Wednesday, July 7, 2021

A Partial Parallel

A Partial Parallel

 

Theocrats often preach that unbelievers and other-believers endanger their neighbors by attracting the wrath of their God, sometimes in the form of plagues. This implies that their God is irrational, indiscriminate and unjust, like the theocrats themselves.

The secular view is that plagues are due to natural forces, which are indifferent to human life, but which are governed by natural laws, which can be discovered by reason. These laws, once understood, sometimes imply better ways of living.

A wrathful God tameable by prayer, revealed by faith; an indifferent Nature controllable by technology, discovered by reason; I see a parallel there.

As far as I can tell, the main difference is that faith is for the elect, but reason is for all. Therefore faith seeks power, and reason seeks freedom.

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