The Evil Athiest Conspiracy (tm)

Science is more than just sitting in a laboratory randomly throwing things together to try to make pretty colors or a puff of smoke. Scientists by and large don't sit in an ivory tower trying to decide how we can further the Evil Athiest Conspiracy. Granted the argument could be made that science is atheistic, but only by virtue of the fact that the actions of any god or gods is an unscientific proposal. It's not that scientists don't believe in God (although some don't). It's that regardless of whether God, god, or gods were involved in the creation of the universe, there is no experiment we can perform which would give us any information as to the nature of said gods. I have met a number of athiest scientists; but I have met a far greater number of scientists of all faiths who have absolutely no difficulty reconciling their religious beliefs with their scientific pursuits. Christians (several flavors thereof), Muslims, Jews, Pegans... Some of whom hold their religious beliefs very strongly, yet are able to find a middle ground where their beliefs and their science can exist harmoniously. As one of my associates put it: "those whose faith is so weak that their God can only exist within the confines of science; and who force science to fit their definition of God; have done nothing to deserve faith."

The problem with bringing God into science is simple: science stops. What makes science such a wonderful pursuit is that it is never-ending. Every time you answer a question, it brings you in new directions, makes you ask new questions. It forces your mind to think in a way that you hadn't thought before. Once you bring God into the scientific process, you have nowhere else to go. How did the universe get here? God snapped Her fingers. How did we get such a complex array of life on this planet? God declared it so. God pretty much obliterates any questions you might ask. You can perform no experiment which would tell you how She'd do it. You simply stop asking questions, and if you stop asking questions, you stop learning. Why the hell would God want us to stop learning about the world?

Thomas Jefferson once said "Question with courage even the existence of God, for if there is one; he surely must prefer the homage of reason to that of blindfolded fear." Postulating the existence of God, it strikes me as completely non-sensical that She would be nice enough to provide us all with free will, then be enough of a prick that She doesn't want us to use it. It's completely non-sensical to me that She wants us to learn about the universe from a book that has been re-written, re-translated and revised dozens of times since the dawn of time; and to alienate those who dare consider the possibility that the Bible might not be the best scientific resource.

I have no issue with religion, actually, I don't even have an issue with including one religion in the public arena. For me the issue is the exclusion of all the others. We have had people insisting that a monument of the ten commandments had to remain outside a courthouse; but what if someone had insisted that we include the Wiccan Rede? People would respond with absolute outrage. What if we included prayer in public schools, but insisted that it had to take the form of a Hindu prayer, or a Taoist or Buddist meditaion? What if we said that students had to read the Tao or the Koran every day before class began?

Why are these suggestions any more absurd than including Christian prayer in class, or the ten commandments outside a courthouse?

My point is simple: worship or don't worship in whatever way you see fit. If it's as simple as meditating for a few minutes every day, fine. If you pray to God, or Allah, or Jesus, or his brother Bob; so be it. But if you pray to God, don't tell the guy sitting next to you who's praying to Bob that he's doing it wrong.

If that makes me an evil athiest, so be it. I'd rather be an evil athiest than a pious bigot.

Best. Week. Ever.

The democrats took back congress, which means that for the first time in his presidency, Bush might actually have to listen to the other side of the aisle rather than having them just rubber stamp the bills he sends his way. It also means that for the first time in six years, I'm actually cautiously optimistic about this country's political future.

Rummy's gone, and although his replacement is an ol' buddy of Bush's, he's also worked under several administrations that aren't Bush, and with a little luck, and a nod from the gods, I'm actually cautiously optimistic that we'll actually have an exit strategy some time in the near future.

A creationist whackjob in florida just got nailed for tax evasion, which just goes to show that although creationist whackjobs can manipulate school boards to force their particular flavor of christianity into the class room, they aren't completely above the law.

Stem cell initiatives have passed in one state, a ban on gay marriage was defeated in another, and a complete ban of abortion was defeated in a third, giving me reason to be cautiously optimistic that the US as a whole hasn't slid hopelessly far to the extreme right.

Oh, and I passed my PhD. thesis defense.