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  . .   . . .    . .    . .    . .
 .   .   .   .  .   .  .   .  .   .    "Jason Becomes a Fanatical Moderate"
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  . . .  .   .   . . .  . . .  . . .                  by Jason


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        I think I may finally be losing it.  I fear that my stance as a hard-
 line moderate may have finally crossed the threshold to fanaticism.  Could
 it be that my philosophy of moderation is consuming my personality?  Will I
 preach a religion of Moderatism from the street corners?  Will I lead
 medium-sized protests on Washington, shouting the slogan "Maybe, Maybe Not"?
 
        Somehow, I doubt it.  Oh sure, I can be out there on my soapbox
 preaching like a right-winger in a land full of atheists, but I don't think
 people will follow any philosophy and/or religion that exhorts them to
 carefully look at the evidence without prejudice and then decide on a best
 course of action.  People like quick fixes!  They like something simple
 like, "Do not mix milk or dairy, because I say so."  It seems that people
 will do anything they can to shut their brains off and follow any dogma that
 happens by.

        They don't even take the time to choose a decent dogma, either.  From
 what I've seen all it takes is one person with fanatical belief and a very
 big mouth to lead the sheep into his/her own personal slaughterhouse.  This
 is especially true if the preacher is able to relate what he's saying to the
 audience, but not necessarily.  From there, the belief system, no matter how
 flawed or idiotic (Marxism, Naziism, The Heaven's Gate Cult) will spread
 just like a disease.  This mental malady will spread from person to person
 as they try to convince loved ones and acquaintences of the One True Way
 they have discovered.

        It doesn't have to be an earth-shaking, profound belief, either.  It
 can be something simple and stupid like the continued belief in the Loch
 Ness Monster or the conviction that whales lay eggs (one dumb broad actually
 believed that!).  Of course, it's easy to refute most such silliness, but
 good luck trying to convince them.

        One thing is true for dogmatists: No matter how much evidence you dig
 up, they will not be swayed, because they've wrapped their entire identity
 around their doctrine of choice.  Creationists are a SUPER example, but even
 better examples are those Muslim nutcases who insist that their chicks must
 not leave they house, work, or show their faces in public.  Although I've
 never had the privilege of reading the Koran, I have heard that there are
 many more passages implying male-female equality then those that imply
 otherwise.  You'll never convince those guys otherwise, though, even if you
 got God himself to come down and tell them so.

        Alternately, people tend to believe in what they want to believe
 because it just makes them more secure and happy with life.  People who
 believe in an afterlife believe so because they can't handle the idea of
 dying, whereas atheists DON'T want to believe in an afterlife.  A great
 example of that is one of my Christian friends who insisted that most
 people, especially non-Christians, were doomed to hell, but that he KNEW
 that he was safe.  I've never met a religious guy who said, "Man, I think I
 might be going to hell."  This is also evident in the political arena where
 people vilify and beautify a candidate based on nothing but their
 preference.  Still more proof: when the Soviet Union fell apart, one
 political part chose a rational, truthful approach that pointed out that
 things would be hard for a while, but that they would gradually improve.
 Naturally, they lost to the ones who blew smoke.  Just goes to show you that
 people like a liar who can perpetuate their delusions more than an honest
 dude who will break them.  Take Hitler, for example....

        I can say this, though: ignorance truly IS bliss.  Since I set my
 brain from "stun" to "deep-fry" and started looking at everything
 critically, you kind of get a sense of the futility of it all.  You see that
 happiness is usually a result of direct self-deception, when you choose to
 ignore all of those things that might just make you unhappy.  Happiness is
 also the immersing of one's self into a group, thereby sacrificing their own
 identity and being able to forget all of those bad things in their own life.
 So, in light of that sad truth, would it be wrong of me to try to shatter
 people's illusions and also their happiness?

        Fuck no!  That's not how fanatics think!  As a fanatical moderate,
 and I DEMAND that people think once in a while!  That mushy gray thing
 serves more of a purpose than filling the vacuum in your head!  It's more
 than a receptacle for other people's beliefs!  If you don't do what I say,
 then I'll look at you crossly and shake my head disapprovingly!

        Sigh.  I've totally lost it. 

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  .           anada 102                      by Jason  (c)2000 anada e'zine .
      
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