No Bones About It; This is a Sensitive Issue.

I love Bones.  Yes, I know sometimes the science is a little more like magic than actual science.  It's my nerdy guilty pleasure.

If you watch the show, you probably know that Temperance "Bones" Brennan has always been an atheist, considering it the only purely rational option.  I have never had an issue with this.  My beliefs haven't been and will not be affected by a TV show.  If she were a real person, I would say she could believe whatever she chooses if it feels true to her and doesn't hurt anyone else.  What I was frankly astonished by was the outcry among many atheists when, in the most recent episode, Bones had a near-death experience and was given a reason to question her staunch non-belief.  

My first reaction to the comments was confusion.  It was as if having a single episode that pertained to the possibility of a higher power immediately made viewers think the show was going to become a live action church.  Yes, there have been more episodes dealing with the supernatural, but it still seems like the show is far more about solving murders and the interactions between Brennan/ the squints/Booth and the FBI.  (Also, I can't exactly see the series ever becoming fit for Evangelism TV, especially when a psychic was a staple of a few episodes!)  My next reaction was sadness.  There was a depressing level of prejudice and hatred in some of the comments. "If she becomes a believer, I will never watch again!" "She is smart enough to realize that there's not a God." "The show is turning into more atheist-gets-religion crap."  

All right, I will admit, my very first reaction- and it was an un-Christian one- was anger.  "Wow, these people are so judgmental!   Believers can't be intelligent?  Leonhard Euler.  Done."

So he wasn't the best dressed believer in the world; no one can say he was unintelligent.

Then I acknowledged that usually people do not actually mean "intelligent" when they say it in this context; usually they mean "rational" (and for the ones that do mean "intelligent," what's the point of getting angry at them?).  And you know what... belief in God isn't actually rational.  My question is, why insist that everything in the world be rational?  Personally, I have never understood why complete rationality should be an aspiration.  Faith is an act of trusting blindly; if you don't want to trust blindly, no one's forcing you (and if they are, they really shouldn't; I've always considered force to be the antithesis of true belief.)  I'm not ashamed to admit that there is no scientific proof that my God exists.  I believe He does and will without any hesitation tell others that He does. I have had small miracles in my life that I believe prove His existence, but they are not what scientists call "proof," rather "anecdotes"... sort of like what Brennan went through in the last episode in a less dramatic, didn't-actually-die-for-two-minutes way.

If religion gives people, including Brennan's character, hope, comfort, and/or a purpose for whatever reason, and they want to believe that they were created by and/or are watched by a higher power, isn't it rather selfish to want to take that away from them for any reason?  I don't mind if she ends up not believing in God.  If the writers and actors want to say she's still "too rational" to believe in the end, I will still watch and enjoy the show.  I think some Bones viewers, though, are projecting too strongly their own disbelief onto her character.  Part of me understands, because I think all people like to "click" with characters in books, shows and movies.  It makes them easier to understand if they believe as we do.

Probably why this book is so often assigned reading.

Still, isn't the idea "I think believers don't make any sense, and therefore her scientist character should not either" just as misguided as a Christian's desire to force theism on others because he/she doesn't like what atheists believe?  I think my initial anger was also due to this: it has been my experience that those who are first to negatively judge others for believing in God are also those who spend the most time calling for a tolerant and equal society.  Keep in mind that I'm not talking about those who criticize believers who act hatefully; although I think too often people make the mistake of blaming God for the faults of His followers.  See this earlier post for more reflections on that topic.

I know that there are annoying believers.  I also know that there are annoying atheists.  And annoying agnostics.  I can be annoying (though I try not to be, I swear!).  What many don't seem to realize is that people's personalities are usually pretty set in stone, and moving between these three groups shouldn't change anyone so drastically that they lose what makes them... them.  Just because we hear most about the Tom Cruises of the world who start to believe in something and, er, create a huge stir, doesn't mean that is the most common occurrence.  I don't see Brennan's character changing much if she ends up believing in God; she strikes me as one who would believe quietly and keep right on going as usual.

It probably wasn't rational to cry during this scene, but I don't care.  I cried anyway.

