Before my blog I would like to point out that there are blog categories for ’Dreams and the Supernatural’ AND ’Religion and Philosophy’ but nothing for ’Science.’ When will I learn?
Cliched, unnecessary The Godfather Part III quote:
"Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in."
We were having a delightful conversation about the how science and technology has and will continue to impact human development when this question came up - [Chuck], when is your birthday? - automatic red flag. If anyone other than a liquor retailer asks this it usually only means one thing: Astrology. We’re discussing the future of humanity and out of nowhere astronomy’s irrational, self-proclaimed cousin cuts into our dance. And believe it or not, I just kept my mouth shut.
You see, I’ve been on a positivity kick the last couple of weeks and I’m trying not to get so riled up about trivial things. I’ve been trying to squelch my hostility towards relgion and my general malaise towards superstition. Clearly that stuff isn’t for me. For the most part I don’t think that believing in this stuff helps out the world but that, it seems, is irrelevant. I can rant about this stuff until I’m blue in the face but let’s be realistic here - monotheism is not going to be crushed under my foot, mediums will continue to rip off grieving families and people are still going to pray for peace while at the same time re-electing ’born again’ war mongers. I can say my piece, but when it is all said an done my skepticism will be maligned as ’close-mindedness.’ I thought was making up for some of the damage I may have caused while evangelizing Christianity but now I kind of feel like I’m just doing the same thing for another team.
For example, I’d just rather discuss how beautiful the theory of evolution actually is than lambast creationists for their utter disregard for science. None of us have all of this thing called life figured out so I decided to just take the ’what’s right for me may not be right for you’ approach. Maybe this comes from living in the US but this stuff gets shoved in your face whether want it to or not. Take my recent, non-confronational encounter for instance. To the best of my memory here’s how the exchange went:
Companion: "Chuck’s a pretty rational guy."
Inquistors: "What day were you born?"
Me: (as I look to [Companion] to see if she knows where this is going) "December 22nd."
Inquistors: "So that makes you. . ."
-I remain silent-
Companion: "Chuck doesn’t believe in astrology."
Inquistors: "That’s okay. Astrology believes in you."
Did you see that? It jumps from rational to astrological in one freaking question. They may have been kidding about the ’believes in you’ part but I didn’t even ask. In fact, I didn’t even say anything and I still get roped into a conversation about the supernatural.
For those wondering December 22nd means that I was born on the first day of Capricorn, on the cusp with Sagitarrius whatever that means. Supposedly Capricorns are smart, down-to-earth, and stubborn. At times I may be all of those. At others none of those correctly describe me. So what is it? Do the stars only affect who I am sometimes or only when it suits astrologists? And why does it seem that celestial bodies tend to provide positive or useful traits and grant us opportunities to succeed rather than suffer? What about those crossed stars that lead a man to abuse his wife and children? Is Mars’ approach causing him supernatural rage? Frankly, I personally find the suggestion that ’the heavens’ care for some people more than others as ludicrous and distasteful as a god that simultaneously claims to be all-loving and a proponent of war, slavery, and suffering.
Presumably astrology must affect every single organic creature that has ever lived but I’ve never heard of a snail astrologer. Or fern or protozoan for that matter. Presumably it took humans that claim inherint insight into the mystical to discover it. For the remainder of human existence scientists will be working on learning about the breadth and scope of our cosmos and will most likely never fully learn about even the largest bodies in our universe but astrologers have got it all figured out. Never mind the fact that as astronomical information has grown and changed astrology has had to augment it’s supposed workings to adjust to these findings. Science has the good grace to admit that it is a human endevour and open to correction. That, by the way, is one of my problems with most religious thought: it won’t admit that humans are involved in it’s inception. Science is different because it looks toward existing data and postulates answers and then has the audacity to actually test them to see if they make sense. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t but at least they aim for consistency. Astrology is so vague that consistency is elusive.
The point is that I, Chuck Porterfield, after a few years of arm chair research and reading a number of books on magic and astrology (not to mention a degree in Religious Studies but who’s counting?) determined that this stuff has no value for me. Fine. Maybe it does for you, but not this guy here. And I’m not going to tell you to give up on it. Hell, maybe I’m missing the forest for the trees and using these glaring inconsistencies to blind my third eye or something. The truth is, I kind of find this sort of silly and childish and I’d rather just move past it. There are real world problems out their that require real world solutions and excuse me if I’d rather hear what the prospects of the future are rather than the unfilled promises of the past. My life has never moved in a more positive, productive direction and I think I’ll do what I can to stay on this course.
Thanks.
****Originally posted March 21, 2008****
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