Boxing, atheism and the importance of reason
April 26, 2010
In a child's power to master the multiplication table, there is more sanctity than in all your shouted "amens" and "holy holies" and "hosannas." An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral. And the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned to snakes or the parting of the waters. -Inherit the Wind
Boxing is an unnatural act. Cos everything in it is backwards. You wanna move to the left, you don't step left, you push on the right toe. To move right, you use your left toe. Instead of running from the pain - like a sane person would do, you step into it. - Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris
In a lot of ways, the fictional trainer Scrap Iron Dupris could have been talking about those who stand up to advocate reason and evidence in the face of irrationality. For those of us who do it, it's a constant struggle. If it wasn't there would be no need for groups like the CFI would there?
Everyday there is some new offering of lunacy that requires someone to speak up for science, or secular values, or just plain common sense: creationism in science class, Islamic clerics blaming earthquakes on how women dress, Sarah Palin, homeopathy, and the list goes on and on. We are awash in it. As a journalist, my inbox is filled with people trying to convince me to follow their god, or take their snake-oil cure for whatever ails me. Newspapers have no problem running credulous stories about ghosts or UFOs. (this is to say nothing about the hate mail I get.) Sometimes keeping up as a resident skeptic in the newsroom can be a full time job!
Any sane person would run from the pain. Fortunately, skeptics in recent years have decided that stepping into the pain is worth it. Which is why I am pleased to start blogging here. It is worth it. It is necessary.
If there is anything you need to know about me it is that above all else I respect evidence. Without it, you've got nothing. There is little else that actually can cause steam to come out of my ears than those who make claims about, well, just about anything on the basis of nothing. You'd think this would be plain common sense, right? But if the popularity of pseudo-scientific, new age, crystal power from the city of Atlantis, vaccine denying, tarot card reading, astrological clap trap is any indication, it isn't.
So that is, in part, what this blog is going to about - the advocacy of rationality, science and evidence based thinking in the face of the growing amount of supernatural woo-woo we get bombarded with everyday.
My respect for evidence comes in part from being a journalist, in part from my education and in part from being an amateur boxer. I'm just a ham-and-egger when it comes to the sweet science, you understand, but anyone who has been in the ring will say the same thing: you develop a healthy respect for evidence whilst boxing.
There isn't any room for wish thinking in the ring. It's like your own personal, if sometimes painful, scientific laboratory. Your hypotheses about how to defeat your opponents gets tested repeatedly. And you get the results immediately - sometimes in the form of a bloody nose or cracked rib. It's all about evidence. Either you know how to slip that jab, or you don't and you get punched in the face. Your right cross is either effective or it's not. Your footwork and balance is good or it isn't. Anyone who steps into the ring and thinks prayer, a talisman or some other bit of wish thinking would do the trick usually ends up flat on their back.
Don't get me wrong, there are lots of fighters who are religious. But when the bell rings the only thing that matters is evidence.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am also an atheist, an anti-theist and a committed secularist. What does this mean? Well, it means while I think the supernatural claims of religion are false and even harmful, I do not go so far as a Christopher Hitchens to say that religion poisons everything (although it can certainly be extraordinarily toxic.) As someone committed to secular, Enlightenment values, I consider religious liberty to be as sacred - if you will excuse the term - as freedom of speech and association. That said, these are values that need defending in a world where those with theocratic ambitions and those who think their religious claims trump those of a secular democracy. So that is also what this blog will be about - the advocacy of secular, democratic values.
So there you go. The bell is about to ring. Keep your hands up and protect yourself at all times.
Comments:
#2 Steve (Guest) on Wednesday April 28, 2010 at 8:56am
Great piece Grant! I’m a fellow St. Catharines resident and a very isolated atheist and reason advocate. Do you know of any good organisations in the area? I’m a student so somewhere in the city would be ideal!
Thanks!
Steve
#3 Grant LaFleche (Guest) on Wednesday April 28, 2010 at 7:57pm
Steve;
I know that CFI has been talking about getting something going at Brock University. Are you in highs school or college? I would to see something better organized in our town soon.
There really isn’t much in the way of active groups in St. Catharines. There is the Niagara Secular Humanists who meet monthly, however.
#4 True Blood (Guest) on Wednesday May 05, 2010 at 2:18am
Great article. I really like it. Thanks for information a lots.
Health
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#10 UFCKid (Guest) on Tuesday August 03, 2010 at 10:02pm
Guys somebody posted this write-up to my blog recently, any thoughts on it?
<quote>Whenever you learn genuine martial arts fighting, you will find certain truths about how to survive. 1 in the truths is how the human mental apparatus doesn’t usually work well once it is getting bashed, and survival mode kicks in. Fighters who survive by the quantity of adrenaline kicked in would have you feel that this is the issue of it all, but it is not, it is the worst issue that could happen. As being a species we don’t have quills, or claws, or smells, or jaws, or any particular characteristic that would aid us survive, except that point we call a mind. It is the mind that solves problems, it’s the mind that adapts to survive. It’s this point called a mind that we must find out how to use if we are to achieve our full capacity as humans, and as humans within the fighting mode. A single have to manage the distance inside a fight, by controlling distance we now have alternative as to what weapon we choose to use. The method to do that is to tie a string in the belt to his, and process moving so that the string stays taut without the need of breaking. Now, move in this fashion, and inside a short time your physique will move with the other folks physique as it likes the reality of harmony. We must control the truth with the leg movements. The best leg positioning is once the legs are inside a matching stance, that’s to say his right leg is forward and so is yours, the second finest position is when you are in an opposing stance, that is certainly to say his right leg is forward, and your left leg is forward. The way to train yourself to often have matching stance is merely to walk with the string, and striving to usually stay in a matching stance. We must control the movement of the arms, again, in a matching or opposing sense. No string needed here, but you do must be aware of distance, you’ll want to match the movement of one’s partners arms as he closes distance.</quote>
I have quite a few of the same articles on my blog at my <a >Martial Arts Moves</a> website, you should check it out :D Covers everything from Martial Arts Moves, UFC and even Most Effective Martial Art!
#11 Jase (Guest) on Monday June 27, 2011 at 8:31am
Frankly I think that’s abolsuetly good stuff.
#1 Larry Gott (a.k.a. Largo64) (Guest) on Tuesday April 27, 2010 at 11:21am
Great start, Grant! But I expected no less. I have been impressed by your clear thinking and rational take in your YouTube videos. I will look forward to more of the same in your blog.
Larry