Graham cracker

I looked through a bit of a newspaper while on break at work. As usual, there was little of interest there. I did, however, run across Billy Graham's column.

A woman wrote asking about a friend. Her friend was a really nice person who was also an atheist. Billy Graham basically said her friend must either not be that nice or was not really an atheist. That is a cynical view of people and reeks of religious arrogance. To say that one must practice a religion to be a nice person is absurd.

Maybe Graham has forgotten the definition of atheist. Perhaps he confused atheist with satanist. That may be a little closer to the truth but still assumes much.

One does not have to believe in a god to be nice. Some people are nice because they have a nice personality. Others are nice because they believe that is the right way to behave.

Conversely, some very 'religious' people are anything but nice. I have known many of these people. The old "holier than thou" attitude is usually part of this. It can be debated whether these people are true believers but that is throwing out data simply because it doesn't lead to the desired result. Some people are just nasty.

The human personality in far too complex to be summed in so simplistic a manner. There is the basic nature of the individual, the socialization of the person (which can, but does not have to include religious teachings) and experiences and interactions with other people throughout one's life. There may be many other factors at play as well, such as environmental factors and habits.

Maybe the reverend has fallen into the trap so many leaders do. To close one's mind to anything that doesn't easily fit into his little paradigm. Even if one is to believe in a god as the "Alpha and Omega", does it make sense to believe he is micro-managing all aspects of who we are? what does that say about free will? Can I not be nice because it is in itself the right thing to do?