Dale McGowan of the Meming of Life and other literary outlets has a new video out. In this latest, he questions the title question in detail before addressing the answer. Mainly he takes on “become” and “religious”, before addressing “What if”. Very reasonable and persuasive.
I met the man earlier this year, and identify with his position on dealing with an over-religious culture from an a-religious world view.
Excellent. And it underscores the central problem people face with everything they consider Vitally Important! Letting others make up their own mind.
This seems to be the hardest thing in the world to do.
I read "Mein Kampf" as a freshman in high school and in a parent-teacher conference two of my teachers brought this up with my parents. They were "concerned" about "letting" me read something like that. The idea that I had the wherewithal to make up my own mind about it—or that, whether I had it or not, I should nevertheless be allowed to engage the text—elicited respect from the teachers, but they still had grave concerns.
Look around and we see that this idea of letting people find their own path is a sticking point that seems at the core of most of the philosophical/ideologicals difficulties in the world. We just (collectively) can't seem to trust people to come to conclusions we think they should reach. Or to accept that alternative conclusions may be just fine.
Further to Mark's comment, there appear to be many people who fear independent thinkers. Moreover, to a school guidance counselor, who is perhaps overly exposed to troubled youths, an independent thinker might indeed be a subject of concern. Or, at least, more likely to be someone to be concerned about than someone to respect. Perhaps the problem is that independent thinkers who create havoc typically get far more press coverage than do independent thinkers who create goodness.