What is the Matter with Americans?

I mean it, though I certainly am not referring to all Americans.

I am writing of those Americans whose narrow, bigoted, emotional, black and white thinking lags behind so much of the Western world. Not merely narrow. Not merely bigoted. Not merely emotional. But illogical, rigid, ill-informed – and religious in an unchristian sense.

These are the people who make atheists and humanists look extra especially moral and rational.

Several things brought me to this post:

First, was a singularly illogical statement made elsewhere that led to a discussion about gay marriage. More about this later.

Second, was my stumbling purely by chance across a couple of interesting posts on "Letters from A Broad." (below)

Third, when I discussed these with a friend, I was directed to information about the recent decision by the California Supreme Court to strike down the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

On the basis of our Constitution, gay marriage was made legal across Canada in 2005.

Frankly, I'm not entirely sure why anybody in Canada, straight or gay, bothers to marry in this age of common-law protections and obligations. Divorce, which strikes something like 40% of first marriages and 60% of second marriages is messy, expensive, and painful. As I understand it, marital break-up is equally traumatic in the US. However, I would wish everyone – be they straight or gay, married or unceremonial – the very best of luck and happiness in their love life. I did mean love life – people who are dating generally have a more active sex life than people who are permanently coupled. While I'm about it, I'd wish consenting adults of whatever combination the best of luck and happiness in their sex life too.

Discrimination against homosexuals: why? why? why??? . Why? Why? Why??? II

Also worth reading: A nation of contempt .

Sound Bites

I mean "sound" in both senses: "philosophy bites" provides "podcasts of top philosophers interviewed on bite-sized topics."

I have only just begun to listen, but this site looks well worth many visits. I found it through Descartes and Sum, Ergo Cogito – known more correctly as The Cogito Argument.

A.C. Grayling on Descartes' Cogito .
Melissa Lane on Rousseau on Civilization .
John Broome on Weighing Lives .
Robert Rowland Smith on Derrida on Forgiveness .
John Dunn on Locke on Toleration .
Will Kymlicka on Minority Rights .
Jennifer Hornsby on Human Agency .
Tim Scanlon on Free Speech .
Donna Dickenson on Body Shopping .
Mary Warnock on the Right to Have a Baby .
Anthony Kenny on Aquinas' Ethics .
etc.

Sasquatchean God

Creationists and religionists are hilarious . . . irritating, yet hilarious.

Matt: “Does it take more faith to disbelieve the claims about Bigfoot than it does to believe them?”

pause . . .

“Well . . . that’s an interesting point . . . but . . . I mean . . . even with Bigfoot . . . like . . . well, OK, I don’t like to compare God to Bigfoot”

Which translates as:

“That’s an excellent point, but I don’t want to admit that it’s just as ridiculous to believe in God as it is to believe in a large, hairy, clearly mythical, humanoid.”

The religionist's ultimate capitulation is typical and predictable.