I think a decent segment of the population (read, majority) needs something to believe in. And if it isn't religion, it's probably a government.
My uneducated belief is that people like being part of a religion because it helps them look down on others and people like feeling superior to others.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
My uneducated belief is that people like being part of a religion because it helps them look down on others and people like feeling superior to others.
My uneducated belief is that people like being part of a religion because it helps them look down on others and people like feeling superior to others.
LOL! Because you don’t see any of that in this thread
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Originally Posted by fotze
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My uneducated belief is that people like being part of a religion because it helps them look down on others and people like feeling superior to others.
That’s nonsense. Emphasis on the word “uneducated.”
I’ve attended various churches and known hundreds of believers and have never had that sense from even one person.
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That’s nonsense. Emphasis on the word “uneducated.”
I’ve attended various churches and known hundreds of believers and have never had that sense from even one person.
Well uneducated in the sense I didn't go to school to study it. I did heave a real world course while watching how my girlfriend was treated when she made allegations of sexual impropriety against a member of the congregation held in high standing and I also remember how I was treated as a kid when I made similar complaints against a congregation member held in high regard.
Some people have lived the things you read about in the paper.
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Captain James P. DeCOSTE, CD, 18 Sep 1993
Corporal Jean-Marc H. BECHARD, 6 Aug 1993
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Well uneducated in the sense I didn't go to school to study it. I did heave a real world course while watching how my girlfriend was treated when she made allegations of sexual impropriety against a member of the congregation held in high standing and I also remember how I was treated as a kid when I made similar complaints against a congregation member held in high regard.
Some people have lived the things you read about in the paper.
Sexual misconduct and looking down on others are different things, however.
the founding philosophy of every religion is that its followers are special, chosen by God, and that everybody else in the world is going to hell, that is by definition a philosophy designed to make its followers feel special and look down on others.
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Anyone who thinks religion will die out any time soon is delusional. The great majority of people in the world are religious, and they have larger families than the irreligious. China, regarded as the largest irreligious country in the world, has an estimated 60 million Christians (and growing fast) and 20 million Muslims. That’s as many people as there are in Germany, Europe’s largest country. Some estimates predict that within the next 20 years, China will have more Christians than the U.S.
That kind of surprised me about China. Some of the Eastern religions actually strike me as more compatible with the modern world, aside from some of the shamanistic practices regarding animal parts.
Worth mentioning that Catholics only make up about 10% of the total Christians in China, so as far as what the Pope declares, it's not all that significant.
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Well uneducated in the sense I didn't go to school to study it. I did heave a real world course while watching how my girlfriend was treated when she made allegations of sexual impropriety against a member of the congregation held in high standing and I also remember how I was treated as a kid when I made similar complaints against a congregation member held in high regard.
Some people have lived the things you read about in the paper.
This is what makes my blood boil. People who protect the pedophiles/abusers are just as bad as said abuser.
#### it makes me mad the lengths people went to to cover up for pedophiles while CHILDREN, freaking CHILDREN, were being abused and damaged. ####.
I don't believe in the eternal frying pan, but for these mother####ers I hope it exists.
the founding philosophy of every religion is that its followers are special, chosen by God, and that everybody else in the world is going to hell, that is by definition a philosophy designed to make its followers feel special and look down on others.
I don't know if there's any "chosen ones" language in Christianity.
I think it's more like:
Christians are taught to hate themselves. Muslims are taught to hate everyone but themselves.
This is what makes my blood boil. People who protect the pedophiles/abusers are just as bad as said abuser.
#### it makes me mad the lengths people went to to cover up for pedophiles while CHILDREN, freaking CHILDREN, were being abused and damaged. ####.
I don't believe in the eternal frying pan, but for these mother####ers I hope it exists.
The thing is, if there is a heaven and hell then that means there is a god, and he must be ok with his chosen flock raping kids because I don't see any priests being struck down by lightning. The whole argument for the existence of god immediately falls apart if you just look at what happens in his own house
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the founding philosophy of every religion is that its followers are special, chosen by God, and that everybody else in the world is going to hell, that is by definition a philosophy designed to make its followers feel special and look down on others.
Every religion? Really? You think Sikhs believe that? Or Buddhists?
Gods aren’t really a way to ensure nothing bad will happen to you. They’re a way to find solace from the awful conditions most humans lived in for most of history.
Every half-dozen years or so, the crops would fail and famine would descend on your village, afflicting everyone with dreadful hunger and leaving suckling babies dead in their mothers’ arms. There was nothing you could do about this. Plagues would rise out of famine and kill one in four, sometimes wiping out whole villages. There was nothing you could do about this. Bandits and rampaging armies would sweep into your village, raping and slaying with impunity. There was nothing you could do about this.
