• Mood: rejuvenated
• Music: bomb the bass

an interesting take

If you've been following NPR's "This I Believe" series, then you may have already seen (or heard) this essay by Penn Jillette: There Is No God.

What I find intriguing is not that I agree with most of his points, but the fact that his perspective doesn't require the nonexistence of God; it simply requires a specific conceptualization of God. I'm not sufficiently well-versed in theosophy to invoke the proper name of the construct I'm describing, but I think Jillette's (and my) perspectives allow for the existence of an internal God, a conscience, the little voice inside your head.

Viewed in this light, I think what Jillette does believe is that a belief, or faith, that is held to be absolute and ineffable truth, functions less like a shield against evil and more like a steel trap, closing the mind to the possibility of new ideas.

x-posted to christianity