Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bryan McManus on September 27, 2011 at 6:49pm

Of course broad-brush black-and-white statements like that are silly and reactionary. There is no one person, thing, organization or cult "to blame for all the worlds problems."

 

My opinion on religion is No Thanks and my political viewpoint is Grey.

Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on September 27, 2011 at 7:27pm

Those pesky grey areas really make people uncomfortable. People go to a lot of work to get out of them.

Permalink Reply by Diana Bett on September 27, 2011 at 7:49pm

I'm still sorting out my opinion on religion-- on the one hand, I view it as worse than silly. I think the attitudes promoted by even moderate Christians are harmful to the people they are inflicted upon, especially children. And that's not even about the Fundies who are actively against science and medicine and other things I hold very dear. I got fed up with Christianity long before I realized I was an atheist.

 

On the other hand, I don't care what an individual believes. I have a lot of very Christian friends (though thankfully, none that I am aware of are Creationists), a lot of very pagan friends, and a lot of agnostic/atheist/nonreligious friends. My pagan friends are, for the most part, the least tolerant-- on that, we've had a similar experience. But they're still my friends, and I don't try to talk them out of their beliefs, and if my very Christian friends found out I was an atheist and offered to pray for me I would understand that it came from a place of love and concern, even if it would annoy the crap out of me. 

 

I do not blame religion for all of the world's problems, but I do feel the world would be a better place without it. 

Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on September 27, 2011 at 7:57pm

Isn't it funny how people who claim they are tolerant are actually only tolerant of others exactly like them...I remember one pagan friend bashing some movie character for carrying a rosary. "Fucking Christian!" This same person has some pagan charm in his car and like most of his pagan friends, always wears a big fat pentagram.

 

My feelings about religion: if it stays in someone's mind, it's none of my business. So what if someone has an irrational belief system. You can do whatever you want in your own brain. I only care about the external consequences.

Permalink Reply by Sydney B on September 27, 2011 at 9:23pm

The world will only get rid of religion when humanity as a race outgrows the egoism that demands we are the center of the universe, when we outgrow the Us vs. Them mentality.  It's not about eradicating religion, it's about growing as a species.  And we might not live long enough (as a species) to see that.

Permalink Reply by Brian Garrett on September 28, 2011 at 2:45am

The Romans were pagans and they could be pretty intolerant--one of the things they persecuted the up-and-coming Christian religion for was "atheism"--because they didn't believe in the Romans' gods.

 

Religion by itself doesn't do much harm, but give it political gravitas and LOOK OUT!  I have no doubt that neo-Pagans will travel the same road when and if they are ever mainstream.  Why should they be different from every other religion in history?

Permalink Reply by Sydney B on September 28, 2011 at 12:37pm

But again, they didn't persecute for religious reasons, that was their excuse.  People of ANY or NO religion will persecute those whom they perceive as a threat.  There is a rather lot of historical evidence that the people in power in Rome did not believe in their gods, but recognized religion as a tool.  Without religion, another tool would have been used.  Ideology.  Patriotism.  Something.