Reason and Facts For Sane Discourse

 

Discussing Religion and Politics: Is It Possible?

This is my paternal grandmother, Eleanor Phelps Wilds (1895-1967), a prominent lady in Aiken, SC society and a staunch member of the Republican Party.  She was a wealthy Yankee who made her home in the deep South at a time when the Republicans were still the "party of Lincoln" -- progressive with actual principles and policies.  

When the GOP were bested by northern Democrats' liberal labor agenda and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the GOP launched the so-called "southern strategy" that embraced the conservative highly racist agenda of the Southern Democrats, we began to lose the ability to talk about anything of consequence.  People now say "don't discuss religion or politics."

In fact, the original advice in etiquette books was "never talk religion, politics or money in polite conversation," referring to the idle chat at dinner parties.  Granny always said "don't argue religion or politics because there is never a way to win the argument."  I doubt she ever talked to anyone who didn't have money so there was no need to discuss it.  (Although she did say that if you have to tell everyone how rich you are, you ain't.)

The problem today is that we have become so polarized that everyone is triggered by something and suddenly the discussion is an argument that usually ends with ad hominem attacks, hurt feelings, the end of friendships and an ever-increasing isolation as we all retreat into our safe social media bubbles.  Folks who listen only to FOX, OANN, NEWSMAX, etc. are being deprived of an entire world of facts that are essential to understanding and participating in the current discourse.  There are liberal sites that are just as polarized and just as destructive to any meaningful conversation on serious issues.

Why Are Facts Important?

Some have suggested that we are living in a "post-facts" world where we are permitted to create our own realities and demand that others respect those realities as just as valid.  Terms like "alternative facts" have muddied the waters even further to the point where my therapist dumped me as a client because she said the only unassailable fact was that we all die.  When I said weather was a fact, she said some say "partly cloudy while others say partly sunny" only to be stumped by my reply "Yes, but if you say it is sunny when it is, in fact, raining, you can insist all you like, but you will still be undeniably wet."

QAnon has led to a rise in absolutely bonkers beliefs like all Democrats are "satanic pedophile cannibals" and that "Jewish space lasers started the California wildfires."  Facts need no longer apply.  Conspiracy theories leading to wild claims and bogus accusations have poisoned the discourse to the point where it seems we can no longer talk about anything.

Religion in the past accepted facts.  Early Islam was a storehouse of knowledge and a leader in science, medicine and mathematics.  The early Catholic church embraced such information and furthered it. Most of the mistakes in early knowledge was fed by superstition and religious dogma which was thankfully overturned during the Age of Enlightenment, roughly dated as 1685-1815.  We learned about physics, epidemiology, cosmology, ecology and the long history of life on this planet.  We figured out gravity, studied the fossil record, learned how to treat illness and prevent disease.  We could invent new technologies and expand education to others so that they might contribute to the wealth of human knowledge.

And all of that depends on people being able to talk to one another.  If we can not talk about what we think and feel and know -- based on accepted facts -- we lose everything that has made civilization matter.   Those who have encouraged us to live in our own fantasy realities are undermining the very foundations of modern thought.  

So I invite discussion, not argument, on anything I write here, but be prepared to offer facts in evidence.  Nor should anyone take offense if someone disagrees if they have facts in opposition.  

Exactly What Are Facts?

Here are some examples of facts:

The Earth is round.  Humanity has known this for millennia.  

Science is the study of knowing how things work.  It doesn't make mistakes.  It learns that it was wrong and adds that to the core of knowledge.

Fossils are not made out of plastic and "buried beneath the Earth by evil men to lead astray the righteous" as my Great Aunt Maybelle once told me.  The history of the planet goes back billions of years.

Climate change is real, is happening and will impact humanity.  Keep in mind that the planet will go on without us because it is just a large rock in space.  Our needs for food, water and air are not the concern of the planet.

Weather happens without regard to race, religion or political affiliation.  No one controls the weather.  No one causes the weather.  Hurricanes and tornadoes are created by natural planetary forces and not by gay sex, interracial marriage or other religions.

Wind turbines do not cause cancer nor is the wind a "finite resource" as asserted by Texas Rep. Joe Barton.

Solar power does not shut down just because it is night since it is used to charge batteries that provide power in periods of no sun.

A virus' sole purpose is to replicate and spread.  A virus is not impacted by prayer or privileges. 

It takes two people to make a baby, but only one does the actual work.  

The existence of a supreme being or beings is a matter of belief, not fact.  I will respect your beliefs if you respect mine.  Since neither of us can get our deities of choice into a courtroom, what your deity demands is not germane to reality.

Conclusion 

So we can discuss politics, religion, science and the origins of the Easter Bunny as long as we can show current evidence or present historical precedence based on facts.  This is not the place for wild speculation, conspiracy theories or religious indoctrination.  If you can not back up an argument with truth, then don't make it here.  That's what your safe social media bubble is for.