Huffington Post article on 40% of Americans believing in Creationism...

Read full article here.

To that, I replied:

Something's really, really wrong here and I think it's sad that people don't believe in good science. What's happened to respecting intelligen­ce? It's no wonder people are complainin­g about immigrants from certain cultures getting ahead. Um, yeah, that's because those cultures respect a good education as well as REALLY being well-round­ed. Do you know how many Eastern European and East Asian kids took classical piano? Growing up, practicall­y ALL my piano teacher's students were either Ukrainian, Chinese or Korean. Most of my multi-gene­ration Canadian friends picked up a classical music instrument for the FIRST TIME in middle school.

Religious Guy Handing Out Lit on the Corner of Yonge and Bloor

You rarely see them there. There's a(n Evangelical) Christian guy on the corner of Yonge and Dundas (who has been standing there for YEARS). There are also Muslims in the same area, handing out Qu'rans. I haven't seen other faiths thumping like this, though. I guess most religions consider it tacky (I think so, too).

A Letter to Uber-Religious People (think Duggars)

Dear Really Religious People,

Thank you for your concern of my not having any faith. As you have never really spoken with me, you probably do not know that I am Roman Catholic. We believe in the same Jesus Christ as you. However, we do not believe in going around people's homes promoting the Word of God. In fact, I was raised to believe that it is improper and unlady-like to do so. Instead, we promote religion through education, which I assume you do not have much of, since you believe that the world is only 5,000 years old and that Adam and Eve roamed the world with dinosaurs. At least, that is what I assume you believe, since your two of your 12 lovely children have told me so. I feel extremely sad for all of them. They don't seem to get out much, do they? I have never seen them play with the Goldbergs across the street nor have I seen them with the Khalids next door. Heck, I've never even seen them with the Jameses, who go to St. George's Anglican!

Speaking of your children, I have heard that the eldest is to be married. Twenty is very young. I realize that in your culture, having as many children as possible is required, but does she have to spend the rest of her life tending the home? I thought old fashioned rules valued lady-like behaviour. I have spoken with her before, and she does not seem to reflect my version of "lady-like." I was raised to believe that ladies had some good polish, including speaking a smattering of languages other than English. I learned about this from reading Jane Austen in high school. What? You haven't read any Austen? What do you read, besides the Bible, anyway?

Really, I think you are doing you and your family a big disfavour. I would actually love to find a way to send your children to a good home where they will receive an excellent education (including college) and where they are encouraged to question. Keeping them in the dark is very dangerous.

Sincerely,

TorontoGal

Honestly, I feel sorry for this girl...

Has anyone read the Razing Ruth blog? It's written by a young woman who escaped a very religious family. While I do believe in God, I would never, ever force religion on anyone, nor would I be as extreme as her parents. Religion can't rule your entire life, especially to a point that it makes you ignorant of society. Of course, people who ARE this religious don't believe that they are ignorant. They think they're helping the world. Sadly, they are not. The most extreme are those who don't believe in a classical or proper education, especially for women (as it is the case for the woman behind the Razing Ruth blog), which I think is very dangerous. Since traditionally, women are the ones who rear children at home, they are continuing to spread ignorance to the kids. Living in a world of religion only will keep you in the dark and will breed danger in society. There's a reason why the Middle East is so screwed up.

Another thing religion thing I have issues with is how some people spread it. There are those who proselytize in public spaces by reciting scripture (which I usually ignore) and then there are those who actually approach you. Usually, I gently decline - the appropriate thing to do. The scariest are the places of worship who ask you if you've accepted the religion - you know, places who give out cards which say, "Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord?" To me, that has GOT to be the rudest thing anyone can do. I also have issues with churches do services as if they were concerts, but that's an entirely different thing. Anyway...