Your parents and their parents and their parents and their parents suffered these calamities and there was nothing they could do about them either.
If you were fortunate, a strong and wise king might sustain a commonwealth and protect you from the worst catastrophes for 10 or 15 years. Then the only suffering you had to endure was the endless toil of trudging through ditches and #### farming rice or wheat by hand from sunup to sundown 300 days a year until your body broke down. And you couldn’t change that either.
Is it any surprise people living in that state turn to spiritual succor and the structure of ritual for meaning and security?
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Last edited by CliffFletcher; 03-17-2021 at 04:22 PM.
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Gods aren’t really a way to ensure nothing bad will happen to you. They’re a way to find solace from the awful conditions most humans lived in for most of history.
Every half-dozen years or so, the crops would fail and famine would descend on your village, afflicting everyone with dreadful hunger and leaving suckling babies dead in their mothers’ arms. There was nothing you could do about this. Plagues would rise out of famine and kill one in four, sometimes wiping out most of a village. There was nothing you could do about this. Bandits and rampaging armies would sweep into your village, raping and slaying with impunity. There was nothing you could do about this.
Your parents and their parents and their parents and their parents suffered these calamities and there was nothing they could do about them either.
If you were fortunate, a strong and wise king might sustain a commonwealth and protect you from the worst catastrophes for 10 or 15 years. Then the only suffering you had to endure was the endless toil of trudging through ditches and #### farming rice or wheat by hand from sunup to sundown 300 days a year until your body broke down. And you couldn’t change that either.
Is it any surprise people living in that state turn to spiritual succor and the structure of ritual for meaning and security?
Exactly this.
The success of religion is tied directly to the difficulty of survival and to marginalization and persecution. Religion will continue to thrive so long as the living conditions of most of the human population remain well below a comfortable standard, and so long as people endure prejudice-based persecution.
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Originally Posted by woob
"...harem warfare? like all your wives dressup and go paintballing?"
Gods aren’t really a way to ensure nothing bad will happen to you. They’re a way to find solace from the awful conditions most humans lived in for most of history.
Every half-dozen years or so, the crops would fail and famine would descend on your village, afflicting everyone with dreadful hunger and leaving suckling babies dead in their mothers’ arms. There was nothing you could do about this. Plagues would rise out of famine and kill one in four, sometimes wiping out most of a village. There was nothing you could do about this. Bandits and rampaging armies would sweep into your village, raping and slaying with impunity. There was nothing you could do about this.
Your parents and their parents and their parents and their parents suffered these calamities and there was nothing they could do about them either.
If you were fortunate, a strong and wise king might sustain a commonwealth and protect you from the worst catastrophes for 10 or 15 years. Then the only suffering you had to endure was the endless toil of trudging through ditches and #### farming rice or wheat by hand from sunup to sundown 300 days a year until your body broke down. And you couldn’t change that either.
Is it any surprise people living in that state turn to spiritual succor and the structure of ritual for meaning and security?
I would disagree somewhat, I think the earliest Gods were both an explanation for the **** things that happened and also an agency of self determination, it was your fault **** things happened as you didnt worship properly, I think conspiracy nuts are in the same boat, trying to avoid the awful fear that the world is random and you have no agency of change in it, if you believe in a god or the illuminati at least you might be able to have some control
Yes, worship and ritual are ways to give people some sense that they have control. Cut the throat of a white bull in the spring, link hands and chant the holy verse just so, and the harvest will be bountiful. Hopefully.
But what’s the alternative in a society where you have no practical way to ensure that the crops won’t fail and the plague won’t come, no way to materially safeguard your wellbeing? Resign yourself to the horror of an indifferent universe?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
Last edited by CliffFletcher; 03-17-2021 at 04:43 PM.
Yes, worship and ritual are ways to give people some sense that they have control. Cut the throat of a white bull in the spring, link hands and chant the holy verse just so, and the harvest will be bountiful. Hopefully.
But what’s the alternative in a world where you have no practical way to ensure that the crops won’t fail and the plague won’t come, no way to materially safeguard your wellbeing? Resign yourself to the horror of an indifferent universe?
theres a few options i've discovered
1) stoicism is an empowering philosophy to live your life by
2) look towards eastern philosophy, many concepts like understanding samskaras, dharma and meditation can be applied to your life without any religious context whatsoever but provide a tangible spiritual boost
like im an athiest, but i do om chanting and i'll be damned if it doesnt just make you feel powerful. no real way to explain it. the cool thing is by doing it this way, theres no need to involve yourself with the cultish trappings that religion brings