I also know that I am generalizing, and a lot of atheists watching the show probably don't care one way or the other and are content to enjoy the show whether or not the main character "gets religion."   Perhaps many feel the same way I do when I hear people saying, "Christians are hypocrites and only promote hate," because they only judge by what they see in the media.  I just find it sad that the ones with extreme opinions are the ones who get so much air time, as it were.  I think it is time that people who want tolerance and are willing to extend it to all peaceful human beings, not just those who believe in that which they approve, made their voices heard.

About Me/A Break from Thesaurus Thursday.

Hi everyone.  I didn't have any words that really inspired me to put them in Thesaurus Thursday today, so I thought today's post might let you get to know a little bit more about a facet of myself that I don't often talk about publicly.  I could even get a bit of flak for it, considering the climate of the internet (universally troll-ish).  All I ask is that you read it with the intent of learning about another individual, and not with the intent to deride, degrade, or insult.


I am a Christian, and I don't hate you.

This is, unfortunately, a message that people don't get very often from those associating themselves with an organized religion.  Of course, it doesn't help that the people who naturally enter the spotlight are doing or saying something supremely controversial; your average Christian certainly doesn't wind up on the 6 o' clock news.  I think everyone has the right to his or her own opinion, and I don't think that any part of the Bible can be interpreted only one way (Jesus spoke in parables, after all, didn't he?).  I believe the New Testament trumps the Old Testament because Christ died to save us for our sins, and thus the Bible sends a message that every single person on this Earth is loved by a God of mercy and grace, not a message of "an eye for an eye" or "stone the adulterer."  In my personal view, you don't even have to believe to be loved by God.  You don't have to go to a certain church; you don't have to hold certain political views; you don't have to be or act a certain way.  You are loved.  And if Christ loves you, then I will do so as well.  The one thing Christ made clear when he spoke was that the first and foremost commandment was, "Love thy neighbors as thyself."  Oh, how sad He must be to see our world today.

I am a Christian, and I believe in modern science and history.

No, I don't believe the world is 6000 or 7000 years old.  I believe it has indeed existed for millenia.  Yes, the Bible says the Earth was created in seven days, but it also says that a day is as a thousand years to Him.  It gives the distinct impression that time as we know it is something humans care much more about than God.  Who can truly say how long seven days is to God without seeing through God's eyes?  I also don't think that the Big Bang theory rules out God's existence any more than saying we have a common ancestor with monkeys means that we are monkeys and thus He didn't create us.  I don't really find the idea that we are "related" insulting or extreme.  If He is omnipotent, He could have created a common ancestor just as easily as anything else, right?

No, I am not "shocked and disturbed" that Christmas was deliberately scheduled on an old pagan holiday to garner interest.  This is something people like to point out and always seem to say "Christians HATE it when you tell them this, because it shows that their religion is a fraud."  I don't really understand this logic.  I don't hate it, and I don't know many other Christians who particularly care either, besides the ones that like to roam the internet riling up people (and there might be some doubt as to the true beliefs of many of these...).  If you do not believe, that is up to you, but I would hope that it was a very personal choice and not one made just to feel superior to "the ignorant religious people." Do people really think that Jesus will believe that we are celebrating the solstice instead of His birthday?  I cannot be 100% certain, but my heart says no; if I am thanking Him in my heart for coming down and being born to rescue me, I don't think it really matters if we celebrate on the "real" date.

I am a Christian, and sometimes I am afraid to admit it.

I do not think that Christians have been nearly as persecuted throughout history as other groups, although there has been quite enough of it.  I do think that Christians nowadays are automatically at a disadvantage, not economically or politically, but as people who want to live freely, because we live in a culture that implies that simply stating our beliefs to others is "pushy" and "insensitive to the multicultural world in which we live."  So we cannot very easily do what we are told to do, which is simply to share the good news.  Nowhere does it say "Thou shalt convert everyone to whom thou speakest or thou shalt goeth to Hell."  Just share the good news, that's all.  If others don't want or choose not to believe it, again, we love them and move on.  But that is rather difficult if we can't speak up in the first place, or if people do not listen to us without jumping immediately to the conditioned response- and I believe it is conditioned- "this person is forcing me to believe his/her opinion."

I think that we should all- religious or atheist or otherwise- be able not only to practice our religions or spirituality in peace, but also to share and explain them in peace.  This is becoming increasingly difficult.  And peaceful interaction between a lot of people, especially groups of people, is often in short supply.


I can only hope that kindness and love will triumph in the end.  No matter what you believe, I hope you can agree with that.