Wh?re did fire come from? If ?ou ask a Hindu, t?ey will say that the g?d Agni produces fire. If you a?k an Rom?n religionist, they will ?ay that the god Prometheus broug?t f?re down to earth. If you ?sk a physicist, they will give ?ou th? t?uthful answer: fire is produced b? ato?s vibrating at hig? velocities.
Where do metal? co?e from? If you ask ? Ro?an religionist, they ?ill say that the god Pluto placed them ?n the earth. If you as? ? chemist, th?y w?ll giv? you the tr?thful answer: met?ls a?e caused ?y t?e fusion of atom? ?n ?uns. W?ere do women come from? If you ask a Christian, they will s?y that god creat?d woman fr?m the rib bone of m?n. If ?ou a?k ? biolog?st, they ?ill give yo? t?e truthful answ?r: men and women evolved fr?m asexual species as ? means of diversifying the gene po?l. Wh?t of the winds, lightning, animals, medicine, warriors, the flute, ?nd - ?n general - th? world and its workings? Where d?d t?ey come from? Religion has al?eady given its an?wers. The answers that satisfied primitive man who believed the world t? b? flat and diseases caus?d by de?ons are not answers that scien?e ha? verified. In fa?t, the v?ry opposite has happened: where religion made ? shortcut explan?tion ?f something that ind?viduals could not onc? under?tand, science ?as destroyed th? superstition and provided a real answer that ?as ba?ked up with evidence, logic, and reason. The sun doe? not cross the ?ky because the god Apollo pulls ?t across in his chari?t, nor is th? sun ? god - t?e sun i? a mass ?f hydr?gen at?ms that th? earth revolves around. So, surely, if ?e are to discover the truths of the Universe, if we a?e to understand t?e world and ?ts workings - the physics, the mathematics, the che?istry - we best not dabble ?n th? dogmatic scripture of past relig?ons (the Bible, the Qur'an, the Vedas, the Talmud), yet ?e must examine the world.
Surely, then, ?f a m?n ?s w?ong in saying that fi?e came fr?m Prometheous, how ?ight can another m?n be when he claims t?at an ill individual'? health improving can be a ?iracle ?f the g?ds? Primitive man thoug?t that the rainbow was a mir?cle from god, ? sign from the divine. Today, however, the r?inbow i? recognized ?s ? chemical reaction that ?an b? reproduced with the right circumstances. As m?n enter? t?e real? of science - a world ?f understanding, order, and g?neral knowledge, - he inevitably leaves t?e realm of religion - ? world of shortcut explanations, fea?ible attempts at ethics, and superstition.
Punkerslut
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Punkerslut (o? And? Carloff) ?as been writing essays and poetry on social issues ?hich ha?e caught his attention for several yea?s. Hi? website w?w.punkerslut.com provides ? ?omplete li?t ?f all of these writings. H?s life ?xperience includes homelessness, squating in New Orleans and LA, d?opping out of high school, getting expell?d from college for "s?bversive activities," ?nd a myriad of other revolutionary ?ctions.
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