Of Links, Moms and Agnostics

I've spent some time updating my links to other interesting and thoughtful blogs (and alphabetizing, like everyone else!), so be sure to check them out. I have to mention one in particular, however: Agnostic Mom. She had comments on my DaVinci Hypocrisy post at her own blog and naturally, I wanted to see what she said about me (after all, it's all about ME isn't it?...So when do I get that Koufax award???....). Of course I stayed to read through some of her posts, which are all very good, but my eye kept coming back to the subtitle of her blog: Raising A Healthy Family Without Religion.

I despise the notion that morality requires religion. "Despise" isn't even strong enough. If that idea were to ever take animal form, I would track it down and kill it. I've known far too many wonderful and moral agnostics and atheists, gay people, Muslims, women who have had abortions (pick your pariah group in this country) and far too many religious assholes (including a few wearing the white collar) to even begin to think that morality ultimately has anything whatsoever to do with religion. Or that religion has anything to with raising a healthy, moral family. Being an archaeologist, somewhat familiar with roughly two and a half million years of human history, I also have serious trouble with the notion that "morality" was born 2000 years ago.

Yes, I know some good religious folks...and a couple atheist jerks. But my experience is that the numbers aren't stacked one way or the other. I certainly don't accept that religion is a prerequisite to raising a healthy, even spriritual, family. And it does my spirits well to know others are out there who feel the same way...so I'll be visiting Agnostic Mom on a regular basis. You should too!