Incuriosity

Daniel Florien from Unreasonable Faith shared this interesting quote a few weeks ago by Stephen Fry.

"The only reason people do not know much is because they do not care to know. They are incurious. Incuriousity is the oddest and most foolish failing there is."

—Stephen Fry, The Fry Chronicles

[ Marks at Parent Teacher by David Hayward, The Naked Pastor. If you haven't visited his site or seen any of his art or cartoons then you're missing out.]

To play a bit of devil's advocate I would add some people may not have the time or luxury to be curious. I'm extremely curious and love exploring new ideas and concepts but I barely have time to even blog let alone time to myself for imagination and curiosity. Regardless I still agree that you must have a thirst for knowledge to be knowledgeable. What bothers me the most are so called experts on a topic in which they've only studied the facts that support their own claims (e.g. the "experts" proclaiming in 2010 that Muslims are attempting to take over America with mega mosque training camps). I love wrestling with  questions, especially questions I myself can not answer. I love it when I come across a new term or idea I've never heard before.

I can't imagine not being curious, not asking questions even of beliefs I (currently) hold to be true. I don't question my traditional religious backgrounds to be rebellious, because I love sin, or because I hate God and Christianity. I continuously question everything because I find it more spiritually rewarding. When I use the term spiritual I use it to describe my humanity, my humanness, my weaknesses and my strengths, all that makes us human. I believe we are born curious (note the word believe) and that as we grow we are raised to avoid asking certain questions and avoid giving certain answers to our children. If I don't know an answer to a question my children ask of me I tell them there are some things daddy just doesn't know. So then we sit down and try to discover the answer together.

What I believe people fear the most is not so much the mental taboo of asking difficult questions but what to do with the new knowledge once Pandora's box is opened. I can't unlearn that men of the church, not God, decided which books were to become the Bible. The mere notion that there were other possible book candidates for the Bible must be mind blowing enough for any regular church going Christian. It's easier to not ask certain questions, to not open certain door which may lead us to doubt. But then avoiding questions I believe stagnates spiritual (there's that word again) growth. I'm not saying that questioning your religious traditions and background will lead you directly into the pit of Atheism, but asking questions will lead you to discover a bit more about who you are and our relationships with each other.

It's a Trap!

I had a sudden urge to make a picture of Admiral Ackbar warning Jesus of his crucifixion but then I realized I have access to the interwebs. I bet someone already has, and lo and behold...

(by Linkakami on DeviantArt)

Happy Easter!

The Choice

So as I was perusing through the Sunday morning preachers on TV this morning I tuned into Charles Stanley preaching about the loving choice God gave us in the garden.

God gave Adam and Eve a choice which was an act of love on his part. You love me because you choose to, not because you have to, that's not really love. So he gave them a choice. They made the wrong choice and notice what he said: the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.  

The topic of choice had me thinking of the Wheel of Fish scene on UHF (yes that UHF) where the contestant had a "choice" between their weight in fish or what was in the mystery box.



To Phyllis, the game show contestant, it truly did appear as if she had a choice, and who would pass up a mystery box anyway? From the perspective of the game show producer there was only one right answer, the other making for some humorous TV. The point where Christianity falls apart for me is the choice between eternal love/bliss or eternal damnation. No one in their right mind would choose damnation, but with damnation as one of the two choices is it really a choice? Even though I'm not a Christian I love the symbolism of love and redemption found within the faith but I believe Christianity can evolve (yes religion does evolve) if it moved away from the choice between Heaven or hell/ obedience vs. disobedience and focused more on love for our fellow man. So now when pastor Stanley, or any Christian for that matter, tell me the choice given at the garden was a loving choice I can't help but think back to that empty box.

Sharing is Caring

I love when I catch my kids sharing their toys. It warms my heart. I love it even more when those lessons of sharing are carried into adulthood, I melt into a puddle when I witness it first hand. So I'm sharing with you this clever illustration which I'm sure like everything else in the interwebs has been shared repeatedly (Thanks Andrew for sharing this). The thing is I absolutely love it when others share their beliefs with me no matter how much I may disagree with them. What I love is conversation and not being treated like I'm a potential convert. There have been times where I've had incredible conversations with people who hold beliefs entirely different from me as we focus on our differences and less so on our commonalities. Sharing what we have in common is great starting point but that should branch into our differences, which I believe when shared can create something new and beautiful.  Sadly most of these conversations are found to be more productive online than in person. As a non-Christian living in Tennessee it's difficult to come across anyone who shares a passion for religion and spirituality who isn't (ain't) going to tell me I better get right with God. Which is why I continue blogging, because I love to share, interact, and converse.

The Universe is in Us

I simply can't get enough of this video. It's been a couple weeks since this video has been posted and is almost up to 2 million views! Of course whenever a video like this gets posted and shared there are some which bring up religion into the conversation. And that's okay, it's very human of us to see, reflect, and respond through our own specific personal view. That's the reason why I shared this video on my Facebook page and here as well. It echoes what is important to me.


 (Via Unreasonable Faith)

This video is not commenting on religion, God, or faith but the reflection of one astrophysicist, one fellow human being on our relationship to each other and the universe. Whether you believe in evolution or intelligent design is not important, what is astounding is the FACT that we are connected to each other. This astounding fact of our interconnection is what has guided me as a human being, a father, a husband, and neighbor more so than any other belief system. Of course the background music makes the video that much more beautiful.

My spirituality is not based on any religious background but on the sheer experience of being. I don't follow a creation myth nor do I have an infallible book with an infallible god to back up my spirituality. But as a very fallible human being with very fallible human thoughts I seek only to eat, drink and be merry. I travel through this life to love, be loved, and not prevent love for anyone else. Videos like these remind me that even if you and I don't share the same beliefs or views we share the same origin at the atomic level. Some theist would say that we are built with a drive to seek God, I would say that we have an inner drive to seek each other, to seek connectedness. You can see that by simply following the trend of people switching to smartphones to stay connected with the world (and yes I work for one of those smartphone companies). How can we ignore our global interconnectedness to neighbors suffering halfway around the world, or even down the street, when we have the world pouring into our living rooms through our TVs and phones? We can't ignore it. Those who want the good ole' days when gays, Muslims, and Atheists were out of sight out of mind will never reach their goal. The space between ourselves and our neighbors is evaporating and unless you're willing to live in a community out in the country secluded from the wilds of an increasingly interconnected world then have at it, the world is not going to go back to a time with less diversity and interconnectedness. But we can have so much more, we can be so much more, by accepting the fact that we are connected to and need each other.

Now that I finish this post I remember I posted a similar video (with the same exact title) back in September 2010 here. It was exciting then and now.