"I Believe"

[YankeyMCC]

Just a funny observation that struck me today.

I went to the market to pick up some groceries. Just outside the entrance among all the other xmas trappings and paraphernalia, was a barrel with yard signs (the kind that are on a metal spike you stick into the ground) that read "I Believe" at least that was all that was visible.

I did a little mental shake of the head, once again thinking how odd - maybe pathetic - it seems that so many xians have to so loudly and proudly proclaim their belief in gods.

But then I realized it wasn't belief in gods or the divinity of Jesus that sign was refering too, it was Santa Claus.

LoL

This obviously says something about me, sometimes I'm to quick to find nefarious or silly intentions.

But it says something about what this so called holy day has become lol

[awoke_in_2003]

1. Doesn't say anything bad...

at least, not compared to me. I have to fight the reflex to automatically discount someone's intelligence the moment I find out they are a believer. Funny thing about those who loudly proclaim they believe- if you start questioning them and present facts, they start getting nervous. I was talking to someone during a smoke break, and started bringing up religions that used a Jesus-like story, and existed before christianity. She started getting nervous, saying "you have the right to believe what you want". I said what I was saying required no belief. She was acting like a lighting bolt was about to come out of the sky :)

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Hmm - crying out for one of these next to it:

http://snarkerati.com.nyud.net:8080/movie-news/files/2008/04/x-files-believe1.jpg

[John Gauger]

3. It's funny that in our culture

believing something without evidence is considered an achievement, something to be proud of. It's a particularly illustrative example in the case of Santa Claus. Not only does everybody know that it's not real, the actually admit it. When you're around somebody of a different religion, you don't tell them that they are full of crap. But behind their backs, you freely admit that their god is not real. This is the way we treat children and Santa Claus. While these people with these signs don't really believe in Santa, they're proud to lie and say they do.

[dmallind]

4. I'm coming to the opinion that this is just another manifestation

of American anti-intellectualism. I've long complained about both that and the religious zealotry unmatched anywhere in the developed industrialized world here, but the more I read and think about it, the more I think it's the same thing. Your point is exactly right - we are proud of our stupidity as a society. The very existence of phrases like "book-smart" as a pejorative shows that we are suspicious and dismissive of those who seek to gain knowledge and apply reason. Since it is knowledge and reason alone that conquer credulous superstition, our excessive religiosity is probably more of a symptom than the core trait or "disease" I used to consider it.