Lone Godless Link

There was only one post at the most recent Carnival of the Godless that really stood out for me.

"Theism can only be maintained by a mindset that is predominantly religious, a mindset that does not necessarily eschew rationality, but does necessarily relegate it to a plane lower than spirituality. In the minds of many theists, if spiritual and rational claims conflict, the spiritual ones must be retained and the rational ones discarded as errant, if not downright evil. In contrast, many atheists believe that rational thought, based in scientific findings from many fields of inquiry, is the primary means by which humankind can and should derive human values. Atheists don’t necessarily eschew spiritual, or aesthetic, or other non-material values. They do seek to hold such values in balance with knowledge gained via rational channels. One of my reasons for abandoning the theistic mindset with which I was raised, and to which I adhered for several decades, is that theism is not only well suited, but is intentionally designed, to breed dependence and authoritarianism. I find both of these outcomes dehumanizing and unacceptable. In contrast, atheism is especially well suited for cultivating autonomy and distrust of brute authority. These are qualities that enhance rather than degrade human life." Source.

I am of the opinion that you go where the evidence leads you, no matter how distasteful you might find it. That's one of the things I like about CSI: the attitude is always "Follow the Evidence." If the evidence makes no sense, keep looking at it until you find a thread that ties it all together. If I have any sense of "blasphemy" or "heresy," it lies in ignoring the hard, physical evidence, particularly in calling something "scientific" when it ignores the hard, physical evidence. But a better description for it might be "idiocy," or "willful ignorance."