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The power of religion

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Thatmew
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23 Nov 2012, 12:46 am

My eyebrow raised upon seeing the phrase, 'Critical thinking is a virus', and I just wanted to point out that not all viruses are destructive in nature or without benefit.

For example, remember that horrendous disease, smallpox? You don't? You have cowpox to thank for giving us an immunity from a much more wretched virus.


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ruveyn
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23 Nov 2012, 7:47 am

SpiritBlooms wrote:
It's difficult for me to blame violence in the middle east entirely on religion. I think it's psychological, cultural and political and religion is just the excuse. I'm not a fan of organized religion, but it seems to me there's a lot more going on there than belief. People feel marginalized, that can make for all kinds of craziness.


Religions provide a focus for bad harmful memes.

Communing with the Cosmic Mysteries by various means is not necessarily harmful, but organized religion through the ages has been nothing but troubles and vexation

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SpiritBlooms
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23 Nov 2012, 1:34 pm

ruveyn wrote:
SpiritBlooms wrote:
It's difficult for me to blame violence in the middle east entirely on religion. I think it's psychological, cultural and political and religion is just the excuse. I'm not a fan of organized religion, but it seems to me there's a lot more going on there than belief. People feel marginalized, that can make for all kinds of craziness.


Religions provide a focus for bad harmful memes.

Communing with the Cosmic Mysteries by various means is not necessarily harmful, but organized religion through the ages has been nothing but troubles and vexation

I agree, but in the case of Palestinians, who've been slowly pushed further and further out of their former homeland, I don't think it's nearly as much about religion as it is about feeling marginalized.



Moog
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23 Nov 2012, 8:26 pm

ruveyn wrote:
Religions provide a focus for bad harmful memes.

Communing with the Cosmic Mysteries by various means is not necessarily harmful, but organized religion through the ages has been nothing but troubles and vexation


Maybe it's just organisation that's a bad idea. Let's stop organising things.


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ruveyn
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23 Nov 2012, 8:28 pm

Moog wrote:

Maybe it's just organisation that's a bad idea. Let's stop organising things.


I concur. Let us keep private unorganized religions.

And let us cease and halt attempting to change anyone's mind concerning religious beliefs. That is private and should not be fiddled with.

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MarketAndChurch
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24 Nov 2012, 4:03 am

Moog wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
Religions provide a focus for bad harmful memes.

Communing with the Cosmic Mysteries by various means is not necessarily harmful, but organized religion through the ages has been nothing but troubles and vexation


Maybe it's just organisation that's a bad idea. Let's stop organising things.



In a purely political setting, people are willing to die for their beliefs, and have no shame shaming others who won't join their belief system to the margins. It is impossible to keep religions from organizing, and since people are involved, power structures will always be formed, and a priestly class will be necessary to interpret and to speak for the collective. Stalin was an excellent priest.

Try telling those trying to nullify gender differences not to organize and they'll ask if you are 1.) Male and 2.) a Republican or Christian bigot(terms without distinguishment) so that they can dispense every dismissal of your humanity possible.


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Moog
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03 Apr 2013, 11:17 pm

MarketAndChurch wrote:
Moog wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
Religions provide a focus for bad harmful memes.

Communing with the Cosmic Mysteries by various means is not necessarily harmful, but organized religion through the ages has been nothing but troubles and vexation


Maybe it's just organisation that's a bad idea. Let's stop organising things.



In a purely political setting, people are willing to die for their beliefs, and have no shame shaming others who won't join their belief system to the margins. It is impossible to keep religions from organizing, and since people are involved, power structures will always be formed, and a priestly class will be necessary to interpret and to speak for the collective. Stalin was an excellent priest.

Try telling those trying to nullify gender differences not to organize and they'll ask if you are 1.) Male and 2.) a Republican or Christian bigot(terms without distinguishment) so that they can dispense every dismissal of your humanity possible.


Yes, I was really calling for all organizing forces (from fundamental physical ones to sociocultural) to collapse, which isn't going to happen, at least not today.


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ruveyn
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04 Apr 2013, 9:36 am

Prud wrote:

Atheism is a product of critical thinking, religion is the suspension of critical thinking.



In pre scientific times myth and magic was all the people had.

Things have improved some since then.

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04 Apr 2013, 9:46 am

Another Cr0.03 for the pot...

Knowledge is the belief in forces, places, objects, and events that have been proven to be real, valid, and true.

Faith is the belief in concepts, ideas, and opinions that can not be proven to be real, valid, or true.

The plural of 'Anecdote' is not 'Data', and the plural of 'Myth' is not 'Proof'.


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