Doubt as a mean of salvation...

Critical thinking might very well be the medicine that will save humanity from all the fear mongers and other folks praying on the gullible and other easily influenced individuals. Nothing illustrates that better than the current American mid-term election campaign in which the right wing has been extremely successful at selling their simplistic views, all articulated on hollow as well as mindless slogans. No wonder that most religious folks are following that gospel as if it was the one preached in their own churches. That same set of cliches works wonder in other parts of the world where the influence of religion is a strong antidote to critical thinking and free choice.

From Iran to Israel and of course, to our American Bible Belt. Developing critical thinking rests of course on good secular education and rejection of superstition and other esoteric beliefs that can only poison young minds and make them an ideal target for being brainwashed by unscrupulous politicians when they need to be elected to office. Critical thinking should be a protective helmet that all of us must wear when we open a newspaper, read the news on the net, listen to the radio or watch TV. The challenge is how do we deal with the masses that are already contaminated by simple-mindedness and can no longer be brought to think for themselves?