5 ms·

This report shows us a terribly broken culture. It may have had foundations in religion, but that was so long ago that even if we could magically wipe away all

• tomkin 15y ago
  > atheism, which if the constant preaching of is any indication, seems to be turning into quite the religion... I've actually noted this. The whole "Bless You" debate squares that point. My point is more about critical thinking and how religion takes that away from people. Is anyone in argument that it is a bad thing for large groups of people to think the same way without due diligence? Pretty sure most people see large groups thinking as one as a bad thing. You can call it atheism, or what have you, but essentially we're talking about freedom of critical thinking vs. freedom of religion. I don't care for religion, or people thinking in large groups as one, so I lean towards people's right to think critically. > Pinning the blame for Mauritania's slavery problem on "religion" takes the eye off the ball Let's ask: Why is there slavery in Mauritania? What would make people okay with their own enslavement? No education about what slavery is? Sure. Let's say it's to do with education. Now, who's putting a stop to education? Whoops. Here's to taking the eye off the ball, esoteric style. I tire of hearing how people will solve the world's ball of fire that is enslavement, brutality, ignorance by throwing a pail of water over it when the real problem is the factory making the lighter fluid.
• kls 15y ago
  if we could magically wipe away all trace of religion or God from the minds of every Mauritanian, the problem would continue. One only has to ask which came first the desire to control others or the religion that justified it, I believe the answer is self evident and if it is, then religions that control are merely a symptom of human nature and abolishing them will not cure the foundry cause which is the desire.
  • tomkin 15y ago
    > abolishing them will not cure the foundry cause which is the desire. No, but it makes it harder to execute when everyone thinks for themselves. If everyone was educated to think critically rather than handing over part of their brain's processing power to a mob, controlling populations would be harder. Much, much harder.
    • kls 15y ago
      You seem to imply that holding philosophical beliefs about our purpose somehow is an indicator of intelligence or lack of and of ones ability to logically analyze the subject. Spiritual beliefs or the lack of are not an indicator of ones ability to critically think. There are many religious people that have weighed the evidence and feel that it falls on the side of creation and do so based on the best evidence available. At a certain point we are left with only philosophy and one must use philosophical reasoning to help them rationalize the world. While we have made a lot of advancements in science there is still a lot that we do not know, if I may I would like to suggest you watch the following series called the Boundaries of the Knowable http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF54xqYhIGA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF54xqYhIGA it is a very good series that highlights the depth of how much we don't know and shows the importance that philosophical viewpoints are even today in reasoning and even scientific reasoning. In my opinion religious people have strong cases for an architect in their arguments that the universe is fined tuned, as the multiverse is basically the same argument but structured for a naturalist viewpoint, but both side make the argument for a supernatural entity that created this universe, both are equally untestable and unscientific, but those that hold a theist view have the corollary evidence of fine tuning so from a purely rational and critical thinking view point, based on all known evidence the argument for intelligence creating the universe seems to have the edge. My intention is not to get into a theological debate, or to support creation for that matter, but rather to highlight that one can very easily use rational thought processes to critically analyze the situation and come to the conclusion that there is a creator and have a totally logical thought process in doing so. Conversely just as with religion, there are many atheist that blindly follow their dogma. I have several relatives that fall into this category, so I am very familiar with the type. For lifestyle reasons such as partying, drinking and a highly active sex life they rejected religious based moral codes as it conflicted with their desires, they then went on to find a dogma that helped justify their choice. On any occasion available they parrot what the thinkers of their particular dogma say and use it as justification for their choice. They never critically analyzed their choice of dogma it just aligned with their world view. As such they are the same as a non-rational religious person just the opposite side of the coin. They are displaying the very same human traits and tendencies, finding something that aligns with their desires and using it for justification of their world view. Finally, once again I would like to state my intention is not to support religion or atheism, but rather to play devils advocate in hopes of helping others see that the issue is complex human nature, we need to find out how to fix our nature as it is the root cause, blaming religion or atheism or socialism or capitalism, diverts focus from the real issue and that is we need to align incentives and identity with productive efforts as opposed to the age old cure all of branding some other group as the cause of all our ills and dehumanizing them by insinuating they are less intelligent or less human for whatever reason.