tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28275022.post2212080160228357938..comments2023-10-07T09:01:59.742-04:00Comments on The Jaundiced Eye: Do You Believe in the One Big Sign?Curmudgettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00909592581165744084noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28275022.post-88721213258546889712007-02-18T21:40:00.000-05:002007-02-18T21:40:00.000-05:00There's a theory afoot--not original with me--that...There's a theory afoot--not original with me--that it's not religious nuttery but rather secularism that is the aberration in American history and society.<BR/><BR/>Think about it. We have religious nutjobs running loose, polluting the public discourse with their faith in this or that Invisible Sky Deity--but when haven't we? Yes, the Founders were remarkably free of many of these shackling religious prejudices, but the general population seems to contain rather a large portion of Invisible<BR/>Sky Deity followers. <BR/><BR/>However, even a cursory examination of history will reveal that this has always been so. <BR/><BR/>Secularism--and secularists--are the exception, rather than the rule. And the brief period of relative freedom from religious influence in public life that the country enjoyed in post-WW II America is evaporating, replaced by voters who see apparitions of Jesus (or is it Elvis?) in jars of peanut butter. The Virgin Mary appears in mold on the side of buildings. (What possible good the Virgin Mary is going to do by appearing in that fashion escapes me--perhaps a warning about the wisdom of buying cheap mildew-proof paint?)<BR/><BR/>Which all leads to my question: Where is America headed? America will remain what it has always been: a country steeped in primitive religious faith, yet very much dependent on technological and scientific research and advancement for its pre-eminence and prosperity. A nation that has more churches per linear mile than any other "Western" country, yet also one that has some of the world's great universities and year after year produces a bumper crop of Nobel Prize winners in the sciences.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps it's this creative tension between primitive, child-like religiosity and sophisticated scientific empiricism that has made America the cauldron of ideas, advancement, and innovation. Or maybe America's day is past, since the elite no longer seem all that interested in educating the masses beyond the simple skills needed to work the drive-through window at McDonald's (after all, brains can always be imported from India and the Philippines, can't they?).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com