Understanding Religion's Relationship To Human Social Systems

The claim: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." ~ Galatians 3:28 This is the basis for the concept of basic human rights. The abolitionist movement, women's suffrage, and the civil rights movement all started in Christian churches." ----------------- Reply:  1. An early Christian saying a thing ... doesn't demonstrate they were the first to think or say such a thing. 2. The concept of human rights far predates the Hebrew religion. Example: Code of Hammurabi. And that's not even the oldest of similar codes. 3. Out of all the America's Civil Rights battles, the only one started by Christians was the abolitionist movement.  Granted, this is a big one.  But they didn't fight it alone.  Although, there's no way to know how many people within their ranks weren't true believers. Christians made it dangerous for non-Christians to out themselves. This is...

 Victor Turner So we have: Option 1: a "God" creates flawed people and then condemns them for being flawed, blames them for the specific ~ways~ they are flawed (by design), blames them for the inevitable results of those flaws, blames EVERYONE for the crimes of the few, and then offers to "forgive" random lucky religious-lottery winners, who lucky-guess the best version of the trust religion, ... who managed to lucky guess enough things before their totally random life-timer expires. -and then rewards the winner with: no longer being ABLE to sin (ever again). Wait. Wouldn't that make them robots? - And sends everyone else (most people who ever existed) to a "Hell".... that ultimately serves no necessary or just purpose. Option 2: Make people with: a. fewer flaws, b. nothing so serious as flaws, c. limit the amount of suffering they can cause or experience, d. communicate that deity's will, thoughts, and values ... ~perfectly~ (so that everyone...

(This blog began as a reply, in a "Stoicism" philosophical group) When Christians post Bible verses in social media groups, ... There are many reasons we should care. Consider: * Bibles are designed to be a conversation limiter. * Bible writers, producers, and marketers claim sole/exclusive legit philosophy; - allowing only whichever plagiarized parts of outside philosophies the writers (and canonizers) decided to add; - before they finally closed the book so that no new ideas could be added. * Bibles directly attempt to coerce and subvert ever reader's free journey of personal discovery; - in regards to everything that matters in life; - including personal relationships, values, priorities, and personal identity. * They create and then weaponize human mental-slaves ... to go out and mentally shackle as many others as possible. *Bibles aggressively bash the character of all non-believers, different believers, not-correct-enough-believers, and non-fanatical (aka "Lu...

To the person who made this video : I am a student of the human experience. I'm always interested in knowing more about the way people's minds work, and what experiences have shaped their character, perceptions, and values. I was raised in a conservative, Christian-religious environment. I've studied (and studied with) people in the same religions and religious philosophies you have. That's not my complete list. But I realize it's probably not your complete list either. I never fully embraced any particular religious narrative; except for very general notions about "God", bibles, redemption, and eternal reward. Meanwhile, all of my programmed religious beliefs were a heavy burden to me. My entire life really would have been better without any of it. At age 41 (about 9 years ago), I accidentally de-converted, from the entire idea of a literal "God" and bibles as his messages to humanity. That happens as a result of: accidenta...

She said  "somehow becoming a better person only gives temporary satisfaction at best. It does nothing to address past sins. It certainly does nothing for eternity." --- My thoughts on this: Becoming a better person yields great benefits; for the remainder of a person's lifetime. It fully addresses and resolves all past transgressions, because then we literally aren't that same person anymore. And no one from our past can justify saying we are. If they wouldn't let us pay on old debt, then that's like any debtor refusing to accept payment. The debt no longer exits. They can't refuse amends and then say we still owe them. They can't refuse ~restorative justice~ and then still justify a grudge over lack of justice. They can't refuse healing and then rightly complain for lack of healing. If a former victim regards hate as more empowering than peace, their blanket of hate becomes theirs alone. It becomes an expression of only their dysfunction; no l...

 [Please note: any word printed in CAPS are not meant to convey yelling; but rather: emphasis.  If this presentation were given orally, those are the words I could have said a bit louder than the rest, in order to convey meaningful emphasis; along with a bit of passion] 1. Claim: "you must recognize that you are a sinner before you realize you need Jesus to forgive you and save you." -- Reply: First, if the person offering to sell you protection is, or represents, the person they're offering to protect you ~from~ ... that's called extortion; also know as a "Protection Racket". And if they call it "Free", even though it's going to cost you a lot, that's called: lying. Although, they may prefer to think of it as "effective marketing"; for a product they've convinced themselves you need.  It's also circular reasoning. "I know I am that thing, because book says so. I know book is right, because I am that thing. I know I...

(written in reply to a religious debate, with a Christian fundamentalist)   I understand that me not having "faith" in a thing is not in-and-of-itself proof that the thing (any thing) is bad or wrong. -just as: you ~having~ faith in a thing does not prove that thing is good or correct. Instead, verified facts, and logical reasoning, a profound sense of ~personal accountability~, basic human decency, and the freedom to fully, critically, think about the issues ... are the things that reveal all of your religious claims to be: at odds with facts, logical reasoning, and human health.  Meanwhile, in order for you to arrive at my conclusions, you'd have to know (and understand) a LOT of the things that I know. You'd also need fully developed skills of logical reasoning. But that is not fostered in your religious culture; because it's incompatible and "dangerous". There's just no way to ~give~ you all that. Besides that, your brain is "religious de...