Being Smug?
(Editorial Comment from the American Heathen® radio show – Air Date 11/20/09)
What is “being smug”? I’ve been called “smug”, but I’m not quite sure what that means. Could it be that I’m being accused of something, and the accusation is accurate? According to the dictionary, the word “smug” means to be contentedly confident of one’s ability, superiority, or correctness. I guess that means the accusations are correct. But, just who are the accusers, and why have they made the accusation to me and thousands of others? Is it bad to be “smug”? Is it a crime to be “smug”? If so, why is it a crime to be “smug”? What is the punishment for being “smug”? Are there degrees of being “smug”? Is “smug” good or bad? Is “smug” a compliment or an insult?
What exactly am I “smug” about? Well, according to the accusers, I’m smug about things like, evolution and religion, separation of church and state. I’m smug about science. I’m smug about the non-existence of a skydaddy. Hmmm… I guess I stand guilty, proud to be accused, tried and convicted of being “smug”.
It seems to me that being “smug” is a very good thing. I mean, at the very core, “smugness” requires certainty, and certainty requires knowledge, and knowledge requires study, and study requires understanding, and understanding requires observation, and observation requires eyes, ears, noses, hands, feet… Oh yeah! And, a brain! The brain requires input, and a way to sort out all the input data. Sorting the data requires logic and reason! Hey, whada ya know! I must be “smug”! Wow! What a revelation! “Smug” isn’t so bad after all!
But, on the other hand, there are people, a lot of them, who try to appear “smug” without a solid foundation, without reason or logic. I wouldn’t call them truly “smug”. More like, self-righteous, self-absorbed, delusional, misled, incapable, deaf, dumb, blind, ignorant, fools. While they may appear “smug”, they lack the reason and logic, the data sorting capabilities for true “smugness”.
Skydaddy worshipers are always trying to find ways to subjugate people outside of their dogma. They insist that all people dumb themselves down a notch or two. Subservience to fallacy is their play. Knowledge is bad if it threatens to reveal truth. Reason and logic are damned when they get in the way of faith. But, when the faithful don’t get their way, they break out the only ammunition they have in their toolbox. In the bottom of their dirty, greasy box of deception, right next to their Bible – a tome of useless dribble and bile – and their Norman Rockwell fantasy poster, their only weapon sits quietly waiting to be unleashed. The faithful take it out, plug it into their mouth and let it rip! The weapon? Insults. Yes, insults. But, one of these “insults” is misused, mis-characterized, used illogically, as it’s definition is not derogatory. It’s complimentary. That so-called insult is the word “smug”.
Indeed, I am “smug”. When religious wackos take pot shots at me, when their Biblical babble falls way short of doing anything other than annoying me, they start hurling insults like rice at a wedding. My “smugness” becomes their target, and their insultatious mantra. “You’re so smug! Like you know it all!” Well, of course I don’t know it all, but, I do know that religious dogma is full of shit! If they’d do some reading, engage the mass of bio-material between their ears and apply logic and reason to sort it all out… Sure! They can be smug like me too. They too would see the massive errors in their dogma and how stupid and asinine it really is!
Being “smug” is a really great thing my friends! It holds the key to opening the doors of life and it’s greatest mysteries, mysteries that are not revealed through ignorance, but through rigorous study, healthy skepticism, and the application of science, logic and reason. Being “smug” indicates a willingness to be open-minded, a willingness to challenge one’s self, to never be satisfied until all things have been carefully considered, sorted and analyzed. It’s certainty in logic and reason and the rigors of scientific method. It says, “I’m confident in my ability to separate bullshit from fact, truth from fiction, reason from irrationality, science from myth. Being “smug” means never having to apologize for being “smug”. Why apologize for confidence and certainty based in science, logic and reason? Fuck that! You’ve earned the title! Be “smug”!
Does “smug” mean I’m better than someone else? No. Not really. It does mean that I choose to know more. I choose to open my mind. I choose to challenge and engage my mind. I choose to carefully sift through the input data that graces my senses. And… I’m also ready to put everything back through the rigors of science, reason and logic over and over and over again.
Yes. I’m “smug”. I like being “smug”. You can call me “smug” anytime you like! I consider it a compliment, and I’ll gladly thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must continue being “smug”.
