The title of this video is actually “Science Saved My Soul” – but of course, having the same temperament as the speaker id sooner say “life/reality.” Science is a tool [just like Religion may very well be] to understanding the world – but at the end of the day we are trying to make sense of what is real.

If there is one thing I would change about this video, it would only be that the author should’ve tried to be more “diplomatic” in the parts where he directly addressed the points of religion/atheism (i.e. lessen the bias against the former)

But don’t get me wrong, it’s well articulated as is – and any open-minded thinker, religious or otherwise, would not have any issues with his claims. But of course the goal is always to reach as many people as you can to make them see something they never bothered trying to see – so it wouldn’t hurt to be more “diplomatic.” I was thinking he should’ve presented it the way Carl Sagan did with the Pale Blue Dot

But all in all, I think it’s a beautiful piece. And well worth the time to watch regardless of your “affiliation.”

A few potent points:

Religions mutate in time and grow in sophistication, as each generation of “holy men” learn what works and what doesn’t; what makes people obedient, and what causes rebellion; what ideas people can easily escape, and which will haunt them, until they have to pray just to stop the nagging fear.

Thankfully, this seems to be going away – painfully slowly, but surely thanks to secularism.

Words like “infinity” and “eternity” are deployed cheaply – while all other words are open to abuse until they mean exactly what the religions want them to mean.

I would also guess this is exactly why people like Dawkins, et all have finally stood up – because it’s really fine to interpret things however you want, but once you start making more problems because of your so called “teachings” then something needs to be done to rectify it.

I was thinking about facts and physics – trying to visualize what is, not what I would like there to be. There’s no word for such experiences that come through scientific and not “mystical” revelation. The reason for that is that every time someone has such a “mind-gasm” – religion steals it; simply by saying “aah, you had a religious experience!”

This I can personally attest to, particularly since it’s usually a double standard. That “God” reserves the right to all things awesome, but when in context of the bad things, suddenly the burden of responsibility is squarely on our shoulders. While I can get behind that as far as man-made issues, that doesn’t really justify the other natural evils.

As if the only way to appreciate something bigger than one’s-self is only through the lens of religion.

post updated on December 5, 2010 @ 10:15 am