A powerful argument against any specific religion

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I didn't write this, but I read it from here. I thought it was a good argument, so I decided to show it to you.

Interesting.

I'd counter with the fact that although the folks who dominate our gov't claim Christianity, the majority of US citizens do not believe. Why then would any American become a Christian? Perhaps the thesis should be narrowed down. Maybe it comes down to the family that raised us, not the culture?

I wholeheartedly agree, this has been a pet argument of mine for some time. Take the average Christian bible basher for example, brought up in a Christian country with Christian parent, peers and society in general. The odds are that if that person had been born in a Muslim country with Muslim parents, peers and society in general that they would also be a Muslim.

The same person would argue in both cases that their belief was the one true religion and could quote chapter and verse to support their argument - either the bible or the koran.

Very few people actually adopt a religion that is not native to their country.

I think the argument can be taken a step further. I don't think it is people that have a religion; it is a religion that has people. The meme's of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism etc have a momentum of their own. Personally I think of such religions as a form of "mind virus" that passes from generation to generation.

The nature of the meme is to protect itself by all means including resisting knowledge that would undermine it (e.g. science) or other religions or atheism that compete with it. It also has a volition to propagate itself (proselytization). In a sense the religious meme can almost be considered to be a living organism - or at least virus like in behaviour.

I wholeheartedly agree with that as well, but a few Christians I know, when presented with this argument, use it as a way to promote the Missionary Mentality, going to all corners of the world to spread Christianity to save the damned in other nations.

Independant investigation for the truth is an important tenent of the Baha'i faith.

http://info.bahai.org/article-1-3-2-17.html

http://www.bahaiprinciples.org/Independ ... /index.php

We can't enforce the religion on our children. They must investigate on their own and decide what is the truth. The methods differ from country to country, but here in India, we Baha'is do not accept declarations from members under the age of 16. Until then, they are considered as "Baha'i children" - we can teach the religion, sure, but we can't enforce it on them. No force or pressure at all.

The day i first declared, I met a man from Iran. He told me that he declared at the age of 19, even though his parents were both Baha'i. The reason is simple - he was investigating. Similarily, I know another chap who's a pothead, and his parents are Baha'i - yet, he remains a pothead who doesn't care about religion. Of course, his parents do talk him to stop smoking, but there's no such prohibition or force involved. And, of course, no pressure to become religious - at all. It's his life, and he has the right to decide what's right and what's wrong.

And, of course, as you all know, I am an ex-Muslim transformed into a Baha'i.

1957 - less than 1,000 Baha'is in India.

1963 - 65,000 Baha'is in India.

1995 - 1.7 to 2.2 million approx in India.

The religion is still in its infancy. It's in the same stage as what early Christianity was in, with the difference that it's present in nearly every corner of the world.

Another thing is, unity of religion is an important tenent of the faith.

http://bahai.uchicago.edu/unityofreligion.htm

I totally agree. it's the same with patriotism/nationalism- if those people were born in different countries they would've thought them the best/smartest/coolest/most worth of pride to be part of.

Actually, John Loftus uses this kind of an argument to make his case to some extent. I think David Eller does as well.

Loftus has a blog here:
www.debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com

If I were born in the Middle East I would pretend to be a Muslim out of fear that I would be killed if I weren’t one. Luckily I live in a place where I’m allowed to not believe in god.

I guess this could be a decent arguement to some extent, except for the fact there are many people who have faith, or even lack of faith, which is not in keeping with their culture or upbringing. Also, someone with deterministic views, religious or not, might regard this statement as irrelevant...

This is something my mum tried to explain to my gran, who promptly replied, 'I'd still be christian' bloody moron