"maybe i was a little hard on christianity, but i don't really think so. i think you are vastly overestimating the extent to which "love your brother as yoursel

"maybe i was a little hard on christianity, but i don't really think so. i think you are vastly overestimating the extent to which "love your brother as yourself" has been the most influential element of christianity. i look at the history of christianity and see a history of using organized religion as an exclusive club to claim superiority over other people, demonize them, oppress them, murder them, etc. any ideology that claims to have a premium on the truth eventually produces people who are willing to do anything to protect their "truth." a non-religion, non-ideology, with zero written rules and only one basic idea (not a commandment)---that suffering sucks for you and everyone else so you should probably try not to cause it--would have served the human race a whole lot better, IMO, though unfortunately people tend to buy into elaborate fables and rule systems." Actually I generally agree with this. However, the reality of life is, per Hobbes, "the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.". That is what religion, probably more than any other force, has mitigated. Religion is diametrically opposed to "human nature", no? "i guess i don't see a point in living if there is no hope that we can improve, as a collective, at perceiving the traps of human nature that have nearly destroyed the world and choosing collectively to cooperate and overcome them. perhaps i'm a fool, but i feel we don't have to destroy ourselves." I don't recall advocating self-destruction. If there is a nuclear war, I expect we'll win. ;-) "capitalism: yes, amazing advances, high standard of living, etc., but you're overlooking the fact that it has also produced weapons that would allow us to vaporize the planet, slowly decimated the biosphere, and made the gap between rich and poor more egregious than ever. arguably those latter three things are pretty big problems with unbounded capitalism." The arms race is entirely unavoidable. One hopes it will continue as it has lately, with unprecedented peace around the globe. Atomic weapons should be worshiped as the greatest force for peace in history. :-) As to the "gap" you're referring to, I think that's illusory. The "poor" today have wealth beyond most rulers of yesteryear. (I'm referring to the "poor" in the US.) As to the "biosphere" the jury is still out. How do you think things will go if there's another Ice Age in just a few hundred/thousand years? Finally, I'd like to thank you for the civil discourse, and an interesting conversation. :-)