Evolution vs. Insanity

[elfs]

By putting cameras into babies' bedrooms, boffins have been able to determine that even infants are capable of practicing deceit. The capacity to fake cries or laughter in order to get attention emerges as early as six months. This isn't as surprising at it seems to some: children are cause and effect machines, learning about the world by doing something and seeing what happens. This is just one more capability, an interesting one, but hardly shocking.

So you have to admire the fundy headline Children: Sinful By Nature, which is such a weird composition of worldviews that it doesn't even begin to add up. I mean, how can "sin" be "natural?" Doesn't it have a supernatural origin to begin with? And isn't it sad to see the "we're all filthy beggars from birth" attitude expressed in all its ugliness?

Color me perplexed.

Comments

[sierra-nevada.livejournal.com]

Obviously it means that all children need the guidence and oversight of The Church.

Self-serving? Them? How could you even suggest such a thing? They're doing The Lord's work!

[nbarnes.livejournal.com]

Ew.

As someone currently playing a minor but valuable-to-me part in baby-rearing, those fundies just make my skin crawl. I'm sure that Alex's little nascent social-network-neurology is working double time to figure out how to get what she wants and needs. I consider it my job to try to teach her that she gets what she wants and needs by asking for it honestly and openly, as best she's able. So that she learns that the best way to interact with people is to be open and honest.

[hydrolagus.livejournal.com]

More kitty!

[nbarnes.livejournal.com]

A reasonable request well phrased.

[memegarden.livejournal.com]

First Google hit for "more kitty" (http://www.rathergood.com/independent_woman/).

[woggie.livejournal.com]

Actually, I always thought Fundies thought nature was evil. It explains how they revile sex and all things related to it, amongst other things.

[gromm.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think that the premise that our nature is "sinful" is pretty true. How many times have you wanted to beat the living crap out of someone but haven't? Have you ever been tempted to steal? Have you ever lied? Have you ever wanted to kill Paris Hilton? Where did all that come from? Was it learned from other people, or has it existed in your basic personality since you were born? Do you believe that evil is curable, or does it "just come naturally" to some people?

Now, extend that to everything else that Christians think is sinful. Most of it comes pretty naturally, doesn't it? Of course, if you look at all that stuff that the Catholic church thinks is sinful, then you'll notice that basically they have a set of rules that everyone breaks a few of. This is probably intentionally set up so that everyone has something to be guilty of, and everyone must be absolved by a priest. Alternatively, you could say that purity is something that's really hard to attain, and hardly any of us achieve, much like excellence in any human endeavour.

Basically, their philosophy is that human beings are naturally evil, and must, through hard work and discipline resist temptation. Another Christian philosophy is that evil exists outside of us, tempting us to put those gold coins in our pocket, to beat the tar out of the Amway salesman, or to assassinate George W. Bush. Here, it's our inner purity that keeps us from doing those things and we must resist temptations from outside.

It's all about perspective I guess.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[drhoz.livejournal.com]

even better example - camoflage "I'm not a stonefish waiting to eat you... I'm just a weed covered rock.. come a little closer.. little closer..."

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[http://users.livejournal.com/_candide_/]

A while back, Elf, you had made a post and locked it. I wanted to respond, but, since the post was locked, I could only make an entry in my own blog in reaction to it.

I'll summarize here, briefly:

First, I was reminded of a program on WNYC about the, "inner chimp," portion of our brains. It's something that was found during MRI studies of brain activity while being asked certain moral conundrums. And it's something we share with other primates. To whit: based on brain structure itself, "morality" is something much older, much deeper than a bunch of men in funny robes.

Second, in that blog entry of mine, I pointed out an incident at a zoo. A boy fell in the gorilla pit. Hard–knocked unconscious. An old lady-gorilla came over and began tending to the boy, then protecting him until the zookeepers had arrived.
The "average" person was "amazed" that the gorilla was even capable of being gentle and caring.
The zookeepers … and biologists hearing this … reacted with, "Well DUH! How else would you expect a mother-mammal to react?"

Third is a reaction I've had to those claiming that, unless threatened by God/Jesus/Allah, people would be evil. They're claiming, then, that humans are intrinsically less-moral than the average gorilla-mom.

My reaction to anyone who believes this is simple: You Keep Away from Me! Keep Away!

Because, see, they probably believe that all people require threats to behave because they themselves are incapable of keeping themselve under control without supernatural threats. And I don't want anyone that psychopathic near me or those I care about.