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the god thing and superficiality
Sunday, June 17th, 2012 12:31 pmThere's a TV in Qiao's room at the rehab center; it always seems to be on and tuned in to some news channel. The room has 2 beds, each with a hand-held speaker gadget that can be turned on and off, for listening to the TV sound. Qiao's is usually off, but the other patient's speaker is loud enough to be heard in the whole room.
The channel seems like Fox News to me; it sounds more like a conservative talk show than actual news. Qiao said it was CNN.
One segment discussed a recent survey which indicates that more young people today are "doubting the existence of God". This was presented as if it were a bad thing. Two atheist college students were on as guests, and they were asked the question, "How can you not believe in God?" (or something similar to that).
The phrasing bothered me. It seemed to exude a presumption that it is normal to believe in a god. It seemed like they were saying, "You're weird and illogical; explain to us normal people why you're so weird".
Apparently, most people do believe in one or more gods. Even many people who don't, still believe in (and/or feel) some other kind of spirituality. So I think that something must predispose most humans for that. However, likewise, I think there must be something that predisposes or causes other humans (like me) not to believe.
It's no easier for people like me to explain why we don't believe, than it is for believers to explain why they do. Or rather, we can both try to explain it, but we can't make the other person really understand.
My thoughts were going along those lines, and I said, "They should ask how anyone *can* believe in god." Ie., the one question is just as valid (and useless) as the other.
Qiao replied that he believes, and that he thinks he is still alive because of God.
I know that he believes, and that he's Christian... he's taken comfort in being visited by the priest of his church, and in praying together.
However, I usually don't pay much attention to that fact. I'm completely aware of it, but it's also in the background of my mind rather than the forefront. I tend to ignore it. The same way I do his conservative politics, and the fact that he enjoys listening to those kind of talk shows. And sort of like how I ignore that we aren't very sexually compatible.
Qiao's words brought it back to the forefront of my mind for a bit. It's a downer; that is why I usually ignore it.
It made me think about how superficial our relationship is. When I visit him in the hospital, we hold hands. It's a very comforting feeling. I'm comfortable with him. He makes me feel good. He's my "sweetheart", as one of my co-workers phrased it.
We live together, we eat dinner together, we watch some TV shows together, we sleep in the same bed together, we show each other good internet videos that we've found...
But when I really think about it, it is all rather superficial, in the same way that life itself seems superficial to me. It's just something than I'm going through / living through... there's no deep meaning in any of it.
If he were agnostic, and if his political leanings were more like mine... That might make us seem better matched, but I don't think it would make the relationship seem any "deeper".
If his sexuality were more like mine... if there were an ongoing spark between us, rather than there only having been the occasional sparks I felt in the beginning... I'm not sure how that would affect my feeling of the "deepness" of the relationship.
If I felt an ongoing spark with someone, I suspect that might make me start believing in something, though I know not what. If I believed in something, then maybe the relationship wouldn't seem superficial.
The channel seems like Fox News to me; it sounds more like a conservative talk show than actual news. Qiao said it was CNN.
One segment discussed a recent survey which indicates that more young people today are "doubting the existence of God". This was presented as if it were a bad thing. Two atheist college students were on as guests, and they were asked the question, "How can you not believe in God?" (or something similar to that).
The phrasing bothered me. It seemed to exude a presumption that it is normal to believe in a god. It seemed like they were saying, "You're weird and illogical; explain to us normal people why you're so weird".
Apparently, most people do believe in one or more gods. Even many people who don't, still believe in (and/or feel) some other kind of spirituality. So I think that something must predispose most humans for that. However, likewise, I think there must be something that predisposes or causes other humans (like me) not to believe.
It's no easier for people like me to explain why we don't believe, than it is for believers to explain why they do. Or rather, we can both try to explain it, but we can't make the other person really understand.
My thoughts were going along those lines, and I said, "They should ask how anyone *can* believe in god." Ie., the one question is just as valid (and useless) as the other.
Qiao replied that he believes, and that he thinks he is still alive because of God.
I know that he believes, and that he's Christian... he's taken comfort in being visited by the priest of his church, and in praying together.
However, I usually don't pay much attention to that fact. I'm completely aware of it, but it's also in the background of my mind rather than the forefront. I tend to ignore it. The same way I do his conservative politics, and the fact that he enjoys listening to those kind of talk shows. And sort of like how I ignore that we aren't very sexually compatible.
Qiao's words brought it back to the forefront of my mind for a bit. It's a downer; that is why I usually ignore it.
It made me think about how superficial our relationship is. When I visit him in the hospital, we hold hands. It's a very comforting feeling. I'm comfortable with him. He makes me feel good. He's my "sweetheart", as one of my co-workers phrased it.
We live together, we eat dinner together, we watch some TV shows together, we sleep in the same bed together, we show each other good internet videos that we've found...
But when I really think about it, it is all rather superficial, in the same way that life itself seems superficial to me. It's just something than I'm going through / living through... there's no deep meaning in any of it.
If he were agnostic, and if his political leanings were more like mine... That might make us seem better matched, but I don't think it would make the relationship seem any "deeper".
If his sexuality were more like mine... if there were an ongoing spark between us, rather than there only having been the occasional sparks I felt in the beginning... I'm not sure how that would affect my feeling of the "deepness" of the relationship.
If I felt an ongoing spark with someone, I suspect that might make me start believing in something, though I know not what. If I believed in something, then maybe the relationship wouldn't seem superficial.