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A Plea for Religion (pg. 22)
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| raveed |
| quote: | Originally posted by srussell0018
Stopped reading at "white supremacist" |
My mistake - should have used a better example. Edited. |
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| Lira |
| quote: | Originally posted by raveed
The only thing it seems to have done is to give many religious people a superiority complex. |
Even as a criticism of religion, you seem to be simplifying the situation a tad bit too much. Even when religious institutions screw up, they're capable of doing way more damage than just giving people delusions of grandeur :p |
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| knowhope |
Many people think that the world would be a better place without religion. Sadly, the reality is we don't.
I'm a realist. From what i see is, what is the point of arguing about your own point of view (ego) to your opponent. All this "blah blah" seems it only achieves self gratification. The point of arguing and making a point is saying: I'm ing right, you're ing wrong, you.
I could keep on going about how Nou is a loser living in his parents basement, but somehow he's going to bring up his own legitimate refutation why his position is correct. Thus my argument is to please the crowd. Win the favor of the people and throw Nou to the ground and PULVERIZE him.
ehem. Sorry Nou for this prepostous example, but it's the fastest one i was about to think about while drunk. |
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| raveed |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
Even as a criticism of religion, you seem to be simplifying the situation a tad bit too much. Even when religious institutions screw up, they're capable of doing way more damage than just giving people delusions of grandeur :p |
I suppose so but really, my personal agenda isn't so much against the concept of religion as it is against the concept of 'praying'.
If religion and faith is truly what makes one happy and causes one to do good, then by all means 'be religious'. But when people start praying and start crediting their success to god but their own failures to themselves, it's just a sad thought that people feel as if they are not in control of their own lives. It's really easy to pray but its another ball game to try living by the principles that the god you pray to supposedly lived by and most religious people don't do that.
I'm not a buddhist but i do endorse their concept of 'believing that the power of change lies within you and chant to tap into that power rather than indulge in idol worship' , but literally everyone I see at the meetings turned to the faith because of some personal tragedy, which also indicates selfish motives and weakness as you are sort of admitting that you are powerless to control your life on your own and need divine intervention.
Regarding the fanatics, they are just a bunch of extremely insecure people who are mostly folk who are uneducated, live in extreme poverty and are shunned by society so doing things in the name of religion gives them a feeling of importance and belonging, like they are sent by god to do gods work. |
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| raveed |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lira
Even as a criticism of religion, you seem to be simplifying the situation a tad bit too much. Even when religious institutions screw up, they're capable of doing way more damage than just giving people delusions of grandeur :p |
I suppose so but really, my personal agenda isn't so much against the concept of religion as it is against the concept of 'praying'.
If religion and faith is truly what makes one happy and causes one to do good, then by all means 'be religious'. But when people start praying and start crediting their success to god but their own failures to themselves, it's just a sad thought that people feel as if they are not in control of their own lives. It's really easy to pray but its another ball game to try living by the principles that the god you pray to supposedly lived by and most religious people don't do that.
I'm not a buddhist but i do endorse their concept of 'believing that the power of change lies within you and chant to tap into that power rather than indulge in idol worship' , but literally everyone I see at the meetings turned to the faith because of some personal tragedy, which also indicates selfish motives and weakness as you are sort of admitting that you are powerless to control your life on your own and need divine intervention.
Regarding the fanatics, they are just a bunch of extremely insecure people who are mostly folk who are uneducated, live in extreme poverty and are shunned by society so doing things in the name of religion gives them a feeling of importance and belonging, like they are sent by god to do gods work. |
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| -FSP- |
Isn't Japan pretty irreligious by western standards? They're lightly superstitious right? They're pretty sexist, racist, and probably a lot of -ists. You can't use religion as a scape goat there.
I'm also pretty sure that the Israel-Palestine conflicts are over resources like water which is rare over there, and lots not forget land. |
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| Joss Weatherby |
| quote: | Originally posted by -FSP-
Isn't Japan pretty irreligious by western standards? They're lightly superstitious right? They're pretty sexist, racist, and probably a lot of -ists. You can't use religion as a scape goat there.
