Being a Radical

Religion and Politics should never be talked about. Because people have told religious and political people that these things shouldn't be talked about. So it seems rude to even bring it up. (Ever think about that? If that saying had never become a popular statement and we all talked openly about these subjects, would we be so divided)? Alas, it's deplorable to even try. You might say it in the nicest way, but it's still going to be looked at as hate speech. It's best to not even try.

I don't believe in agnostics. Agnostic just means "without knowledge" as atheist simply means "without belief." Yet, not carrying a belief is seen as more radical, dangerous, and insulting as someone "without knowledge." So, the end result is atheists who mistakenly call themselves agnostics. They say things like, "I don't know if there's a God," or "I'm waiting for more evidence." These are both atheistic positions; they lack belief. A true agnostic says, "We can't ever know." Most people missed that in philosophy class, if they ever even bothered to take it. Regardless, the vast majority of people don't even want to know this. They'd all rather "just get along."

Being in the middle of the road is seen as some virtue. Some stance that a person can go either direction on an issue. But that's simply not true. In the ballot box, at home, among like-minded individuals, people are more set in their ways than they would ever admit. Moderate Christians at church speak about the divinely inspired Bible while telling their non-theist friends that the Bible is a metaphor that God uses to teach us things. In the end, the people leaning more one way or another is going to defend even the extremist fundamentalists of the crowd. It's human nature.

Seems like the best thing to do is just not have an opinion. People without opinions make the most friends with people who do have opinions. People without opinions don't get called radical. People that take no position, regardless of the wealth of knowledge that might be available on a subject, are seen as "tolerant." Taking an opinion, especially one that might not have been a relatively new one, or one that gets a lot of people pushing back against it (such as "Darwin was right") is seen as stirring the pot or being intolerant, despite the fact that everyone has to listen to the opposite opinion every single day. Not that the opinion is even shared by a majority, but the majority still insists on "tolerance" for these people because, after all, they are just a twisted offshoot of the majority and to do otherwise would be trampling on their right to believe how they want to believe.

The only way to get out of being called a radical for pointing out the faults of a majority faith, or even the faults of it's more extremist sects, is to not have an opinion. Shut your mouth and just nod your head. Never question when people tell you that "The Secret" is all about Quantum Mechanics. Don't say anything when a homeopathic remedy is handed to you that is so diluted that whatever original herb was in there can't even be traced by a mass spectrometer. Stop the urge to speak up when someone says "that a monkey never gave birth to a human being, therefore, evolution is false." If you just lay low and keep quiet, no one will be offended. You will never be blamed for "attacking" someone's "sacred beliefs" and faith. You won't be charged as a radical or a fanatic. No one will ever call you dirty words and hell, maybe your mother will even talk to you again.