, have gone fishing, caught fish, fried fish, and eaten fish. It’s not an issue of belief.”
Here we go.