Quite some time ago i discovered George Carlin. The comedian. The funny one, the athiest. HE had some particularly strong views about religion and god, and how it's a big load of bullshit. At that time I didn't thought much of it. I thought it was hilarious. I thought he was a comical genious to be able to present as scuh. His "invisible man in the sky" routine I was a big fan of.
Today I discovered Richard Dawkins. Or rediscovered I should say. Upon hearing the name I thought it was familiar. I wondered to myself, where have I heard this name before? His documentary, "the root of all evil" was on youtube, and like any other naive college student with a brain like a sponge, I clicked on it wihout hesitation. It would be some time before I realized that the very first time I heard or read about the name was a few years ago, when I had just finished MetalGearSolid2 and was reading the ending analysis to makesense of what many would agree to be a very confusing piece of interactive narrative. He was the author of "the selfish gene" and while I had not given it much thought then, I am now considering hunting for the book. According to what I know the selfish gene talks about evolution, not evolution biologically but culturally. The process of cultural evolution. memes and such.
Here he was on youtube discussing what he thought to be the root of all evil on earth. Religion.. Mind that it is not the first time that Richard Dawkins has tried to prove religion as uneccessary in the modern world. He did so once before in "the God delusion" or something like that. But recent events. Mainly the Sept 11th attacks and the g9 bombing and the war on Iraq has given him new ammunition to fuel his argument. As it stands, it is very persuasive and definately entertaining.
In his 2 part documentary he examines how religion can effect the logical and rational way of thinking, how it affects children if they were educated from a young age to believe because they were told to believe, how religious fanaticism has spawned more than it's fair share of death and suffering, and how it ultimately impedes the progress of mankind. Perhaps one could liken religion to the cultural revolution of China by Mao Tze Dong in the mid-20th century, if taking Mr. Dawkin's opinion to the word. Nevertheless, it remains interesting this battle between scince and religion, in a way to me it is much like the ongoing battle between Christianity and Islam, fundamentally speaking. Though clearly it is of a different stature.
Before this I haven't given it much thought, but both his documentaries reflect too much of my own opinion for me to ignore it. We as Malaysians have this "tak-apa" attitude. I think it is inherent in all of us, it is a scar caused not by various factors and a trait that was built on bloodshed, ethnocentricity and the delusion of harmony. What we are doing in effect is pressure cooking ourselves again. In the past the time bomb exploded. It would be known in history books as the May 13th incident. In the name of harmony our lips were sealed, our thoughts and opinions kept on lids. As said by my lecturer some weeks ago, "it's not something to talk about, something to debate or to question" The cultural wound it has inflicted upon our society is too great. Unfathomable. The government is run by fear, pride and racism. Fear of racist outbreaks once again, - and judging by the rate this country has progressed mentally, it is certainly possible - pride that their allged homeland will be taken over by foreigners, and the underlying concept of all the government policies - racism - . The citizens, even my parents, have succumbed to this fact and decided that there is nothing that we can do about it and our best bet is to hope that our children get sent overseas and hopefully the government policies will not be as strict there, although as sweet as it may sound it is of course, as any man opr woman with a sound mind will tell you, wishful thinking.
It really is hard to be patriotic when your country treats you like shit. for people like us, I think it's sad. We are too far away from our mhtherland to discern ourselves as of the same nation. My grandfather is from China, but I am obviously not of the same cultural group as my grandfather. We had severely different views and opinions on things in the country. We play the cards we are dealt. And the cards we are dealt are shitty cards indeed. If this were a game os scrabble we've had Qs and Zs and Ks and Xs but no vowels. Yet still we paly, because we don't have any other choice. We need to forge a better future for tomorrow, for our children, but then reality sets in and we realize, no matter how hard we try, we're not going to get promoted even if we work our asses off in social service, the majority of us are never going to be able to go to a government University, and our rights as citizens will suck. Maybe someone with a clear heart will stand up for us. Maybe in another 50 years it'll be different, but then again, maybe not.
Here's the video that sparked the insanely long post.
Richard Dawkins, the root of all evil. on youtube. I hope it is as insightful to you as it was to me. And I still haven't mentioned that I've decided that I'll be an athiest form now on. damn that was long. hope it was an interesting read to anyone who would read it.
