amonokerism

[Wilson Gray]

IMO, it means that everyone believes that religion *isn't* a force. It
probably is, nevertheless. Even though The One True Faith has pretty
much eliminated the old fire-and-brimstone hell, I still can't keep
from being annoyed that the probability of ending up in the new,
Homeric, bored-to-death-for-all-eternity-when-I-could-be-partying-like-it-was-like-1999-under-the-Beatific-Vision
hell still takes all the fun out of leaving this mortal coil. If it
wasn't for religion. there wouldn't have to be a morning after and
death would be a psychological triviality and I could relax and drift
away on my ice floe, humming Drifting Blues under my breath. Assuming
that there's still a Polar Ice Cap with floes upon which to drift,
twenty years from now.

Okay. Rhinokeros, then.

-Wilson

On Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 6:50 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: amonokerism
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 2:40 PM -0800 11/24/09, Dave Wilton wrote:
>>But whether you like it or not, "skeptic" is the non-religious term most
>>commonly used within the community of "non-believers" for those who demand
>>evidence for statements of belief. Skepticism goes beyond religion, to
>>include such diverse topics as opposition to the anti-vaccine movement,
>>homeopathy, chiropractic, holocaust denial, creationism, and all sorts of
>>new-agey faith-based philosophies to name a few. Basically, skeptics are
>>anti-woo. ("Woo" is a great term that hasn't gotten its due by dictionaries
>>either.)  I haven't seen any dictionaries catch up to this sense of
>>"skeptic" yet, but it is by far the most commonly used term in the so-called
>>"skeptical community." (It's impossible to avoid self-referential terms when
>>discussing this.)
>>
>>And no one doubts that religion is not a force within society.
>
> Just curious--for you, does this express the proposition that
> everyone believes religion *is* a force within society, or that it
> *isn't* one?
>
> LH, grooving on the multiple negs as usual
>
>>The
>>skepticism is over the validity of religions' doctrinal beliefs, not the
>>existence and social power of those beliefs. If they weren't powerful ideas,
>>no one would care.
>>
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
>>Alison Murie
>>Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 1:03 PM
>>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>Subject: Re: amonokerism
>>
>>On Nov 24, 2009, at 2:46 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>>
>>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>  -----------------------
>>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>  Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
>>>  Subject:      Re: amonokerism
>>>
>>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>---
>>>
>>>  Skeptic is another term I considered, but "I'm a skeptic" sounds to
>>>  me as though I'm skeptical about everything. Also, about "skeptic,"
>>>  my Mac dictionary says,
>>>
>>>  a person inclined to question or doubt all accepted opinions.
>>>  a person who doubts the truth of Christianity and other religions;
>>>  an atheist or agnostic.
>>>
>>>  I am not inclined to question or doubt the truth of religions. To
>>>  me, they seem so outrageously improbable, they aren't worth
>>>  considering. (They may be interesting to investigate as complexes of
>>>  thought or orientations of society, etc., but not plausible.)
>>>
>>>  BB
>>~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>I also have trouble accepting any of these terms for myself, but while
>>I do not believe in the objective, supernatural existence of a god, I
>>certainly believe in the force of the idea of god in society.  In that
>>sense religions merit some attention.  Religious beliefs animate some
>>of the best as well as some of the very worst activities of mankind.
>>The pernicious effects of some of these we can hardly deny the
>>existence of.
>>AM
>>
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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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