Irreligion: Evil or stupid?

First question: Are people fundamentally — A) evil, or B) stupid?

Second question: Do we fix evil and stupid with — A) burning at the stake, or B) education?

Already we have a problem. Evil and stupid require different fixes. The general consensus for fixing evil is burning at the stake, hanging, stoning (not that kind), or prison. Stupid on the other hand requires education so that people will learn to be more polite, considerate and loving.

My question: Don’t you have to be smart to see stupid or good to see evil? And who is the judge? The morally outraged and the intellectual elite? Making a choice between evil or stupid is like choosing sides on a pendulum swing. Call me stupid, but I think the world is a lot more complicated than a true or false, on or off, positive or negative answer. Nothing is simple in this world. Even the signage for binary logic gets complicated right off the bat: an inverted V — short for vel in Latin (not available on my ANSI keyboard); or the two vertical bars II used in computer programming (also not available on my keyboard); or the + sign used in Boolean algebra. Even supposedly simple signs and symbols embroil one in multiplicity of contexts and meanings. Nothing is simple.

This is the reason I am not a fan of western metaphysics — it defaults to binary logic too often (see Occam’s Razor). There can only be simple answers: true or false, on or off, positive or negative. It starts with Aristotle’s Metaphysics where he lays out his methodology for logic. Its called the law of non-contradiction — A cannot both be A and not-A at the same time. Sometimes its called the law of the excluded middle. In other words there can be no mushy middle ground or gooey grey areas. Logically speaking, things can only be right or wrong, true or false.

For an example of binary thinking let’s do politics. In a true or false universe you can only be a fire-breathing right wing Trump-loving patriot ready to bleed red, white and blue or else a dysphoria impaired left wing AOC-loving America-hater ready to sell the country to violent illegal immigration. There is no mushy middle ground or grey areas in a binary universe. “You are either with us or against us,” as the inimitable RINO George W. Bush once said.

The cognitive dissonance that fosters this kind of binary thinking is foundational for both empiricism and the scientific method. When we were but innocent little children our elementary school teachers started the brain washing, telling us over and over again, there are only right or wrong answers. The mental abuse continued all the way through high school and into college.

Binary thinking is a part of our socialization. A long time ago our next door neighbor in Silverton was head of the Democratic party for San Juan county. She invited me to the caucus meeting to decide the Presidential candidate. I think it is was Muskie or Mondale or somebody equally compelling. My neighbor was a friend so she said the magic words, “There will be snacks and free beer.” So I went. There were six beers sitting in a big ice chest. I won’t say how many I drank because young children might read this column. (OK I drank three. Maybe four? Silverton is small, you can walk/stumble home). The others went untouched. I was bored senseless. I wanted to die. It scarred me for life. It was like that date you once went on because he/she/they was really cute even though you knew they weren’t very interesting. It’s a suffocating feeling where all the oxygen has been burned out of the air and every second seems like an eternity. OK, I am over-dramatizing, but just a little bit.

The idiotic primary system that we have in this country for picking presidential candidates has gotten us to where we are now. So we’ve gone from woke to broke. Biden to Trump. From Democrat to Republican. Tik toc, blue or red, right or wrong, on or off. At least its simple. Hallelujah and praise the lord (yours not mine).

Do you know Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and Idaho all rejected ranked choice voting in 2024? Did you even know it was on the ballot — Proposition 131? The extremists, the always-right and never-wrong crowd (see binary thinking above), don’t want to lose their entitled, self righteous grip on power. They might have to admit they are not right all the time.

The only two independent thinking Republican senators, brave enough to think out of lock step (occasionally) with Leviathan, are Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. (Kudos to Polis and Hickenlooper for supporting 131.) And btw both Murkowski and Collins come from states with ranked choice voting – Alaska and Maine. Except for those two states, independents and free thinkers are never going to have an opportunity to be heard unless their states institute ranked choice voting. Until then, binary thinking in the form of petty partisan politics and extremism will continue to rule the American mind set.

David Hale earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy, Religion and Cultural Theory from the University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology. He is a Lecturer in Philosophy at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction and is a full time contractor in Snowmass.