> -----Original Message----- > From: Gruss Gott [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2005 9:29 PM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: Religion and Science my $.02 > > Great Song: > > "Dear God" > > Dear God, I hope you got the letter, and... > I pray you can make it better down here. > I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer > but all the people that you made in your image, see > them starving on their feet 'cause they don't get > enough to eat from God, I can't believe in you
Don't get me wrong - I'm actually a big XTC fan and I like this song. But it does bring up another point of the "spiritualism spectrum" that's a personal peeve of mine: the antagonistic agnostic. Many people see the order in a flower's petal or the structure of an atom and say "there must be a God"... but secretly they fear there isn't. The antagonistic agnostic sees the pain, the absurdity and the suffering and says "no God would allow this!" so they say they're atheists... but secretly they hope that there is. They invite wrath at parties by saying "if there's a God let him strike me dead this instant!" and always inwardly wince because they think this is the time it's really going to happen. In short they actually are believers: but they force themselves not to because they can't comprehend how any being of God-like power would allow all of the bad things. So instead they announce a big "Fuck you, God!" to the world like rebellious teens hoping for a reaction. A more secure Atheist generally doesn't talk about religion or belief much. They don't wake up every morning and re-decide "Nope, no God today". It's just not a part of their lives. (As to this specific song while it's "addressed" to God it's actually meant to be heard by believers. I don't know if Andy Partridge is a antagonistic agnostic or a secure atheist.... but it's still a good song.) Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:189835 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
