Quite frequently you will see Facebook entries which are
some picture accompanied by a pithy statement, usually derogatory towards some
group or person. Sometimes the picture is a personality like Gene Wilder or
Patrick Stewart in an exasperated expression. Sometimes it’s just a phrase in
sound bite form. Usually these Facebook bumper stickers are non-sequiturs. I saw
one the other day which was a condemnation of religion. I suppose this was a
Jack Chick style irreligious tract. I was just going to pass by it with my
usual, why do I bother? shrug, but I started thinking (a bad sign.) This one
said that the dark ages were caused by the ascension of Christianity. This was
just monumental in its ignorance. In one sound bite it managed to insult three
groups: Christians, historians, and scientists. Truly impressive.
The dark ages weren’t quite as dark as the popular
Peoplepedia would have us believe. There was the Holy (sic) Roman (sic) Empire
(sic.) (Sic’s courtesy of Mark Twain, who said it was none of the above.)
Charlemagne instituted some very important reforms during that time, such as
crop rotation and the miniscule font, saving money on expensive parchment. Yes,
he was interested in preserving and obtaining knowledge.
The remaining bastions of learning in the west were in
places like Paris, Venice, and Edinburg and were founded as religious orders
and maintained by the Church. And the eastern, Byzantine empire flourished for
another thousand years under the Eastern Orthodox Church. Much of the ‘lost’
knowledge of Greece and Rome just migrated into the Middle East and was taken
up by Muslim, Christian, and Jewish scholars. Eventually some of it found its
way into Moorish Spain. After the Moors were driven out of Spain by El Cid and
his mob, Spanish Jews were granted asylum by the Muslim caliph in Baghdad. So
much for the misconception that ‘those people have always been fighting.’ Christian
scholars flooded into Spain to raid the libraries, bringing the wonders of
Aristotle and the rest into the depressed west. Catholicism, after all, had
been richly inspired by Plato, a pagan, and sorely needed the upgrade.
It was another Christian, Saint Thomas Aquinas, who
integrated Aristotelian philosophy into Catholicism, paving the way for our
scientific forefathers like Roger Bacon and the Renaissance they pioneered. And
this is a very small list, but still bigger than a bumper sticker. Just saying
‘Christians do/did this terrible thing’ is rather bigoted, wouldn’t you say?
So, still thinking, I realized that there are names for
people who hate certain groups indiscriminately. Some are:
Misogynist – Women.
Misandronist – Men.
Sexist – Either sex for the other, ironically making the
term itself very inclusive.
Anti-Semite – Jews. Also anyone criticizing the secular
state of Israel. (Unless you’re Jewish. Then you are a self-hating Jew.)
Russophobic – Russians.
Homophobic – Gays.
Islamophobic – Muslims.
Trumpophobic – Trump supporters.
Paganphobia – Country dwellers.
Polisphobia – City dwellers.
I’m sure I’ve left numerous groups out and will be called a
derogatory name for it.
So what about all religious people in general? Would that be
Religiophobic? That’s a lot of people to hate.
