DeepThought said:
I would consider many aspects of secular, scientific culture to be derived from Judeo-Christian civilization. I don't think it's even possible to isolate them or paint them as wholly negative. So the 'ambient radiation' you talk off might well be more along the lines of conspicuous aspects of Christian theology which atheists recognize and find offensive/oppressive.
I live in a nation where our prisons have the general effect of hardening criminals, thus making a mockery out of notions such as "houses of rehabilitation". At the same time, people spent much worry about crime. You might not recall, but before this ridiculous "war on terror", many political voices used the "war on drugs" and its attendant problems to accuse their opponents of being "soft on crime", which to a certain degree contributes to the problem of prisons as crime factories.
And all of this fits very conveniently with the dominant ideology of Original Sin, that people are born evil and only God can save them. The behavior cyclically empowers the myth that validates the belief that empowers the behavior that empowers the myth that validates the belief that ....
I must admit I'm a little puzzled by the level of anger exchanged between American atheists and American Christians. In the U.K., apart from Richard Dawkins - who is giving this country a bad name overseas - people are not really that bothered by the whole thing.
Richard Dawkins doesn't embarrass the U.K., at least not among Americans who
aren't already embarrassingly superstitious.
Almost any personal standard of impurity, disgust, and repugnance will eventually be challenged. Before long, the parents learn to stop comforting themselves by saying, "It could have been worse". Eventually, it will be. My daughter's first written words, for instance, were "I joy". The words were painted on the walls in shit. One of the most important rule of early-childhood parenting is that silence is dangerous. Either someone is about to get hurt, or you're about to have a huge, repulsive mess to clean up. Shit and vomit are just the beginning.
Which leads back to the essential question of what we will do for our children. Among Americans, at least, the social myth holds that children are a great source of joy, that they are our future, that they are the most important thing going on. I've always suspected this was just a political ruse when it came to the Christians, and more and more that reality is showing. To give children such prominent respect is unbiblical and unchristian.
Perhaps British folk have moved beyond such myths about their children. Maybe it's a cultural confusion taking place here. After all, if we accept the proposition that children just aren't all that important in the U.K., that their purpose is the satisfaction and fulfillment of the parents, the decision to leave one's kids behind in pursuit of mythical rewards makes a lot more sense.