I'm also pretty sure that the Israel-Palestine conflicts are over resources like water which is rare over there, and lots not forget land. |
I'll take rampant racism and sexism over lack of technological progress and refuting science.
Look at muslims, they essentially want to go back to the stoneage and their are plenty of sects in christianity that'd be just as happy to do the same. |
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| Lira |
That's not quite the point, Cliff :p
| quote: | Originally posted by -FSP-
Isn't Japan pretty irreligious by western standards? They're lightly superstitious right? They're pretty sexist, racist, and probably a lot of -ists. You can't use religion as a scape goat there. |
That's because Japan isn't a Western country. Here's how Japan differs from other Old World countries:- From Mary Wollstonecraft to John Stuart Mill, England's had a long tradition of demanding more rights for women, which eventually made its way to the continent. Japan introduced universal suffrage only after the end of WWII and, before that, I can't think of a single significant Japanese feminist movement;
- Atheism has been present in Europe for quite a while, specially after the scientific revolution. Japan experienced quite a shock with the end of WWII when the closest thing they had to a demigod (the Emperor) had to revoke his claims to supernatural origins. A thorough deconstruction of their former religious beliefs is yet to happen, and their philosophical foundations are not exactly the same as ours;
- Europe colonised the whole world and has been in contact with distant lands for quite a while now, and Europe is a really multicultural continent, with immigrants from all over the world. Japan never ventured outside East Asia (Southeast Asia being the farthest they got in WWII), and the number of foreigners in the archipelago is ridiculously low.
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| PivotTechno |
Beat that monk with a bat! Er, broom...
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/a...us?bn=1#article
BETHLEHEM- The annual cleaning of one of Christianity’s holiest churches deteriorated into a brawl between rival clergy Wednesday, as dozens of monks feuding over sacred space at the Church of the Nativity battled each other with brooms until police intervened.
The ancient church, built over the traditional site of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, is shared by three Christian denominations — Roman Catholics, Armenians and Greek Orthodox. Wednesday’s fight erupted between Greek and Armenian clergy, with both sides accusing each other of encroaching on parts of the church to which they lay claim.
The monks were tidying up the church ahead of Orthodox Christmas celebrations in early January, following celebrations by Western Christians on Dec. 25. The fight erupted between monks along the border of their respective areas. Some shouted and hurled brooms.
Palestinian security forces rushed in to break up the melee, and no serious injuries were reported. A Palestinian police spokesman would not immediately comment.
A fragile status quo governs relations among the denominations at the ancient church, and to repair or clean a part of the structure is to own it, according to accepted practice. That means that letting other sects clean part of the church could allow one to gain ground at another’s expense. Similar fights have taken place during the same late-December cleaning effort in the past.
Tensions between rival clergy at the church have been a fact of life there for centuries and have often been caught up in international politics.
In the 1800s, friction between the denominations at the church — each backed by foreign powers — became so fraught that Russian Czar Nicholas I deployed troops along the Danube to threaten a Turkish sultan who had been favouring the Catholics over the Orthodox.
Those disagreements threaten the integrity of the church itself, which was originally built 1,500 years ago and parts of which have fallen into disrepair. Although the roof has needed urgent work for decades, and leaking rainwater has ruined much of the priceless artwork inside, a renovation has been delayed all these years by disagreements among the denominations over who would pay.
Only recently, the Palestinian Authority brokered an agreement to move ahead with replacing the roof, and officials hope work will begin in 2012. |
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| MeltdownZA |
Religion is a form of mind control engineered by the global elite to create friction and division amongst the people, and to limit their ability to think 'outside' the box.
This has been going on for thousands of years and as planned it has done its job well so far.
More deaths, suffering and pain have been caused by religion than any other concept known to man.
(That last statement excludes Justin Bieber's music):stongue: |
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| srussell0018 |
| Yeah man why can't we all just PLUR the out? |
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| PivotTechno |
I vote for adding this as one of the images on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. :stongue:
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