Steve has consistently shown a distaste for organized religions throughout his articles and posts here on his site. That's fine. Everyone is entitled to their point of view (yes...THEIR point of view). But this jazz about this being only "a" point of view and not "their" point of view has left me feeling disappointed. The passion, bias, crudeness, venom, conviction, etc., that this article was composed with comes from Steve, not from some greater consciousness or whatever. The vast majority of people in the world take great comfort in their religion (although I am non-religious), so this would be the viewpoint of very few of them.
Saying that an opinion or viewpoint is not yours, and is only one of many many viewpoints and that you can adopt as many as you want simultaneously is dangerous. It opens the door to the justification of opinions and viewpoints that are harmful. Steve's analogies to justify this mindset of not owning a viewpoint are poor. A viewpoint is not the same thing as a telescope or microscope. It is a reflection of your intellect, character and experiences and should be taken seriously. The fact that Steve is not taking personal responsibility for this very caustic and offensive article I feel is cowardly. He's posted it on his site (which bears his name). He is listed as the author. Is he channeling some greater opinion that organized religions are brain-washing pedophiles? No, it's all him.
I suppose what I am most disappointed about is the composition of the article. It is filled with bias, false choices and poor logic. "When you subscribe to an established religion, you have only two choices. You can become an idiot, or you can become a hypocrite." Give me a break. I choose option C.
We waited 9 days for this blog entry since your last one (a very practical and useful approach to making accurate time estimates) in the hopes that we can further our personal development and maybe just become a little more enlightened to the world around us. This was a giant leap back and down into the realm of fear and cowardice. This reminds me of my high school religion classes and all the little rebellious suburban teenagers who were all just bored out of their skulls. You have taken a very literal and narrow-minded view of religion, and it is making me now doubt your other spiritual writings as well.
Despite the blemish that this article will leave on your site, I do look forward to your future posts, in the hopes that I can learn something from your experiences. Cheers.
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