Well, thats interesting. An old friend looked me up and entered into a few interesting discussions on some of my posts. On one post, when he made an assertion with which I disagreed, I explained briefly why I disagreed. He assured me that he respects my beliefs and asked me to respect his. (Hed claimed that the big bang is just as much a matter of faith as are his religious beliefs. He assured me that it was so, based on the fact that hed majored in chemistry and math in university.) I explained that I think respect is for individuals and that all ideas ought to be subject to critical examination, that the fact that someone believes in an idea doesnt make it special such that it should be beyond criticism. I said that I differentiate between respecting the belief and respecting the believer. A few times along the way, I asked him to explain why he held the view that hed asserted. Obviously, Im not going to take his word for it with no explanation other than his educational credentials. Hes a smart, educated, successful person and I honestly thought hed be up for the give and take of a rational discussion. He told me that I was not respecting his freedom to believe and that I was being too much like the far right. And then he unfriended me. Did I miss the memo? Are critical thinking and rational inquiry now the exclusive domain of the extreme right? I honestly find this baffling.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 23:55:10 +0000
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