Religion and Bush

Right at the end of this article on Bush's plea to congress we come across this overshadowed statement that sticks out like a sore thumb: "But he did not give up entirely, announcing a $300m programme to strengthen religious schools in poor neighbourhoods." By now we have firmly established my views on religion and children (an immoral combination), but this harks to another point that Christopher Hitchens is outspoken in criticising in Britain. Incidentally, the first act on the American Bill of Rights forbids state subsidy of any organised religion, something that we fundamentally counteract in Britain; the monarchy is, by definition, interrelated to the church, and the British government provides tax exemption for all places of worship. Ahh, but has the Bush administration wormed its way through a loophole yet again with this massive gesture of good-intent? Answers on a postcard. While I'm here, I'd like to offer my suggestion to a question posed by Richard Dawkins during his publicised conversation, The Four Horsemen. Dawkins asks, why is it that religious critics are viewed as strident and arrogant, often attacking the sensitivities of religious individuals? And why is it, he asks, that one can attack someone's preferred football team without fear of offending them, but as soon as we attack their religion, this transpires as directly insulting? What followed was an unsure response to a question with, what seems to me, an obvious answer: uncertainty. I support this with a simple thought experiment. Picture yourself with your closest, religious friend. If you were to tell him: your wife doesn't love you, you have wasted your life; he would stand slightly baffled but secure in the knowledge that, in fact, she does love him, and he hasn't wasted his life. However, if you were to tell him: god doesn't exist, you have wasted your life; it would irritate the very fabric of his being. Not because he has dedicated more time or effort to religion than to his wife, but because he is unsure of himself when it comes to the existence of god. This scenario can be seen in other, less complicated scenarios - if we know something to be true, we are unlikely to be offended or fazed when someone claims otherwise. Yet when we believe, or hold the opinion, that something is true, we are aggravated by those who don't share or views through intra-personal uncertainty. So, Mr Dawkins, there's your answer.